William S. Elder letterbooks

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  Record book "A" of the Box Elder County Mining District [microform] : 1880

  Manuscripts

  Microfilm of Book "A" of the Box Elder Mining District records, beginning with the By-Laws of the Box Elder Mining District adopted August 7, 1880, and signed by Committee secretary and chairman F.J.P. Pascoe. The book also includes minutes from a meeting of the Box Elder Mining District held at Brigham City on August 26, 1880, and notices of location for various mines, including the Highland Mine and extensions, the Yellow Jacket Mine and extensions, the King Fisher Mine, the Sunny Side Mine, the Great Western Tunnel Mine, the Nabob Mine, the Elizabeth Mine, the Louisa Mine, the Arabella Mine, the American Mine, the Uintrah Mine, the Lake View Mine, the Excelsior Mine, the Keystone Mine, the Henrietta Mine, the Star Metal Mine, the Locators Storm Cloud Mine, and the Box Elder Quarry.

  MSS MFilm 00120

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  William S. McBride diary

  Manuscripts

  Diary kept by William S. McBride as he traveled overland from Indiana to Utah in 1850. He departed from Goshen, Indiana, on March 31 in company with Eli W. Summey, Fred Summey, Enoch Willett, and Louis Mitchel, who were already calling themselves "Californians." On April 7 they took the steamer Falcon to St. Louis (which McBride called a "second Babel"), and immediately departed on the steamer Globe. Their steamer was delayed several times and it took ten days to reach Jefferson City, and another five to arrive in St. Joseph. While they camped nearby for several days, McBride took the opportunity to observe his fellow emigrants, and although he was impressed by their appearance ("All seemed jovial and full of life...the horses too...pranced along like gay studs on a celebration day," he noted), he was not entirely caught up in the moment. "This is the going out upon the plains," he wrote. "We will see by & bye how it contrasts with the 'coming in from the plains.'"His group departed in a company of 14 wagons on May 2. He writes often of hunting buffalo and antelope (which "made excellent soups"), and that while he himself had cut out a buffalo tongue (which "would be considered a delicate morsel...at St. Louis"), he "felt a deep sympathy" for buffalo approaching the pioneer guns, as they seemed to be "running the gauntlet." He writes extensively of his surroundings, including a mirage, a "very singular but...common occurrence" which made "men...[look] like giants 14 or 15 feet high...horses double their natural size, and...rivers of water when there was no water." McBride also records the initial high morale in camp, as "we often had music and singing." But about a week after their arrival at Fort Kearney on May 16, McBride began to worry about his party's progress, noting that they had fallen behind and were being passed by emigrants who left St. Joseph several days after they did. Blaming the large size of the wagon train for delays, McBride and his companions went on ahead of the rest of the company. They quickly traversed a Sioux village (McBride formed a favorable opinion of the Sioux people), climbed a rock in the area of Chimney Rock (at "no little danger to life & limb"), passed Scott's Bluffs, caught their first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, crossed the Laramie River, and arrived at Fort Laramie on May 31. He noted the diminished morale of emigrants at Fort Laramie, and noted that many of them were forced to leave their wagons and horses behind, "in some instances sold for little or nothing, or abandoned." By June 1 he reached the Black Hills, and soon crossed the Platte River, observed Independence Rock (which he recognized from a picture he had seen in his "school boy days"), passed Devil's Gate, and reached the Big Sandy on June 16 ("I believe we are in Mexican Territory," McBride guessed on June 17). On June 18 he crossed the Green River with the aid of a "half breed" mountaineer who was "gifted with no ordinary degree of intelligence & energy." He subsequently passed Fort Hall and the Oregon Trail and crossed the Red Fork (on a "very inferior ferry, constructed out of logs pinned together" and attached to "a heavy cable"). On the other side of the river he observed a "very white human skull set up on a stick" which had been "very much used of late as a kind of tablet on which memoranda were written." On June 25 he had his first view of the Utah Valley, and arrived in Salt Lake City on June 26. McBride gives an extensive description of the Salt Lake Valley, and praises the Mormons for having done "a great deal in a short time." But his overall opinion of the Mormons was "very poor," and he described them as "poor silly fanatics, reckless renegades, and blood seekers [with]...no moral honesty." Guided by "artful...dishonest leaders," McBride thought they were prone to excess drinking, "concubinage," lying, cheating, and extortion. The diary ends in Salt Lake City on June 26. The entire diary appears to have been copied over by McBride from his original notes. Also includes a photograph of McBride.

  mssHM 16956

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  William B. Rice letterbook

