Manuscripts
W. G. Winston letter to his mother, Mary H. Winston, Los Angeles, California
Image not available
You might also be interested in
Image not available
G. W. Buckmore letter to George Gaulet
Manuscripts
In this letter, Buckmore talks a lot about the climate of California, his business, gold mining, crime in San Francisco, the deaths of some of his friends, and the lumber trade in California and Oregon. He also advises his friend to urge people to not come to California unless they have the means to survive.
mssHM 75095
Image not available
Charles W. Drury letters
Manuscripts
In the letters, Drury talks of gold mining and discoveries, the transcontinental railroad, shipping lines opening up travel to China and Australia, the Walker expedition of 1853 to Sonora, the future of Mexico and Hawaii as American territories, and California politics and climate.
mssHM 75088-75089
Image not available
Plans of Los Angeles, California
Manuscripts
Drawn plans of Fort Moore, Los Angeles, California, and the Ciudad of Los Angeles. Copied by Bert H. Cocks from originals by Edward Otho Cresap Ord and William R. Hutton in August 1849.
mssHM 84384-84385
Image not available
G. Cleveland letters to Mary Cleveland
Manuscripts
Three letters written by G. Cleveland to his sister Mary Cleveland in Canton, New York, between October 1849 and May 1850. In the first letter, dated October 28, 1849, Cleveland writes of his intentions to leave school and sail to California aboard the bark Orion. He describes his expectations of the wonders and dangers of the voyage and his hopes for success as well as his belief that "California is much like a lottery." The second letter, in three parts beginning February 5, 1850, was written while Cleveland was sailing around Cape Horn and during visits to Staten Land (now Isla de los Estados, Argentina) and Robinson Crusoe Island (part of the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile). Cleveland writes of storms at sea, catching an albatross, and extensive descriptions of Robinson Crusoe Island (including the note that "we had the pleasure of seeing Crusoe's canoe...in a cove"). The final letter, dated May 1850, was written at the time of the Orion's arrival in California and further describes Cleveland's travels in the South Pacific and debates the total distance covered on the voyage.
mssHM 73682-73684
Image not available
W. H. Wheeler letters to his father
Manuscripts
Three autograph letters written from Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming Territory; the letters were written over a three month period in 1871. W. H. Wheeler wrote to his father with great enthusiasm about the many opportunities for prosperity he sees surrounding him in Wyoming and Utah territories. Although especially enthusiastic about the possibilities of outfitting miners hoping to exploit the region's mineral wealth, he also describes in detail the fabulous returns being made through the sales of mining claims in Utah as well as the steadily rising values of building lots in Evanston, Wyoming. Wheeler worked in the city's Union Pacific office, but was anxious to quit his desk job and to become a Western businessman in mining and outfitting ventures; in the letters, Wheeler requests money from his father for these ventures while extolling the many opportunities of realizing great profits. Two of the letters are written on Union Pacific stationary or forms and all three are in fragile condition with tearing along the folds.
mssHM 84048
Image not available
William S. Lyon letter to J.W. Vandervort
Manuscripts
Letter from William S. Lyon in Los Angeles, California, to John W. Vandervort, an early owner of property on Mount Wilson. Lyon writes to let Vandervort know that his two plants are ready for spring delivery, and that he hopes the recent frosts did not kill his poinsettia and hibiscus plants. Also includes an invoice for one hibiscus and one euphorbia plant, as well as delivery charges to Pasadena.
mssHM 72846