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Aunt Jennie's diary of her trip to California
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Diary of a trip to California
Manuscripts
The diary chronicles Margaret's travels from June 10 to August 27, 1911, primarily in Northern California. The first week of the journal details her trip alone by train from Niagara Falls to California, with descriptions of Niagara Falls and sites in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona including Cripple Creek, Albuquerque, and the Grand Canyon; some entries include observations of local Native Americans. The rest of the journal consists of descriptions of travels by train and car in California. Locations visited in Southern California include Los Angeles, Pasadena, Venice Beach, Pomona, and Santa Barbara. After June 23, Margaret was based in the Bay Area town of San Rafael with multiple excursions to San Francisco and around Northern California. Her entries describe people met and interacted with, travel methods, homes and architecture, local landmarks and history, flora and landscape, missions and churches, and weather. There are frequent mentions of Aunt May and Uncle Will, who met her in Pasadena and possibly lived in San Rafael; Aunt May, and occasionally Uncle Will, usually accompanied her on her excursions to San Francisco and around California. Entries regarding San Francisco mention Ethel Barrymore plays, the Cliff House restaurant, Golden Gate Park and its zoo and Japanese Tea Garden, Chinatown, and the effects of the 1906 earthquake. She briefly describes attending a women's suffrage event (an Equality Tea) on August 4 and rally on August 25 and mentions a suffrage amendment on the ballot that year in California. Sites traveled to in Northern California include St. Helena and the Chabot estate vineyards; the Guerneville area and the Russian River; Santa Rosa, including a visit to Luther Burbank and his gardens; a fruit farm in Los Gatos; and Eureka and other areas in Humboldt County. The journal also includes a draft or copy of a letter from Margaret to her mother written in San Rafael and dated August 27. The final nine pages of the diary are additional notes on travels in Humboldt County, many of which are crossed out. There are also several pages of loose notes, two envelopes, and a receipt. The journal is unbound and is handwritten in ink on loose paper.
mssHM 84033
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Diary - California trips
Manuscripts
Two diaries, one documenting Mortimer Chester's first trip to California in 1912 and his permanent move there in 1914, and another describing his experiences with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the Depression. His travel diary chronicles two cross country trips from Boston and demonstrates how he became convinced to move to California. Chester's account of the CCC camps describes camp operations, living conditions, and the character of the workers there. Photographs are undated but depict people and buildings, and some are labeled with locations, including Texas, Arizona, and Utah. Other photos are most likely of the CCC camps in the Sierra Nevadas, and depict snow removal and camp personnel, including a group of Black workers.
mssChester
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Sheldon Young diaries of his trip to California
Manuscripts
Two diaries kept by Sheldon Young as he traveled from Illinois to California in 1849. The first, brief diary covers March 19-28 and begins with Young's departure from Joliet, Illinois, with Hiram White and Pears G. Pearson. It records their travels as far as Galesburg, Illinois. The second diary picks up on May 19 (the pages for March 29-May 18, June 21-July 1, and October 14-November 8 are missing). The near daily entries record miles traveled, buffalo hunting, deaths from cholera, and the lack of food and water. The diary specifically mentions stopping at Fort Kearney, seeing Castle Rock, crossing the Platte River on a raft, following the Green River, stopping at Fort Bridger, encountering Snake and Piute Indians, traveling through Little Salt Lake City, the departure of the Bug Smashers, the abandonment of wagons after Christmas 1849, arriving in the Mojave Desert, a cattle stampede, and the arrival in San Francisquito on February 4, 1850. The final few pages of the diary recount Young's arrival in San Francisco on February 26, 1850, reaching Sacramento in early March, and departing San Francisco on board the Swift on October 13, 1850. Young recounts the shipboard deaths of several passengers, including his traveling companion Wolfgang Tauber, who had also been with Young in Death Valley. He concludes with the Swift's arrival in Panama in December 1850.
mssHM 75663-75664
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L. Benedict diary of a trip to California and the Pacific Northwest
Manuscripts
In the diary, Benedict describes his travels by train through the American West and Canada. He begins in Chicago, travels to San Diego, then heads north along the Pacific Coast to Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, and finally travels through Canada back to Ontario. Benedict talks about the different regions he passes through and the various scenic attractions, and the populations found in western cities, including Chinese districts and Mormons in Salt Lake City. He also makes comments on the large numbers of gold seekers in San Francisco, Portland, and Tacoma, waiting to depart for the Klondike gold rush. Loose in the diary are three items including notes, Benedict's business card, and a promotional booklet for Riverside, California entitled "The Greatest Orange Growing City in the World."
mssHM 84028