A trip to the far west : lecture | Collections | The Huntington

A trip to the far west : lecture | Collections | The Huntington

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Charles Merz diary of trip around the world
Manuscripts
This wide-ranging travel diary--London, Paris, Rome, Egypt, Jerusalem, India, China, Japan, and much more--was kept by Charles Andrew Merz during his trip around the world from January 20 to August 14, 1921. Merz experienced far more than a typical tourist; he arrived with sheaves of letters of introduction, and met with a wide variety of important diplomats, industrialists, and authors during his various stops. He had a particular interest in nationalist movements. As a professional writer, he described all with a keen eye. On his travels he met with Colonel T. E. Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw, Henrietta Szold, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Sir Herbert Samuel, John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, and Viscount Shibusawa Eiichi. He also witnessed Winston Churchill's arrival in Cairo.
mssHM 82432
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William W. Bolster diary and photograph album
Manuscripts
Bolster's diary (55 pages) begins July 15, 1899, as he left Maine for his trip West. He arrived in Sioux Falls January 21. Bolster gives detailed accounts of his travels though the Black Hills, and Badlands of South Dakota, including visits to Interior, Farmingdale, Rapid City, Spearfish, and Deadwood. Bolster also talks a lot about the people his group met along the way including a drunk cowboy who shot up a saloon and "Hank Clifford and his Indian wife." He also describes his experience in a cattle stampede and troubles with the covered wagon. There is a typed transcript of the diary. HM 81276
mssHM 81276-81277
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Anonymous letter regarding trip to Yosemite National Park
Manuscripts
In this incomplete letter, the unknown author describes in detail a trip to Yosemite and camping in the national park. The addressee of the letter is also unknown.
mssHM 68414
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Boston to San Francisco
Manuscripts
Briggs handwritten manuscript covers the first half of his trip from Boston to San Francisco in 1886. He talks about his visits to Niagara Falls, Omaha, Denver, Cheyenne, Reno, and Salt Lake City. He specifically describes the hanging of a man in Denver, and the climate in California. The manuscript might be the source for some of Chapter Eight "A Trip to California, 1886," in Briggs' book entitled Arizona and New Mexico 1882, California 1886, Mexico 1891 (1932); however, Chapter Eight covers the entire trip to San Francisco and back to Boston.
mssHM 68057
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Account of a trip on horseback from San Francisco to Santa Barbara
Manuscripts
Joseph Booth writes of his experiences traveling through California during 1869. He became determined to ride his mare, named "Pet," from San Francisco to Los Angeles, in an attempt to ease his mind of an unidentified physical ailment that cause him to lose weight "to scant 120." His diary describes the weather, his accomodations at the various towns and public houses, and people he met along the way. He is automatically suspicious and afraid when meeting Indians, or, as he writes, "or what they call by that name here (a native)." There is a partial list of his expenses on the final page. The last two pages are damaged and incomplete. Original pages rebound and repaired with backing sheets. With two typewritten letters, dated 1946, July 31 and August 12, from George E. Beers to Josephine W. Beers explaining some details of the Booth family history, and an undated fragment of a third letter with similar geneaological information.
mssHM 26657
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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