Manuscripts
Overland trip to California
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A trip from England to California
Manuscripts
The journal, which is made up of letters Cowan wrote back to friends in England, covers her voyage from Liverpool to New York City on the ship Etruria, and her train trip across the country to Loomis and Monterey, California. Cowan writes in great detail about her fellow passengers and the scenery around her. She also describes the ship Etruria and the train on which she travels and often makes comments regarding the odd cultural behavior of Americans. Cowan also gives detailed descriptions of the events that take place around her including a fire that stopped her train near Truckee, California; Cowan and her fellow passengers eventually had to hike to another train. The handwritten journal is illustrated with clippings from magazines and Cowan's hand-drawn sketches.
mssHM 66797
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Journey of an overland trip from Missouri to California
Manuscripts
This volume is Gorgas' diary of his journey from St. Joseph, Missouri to Placerville, CA, and his return trip to New York via the Panama Canal as part of the California Gold Rush of the mid-19th century. Much of the early entries are concerned with weather conditions and landscape and route details. Gorgas and his party finally reach Placerville on July 26, the ninetieth day of their journey, and begin digging for gold outside Sacramento in August. On February 1, 1851, Gorgas boarded a ship, the Olive Branch, bound for New York by way of the Panama Canal, intending to return home to his much-missed family. He lands at Jamaica on April 1, and arrives at New York on April 8. Dated 1850, April 28 through 1851, April 8. Notes include price charts and signatures of people Gorgas may have met during his travels. Includes newspaper clipping with picture of Placerville, CA, circa 1850, and a four-page handwritten timeline of Gorgas' journey (not in his hand).
mssHM 651
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Account of a trip from Missouri to California
Manuscripts
Written to his father and mother by T.J. Ables, this manuscript is an account of Ables' overland journey from Boonville, Missouri to California by way of the Oregon Trail. He arrived with friends after a journey of five months and two days, having departed Boonville on May 7. He writes of his slavery discussions with locals while in Kansas, his travels through Nebraska, and how he inscribed his name on Independence Rock. In Utah, his party's cattle were driven off by hostile Indians, and Ables and his companions pursued the Indians, eventually recovering thirty-six head. This was the only direct encounter Ables had with the Indians, but he heard of many others, including one woman who survived a scalping. Typescript copy.
mssHM 16763
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A. H. Cutting journal of a trip by overland route
Manuscripts
A. H. Cutting describes an overland journey from Fidelity, Illinois, to Sacramento, California, by way of the Oregon Trail. There is much description of the landscape and campsites, hunting, and searching for goods in towns. The wagon train stayed a few days in Nebraska, which Cutting describes as "much better than Iowa." They meet many other trains, both coming back and traveling to various places in the West, and hear of much trouble caused by the Indians. They stay at various ranches, and at one point, find an Indian campsite. While passing through Colorado in May, they met with members of another wagon train who warned them of harsh times in New Mexico. They pass many "stage stations" along the route, as well as mail stations guarded by soldiers. While staying at Fort Bridges in Utah, Cutting and his group heard of a recent skirmish during which three hundred Indians were killed. As the party progresses, they hear of much conflict with the Indians. Upon reaching Salt Lake City, the party meets Brigham Young, and visits a site where a Mormon temple is being constructed. Outside Salt Lake City, on June 19, the party is approached by a woman with a young child who asks to stow away with them to escape her drunken husband. She told them she would do whatever work was needed, and even dress in men's clothes as a disguise. The party agreed to take her, but she did not meet them at their appointed time, and they left without her. The journal is dated April 13 through July 27, 1863.
mssHM 652
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Madison Berryman Moorman journal of an overland trip from Tennessee to California
Manuscripts
This is the manuscript journal kept by Madison Berryman Moorman during his travels from Tennessee to California during 1850-1851. Upon reaching California, Moorman and his companions find the mining conditions to be rather poor, and they meet with little success. Outside Sacramento, they negotiate a trade with a squatter, receiving a deed for a small piece of land, upon which they built a house. The final entry of the journal is dated 1851, February 4.
mssHM 26348
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Travel Diary of Sir William Robert Clayton recounting his trip to America
Manuscripts
Sir William Clayton's journal details his 1871-1872 tour of the United States and parts of Central America. After crossing the Atlantic aboard the steamship Abyssinia, Clayton and his travelling companion arrive in New York at the end of October 1871. A brief stay in New York is followed by a train journey to Niagara Falls and thence to Chicago by way of Buffalo and Pittsburgh. After a brief description of the fire ravaged city, the journey continues on to Omaha. From Omaha, the train journey continues to Salt Lake City, where the travelers stay at the Townsend House. Several pages are devoted to Salt Lake, including a description of services at the Tabernacle. Next, Clayton departs via Pullman car to San Francisco, where he and his companion arrive in November 1871. Their stay in San Francisco includes visits to Cliff House, "China Town" and other sites, plus a trip to the New Almaden quicksilver mines near San Jose. Clayton leaves California by ship to return to New York via Panama. In addition to an account of Panama, Clayton describes visits to Jamaica, Mazatlan, Guatemala, Louisville, and New Orleans. Clayton returns to England in March of 1872. Clayton is an avid observer of "Americans" and throughout the journey describes, in great detail, his encounters with said individuals.
mssHM 70258