Manuscripts

Diary of Robert S. Bliss, company B, Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army [microform] : 1846-1847

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Description: Microfilm of a diary kept by Robert S. Bliss while he was serving with Company "B" of the Mormon Battalion, United States Army. It traces the Company's travels from Colorado through Sonora, California, to San Diego, and Bliss's return trip as far as Fort Hall, Idaho. The diary details the months the Company spent at the San Luis Rey Mission, and includes observations, both positive and negative, on local Indians and Spaniards. The second microfilm reel contains a typescript of the diary.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1846; 1847
Call number: MSS MFilm 00412
Creator: Bliss, Robert S(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Microfilm of original from the San Diego Historical Society, c.1959.

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

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Mormon Battalion diary of Henry Standage

Manuscripts

Typescript of Henry Standage's diary, kept while he was serving in the Mormon Battalion from 1846-1847. The diary opens with his departure from Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the Mormon Battalion in July 1846. It traces their travels across the plains, including stopping at Fort Leavenworth, arriving in Santa Fe (where he recalls General Kearney's bloodless encounter with Mexican troops, and concludes "the Lord is...opening the way before us"), trading with Alpacha Indians, the taking of "Spanish prisoners," and the difficulties of marching and moving supplies. Once the Battalion had arrived in California, Standage records stopping in San Diego only to be ordered to march to San Luis Rey ("It does seem as though we should never have rest in the service of the United States," Standage complained), drilling in San Luis Rey before preparing to march to Los Angeles, derogatory remarks about the "Spaniards" in Los Angeles, a description of the city, and his interest in Roman Catholic ceremonies. The diary ends on July 19, 1847, while Standage was still in Los Angeles.

mssHM 16998

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 and account books of James Stephens Brown [microform]: 1849-1900

Manuscripts

Microfilm of assorted diaries, account books, and notes kept by James Stephen Brown. The microfilm includes fragments of diaries dated Ogden City 1860, Calhoun, Iowa, 1849, and Salt Lake 1859; a diary identified as Nottingham, England, which opens in 1857, when Brown delayed his mission work to participate in the Utah War, and traces his travels through Utah, his overland journey to New York, and his mission in England from 1860-1861; a second diary covering Brown's mission in England; an 1872 diary tracing his mission work in New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; an 1875-1876 diary describing his travels through Utah and mission to Navajos in Arizona; assorted family notes dated 1900; a typescript of Brown's 1875-1876 Navajo diary; an 1875-1876 Utah diary; a diary dated 1892 tracing a mission to the Society Islands; an account book dated 1863-1866; and a diary dated 1870, which mainly contains account notes from 1866-1870.

MSS MFilm 00623

Diaries of Thomas Judd [microform] : 1876-1908

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the diaries of Thomas Judd, covering the years 1876-1878 and 1906-1908. The first two diaries, dated 1876-1877 and 1877-1878, cover Judd's mission to Britain. The 1906 diary covers Judd's activities in La Verkin, his business trips around Washington County, and a trip to Las Vegas and California, including Los Angeles, Pasadena, several beaches, and Santa Catalina Island (where he took a glass bottom boat ride). The 1907 diary describes a second trip to California, including San Francisco, as well as Utah business activities, and the 1908 diary traces Judd's sea voyage from New York to Los Angeles. Portions of the diary are very faint and may be partially illegible.

MSS MFilm 00043

Diary of Walter S. Tolton [microform] : 1896-1934

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the diary of Walter Smith Tolton, covering the years 1896-1934. The diary opens when Tolton was leaving Beaver City for a mission to the Southern States, and briefly covers his experiences in Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina from 1896-1897. It then tracks his trek through Arizona and Mexico on his way to an exploring or missionary trip to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Colombia from 1900-1901. There are a also a variety of notes on the trip made after Tolton had returned to Utah, including lists of "some of the most important fruits we found." The remainder of the volume covers Tolton's daily life, primarily in Beaver City from 1925-1934. The last few frames of the microfilm include monthly records for the West Field Canal Co.

MSS MFilm 00056

Diary of Robert S. Bliss, company B, Mormon Battalion, U.S. Army [microform] : 1846-1847

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

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