Morris B. Parker Papers

This collection consists of typescripts, diaries, notebooks, and photographs. There are three typescripts, the first was written in 1941 and is an autobiography that details Parker's life from his high school days in New York to his times in Alaska, Mexico, and New Mexico as a mining engineer and assayer, to his retirement in Hermosa Beach, California. The next typescript was written in 1945 and is titled "History and my story about White Oaks 1880-1900." Partly drawn from his autobiography, this typescript gives more depth into his families' life in White Oaks as mine owners and as a prominent family in the community, it includes 8 photographs. This typescript was published in 1971 as Morris B. Parker's White Oaks; life in a New Mexico gold camp, 1880-1900 and was edited by Charles Leland Sonnichsen (1901-). The last typescript was written in 1947 and is titled "Mules, mines, and me in Mexico." Also building upon information from his autobiography, this typescript covers Parker's life in Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico and his extensive travels throughout the region as a mining engineer and consultant for such mining companies as Fortuna-North Tigre, La República, and many others, it includes 103 photographs. In this typescript he discusses the following people: Plutarco Elias Calles (1877-1945), Britton Davis (1860-1930), James Stuart Douglas (1868-1949), William Cornell Greene (1853- 1911), George Wylie Paul Hunt (1859-1934), William Colt MacDonald (1891-1968), Pascual Orozco (1882-1915), Luis Terrazas (1829-1923), and Pancho Villa (1878-19223). Parker also covers the Mexico Revolution, 1910-1920 and conflicts with Yaqui Indians. This typescript was published in 1979 as Morris B. Parker's Mules, mines, and me in Mexico, 1895-1932 and was edited by James M. Day.

The diaries give accounts of the daily life of Morris B. Parker from when he was in high school to his travels and life while in Alaska, Mexico, and New Mexico. The notebooks go into the minute details of his trips to various mines as a mining consultant, engineer and assayer, including traveling conditions, itemized travel expenses, drawings of mine shafts, different calculations of ores he assayed, and discussions of the cyanide process of extracting ore.

The photographs that were originally with the typescripts have been removed and placed into Boxes 5 and 6. Negatives taken of the original pages that the photographs were mounted on are in Box 6.