Manuscripts

Fred G. Bulkley diaries

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Description: The collection contains nineteen volumes of Bulkley's diaries. Most of the diaries relates to Bulkley's career as a mining engineer, addressing his work in Aspen, Denver, and Monterrey, Mexico. The diaries also contain information on Bulkley's personal and family life, much of which relates to his chronic health problems. There are also some newspaper clippings and photographs in the collection
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1883-1908.
Call number: mssHM 62478 (1-19)
Creator: Bulkley, Fred G(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Hugh Tolford, August 14, 1996.

Fred H. Tobey diary

Manuscripts

Tobey gives great detail regarding army life in his diary including his regiment's marches, encampments, and skirmishes with Indians. He also describes the landscape around him and the Indians with which his regiment came into contact and/or battled: the Sioux, the Cheyenne, the Nez Perce, and the Crow. He often complains about the weather, the lack of supplies (some of the regiment, including Tobey, resorted to eating the horses) and the actions of his officers. He discusses, in detail, the Battle of Canyon Creek and the history of the 7th Cavalry Regiment including General George Custer, Comanche the Horse, and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Tobey also mentions Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Colonel Nelson Miles, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis, Brigadier General Alfred Terry, Lieutenant Elwood Otis, and Major Marcus Reno; and the Crow Agency (Mont.), Glendive (Mont.), the Tongue River Valley (Wyo. and Mont.), Fort Abraham Lincoln (N.D.), Fort Buford (N.D.), Standing Rock Indian Reservation (N.D. and S.D.), and the Yellowstone River Valley

mssHM 63327

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Frederick G. Niles diaries

Manuscripts

In these four diaries, Niles details his life through a variety of jobs and journeys. Before his adventures west, Niles talks about his religious beliefs, his Sunday school teaching, his daily life and his aspirations for the future. As he heads West to the Kansas Territory, Niles describes the prospectors and emigrants he meets along the way. He discusses the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians he sees, the Mexican cattle drivers, and the landscape he encounters in his travels. In April 1865, Niles writes about the assassination and funeral of Abraham Lincoln. Niles' diaries also include detailed budgets and personal financial information as he struggled to make money. In the diary that deals with his sea voyage home, Niles includes details about daily life on the ship and the places he visited along the way.

mssHM 70278-70281

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Travel diary and photographs of a trip to Colorado

Visual Materials

A photographically-illustrated travel narrative describing a summer trip from Omaha, Nebraska to Aspen, Colorado in 1926 taken by three women. Traveling by rail on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and then by car, the three women stay in a cabin near Aspen and engage in a wide variety of activities, including socializing with local residents, meeting miners, attending local theater performances, hiking, camping, fishing, and sightseeing. The diarist comments frequently on the outstanding scenic wonders of the Colorado mountains and her impressions of the surrounding nature. Interspersed in the album are 77 black-and-white snapshot photographs and two postcards. The three women, identified only as "Mother, Nellie, and I," are later joined by "Mother Foote and Aunt Hazel."

photCL 673

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George W. McCune diaries

Manuscripts

Set of four diaries kept by George W. McCune while he was serving as a missionary in England from 1896-1898. The first volume begins with his departure from Nephi in January 1896 and traces his travels by train to Philadelphia and his subsequent sea voyage to Liverpool. McCune's missionary work centered around Norwich, but the diaries also record his travels to London, Wymondham, Lowestoft, Nottingham, Birmingham, Ipswich, Eastbourne, and Lyme. The fourth volume also recounts his December 1897 tour of Versailles, Paris, Brussels, Waterloo, Rotterdam, and The Hague. The fourth volume concludes with McCune's return voyage to New York in March 1898 and follows his return to Utah as far as Denver, where he arrived in April 1898.

mssHM 37546 (1-4)

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Fred S. Meady Papers

Manuscripts

The collection consists of letters related to Fred's life at sea and Sarah's life at home and on the ships when she joined Fred. Many of the letters are from Fred to Sarah (whose nickname was Sade) and from Sarah to her family, but there are also letters written to Sarah from various friends. Letters to Sarah are often addressed to "Sade," and she signed many of her letters as "Sade" as well. The bulk of Fred's letters to Sarah are from various ships and ports, as are Sarah's letters to her family. Fred seemed to miss his wife a great deal when he was at sea, and many of his letters are about his desire to be home with her or to have her on board more often. He discusses his health in many of the letters and he seems to have battled rheumatism quite often. Other topics include the day-to-day life of living on a ship, details about the type and amount of cargo being loaded and carried, the "sea risk" clause in his life insurance policy, his friendship with a Captain Blethen, and his concern that Sarah is seeking employment in a shop he does not find acceptable. Fred mentions some specific ships, including the S.S. Dale. A letter to Mrs. Sager relates his current work and his plans for the next ship he'll board. Sarah's letters to her family also tell of daily life on the ships (how the ships are cleaned, how they are secured during rough weather), of the stewards she befriended on board, and of the acquaintances she made while traveling with her husband (such as other couples who were also traveling by sea). She relates details about the specific places they visited and about the social calls she paid. Several of Sarah's letters to her brothers reveal her concerns that they grow into responsible, mature men. Sarah also discusses her health a great deal and she battled whooping cough at some point. The letters to Sarah from her various friends and acquaintances are mainly about family visits, social calls, various entertainments, and news and gossip from home. One letter, from Benjamin Thompson, is an invitation to lunch and includes a calling card. Finally, there are several loose envelopes and various calling cards not attached to any specific letters.

mssHM 72024-72079

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Diaries and letters of Frank M. Fokelman

Manuscripts

Two diaries by and nine letters written to and about Frank M. Fokelman, a railroad dispatcher who worked for the St. Louis, Kansas City, and Northern Railway Company, the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railway, and the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company in the 1870s and 1880s. The first of the two diaries was kept by Fokelman from 1880 to 1881 and describes his travels mainly from Stanberry to Brunswick, Missouri, while working as a railroad employee. The second diary, kept from 1885-1888, includes a personal account of a tour of Colorado and Utah Fokelman made in the summer of 1885, with descriptions of Pueblo and Leadville, Colorado, as well as Salt Lake City. It also describes his later return to Colorado to improve his health and find employment, and his work as a clerk with the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company, including his hours, wages, and living expenses. The letters were written by Fokelman's various railroad employers from 1879 to 1888, and include letters of recommendation for Fokelman as well as letters written to him authorizing his leaves of absence for health reasons.

mssHM 74578-74588

Fred G. Bulkley diaries

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Fred H. Tobey diary

Frederick G. Niles diaries

Travel diary and photographs of a trip to Colorado

George W. McCune diaries

Fred S. Meady Papers

Diaries and letters of Frank M. Fokelman