John T. Little reminiscences

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  Little Mountain Pass

  Manuscripts

  The collection contains J. Goldsborough Bruff's oversize revised version of his journal (c. 1853) which documents his journey across the American plains in 1849 by way of Lassen's Trail. Also included in the collection are 264 drawings of scenes from his overland journey, of various places he visited in California, and of his sea voyage to the Eastern United States via Mexico and Panama. Many of Bruff's drawings are in pencil, but thirty-eight of them were drawn with pastels and are in color.

  HM 8044 (124)

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  Memoirs and reminiscences

  Manuscripts

  Crosby writes of events in his life, beginning with his birth in New York on July 18, 1818. After spending his early days on his parents' farm, he studied law and became an attorney in 1841. In 1843, he became "Attorney of the Supreme Court of the State of New York." In this capacity, Crosby began to become aware of the tension between California and Mexico, and upon learning of the opportunities for lawyers in California, he decided to relocate there in 1849. The discovery of gold in California urged his decision. He traveled by steamship, and writes of his journey, including a stop in Cuba. He landed in Panama and traveled up the Chagres River, then across to the Pacific Ocean, where he took another steamship to San Francisco, arriving in late February, 1849. Many of the passengers had traveled to search for gold; as Crosby writes, "There was a general disposition to get away from the city, to the gold mines." Crosby prospects himself at several locations. He describes the events leading up to the California constitutional convention in Monterey, as well as details of the convention itself. He describes the convention as "a very harmonious body and I think the members only had the interest of the people at heart." Crosby also relates his experiences as part of the "Land Commission," the function of which was "to Settle Private Land Claims in California," as well as his experiences serving as an ambassador to Guatemala. Crosby claims to have been given "secret instructions" by the President to see if Guatemala might be suitable for the relocation of the recently freed American slaves, but is skeptical that this plan would work. He describes the country and its inhabitants at length, for he feels "there is a great misapprehension among our people with regard to those tropical countries." Crosby relates of the social order of San Francisco, especially events connected to "a very noted cortezan" known as "the Countess." This manuscript appears to be a copy, for it is written in several different hands, and appears to be incomplete, as it ends abruptly.

  mssHM 284

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  Reminiscences of John Langston [microform] : 1877

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of the autobiography of John Langston, covering his childhood through 1875. Langston recalls growing up in England and briefly moving to the United States before his father's interests failed and the family returned to England. Langston worked at iron works in Staffordshire and Wales before returning to the United States at the age of sixteen. He writes of working at iron works in New Jersey and Pittsburgh, and of spending the early 1840s looking for work in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. He eventually got hired as a steamer fireman in St. Louis and settled in Independence, Missouri, in 1844. Langston then describes a serious illness he suffered and his subsequent decision to join the Carmelite Church. He briefly covers his time in California, his journey to Council Bluffs, and his decision to join the Mormon Church after much internal debate over the practice of polygamy. After briefly writing of his overland journey to Utah, Langston focuses on the Utah War of 1857-1858, including his time in the Alpine militia at Echo Canyon. He believed that the U.S. Army was "sent out ... with the intent of hanging and killing all the leading Mormons." The last few pages of the volume trace Langston's move to Rockville and his cotton growing experiences through about 1875.

  MSS MFilm 00124

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  Letters signed by and related to John W. Schriber

  Manuscripts

  Three of the letters (Aug. 11, 1849, Nov. 30, 1849, and Sept. 13, 1850) are from John W. Schriber to his wife, Eliza L. Rogers Schriber. They discuss his ocean voyage to California, his efforts in the gold mines, and the economic conditions of Northern California. Another letter by Schriber, written from Panama (Aug. 11, 1849) is addressed to John Clendenen in New York. The fifth letter (Feb. 26, 1851), from James Perry to Eliza L. Rogers Schriber, discusses the circumstances regarding John W. Schriber's death and the state of Schriber's affairs

  mssHM 60700-60704

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  Reminiscences of John Wesley Hillman, Famous Forty-Niner and Discoverer of Crater Lake as dictated to Bentley B. Mackay

  Manuscripts

  In this 33 page document, John Wesley Hillman relates his travels and colorfully details life mostly in California and Oregon from 1849-1854. Beginning with the journey from Louisiana to St. Joseph, Missouri over the Oregon Trail to Oregon City, by ship to San Francisco and then to the mines in Mariposa County. Hillman returned to San Francisco after his father returned home to Louisiana. He describes the San Francisco fire of 1851, a trip to Mt. Shasta and Yreka and environs and then to his home base for many years in Jacksonville, Oregon. After driving pack and wagon trains, Hillman signed on to be a member of a party contracted to search for a shorter route to the gold fields in Florence Basin and the Salmon River in Idaho. After engaging in their own prosperous mining, the contact was fulfilled. Back in Jacksonville, he learned that a party of Californians were going on a search for the Lost Cabin Mine and decided to follow them. It was on this journey that he expectantly stumbled upon Crater Lake, a place that he said cannot be described in mere words, but one of the six wonders of the American continent that must been seen to be fully appreciated.

  mssHM 19977

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  J. Goldsborough Bruff journal and drawings

  Manuscripts

  The collection contains J. Goldsborough Bruff's oversize revised version of his journal (c. 1853) which documents his journey across the American plains in 1849 by way of Lassen's Trail. Also included in the collection are 264 drawings of scenes from his overland journey, of various places he visited in California, and of his sea voyage to the Eastern United States via Mexico and Panama. Many of Bruff's drawings are in pencil, but thirty-eight of them were drawn with pastels and are in color.

  mssHM 8044