No, I don't have any letters or diaries but there are letters published in the Terrible Trail book that were written by an aunt. I highly recommend that you follow the trail sometime. Do it in the spring or fall though before it gets too hot or there's snow. As I mentioned, we found the exact spot on the Deschutes River where they crossed, the very rock they tied the cable to. Then we traveled up the Crooked River to Wagontire Mtn., found the spring, went on to Stein's Ridge & found the old hand-hewn juniper stumps. The amazing thing is that the route doesn't look much different than it did 160+ years ago. It's a very powerful experience to see it with your own eyes.