Manuscripts

L. Benedict diary of a trip to California and the Pacific Northwest

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Description: In the diary, Benedict describes his travels by train through the American West and Canada. He begins in Chicago, travels to San Diego, then heads north along the Pacific Coast to Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, and finally travels through Canada back to Ontario. Benedict talks about the different regions he passes through and the various scenic attractions, and the populations found in western cities, including Chinese districts and Mormons in Salt Lake City. He also makes comments on the large numbers of gold seekers in San Francisco, Portland, and Tacoma, waiting to depart for the Klondike gold rush. Loose in the diary are three items including notes, Benedict's business card, and a promotional booklet for Riverside, California entitled "The Greatest Orange Growing City in the World."
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1898.
Call number: mssHM 84028

California trip

Manuscripts

Diary kept by an unnamed Massachusetts man during his travels by train from Chicago to Los Angeles and his subsequent stay in California. The first half of the diary includes colorful descriptions of scenery and local people as the author traveled through St. Louis, Little Rock, New Orleans (which he called "the most foreign looking American city I know of and with the exception of Chicago, the most filthy"), El Paso, much of Arizona, and through the San Gorgonio Pass to the San Gabriel Valley. In this section the author also writes of racial segregation in the Southern states, his observance of stage actress Maud Granger and "her actor lover" on a train in Arizona, and his tour of the Arizona Territorial Prison. The second half of the diary covers his stay in California, where he had gone to see his mother and sister for the first time in 13 years. He writes of his impressions of Los Angeles as "a bright town...clean and new," of traveling up the coast to Santa Barbara, camping in Dos Pueblos Canyon, a trip to San Francisco, and his awe at seeing Mt. Shasta.

mssHM 75026

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Sheldon Young diaries of his trip to California

Manuscripts

Two diaries kept by Sheldon Young as he traveled from Illinois to California in 1849. The first, brief diary covers March 19-28 and begins with Young's departure from Joliet, Illinois, with Hiram White and Pears G. Pearson. It records their travels as far as Galesburg, Illinois. The second diary picks up on May 19 (the pages for March 29-May 18, June 21-July 1, and October 14-November 8 are missing). The near daily entries record miles traveled, buffalo hunting, deaths from cholera, and the lack of food and water. The diary specifically mentions stopping at Fort Kearney, seeing Castle Rock, crossing the Platte River on a raft, following the Green River, stopping at Fort Bridger, encountering Snake and Piute Indians, traveling through Little Salt Lake City, the departure of the Bug Smashers, the abandonment of wagons after Christmas 1849, arriving in the Mojave Desert, a cattle stampede, and the arrival in San Francisquito on February 4, 1850. The final few pages of the diary recount Young's arrival in San Francisco on February 26, 1850, reaching Sacramento in early March, and departing San Francisco on board the Swift on October 13, 1850. Young recounts the shipboard deaths of several passengers, including his traveling companion Wolfgang Tauber, who had also been with Young in Death Valley. He concludes with the Swift's arrival in Panama in December 1850.

mssHM 75663-75664

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Diary of a trip to California

Manuscripts

The diary chronicles Margaret's travels from June 10 to August 27, 1911, primarily in Northern California. The first week of the journal details her trip alone by train from Niagara Falls to California, with descriptions of Niagara Falls and sites in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona including Cripple Creek, Albuquerque, and the Grand Canyon; some entries include observations of local Native Americans. The rest of the journal consists of descriptions of travels by train and car in California. Locations visited in Southern California include Los Angeles, Pasadena, Venice Beach, Pomona, and Santa Barbara. After June 23, Margaret was based in the Bay Area town of San Rafael with multiple excursions to San Francisco and around Northern California. Her entries describe people met and interacted with, travel methods, homes and architecture, local landmarks and history, flora and landscape, missions and churches, and weather. There are frequent mentions of Aunt May and Uncle Will, who met her in Pasadena and possibly lived in San Rafael; Aunt May, and occasionally Uncle Will, usually accompanied her on her excursions to San Francisco and around California. Entries regarding San Francisco mention Ethel Barrymore plays, the Cliff House restaurant, Golden Gate Park and its zoo and Japanese Tea Garden, Chinatown, and the effects of the 1906 earthquake. She briefly describes attending a women's suffrage event (an Equality Tea) on August 4 and rally on August 25 and mentions a suffrage amendment on the ballot that year in California. Sites traveled to in Northern California include St. Helena and the Chabot estate vineyards; the Guerneville area and the Russian River; Santa Rosa, including a visit to Luther Burbank and his gardens; a fruit farm in Los Gatos; and Eureka and other areas in Humboldt County. The journal also includes a draft or copy of a letter from Margaret to her mother written in San Rafael and dated August 27. The final nine pages of the diary are additional notes on travels in Humboldt County, many of which are crossed out. There are also several pages of loose notes, two envelopes, and a receipt. The journal is unbound and is handwritten in ink on loose paper.

mssHM 84033

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Edward King diary of a trip to Japan and China

Manuscripts

In his diary, King writes about his travels across Japan and China beginning with his departure from Shanghai to Nagasaki in March 1859. He writes in detail about his journey including the food on board, Japanese officials, local customs, the difficulty of changing money, and his visits to Nagasaki and Dejima. King's diary also covers his travel to Ningbo, China where he also writes in detail about the people and culture. The diary also includes a 2-page list of English-Japanese vocabulary, a fold-out map of Nagasaki, a Japan treasury certificate, and 25 pages of Japanese colored woodblock prints.

mssHM 84029

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Overland trip to California

Manuscripts

This journal describes Stimson's travels from Wisconsin to California during 1850, and his ensuing search for gold. He eventually sells his interest in a mining company and returns home by ship. Additional notes written by Stimson in 1900. Typescript from original.

mssHM 50451

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Journey of an overland trip from Missouri to California

Manuscripts

This volume is Gorgas' diary of his journey from St. Joseph, Missouri to Placerville, CA, and his return trip to New York via the Panama Canal as part of the California Gold Rush of the mid-19th century. Much of the early entries are concerned with weather conditions and landscape and route details. Gorgas and his party finally reach Placerville on July 26, the ninetieth day of their journey, and begin digging for gold outside Sacramento in August. On February 1, 1851, Gorgas boarded a ship, the Olive Branch, bound for New York by way of the Panama Canal, intending to return home to his much-missed family. He lands at Jamaica on April 1, and arrives at New York on April 8. Dated 1850, April 28 through 1851, April 8. Notes include price charts and signatures of people Gorgas may have met during his travels. Includes newspaper clipping with picture of Placerville, CA, circa 1850, and a four-page handwritten timeline of Gorgas' journey (not in his hand).

mssHM 651

L. Benedict diary of a trip to California and the Pacific Northwest

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