Joseph Trego first came to Kansas Territory in June, 1857, and settled near Mound City (originally Sugar Mound) in Linn County, Kansas Territory. These diary entries start on July 25, 1858, and are a continuation of an earlier diary (see Kansas Memory item 90524). He describes various daily activities including the operation of a sawmill in partnership with Thomas Ellwood Smith ("Ell" in the diary entries) and his brother Edwin Smith. The diary entries provide information on the efforts of making a living and settling on a frontier. They document some of the border disputes and related activities. Trego was a free state supporter and this is reflected in some of the entries.