Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Modo di affinare e partire l'oro dall'argento, et altro belle cose segrete, che non sone molto volgare
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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
Image not available
Manuscripts
A wide-ranging letter from August F. W. Partz to his business partner C. Elton Buck. This letter begins with his efforts to gain control over a massive mercury mine near New Idria, CA, what he describes as "the biggest quicksilver property in the world." He goes on to describe a new desulphurizing process, a variety of negotiations for the purchase of gold mines, plans for a stamp mill at Blind Springs, and a wealth of other mining topics. This is not a Gold Rush letter from a humble prospector, but rather from an industrialist thinking on a large scale. With a full typed transcript. Written in San Francisco; with numerous editorial marks and revisions.
mssHM 82585
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Manuscripts
In the diary, Benedict describes his travels by train through the American West and Canada. He begins in Chicago, travels to San Diego, then heads north along the Pacific Coast to Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, and finally travels through Canada back to Ontario. Benedict talks about the different regions he passes through and the various scenic attractions, and the populations found in western cities, including Chinese districts and Mormons in Salt Lake City. He also makes comments on the large numbers of gold seekers in San Francisco, Portland, and Tacoma, waiting to depart for the Klondike gold rush. Loose in the diary are three items including notes, Benedict's business card, and a promotional booklet for Riverside, California entitled "The Greatest Orange Growing City in the World."
mssHM 84028
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Manuscripts
Lansing's diaries give a detailed account of his life in California as a gold miner. He talks about his life in the mining camp, his friends and business partners, his home sickness, his desire to "sell out" and go home, as well as the specifics of mining for gold (buying and selling of claims, equipment problems, bad weather, boils on his hands, etc.). Lansing also describes in detail how he and his friends spend their leisure time: gambling, bowling, drinking and going to dances. Lansing mentions the Chinese he works with in the mines, Joaquin Murieta and the hanging of several Mexicans for murder. Lansing works in and travels to several different places in California including San Andreas, Sonora, Chinese Camp, Murphy's Camp and Yackee (Yaqui) Camp. Lansing also gives a daily tally of the gold he finds in his diggings by dollar amount. The first volume covers all of 1853 and second volume only covers January to May 1855.
mssHM 70409-70410
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Manuscripts
In his diary, Jerome talks about his work with several gold, silver, and copper mines in Mohave and Yuma counties, Arizona. He talks specifically about mines around the Cedar, Planet, and Signal mining camps. Jerome performed several different tasks including surveying and recording of mine sites, posting notices on mines, and receiving, distributing, and sending out the mail in Mohave County. Included with the diary are nine pieces of ephemera including two tintypes of Jerome and several postcards.
mssHM 68418
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Manuscripts
This letter was written by John Groom to "My dier Wife and Children," on September 22, 1850 from Georgetown, California. In this letter to his family, Groom describes his difficult journey from the Missouri River to California. He opens the letter about the hardships of his journey, which includes contracting the flu and mountain fever. He passes numerous graves while crossing the plains, which disheartens him. In California, he states that the prospects of mining for gold "looks very Gloomy." According to Groom, the chances are very slim. "I am speaking now of the late emegrtion per haps 1 in 20 makes theire half ounce a day and 1 in 50 is doing what we all expect to do that is to do well by hard work and aconemy while 1 in a 1000 is makeing there fortunes..." He reveals the harsh reality of the California Gold Rush, "...I tell you now that the dark side of callafornia has been kept hid while the good side has been mutch Exagerated there is not 1 man in 100 but wishes himself at home of this years emegration and every man almost without exepttion that can Raise the money is a going and has gone already for my part I am here without the means to get home..." He also includes details about the costly supplies in California. He concludes the letter, "...be content to stay where you are doing well or not for God forbid that I ever should be the cause of any man coming to Calafornia to get Gold..."
mssHM 68184
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Manuscripts
Notebook including diary pages, local history, short stories, and other notes kept by an unknown miner in Sunrise, Alaska, from 1897-1899. The diary pages open in early November 1897, when the author was living in a cabin in the south of Sunrise, near Cook's Inlet. He notes that the last day of sunshine had passed and that he would be living in near total darkness and isolation for the next several months, with little to read except "Shakespeare and the Bible." He writes often rambling philosophical thoughts centered around what he later describes as "the central theme of longing for 'something higher and better.'" He also writes of his unrequited love for a woman named Gertie in "remembrance of my old ravings." He makes occasional references to local culture, noting that "the miners all through Alaska speak in anything but nice terms of the priests of the Greek Church...some shocking stories are told about the depravity of some of these priests." He writes specifically of a Father Nicolai [sic], who he calls a notorious gambler. In early December he hiked up to where Canyon Creek and East Fork met to form Six Mile River, and noted that in addition to breaking the monotony by seeing the scenery "another cause of gratulation [sic] is the frequency of earthquakes." The next entry is from November 1898, when he was apparently living in a different cabin in the Turnagain Arm district. He writes briefly of the scenery and local people, noting that "several Indians make Sunrise one of their living places, and a few squaws, the consorts of white men, lend an ugly picturesqueness to a town's gathering." He also observes that "there are many queer characters in this place and this is to me a new phase of existence," and that he was inspired to begin writing short stories, which comprise much of the rest of the volume through 1899. Noting that he intends to eventually improve and publish them, he includes drafts of stories about local people entitled "Shorty," "The Immanence of God," and "At River's," in addition to many other story notes and fragments, as well as a few poems. An entry from July 1899 recounts the history of the Baranof Castle in Sitka (which had burned down in 1894). In his final entry he records a dream he had about "a woman whom I loved." Included at the back of the notebook are lists of local plants and animals.
mssHM 80136