George Ely diaries

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  Pocket diary of John Lewis

  Manuscripts

  Pocket diary that Lewis kept from Jan. 1 through Mar. 2, 1862, when the regiment was occupying Loudoun Heights (Va.) On Mar. 2 he went home on furlough, at which point the diary ends. Very short entries hastily scribbled in pencil, recording marching orders received, a skirmish near Staunton, news of officers and soldiers died of wounds and taken prisoner, etc. The diary fills 20 pages of the Pocket Diary for 1862, Containing an Almanac for New York, St. Louis, and San Francisco... (Cambridgeport, Mass.: Published annually by Denton & Wood, 1862).

  mssHM 68420

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  George Stein diary

  Manuscripts

  George Stein kept this diary while on several fishing and camping trips in Washington State from 1934 to 1936. Besides diary entries about his fishing trips, Stein also includes lists of equipment needed for fishing, fly fishing, and camping, as well as details about fish flies and rods, and auto repairs he performs on his car. Also included is a "Camp Food Check List" by Stein.

  mssHM 84020

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  Ely Samuel Parker letters to Robert Campbell

  Manuscripts

  Two letters from Ely Parker to frontiersman and fur trader Robert Campbell (1804-1879), written during Parker's time as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The first letter regards instructions for establishing agencies for Red Cloud and Spotted Tail's Sioux bands. Parker writes that Red Cloud has requested an agency at Fort Laramie or Fort Fetterman, but Parker instead recommends that the agency be kept on existing Indian land at Raw Hide Buttes rather than being moved to government land. He gives similar instructions for Spotted Tail, also stipulating that the locations selected by suitable for agriculture and have supplies of water and timber. The second letter accompanied payment for Campbell's purchase of "articles" for Navajo Indians. Both letters are on Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs letterhead.

  mssHM 74522-74523

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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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  Edward W. Syle diary

  Manuscripts

  Edward W. Syle began writing this diary in April 1851 after six years of missionary work in China, though he still expressed shock at cultural differences. When he moved to San Francisco, he seemed distressed to find the Chinese so ragged and impoverished, and disappointed by the widespread discrimination they faced. He also commented on the circumstances of various Gold Rush mining camps. After he left San Francisco, the closing months of this diary were written back in Shanghai in October 1856.

  mssHM 83407

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  Charles Rowe diaries

  Manuscripts

  Three diaries kept by Charles Rowe when he was living and working in California, Nevada, and Missouri from 1852-1864. The first diary covers 1852-1853 and begins when Rowe had just arrived in San Francisco from New York. It primarily recalls his experiences at Mission San Jose, where he worked as a farmer for $60 a month. He also describes some events at the Mission, such as a "bullfight ...at which two Indians were killed" (May 2, 1852). The second diary, dated 1854-1855, continues with Rowe's work at Mission San Jose, as well as his farm work on Captain Beard's Ranch and the E.M. Knowles Ranch (both apparently near Santa Clara, California), and his mining at Dutch Flat, California, and in Nevada. The final diary, dated 1861-1864, was kept while he was living near Springfield and Sharon, Missouri, during the Civil War. Rowe writes about troops coming to town, but most of the entries focus on his daily activities. The diary was kept from 1861-1862, but also includes account notes from 1864.

  mssHM 50575-50577