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Manuscripts

George Boyd papers


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    George Boyd papers

    Manuscripts

    Collection contains correspondence and documents primarily relating to U.S. government agents and others working among the Native American tribes in the Michigan and Wisconsin Territories from 1818 to 1846. Individuals represented include John Tanner, Eleazer Williams, Henry B. Brevoort, Louis B. Porlier, and Zachary Taylor (pass for several individuals through "Indian country," Fort Howard, Green Bay, 1818 July 19, HM 15377). There is also trader Louis B. Porlier's account book from 1845 to 1846 documenting his activities in upper Wisconsin Territory (in French). Material for the most part does not mention specific Native American tribes or individuals. Early items in the collection also document George Boyd's tenure in Europe prior to his move to the Michigan Territory.

    mssHM 15370-15387

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    George Suckley papers

    Manuscripts

    A collection of 97 items from 1846 to 1890, it consists of correspondence and papers related to George Suckley's activities and interest in the field of natural history, especially ornithology. Some letters relate to the Northern Pacific Railroad Route Survey of 1853 to 1857. Correspondents include Spencer Fullerton Baird and John Cassin; there is also correspondence from James Graham Cooper regarding his collaboration with Suckley, and the publication of their book, The natural history of Washington territory.

    mssSU

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    George Catlin papers and illustrations

    Manuscripts

    This collection consists of roughly 252 unbound illustrations of Indians in both North and South America, by artist and author George Catlin, and other items all related to Catlin's unpublished manuscript The North Americans in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century. Collection contains bound folio manuscript of The North Americans in the Middle of the Nineteenth Century (Volume A). The contents of Volume A are: Map of North America with Distribution of tribes, Prospectus, Preface, Second Preface, Lists of tribes, Descriptions of plates, and Glossary. There is also a small, bound volume consisting of the report of J. Garland Pollard of the Smithsonian Museum, who identified many of the illustrations for Rogers (Volume B). The contents of Volume B are: Letter from J. Garland Pollard to A. Howard Clark, Curator of the National Museum (1892, Apr. 18), Lists of illustrations called for in the manuscript "The North Americans," letter from William Hallett Phillips to Archibald Rogers (1892, Dec. 27), and letter from George B. Grinnell to William Hallett Phillips (1892, Oct 24). The unbound illustrations consist of the following: 24 finished color cartoons, 26 unfinished color cartoons, 38 finished pencil outlines, 107 unfinished pencil outlines (many are counterproofs), and 43 line cuts (from Catlin's published works). They were probably composed for the most part during the late 1860s in Brussels, particularly those means to accompany the manuscript, and those unidentified ones which clearly portray the South American Indians which Catlin visited only during his final explorations in the 1850s. Most of the drawings and cartoons are copies of cartoons prepared by Catlin to replace his original collection confiscated in 1851, and therefore their original versions in many cases date from the 1830s. The line cuts are taken from Catlin's books and were inserted by Archibald Roger's agent in places where no drawing existed corresponding to a particular description in the manuscript text. The illustrations numbered 1-206 in the collection correspond to the descriptions in Pollard's report; in many cases a described illustration is missing from the collection (the drawing numbers are not truly consecutive); in other cases as many as three versions (enumerated a, b, c) of the same illustration exist, in different media. Illustrations numbered consist of paintings and drawings not described in the text, and otherwise unidentified, expect that many are clearly South American subjects. Illustrations numbered 265-285 are partially finished copies (with colored backgrounds but figures outlined) on cardboard canvas paintings (originally 27 in number) forming a series entitled "Voyages of Discovery by LaSalle" which Catlin was commissioned to do by Louis Philippe of France, and which are described in Catlin's Catalogue…of Catlin's Indian cartoons (New York, 1871, 67-69). Most of the illustrations (except for the LaSalle) consist of group portraits, full-length, of Indians, arranged by tribe. Those painted in oils are marked "color" in the container list, although in some cases the coloring is incomplete, consisting of yellow figures against an undifferentiated greenish background. The drawn figures are generally counterproofs; in many cases Catlin has drown over the counterproof outlines in pencil, refining them, and this drawing is noted in the container list as well. Illustrations cut out Catlin's books are marked "printed." Collection also contains facsimiles of correspondence from the New York Historical Society, as well as photocopies of Catlin manuscripts and drawings from the Newberry Library, Yale University Library, and the New York Public Library. Collection also contains the original mat labels and the original binding for Volume A.

    mssHM 35183

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    George A. McCall papers

    Manuscripts

    Papers of George A. McCall related to his military career. Included are correspondence, dispatches, communications, and other military records related to the Black Hawk War, the 2nd Seminole War, and McCall's service as the Inspector General of the Army in charge of Pacific and Western territorial divisions. Also included are McCall's letters to his father Archibald McCall written during the Seminole War; letters of recommendation and other correspondents regarding McCall's proposed promotion to the rank of Assistant Adjutant General of the Western Division, 1838, and a brevet for this service in the Seminole War, 1843; and the correspondence related to McCall's resignation from the Army in 1853. Correspondents include John Reynolds, William Jenkins Worth, Samuel Cooper, Edmund P. Gaines, Winfield Scott, William Dayton Lewis, and others. There is also a small group of materials dealing with Native American affairs in Texas and New Mexico territory from 1849 to 1850 including a few pieces of the official correspondence of George Mercer Brooke, the commander of the 8th Military Department, and a copy of James S. Calhoun's Proclamation to the Pueblos, with related correspondence.

    mssHM 42573-42621

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    George A. McCall papers

    Manuscripts

    Papers of George A. McCall related to his military career. Included are correspondence, dispatches, communications, and other military records related to the Black Hawk War, the 2nd Seminole War, and McCall's service as the Inspector General of the Army in charge of Pacific and Western territorial divisions. Also included are McCall's letters to his father Archibald McCall written during the Seminole War; letters of recommendation and other correspondents regarding McCall's proposed promotion to the rank of Assistant Adjutant General of the Western Division, 1838, and a brevet for this service in the Seminole War, 1843; and the correspondence related to McCall's resignation from the Army in 1853. Correspondents include John Reynolds, William Jenkins Worth, Samuel Cooper, Edmund P. Gaines, Winfield Scott, William Dayton Lewis, and others. There is also a small group of materials dealing with Native American affairs in Texas and New Mexico territory from 1849 to 1850 including a few pieces of the official correspondence of George Mercer Brooke, the commander of the 8th Military Department, and a copy of James S. Calhoun's Proclamation to the Pueblos, with related correspondence.

    mssHM 42573-42621

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    James Thomas Boyd letter to "Gentlemen,"

    Manuscripts

    Boyd writes to the otherwise unidentified "Gentlemen" concerning his visit to Monterey to examine "the proceedings in the U.S. District Court in relation to the lands known by the name of Temescal Rituate in the County of San Bernardino." Attached to the letter is one page of additional notes about the Temescal region.

    mssHM 27623