Manuscripts
A collection of letters and documents belonging to Colorado tenant farmer Jesse Ross. Letters provide details about farming life in early twentieth-century Colorado, ranging from discussion of agricultural productivity and crop marketing to considerations of the opportunities in Colorado as the state's transportation infrastructure developed. Five letters from landowner Edna Leorke (Mrs. J.L. Lewis), illuminate Leorke's understanding of their business relationship as well as her knowledge of the land, the climate, and the market. Included is the original lease contract between the two, in which Ross agrees to lease eight acres located in Conejos County, Colorado. Four letters from family describe news and events elsewhere in Colorado and in Georgia, including construction of the Denver Northwestern and Pacific Railway Hill Route, also known as the Moffat Road, through Colorado; and news of family friends conscripted to serve overseas during World War I. Also included is a business contract with another landowner, and a small, unidentified tintype of a young man.
mssRoss
