Manuscripts

A journal of Captain Jonathan P. Smith's train to California [microform] : 1862

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Description: Diary kept by an unknown member of the Jonathan P. Smith party, which traveled from Iowa to Utah from May-September 1862. The brief journal recalls daily progress, camping along the Platte River, the "horrible scene of one of our wagons turning over with women and children in it" (no one was injured), passing Mormon pioneers, passing by Fort Laramie, traveling through the Black Hills, following the Sweetwater River, passing pioneer graves along the Snake River, and being robbed by Indians at the Raft River, after which "some [of the company] gave up to die on the plain" until relief arrived from Salt Lake City. The writer notes that the party arrived in Salt Lake, where they spent the winter. This version was copied from the original diary in 1908.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1862
Call number: MSS MFilm 00244
Provenance: Microfilm of original loaned by George Baker through Juanita Brooks, November 5, 1951.

Journal no. 16 [microform]: 1857-1863

Manuscripts

Typescript of Amasa Lyman's journal, identified as Journal #16, with entries spanning the years from 1857-1863. The first part describes Lyman's travels from April 18, 1857, to July 2, 1857, along the California Road and Indian Trail from the Rio Virgin. It continues with his participation in an exploratory party that traveled south from Cedar City, Utah, to Las Vegas, the Vegas Fort, and the Mojave Desert from January-May 1858, and also charts its return to Salt Lake City. References are made to Hyatt's war with the Apaches and Lyman's encounters with an Indian chief he calls Oat-sen-a-wantz. The final section of the diary, kept from December 1862 to April 1863, describes Lyman's daily life near Farmington, Utah, including his attendance of the local theatre, a listing of the books he was reading, and his encounters with John Taylor. Includes a description of the original diary.

MSS MFilm 00030

Diary of Moses Franklin Farnsworth [microform] : 1862-1864

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a diary kept by Moses Farnsworth during his British mission from 1862-1864. The diary opens with a detailed account of his travels from Salt Lake City to New York and sailing to Liverpool. The rest of the diary recounts his mission work and attendance of church conferences, primarily in Sunderland, Newcastle, and Dudley. At the back of the volume is a list of mission fund contributors.

MSS MFilm 00183

Diaries of Azariah Smith [microform] : 1846-1912

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the diaries of Azariah Smith, covering the years from 1846-1912. The first volume opens with some brief autobiographical information on his family's life in Nauvoo and persecutions against the Mormons in Missouri. The journal begins in 1846 and covers Smith's time with the Mormon Battalion, his arrival in Salt Lake City in 1848, and a daily record of his life in Salt Lake, the Sanpete Valley, Ephraim, Provo, and primarily Manti through 1887 (page 224 includes a sketch of Smith's homestead). Following the diary are some loose notes and diary pages, a marriage certificate for Smith and Sevilla Mitchell (1903), some genealogical notes, and a list of names of women sealed to Smith. The second diary volume covers Smith's life in Manti from 1888-1912.

MSS MFilm 00314

Diaries of Bert Loper [microform]: 1893-1946

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a photostat typescript of various materials related to Bert Loper. The reel begins with a letter from Loper to Brooks dated Oct. 28, 1946, and diary excerpts which describe his first foray in boating and four subsequent river trips. The first diary excerpt begins in 1893, and briefly covers Loper's return to Montezuma County and his discovery of boating while on the San Juan River. In the following section, he records his 1921 trip on the San Juan River as the boatman for a party from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) doing a preliminary survey for the Glen Canyon Dam. The trip, funded by the Southern California Edison Company, began near Bluff, Utah and ended at Lee's Ferry, Arizona. Loper describes the daily activities in camp and along the river, recording his travel through rapids and canyons. Loper also talks about the creation of Hole-in-the-Rock Trail and the Mormon settlement of Bluff, Utah. Following this diary is Loper's incomplete diary of a 1907 trip to prospect for gold on the Green and Colorado Rivers with Charles Silver Russell and Edwin Monett. The party successfully navigated their boats through the rapids of the Cataract Canyon Wilderness in Utah. The diary ends in December of 1907, when Loper was at Ticaboo, Utah. The next diary excerpt describes a 1922 trip, during which Loper was the head boatman on a survey by the USGS to amalgamate previous surveys done on the Green River from Green River, Wyoming to Green River, Utah. Funded by the Utah Power & Light Company, the trip also surveyed different dam sites. The final diary excerpt is from a 1939 trip on the Colorado River from Lee's Ferry to Lake Mead.

MSS MFilm 00052

Journal of Benjamin F. Cummings [microform] : 1855-1857

Manuscripts

Microfilm of Benjamin Franklin Cummings' account of his time with the Salmon River mission from 1855 to 1857. Begins with the formation of the mission group and their departure from Ogden, Utah, and includes references to interactions with Nez Percé Indians, the building of the settlement at Salmon River, Cummings' meetings with Brigham Young, and his periodic trips back to Ogden and Salt Lake City. Includes one illustration of a sunset.

MSS MFilm 00068

Diary of Robert S. Bliss, Private, company B, Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army [microform] : 1848

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a typescript of the diary of Robert S. Bliss, covering January to May 1848. The diary recounts Bliss's time in Salt Lake City and his overland travel toward Garden Grove, with the final entry made when he was forty-two miles from Winter Quarters. The original diary is included later on the microfilm reel, along with a typescript copy of Bliss's 1846-1847 diary. The microfilm also includes letters reading the diary dated 1915-1928, and addressed to and from the Gallery of California, Panama-California Exposition, in San Diego, the Daughters of the Mormon Battalion, Margaret V. Allen, George I. Putnam, and Mary J. Clawson.

MSS MFilm 00424

A journal of Captain Jonathan P. Smith's train to California [microform] : 1862

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Journal no. 16 [microform]: 1857-1863

Diary of Moses Franklin Farnsworth [microform] : 1862-1864

Diaries of Azariah Smith [microform] : 1846-1912

Diaries of Bert Loper [microform]: 1893-1946

Journal of Benjamin F. Cummings [microform] : 1855-1857

Diary of Robert S. Bliss, Private, company B, Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army [microform] : 1848