I have recently been researching Knox County residents who went to California. Try some of the rootsweb pages in California. Some of them are really informative. Lots of information Especially Sacramento, San Francisco and Solano Counties. All of these adventures people did not go to California across the plains in a covered wagon. Many went by ship. Some going clear around South America and the term usually used is around the Horn. Others by ship to the Isthmus of Panama (where the Panama Canal is now) and then overland from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In any event there is an amazing ammount of information on line about the California pioneers. Alice