  Manuscripts

  This letterbook contains about 75 letters written by William B. Rice while doing business in Hawaii. He makes references to various aspects of Hawaiian life; an outbreak of smallpox; possible annexation by the United States; Hawaiian royalty; Judge William Little Lee; whaling; finances; ships arriving in Honolulu; and business and commerce in the islands. Note: Many of the letters are almost illegible; much of the ink has faded, and the volume is in fragile condition.

  mssHM 75981

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  Sutro Tunnel Company letterbook

  Manuscripts

  Letterbook kept by C.C. Thomas, superintendent of the Sutro Tunnel Company, from March to November 1882. The letters describe company business and operating expenses, as well as repairs made on the Sutro Tunnel. Also includes a sketch showing the claim of the Consolidated Virginia Mining Company.

  mssHM 74760

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  O. S. Dawson papers

  Manuscripts

  The collection consists of correspondence and documents related to the legal and business affairs of O. S. Dawson, the Sonora Consolidated Mining Company and the Hidden Treasure Consolidated Mining Company in Bodie Mining District, California, and the Ramsey-Ottawa Mining Company in Nevada. It includes receipts, plats, reports, notices of mining locations, surveys, and financial accounts. The letters, written by Dawson and various business partners and mine managers, discuss details about the management of mines, possible lawsuits, outstanding debts, and possible mine purchases in California and Nevada; there is one item regarding mining in Utah. The collection contains 78 pieces of ephemera, including three cartes-de-visite of O. S. Dawson.

  mssHM 65681-65748

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  Banning, William. Letterbook

  Manuscripts

  The collection consists of business papers and correspondence related to the the Banning Company and its subsidiaries, particularly the Santa Catalina Island Company, as well as personal papers and correspondence created by members of the Banning, Patton, Glassell, Shorb, Thornton, and Thompson families. The business correspondence primarily focuses on the Bannings, and includes references to professional conflicts among the Banning brothers, the Santa Catalina Island Company, the Wilmington Transportation Company, the San Gabriel Wine Company, Mormon Island and surrounding areas, financial issues, and land sales. There are also 20 letters written between Henry E. Huntington and George S. Patton (1856-1927) from 1903-1905, and which relate to land in the San Marino area. The personal correspondence consists of letters between members of the Banning, Patton, Glassell, Shorb, Thornton, and Thompson families written in Alabama, California, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia. Family correspondents include Ellen Banning Ayer, Frederick Ayer, Anne Ophelia Smith Banning, Hancock Banning (1865-1925), Joseph Brent Banning, Katharine Stewart Banning, Lucy Tichenor Banning, May Alice Banning, Mary Hollister Banning, Phineas Banning, William Banning, Ynez Shorb Buck, Eliza Thompson Fry, Cornelia Fry, Charle Gibbs, E. Thornton Gibbs, Eliza Williams Patton Gilmer, Andrew Glassell (1793-1873), Andrew Glassell 1827-1901), Hugh Glassell, Susan Thornton Glassell, Maria Hamilton, Frances Hawes, Ramona Yorba Shorb Murtaugh, Mary Banning Norris, Ruth Wilson Patton, Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb, Daniel Shorb, Donald Shorb, Joseph Campbell Shorb, Norbert N. Shorb, Ettinge Hugh Smith, George Hugh Smith, Susan Glassell Patton Smith, Edith Shorb Steele, Burkett D. Thompson, Caroline Thompson, Philip Rootes Thompson Jr., Rootes Thompson, William Thornton Thompson, Eleanor Brown Thompson Thornton, and George A. Thornton.The financial records include personal accounts, budgets, tax returns, business statements (including those for the Wilmington Transportation Co.), and receipts belonging to members of the Banning family. Personal papers include school essays and poems by the Banning children; copies of George S. Patton's accounts of his experiences in World War II; correspondence, essays, and photographs of the restoration of "The Old Mill" (El Molino Viejo), c.1965-1969; maps showing Banning harbor properties near Wilmington, San Pedro, and Los Angeles Harbors; sketches made on board the "Hermosa" in 1889; and photographs of steamships. Santa Catalina Island Co. business records include annual statements, notes on a potential sheep farming business, records of the steamers "Cabrillo" and "Hermosa," memorandum on management and policies, land papers, and receipt books. Some materials also relate to the Catalina Yacht Club. Items related to Catalina Island in general include advertising ephemera, a scrapbook, copies of magazine articles, and miscellaneous printed materials. Also included in the collection are various newspaper clippings, printed items, and ephemera.

  mssBanning Company records addenda I