Davis uses the same 1879 diary for both the years 1879 and 1880.

On April 1, 1880 he starts a job at a repair shop with the Union Pacific Railroad in Armstrong, Kansas. For a short time he lives in a boarding house in Wyandott, Kansas, three miles from Armstrong. On August 17, 1880, he goes into a partnership with Gurdon Fisk to rent a cottage in Armstrong for 8 dollars per month.

Starting in late February, many of the pages in this volume are left blank. The second half of the volume is almost entirely blank.