Manuscripts
John S. Southworth diary of Colorado River trip
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John Southworth photographs of Jayhawker Spring, Death Valley
Visual Materials
A group of 10 photographs of sites in Jayhawker Spring, Death Valley, California, taken by John Southworth in 1976. The snapshots show markings on Inscription Rock from many angles, including petroglyphs and the initials of Jayhawker party member William Rood, dated 1849. There are also views of spring water sources and the surrounding canyon. The photographs have detailed captions on the back by Southworth.
photPF 26020
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John Neff diary
Manuscripts
In this day-to-day diary of Neff's trip he talks in detail about the weather, landscape, cattle and horses being stolen, problems with Indians, hunting along the way, members of his group getting sick, and fights amongst members of his group. The diary only covers the trip from Ohio to Salt Lake City (1854, April 11 - August 9). It includes a forward by John L. Ford and map showing the route Neff took from Ohio to California.
mssHM 75111
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Southworth, John S. (Nevills trip, Green River, Wyo., to Boulder City)
Manuscripts
Professional and personal papers of Otis R. Marston and his collection of the materials on the history of Colorado River and Green River regions.
mssMarston papers
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James Bourne Rhead diary of trip across Utah
Manuscripts
This diary describes a 15-day trip Rhead took, in May 1878, from Coalville across the Uinta Mountains to one of Utah's last arable frontier areas, a tiny settlement on the Green River known as Ashley's Fork. It was soon renamed Vernal, and is now the largest town in sparsely-settled northeast Utah.
mssHM 82433
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John R. Robinson diary
Manuscripts
This diary, which is a bound typed transcript, was kept by John R. Robinson while traveling from New York City to Batopilas, Chihuahua, Mexico in 1861; it also includes his return trip through California and across the Midwest to his home in Ohio. Robinson was going to Mexico for Belden & Stearns, a corporation in New York who was interested in buying several mines in Batopilas. While on the journey he passed through several cities including Austin, TX; Cusihuiríachic, El Fuerte, Mazatlán, and San Blas, Mexico; San Francisco and Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; and Omaha, NE. The diary gives a day-by-day account of his trip. Robinson details the people, scenery and hardships he and his group encountered on their trek. He also gives details regarding the process of surveying and purchasing mines, including the costs involved. The last twenty-eight pages of the diary were written on a journey from Mexico to New York City in 1873, while Robinson was returning to the United States with a load of silver.
mssHM 62476
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Agnes Gallicker diary of an automobile trip from Iowa to the Pacific Coast
Manuscripts
Diary kept by Agnes Gallicker as she and seven friends drove from Iowa across the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast from June to August of 1924. Most of the women were inexperienced drivers, and Agnes makes frequent references to the difficulties of automobile travel, including punctured tires and other mechanical failures, avoiding a "speed cop," and navigating often unpaved or damaged roadways. Agnes herself was a confident driver, and on her days off from driving noted that "my suggestions (driving from the backseat) were well (?) received." Agnes also describes a variety of fellow motorists they met along the way, including three young Dutchmen who helped them with car troubles at different stops along their route. Some encounters were less successful, and Agnes's motto became "Don't pick up with strange men." The diary opens on June 12, the day the women departed from their homes in Iowa. They spent much of their time traveling along the Lincoln Highway and spent each night camping out. In Iowa they passed through Marshalltown and Ledges State Park before driving quickly through Nebraska. Agnes noted with some awe their first view of the Rocky Mountains from Goodrich, Colorado. They also passed through Denver (where Agnes and another of the girls were "looked upon as Indians - People came out...to gawk at us"), Bear Creek Canyon, Colorado Springs, Big Thompson Canyon, and Rocky Mountain National Park, and hiked to Bear Lake (June 25). In Wyoming they drove through Laramie and stopped for a picnic after leaving Fort Steele. "Any place was as good as the other so we ate out on a desert," Agnes wrote, adding that "sand storms [are] similar to Iowa snow storms" (June 27). In Utah they saw Ogden and Salt Lake City (they missed some of the Mormon sites due to arriving on a Sunday, but eventually saw an organ concert at the Tabernacle), and in Idaho drove from Boise to The Dalles along the Columbia River. After ferrying across the Willamette River, they drove down to California, where they saw Mount Shasta and stopped in Redding, Stockton, Buck Meadows (near Yosemite, where Agnes did not go), and Oakland, and saw the Presidio Recruiting Station in San Francisco, went wading in the Pacific Ocean, and passed by U.C. Berkeley. When they tried to pay a portion of a car repair bill in pennies, Agnes wrote that the attendant told them "Californians don't care for pennies - they throw them away. Rich!!". The women then drove north toward Oregon, passing Mount Siskiyou and stopping at Klamath Falls and Crater Lake. In Washington they saw Mount Rainier National Park, Seattle, Snoqualmie Falls, and Spokane, and took a day trip to Victoria, British Columbia. In early August they began their trip home, and Agnes' diary describes touring the State Prison and Anaconda Reduction Works in Montana (Aug.4), spending two days at Yellowstone National Park (Aug.6-7), and driving through the Badlands to the Red River Valley. Her diary ends on August 17, when they were near the Elk River.
mssHM 78235