Manuscripts

C. E. Smith letter to James Slusser

Image not available

Description: C. E. Smith's letter describes business prospects and means in San José; he compares conditions there to the East Coast. In addition, Smith describes farming and livestock raising and the salaries that farmhands make. He also notes that he makes twenty-five dollars a month, only working when he wants to do so. With envelope.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1859 April 16.
Call number: mssHM 83997
Creator: Smith, C. E(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from The Wayfarer's Bookshop, March 2020.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights

E. C. Dunn diary

Manuscripts

The diary only contains one month of entries. In the diary Dunn talks about his experience of living in a mining camp near Weaverville. He talks in detail about snow storms that caused the roofs of buildings to cave in and rain that caused floods; his fellow miners, including one man who got drunk and was later found dead in the snow; prices of provisions such as beef, pork, flour, barley, and potatoes; a New Year's ball held at the Independence Hotel in Weaverville; and problems with competing miners in Stewart's Flat.

mssHM 67919

Image not available

John Groom letter to "My dier Wife and Children,"

Manuscripts

This letter was written by John Groom to "My dier Wife and Children," on September 22, 1850 from Georgetown, California. In this letter to his family, Groom describes his difficult journey from the Missouri River to California. He opens the letter about the hardships of his journey, which includes contracting the flu and mountain fever. He passes numerous graves while crossing the plains, which disheartens him. In California, he states that the prospects of mining for gold "looks very Gloomy." According to Groom, the chances are very slim. "I am speaking now of the late emegrtion per haps 1 in 20 makes theire half ounce a day and 1 in 50 is doing what we all expect to do that is to do well by hard work and aconemy while 1 in a 1000 is makeing there fortunes..." He reveals the harsh reality of the California Gold Rush, "...I tell you now that the dark side of callafornia has been kept hid while the good side has been mutch Exagerated there is not 1 man in 100 but wishes himself at home of this years emegration and every man almost without exepttion that can Raise the money is a going and has gone already for my part I am here without the means to get home..." He also includes details about the costly supplies in California. He concludes the letter, "...be content to stay where you are doing well or not for God forbid that I ever should be the cause of any man coming to Calafornia to get Gold..."

mssHM 68184

Image not available

E. Holbrook letters to Mrs. Holbrook

Manuscripts

In these two letters to his mother, Holbrook writes of his experiences in the Washington Territory and California. In HM 24543, written from Washington Territory on January 26, 1854, Holbrook writes of local politics and the project of establishing a railroad down the Pacific coast to California. HM 24544, written April 26, 1854 in Sonora, California, contains Holbrook's description of that region, and he compares it with Washington.

mssHM 24543-24544

Image not available

Glenn W. Herrick letter to Anna C. Stryke

Manuscripts

In this letter, Glenn Herrick describes a trip to California and apologizes for not making it to Miss Stryke's home in Pasadena. He goes on to document a visit to Redondo Beach and Rose Hill in Southern California. He and his wife then traveled by train to San Jose. They traveled to Palo Alto to see Stanford University and had a chance meeting with David Starr Jordan with whom during a half hour chat "couldn't get away from his peace ideas." He entreats Miss Stryke to see the University and compares it with Cornell. They travel to San Francisco and find luxuriously apartments on Nob Hill only a block away from Leland Stanford's former residence. Mr. Herrick and his wife find San Francisco more interesting than Los Angeles, but much colder. He advises that when Miss Stryke visits San Francisco that she look for rooms West of Market Street. In closing, he apologizes for missing the visit in Pasadena.

mssHM 47535

Image not available

George C. (George Congdon) Gorham letter to William Worth Belknap

Manuscripts

Letter sent by George C. Gorham to William Worth Belknap from San Francisco. Gorham writes of a "personal and...very small but very important matter." He writes that "a hundred votes ones way or another" may decide a 3rd District Congressional race between "an ardent Grant Republican and an original secessionist." He asks Belknap to telegraph the "Engineer officer in charge here" and ask him to appoint John Gannon as foreman of laborers on the Lime Point fortification in the San Francisco harbor. Gorham adds that Gannon only wants the position for a short time, and "does not want to retain it after the election." Gorham implores Belknap that such a telegraph would "ensure a Congressman."

mssHM 29235

Image not available

John Muir letter to Katharine Putnam Hooker

Manuscripts

In this letter to his friend Katherine Hooker, John Muir describes a pleasant voyage to "The River." He describes approaching Para (Belém) and the sight of a "glorious view of fifty miles or so of forest on the right bank of the river." He explains that the experience of that alone is "noble compensation" for waiting all these years for the Amazon journey. He expects to start for Manaus in a day or two and spend at least a month on the river engaged in tough, but lovely work. He hopes Katherine is in the mountains with Marian and promises to tell her about the forest when he gets back.

mssHM 31153

C. E. Smith letter to James Slusser

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

E. C. Dunn diary

John Groom letter to "My dier Wife and Children,"

E. Holbrook letters to Mrs. Holbrook

Glenn W. Herrick letter to Anna C. Stryke

George C. (George Congdon) Gorham letter to William Worth Belknap

John Muir letter to Katharine Putnam Hooker