William Hayes Chamberlin journal

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  Charles Plummer journal

  Manuscripts

  This journal is an account by Charles Plummer documenting his travels and gold mining experiences California, which took place in 1850-1851. The majority of the volume concerns the trip, which lasted from 1850, May 2 to 1851, October 1. While Plummer was digging outside Stockton, there were several instances of theft and murder in the town and the surrounding mining claims. He describes digging for gold as "very poor business." Bound leather volume. Journal entries begin in 1842; most of the early entries are financial notes, such as bills paid.

  mssHM 2017

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  L. M. Clement journal

  Manuscripts

  Clement's journal, which only includes entries from January to June, includes details regarding his work with the Central Pacific Railroad Company in Nevada and Placer counties, California. He discusses some technical aspects of railroad construction as well as other work he performs for the company such as surveying land for possible routes. At the end of the volume is a list of expenses for the same months as the journal. Also included is a typescript of the journal

  mssHM 66487

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  John Hovey journal of a voyage from Newburyport, Mass. to San Francisco, Cal

  Manuscripts

  This journal follows the travels of John Hovey from Massachusetts to California. He departs from Newburyport aboard the vessel Charlott on January 23, 1849; a manifest of crew and passengers is included on pages one and two. Much of the seagoing details are concerned with the weather. The ship reached port on July 23, 1849. He journeyed along the Sacramento River and Mokelumne River with his companions, searching for gold. He was involved with separate disputes over claims with miners from Chile and France (see also HM 4384-4385 which are transcripts of these entries removed from this volume). Hovey departs California by ship on May 30, 1851. Bound volume, with many color illustrations.

  mssHM 322

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  H. T. Scott journal

  Manuscripts

  This journal is H.T. Scott's account of his overland journey to California. Most of the daily entries document he and his party distance traveled that day, and where they camped. Upon arriving at Sonora in the final entry, Scott writes, "We can get plenty here to eat we was very glad when we could see the town sum." Dated 1852, April 13 through August 23. Also included is a photocopied facsimile of the diary.

  mssHM 52095

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  William Hayes Hilton sketches

  Manuscripts

  Nine sketchbooks containing sketches done by William Hayes Hilton during his travel around California, Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico from 1850-1870. The most common subjects of his drawings are gold miners in California; San Francisco and Monterey, California; and Tepic and Mazatlan, Mexico. His sketches include people, churches, and landscapes, and in several of them he drew the indigenous people of California and Mexico as well as Chinese people in California. Several of the sketchbooks have loose sketches and are in fragile condition.

  mssHilton

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  William L. Jackson journal

  Manuscripts

  Journal kept by William L. Jackson during his voyage up the Missouri River on board the Steamer Gallatin from April to June 1866. Jackson, who was traveling with his friend and fellow Civil War veteran John P. Eddy, kept nearly daily journal entries from the time he boarded the Gallatin at Fort Leavenworth on April 22 until June 14, three days before the accident that would cause his death. These entries describe life on board the steamer and its progress as well as Jackson's observations on various stops along the way, including St. Joseph, Nebraska City, Sioux City, Omaha, Fort Thompson, Fort Sully, Fort Rice, and Fort Berthold. Jackson, who was able to utilize his medical training when a passenger accidentally shot himself in the leg with his shot gun, was particularly observant of the conditions of local drug stores ("I never saw three dirtier drug stores," he remarked of Omaha). He also noted that Nebraska City was "full of men waiting to cross the plains, many of them...dead broke;" that Omaha was the starting point of the "great" Union Pacific Railroad and that he saw Teamsters, "Yahooes and Muleskiners," "swarthy" Mexicans, Indians "dressed in buckskin and blankets," boatmen, farmers, soldiers, and clerks in the streets together; and that Sioux City was "quite dull" but the people there had "high hopes" for a "big city" when the railroad came through. Jackson also records notes on Indians he saw or encountered, including "300 Indians...engaged in the massacre in Minnesota" who had been pardoned and were to be "turned adrift up the river;" members of the Winnebago tribe near the Little Sioux River, who were "very fair looking;" a "large encampment of Sioux" at Fort Thompson waiting to be moved to Yankton; and "3000 Siouxs" near Fort Rice who were "waiting to make a treaty with the government." Although not much interested in hunting, he reports that members of the crew shot at buffalo, antelope, and a gray wolf, as well as killing rattlesnakes. Despite his occasional bouts of homesickness, Jackson seems to have enjoyed the trip, which was however not without its technical difficulties, as the crew dealt with damaged pumps, a broken rudder, and a leaking boiler "apt to blow," and were "frightened out of our wits" by a ruptured steam pipe. A note at the end of the journal copied from the family Bible records Jackson's death after an accident caused by a burst flue on June 17 (he died from his injuries on June 19).

  mssHM 75878