Manuscripts

Henry Lunt journal

Image not available

Description: A manuscript copy of the journal that Henry Lunt kept while serving as the assistant clerk of the pioneer company led by George Albert Smith (1817-1875), that journeyed from Salt Lake City, Utah to Parowan. Lunt gives such details as the names of those in the company, lists of their provisions, and a day to day account of their journey.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1850-1851.
Call number: mssHM 66417
Creator: Lunt, Henry (1824-1902)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Mrs. Mary Harridance Empey through Juanita Brooks, 5/4/1945.

History of colonization of Parowan, Iron County [microform] : 1850-1851

Manuscripts

Microfilm of typescript portion of Henry Lunt's journal, kept while he was serving as secretary to George A. Smith with the company that traveled from Salt Lake City to Parowan in 1850-1851. The account opens with a list of names, ages, and ranks of Mormon pioneers and officers of the party, as well as a list of provisions brought. The journal includes almost daily entries from December 7, 1850, through February 5, 1851. The entries focus on weather conditions and distances traveled, and also recall encounters with Indians, a company election held on January 17, and the setting up of camp near what Lunt called Fort Plat. Includes a table of contents and index of names.

MSS MFilm 00037

Image not available

George A. Smith journal

Manuscripts

Typescript of George A. Smith's journal, kept during his travels from Great Salt Lake City to Iron County from 1850-1851. Includes a description of Smith's travels, including references to camping at Dry Creek, Utah, with John Doyle Lee; a stop at Fort Provo with a full report of provisions; the exchange of a dead ox for an Indian boy; and Captain Jefferson Hunt's joining the party on his return trip from California. Smith also reports on the camp at Parowan, including the building of Parowan Hall, a mill, and various cabins. Smith writes of a letter he wrote to President Millard Fillmore requesting a military post on the Muddy River and notes that "we are a military people and must be...we want a military organization for Iron County." References are made in the journal to Amasa Lyman, Anson Call, Henry Lunt, Brother Shirts, Simon Baker, and Hew Whitney ("the first native white citizen in Iron County").

mssHM 72847

Image not available

Henry Ballard journal

Manuscripts

Typescript of a journal kept by Henry Ballard from the time of his departure from England in 1832 until 1904. He describes his journey to the United States onboard the Kennebec and gives a first hand account of the explosion of the Saluda in 1852. He also keeps an almost daily record of his time fighting in the Utah War from 1857-1858, which includes references to Orrin Porter Rockwell, the taking of Fort Bridger, and the establishment of Camp Floyd by the United States Army. Ballard travelled frequently throughout Utah and to Wyoming, and included is a careful record of these travels. Much of the journal focuses on his daily life in Logan, Utah, as well as descriptions of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints activities and leaders, including Joseph Young, George Albert Smith, and John Taylor. Brief references to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and Ballard's attendance of Brigham Young's funeral are also included.

mssHM 72341

Image not available

James W. Pope journal

Manuscripts

Indian War journal kept by James Worden Pope, who with a wagon train of supplies accompanied Major Eugene A. Carr's 5th Cavalry expedition to locate and bring provisions to Captain William H. Penrose's cavalry. The 5th Cavalry departed from Fort Lyon, Colorado, in November 1868 and spent the next month in Indian Territory in search of Penrose. Pope's journal provides a detailed account of the 5th Cavalry's movements and their initially futile attempts to locate Penrose. He recounts the many difficulties of the expedition, from cold weather and inadequate provisions to drunkenness among some of its men. Pope also writes of encountering dead horses that had belonged to Penrose's cavalry and of the starving conditions of Penrose's men (when the 5th Cavalry finally caught up to Penrose on December 19, Pope writes that their men had just received their last rations, although they did have a supply of buffalo meat). He writes of encounters with Mexican buffalo hunters and Buffalo Soldiers, although not Indians (Pope's party discovered only "deserted Indian wigwams"). He also gives detailed descriptions of terrain, mainly around Purgatory River, Cimarron River, and Two Buttes Creek, as well as writing of the large numbers of buffalo and of buffalo hunts. The last entries of the journal, made in January 1869, recount camp life after the 5th Cavalry had joined Penrose's party, including the story of a man killed by Indians. Most of Pope's entries recount facts and do not have much personal reflection, although in an entry from New Year's Eve 1868 he writes of staying up until midnight, when the old year "gave up the ghost; burying with him many pleasant associations and hopes and fear. How little did I expect at this time last year to be out in this desolate region with only a tent for shelter...an episode in the life of [a] soldier." Some mentions are made of Carr, Penrose, Wild Bill Hickok, and General Philip Sheridan. The last page has a light sketch of unidentified terrain and what appears to be a list of Pope's provisions.

mssHM 74606

Image not available

Henry P. Fleischman journal

Manuscripts

Fleischman's journal starts on December 13, 1812 while he is onboard the brig Hunter, which the British ship Phoebe captured on December 23rd. In his journal, Fleischman details how he and his crew mates board the Phoebe and sail for Plymouth where they are put on the prison ship Hector. Fleischman complains about the lack of food and water and the treatment he and his men receive in prison by the British. He also makes comments upon the new prisoners coming in everyday from various American ships that had been captured, as well as the sickness and death onboard. While in prison, he goes ashore to Plymouth to make an official complaint about the prison conditions to an American agent. He and his men eventually get transferred to several different prison ships and there are daily rumors that they are going to be exchanged or paroled. When this part of his journal ends, it is April 1813 and he had been moved to a prison ship at the Chatham Dockyard in Kent. The journal jumps to May 31, and Fleischman is on the frigate Chesapeake; he then details the battle between his ship and the frigate Shannon, including the wounding and eventual death of his captain James Lawrence and the capture of the Chesapeake by the Shannon. He also includes a list of officers killed and wounded during the battle.

mssHM 66770

Image not available

Henry William Miller journal, (bulk 1855-1857)

Manuscripts

This diary contains three distinct sections. The first, 102 pages, deals with Henry William Miller's mission to the Cherokee and Creek Nations in Oklahoma. The next section consists of a short journal entry, 14 pages, of Elmira Pond Miller that describes her life and her Mormon experience. The last part, 10 pages, describes a vision that Elmira experienced in 1889 of writing that appeared in the air from her deceased husband.

mssHM 64432

Henry Lunt journal

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

History of colonization of Parowan, Iron County [microform] : 1850-1851

George A. Smith journal

Henry Ballard journal

James W. Pope journal

Henry P. Fleischman journal

Henry William Miller journal, (bulk 1855-1857)