Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Leander A. Preston diary of a journey from Strawberry Point, Iowa to Yuba City, California
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Manuscripts
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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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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Manuscripts
This is a contemporary copy of Garcés' account of his journey through Sonora, Arizona, and California from October 21, 1775 to August 12, 1776.
mssHM 525
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Manuscripts
This unsigned journal, attributed to Benjamin Baxter, describes a journey from New York to California via Panama, as well as his experiences in the California gold mines and his voyage back home. Dated March 25 through September 22, 1850. Many pages damaged.
mssHM 19823
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Manuscripts
In this journal, David Maynard relates details of his journey such as supplies purchased, medical treatment sought, as well as brief details regarding progress in his travels. Pre-printed diary filled in by hand; many blank pages. Diary bound in black limp leather, and dated 1850, January 1 - December 30. Also included is printed receipt for a $200 loan from the Banking House of Ben E. Snipes & Co., Ellensburgh, Washington, signed by Maynard.
mssHM 997
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Manuscripts
Diary kept by Agnes Gallicker as she and seven friends drove from Iowa across the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast from June to August of 1924. Most of the women were inexperienced drivers, and Agnes makes frequent references to the difficulties of automobile travel, including punctured tires and other mechanical failures, avoiding a "speed cop," and navigating often unpaved or damaged roadways. Agnes herself was a confident driver, and on her days off from driving noted that "my suggestions (driving from the backseat) were well (?) received." Agnes also describes a variety of fellow motorists they met along the way, including three young Dutchmen who helped them with car troubles at different stops along their route. Some encounters were less successful, and Agnes's motto became "Don't pick up with strange men." The diary opens on June 12, the day the women departed from their homes in Iowa. They spent much of their time traveling along the Lincoln Highway and spent each night camping out. In Iowa they passed through Marshalltown and Ledges State Park before driving quickly through Nebraska. Agnes noted with some awe their first view of the Rocky Mountains from Goodrich, Colorado. They also passed through Denver (where Agnes and another of the girls were "looked upon as Indians - People came out...to gawk at us"), Bear Creek Canyon, Colorado Springs, Big Thompson Canyon, and Rocky Mountain National Park, and hiked to Bear Lake (June 25). In Wyoming they drove through Laramie and stopped for a picnic after leaving Fort Steele. "Any place was as good as the other so we ate out on a desert," Agnes wrote, adding that "sand storms [are] similar to Iowa snow storms" (June 27). In Utah they saw Ogden and Salt Lake City (they missed some of the Mormon sites due to arriving on a Sunday, but eventually saw an organ concert at the Tabernacle), and in Idaho drove from Boise to The Dalles along the Columbia River. After ferrying across the Willamette River, they drove down to California, where they saw Mount Shasta and stopped in Redding, Stockton, Buck Meadows (near Yosemite, where Agnes did not go), and Oakland, and saw the Presidio Recruiting Station in San Francisco, went wading in the Pacific Ocean, and passed by U.C. Berkeley. When they tried to pay a portion of a car repair bill in pennies, Agnes wrote that the attendant told them "Californians don't care for pennies - they throw them away. Rich!!". The women then drove north toward Oregon, passing Mount Siskiyou and stopping at Klamath Falls and Crater Lake. In Washington they saw Mount Rainier National Park, Seattle, Snoqualmie Falls, and Spokane, and took a day trip to Victoria, British Columbia. In early August they began their trip home, and Agnes' diary describes touring the State Prison and Anaconda Reduction Works in Montana (Aug.4), spending two days at Yellowstone National Park (Aug.6-7), and driving through the Badlands to the Red River Valley. Her diary ends on August 17, when they were near the Elk River.
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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
mssHM 78235