CLOSED TODAY

Tickets

Manuscripts

E. Bottomley letter to James Bottomley

Image not available

Description
As a Manchester wool merchant, his industry, beset by the worst economic depression and unemployment in memory, Bottomley, like the rest of the British public, had been "entirely engrossed" by domestic problems. Thus "little attention has been paid to the Oregon question until the present time", but "now it has assumed a serious aspect, and fears are entertained that a war will ensue. The British government shows a determination to support their claims, and our naval preparations, evidently for that purpose, are on an extensive scale ... " The prospect of a British-American war concerned Bottomley especially, as he had long exported cloth to America, where his sons represented him in America. Soon after he wrote, conflicting British and American claims to Oregon would come to a height of tension, with Royal Navy vessels showing the flag in the waters of the Pacific Northwest as British-American diplomatic negotiations to divide Oregon broken off, and Yankee expansionists taking up the battle cry "54-40 or fight!". The dispute was not to be resolved until June of the following year.
Type
Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date
1845, March 10.
Call number
mssHM 82388
Creator
Bottomley, E(Opens in new tab)
Provenance
Purchased from PBA Galleries Sale 565, Lot 270, for the Huntington Library by Nick Aretakis, July 2015.
Dimensions
25 cm :
Associated people
Bottomley, James,
Find out more
View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)

You might also be interested in

  • Image not available

    Charles Fletcher letters to James Gordon Bennett

    Manuscripts

    HM 4004 is a letter addressed to Mr. Bennett, editor of the New York Herald, imploring that the enclosed letter addressing the Oregon Question be published in the Herald. This letter is signed by Charles Fletcher. HM 4005 is the enclosed letter mentioned in HM 4004, and is signed "An American Citizen," and discusses a potential British claim to the Oregon Territory. Both letters are dated 1846, January 26. These manuscripts may be related to HM 4001-4003.

    mssHM 4004-4005

  • Image not available

    C.E. Reynolds letter to Miss Ella E. Reynolds

    Manuscripts

    In this 18 page letter to his sister, C.E. Reynolds documents his excitement and "gold fever." Upon hearing of the steamer "City of Portland" landed at Seattle with $3,000,000 worth of gold dust, he concluded that the only cure was to "try it," so he boarded the steamer "Queen" in Seattle landing in Skagway. He goes on to describe the difficulties of transporting gear and goods from Skagway to Lake Bennett, Dawson City and then a further journey of six hundred miles. He then goes into the mineral wealth of the region, prospecting and the types of mining and claims. There are a few pages concerning climate, geography, flora and fauna. Another couple of pages describe miners' cabins, and the high cost of food and clothing. Yet another couple of pages describe the many dogs he encountered. He and his company of six men had six dogs to pull the provisions, tents and bedding. The letter ends with him thanking his sister for her patience and after all the detailed account thinks he could not do the subject justice even though he had been repeatedly asked to speak about his experiences.

    mssHM 16380

  • Image not available

    Kin Saito letter to Alvin Thompson Smith

    Manuscripts

    In this letter, Kin Saito thanks Alvin Thompson Smith, Oregon pioneer and missionary, for helping a young Japanese boy who had just come west to Oregon. The letter is written from Forest Grove, Oregon.

    mssHM 68196

  • Image not available

    Benjamin Moran letters to Adam Badeau

    Manuscripts

    Letters from Benjamin Moran to General Adam Badeau (1831- 1895) an American soldier and author who served as secretary of the American Legation in London from May to December of 1869, then the bearer of government dispatches to Madrid from January to May of 1870, and consul general until 1881. The letters comment on personal and political affairs of the day, including the Alabama claims issue, the image of President Ulysses S. Grant, troubles in Ireland, etc.

    mssHM 28626-28667

  • Image not available

    Benjamin Moran letters to Adam Badeau

    Manuscripts

    Letters from Benjamin Moran to General Adam Badeau (1831- 1895) an American soldier and author who served as secretary of the American Legation in London from May to December of 1869, then the bearer of government dispatches to Madrid from January to May of 1870, and consul general until 1881. The letters comment on personal and political affairs of the day, including the Alabama claims issue, the image of President Ulysses S. Grant, troubles in Ireland, etc.

    mssHM 28626-28667

  • Image not available

    Benjamin Moran letters to Adam Badeau

    Manuscripts

    Letters from Benjamin Moran to General Adam Badeau (1831- 1895) an American soldier and author who served as secretary of the American Legation in London from May to December of 1869, then the bearer of government dispatches to Madrid from January to May of 1870, and consul general until 1881. The letters comment on personal and political affairs of the day, including the Alabama claims issue, the image of President Ulysses S. Grant, troubles in Ireland, etc.

    mssHM 28626-28667