Manuscripts

Richard C. Backus travel diary

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Description: The travel diary documents Richard C. Backus' road trip from New York to Los Angeles with typewritten notes and labeled photographs. The diary includes details regarding their trip and the various people and places they visited along the way through Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The typewritten notes include details about miles driven, car trouble and repairs (the group traveled in three vehicles), and road and weather conditions. The diary also includes a hand-drawn map of the group's driving route.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1919 September-December.
Call number: mssHM 84014
Creator: Backus, Richard C(Opens in new tab)

Electus Backus diaries and letters

Manuscripts

The 31-page diary by Electus Backus covers his time traveling from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas in 1850 and 1851. In the diary he talks about Bishop John Lamy, Lorenzo Sitgreaves, Dr. S. W. Woodhouse, members of the Sitgreaves Expedition, as well as the bad weather and the landscape and inhabitants of Texas. He also discusses his journey from El Paso to Albuquerque. There is one diary page by Backus in June 1848 while he was taking part in the Mexican War in Puebla, Mexico, the site where Santa Ana executed Mexia; he mentions meeting General Stephen Kearny. There is also one page of a diary by Backus from 1860 while he was living in El Paso. There are also several letters and statements regarding Backus' protest against and disagreement with a letter by the Secretary of War, Charles Conrad, stating that he was commissioned to Major of the 3rd U.S. Infantry on October 10, 1850; Backus believed it was June 10 instead. This material includes letters by Backus to Adjutant General Roger Jones and Senator Jefferson Davis, who was on the Committee of Military Affairs, along with a statement of facts by Backus. There is also a copy of a letter by Backus to Colonel Samuel Cooper in August 1860 about his commission date. Also included is a 5-page manuscript by Hugh Brady about his brother, Samuel Brady, Indian fighter of western Pennsylvania (the draft is in Backus' handwriting - Hugh Brady was Backus' father-in-law). There is also one letter by Electus Backus, Sr., to his brother Andrew in New York. This letter was written while he was with the US Army in New Orleans in 1809.

mssHM 71476-71481

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Electus Backus diary

Manuscripts

The diary (48 pages), which covers November 23, 1851-April 18, 1852, details Backus's experience as commander of Fort Defiance, Arizona, and particularly the army's interactions with the Navajo, the Hopi, and the Apache Indians, including the Indians coming to the fort to trade and buy supplies, Backus's relationships with various Navajo chiefs, and failed treaty negotiations with the Navajo by Edwin Sumner and Territorial Governor James S. Calhoun. Backus also describes his frustration with late supply shipments, his fear that his troops will starve, and the various problems brought on with the winter weather including the death of cattle and horses. Backus also mentions gold and "jewel" mines in the area

mssHM 66248

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Electus Backus manuscript and letters

Manuscripts

The manuscript relates Backus' experiences with the First Infantry Regiment during the Mexican War, from his departure from Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, in May 1846, until he left Vera Cruz in July 1848 to return home to the United States. Backus describes in detail his regiment's march; their occupations of Burita, Reinoso, Veracruz and Mexico City; the Battle of Monterrey; his time in charge of the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa; and the violence which continued after the official end of the war. Backus specifically mentions Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, Mariano Arista, Antonio Canales, and Antonio López de Santa Anna. At the end of the manuscript are several newspaper clippings regarding Electus Backus and the Mexican War. Accompanying the manuscript are two letters written by Backus further describing his experience in the Mexican War. The letters are addressed to Senator Alpheus Felch and to Backus' father-in-law, General Hugh Brady. The manuscript and letters may have been written by Backus to support his request for a promotion. There are also several sketches of Monterrey, which are drawn by Backus.

mssHM 66663-66666

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Alpha Marsh Cary travel diary

Manuscripts

Although the diary is unsigned, it is reasonable to believe the diary was written by Alpha Marsh Cary from San Diego. The diary was kept during a journey that she and her parents took from San Diego to the East Coast and back again. Besides visiting family along the way, and in upstate New York, the family traveled through Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and New York City. On their journey home, they visited family in Colorado, stopped at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, and visited San Francisco. The author details some of the activities she did while on the trip including reading, sewing, playing cards, going to amusement parks and Vaudeville shows, and seeing "moving pictures." The family also toured a medical museum near Washington, DC, led by its head, Dr. Daniel Lamb, and the Johns Hopkins Institute. They traveled by automobiles, train, streetcars, and even a steamer.

mssHM 84017

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Mrs. C. H. Ackerman diary

Manuscripts

Mrs. C. H. Ackerman wrote this diary of her travels from July to September 1886. She and her husband Neal took a trip starting from Susquehanna, PA to Wilkes-Barre, going on to Patterson, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City where they stayed at the Coates House, and then to Fort Leavenworth. From there, they traveled to Denver, Colorado Springs, Leadville, San Francisco, Yosemite, and Salt Lake City. The diary also covers their trip back east with numerous observations concerning mining towns, seeing many Chinese quarters in the larger towns, and noting the scenery. Mrs. C. H. Ackerman provided a faithful and candid description of her travels through the American West, covering both the elegant and refined to the arduous and exhausting to the awe-inspiring. With the diary is a letter by E. R. Payson to Mrs. Ackerman, 1890, February 17.

mssHM 83113

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Western travel diary

Manuscripts

Travel diary by an unknown author documenting a train trip across the United States from Massachusetts to Yellowstone National Park and ending in Cleveland, Ohio. The diary is accompanied by a complete transcript.

mssHM 83423

Richard C. Backus travel diary

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