Manuscripts
C. E. Smith letter to James Slusser
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E. C. Dunn diary
Manuscripts
The diary only contains one month of entries. In the diary Dunn talks about his experience of living in a mining camp near Weaverville. He talks in detail about snow storms that caused the roofs of buildings to cave in and rain that caused floods; his fellow miners, including one man who got drunk and was later found dead in the snow; prices of provisions such as beef, pork, flour, barley, and potatoes; a New Year's ball held at the Independence Hotel in Weaverville; and problems with competing miners in Stewart's Flat.
mssHM 67919
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John Groom letter to "My dier Wife and Children,"
Manuscripts
This letter was written by John Groom to "My dier Wife and Children," on September 22, 1850 from Georgetown, California. In this letter to his family, Groom describes his difficult journey from the Missouri River to California. He opens the letter about the hardships of his journey, which includes contracting the flu and mountain fever. He passes numerous graves while crossing the plains, which disheartens him. In California, he states that the prospects of mining for gold "looks very Gloomy." According to Groom, the chances are very slim. "I am speaking now of the late emegrtion per haps 1 in 20 makes theire half ounce a day and 1 in 50 is doing what we all expect to do that is to do well by hard work and aconemy while 1 in a 1000 is makeing there fortunes..." He reveals the harsh reality of the California Gold Rush, "...I tell you now that the dark side of callafornia has been kept hid while the good side has been mutch Exagerated there is not 1 man in 100 but wishes himself at home of this years emegration and every man almost without exepttion that can Raise the money is a going and has gone already for my part I am here without the means to get home..." He also includes details about the costly supplies in California. He concludes the letter, "...be content to stay where you are doing well or not for God forbid that I ever should be the cause of any man coming to Calafornia to get Gold..."
mssHM 68184
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E. Holbrook letters to Mrs. Holbrook
Manuscripts
In these two letters to his mother, Holbrook writes of his experiences in the Washington Territory and California. In HM 24543, written from Washington Territory on January 26, 1854, Holbrook writes of local politics and the project of establishing a railroad down the Pacific coast to California. HM 24544, written April 26, 1854 in Sonora, California, contains Holbrook's description of that region, and he compares it with Washington.
mssHM 24543-24544
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Glenn W. Herrick letter to Anna C. Stryke
Manuscripts
In this letter, Glenn Herrick describes a trip to California and apologizes for not making it to Miss Stryke's home in Pasadena. He goes on to document a visit to Redondo Beach and Rose Hill in Southern California. He and his wife then traveled by train to San Jose. They traveled to Palo Alto to see Stanford University and had a chance meeting with David Starr Jordan with whom during a half hour chat "couldn't get away from his peace ideas." He entreats Miss Stryke to see the University and compares it with Cornell. They travel to San Francisco and find luxuriously apartments on Nob Hill only a block away from Leland Stanford's former residence. Mr. Herrick and his wife find San Francisco more interesting than Los Angeles, but much colder. He advises that when Miss Stryke visits San Francisco that she look for rooms West of Market Street. In closing, he apologizes for missing the visit in Pasadena.
mssHM 47535
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George C. (George Congdon) Gorham letter to William Worth Belknap
Manuscripts
Letter sent by George C. Gorham to William Worth Belknap from San Francisco. Gorham writes of a "personal and...very small but very important matter." He writes that "a hundred votes ones way or another" may decide a 3rd District Congressional race between "an ardent Grant Republican and an original secessionist." He asks Belknap to telegraph the "Engineer officer in charge here" and ask him to appoint John Gannon as foreman of laborers on the Lime Point fortification in the San Francisco harbor. Gorham adds that Gannon only wants the position for a short time, and "does not want to retain it after the election." Gorham implores Belknap that such a telegraph would "ensure a Congressman."
mssHM 29235
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S. S. Haws letter to his family
Manuscripts
In this letter addressed "Dear Wife & Children," S.S. Haws describes his five-month journey. He stops at the Bay of All Saints on his way around Cape Horn, breaking up a potentially deadly quarrel between the ship captain and mate along the way. He arrives in California on September 15, 1852, and makes his way to Sacramento, where he began mining, and then on to San Francisco. Of the current condition of mining, he writes, "It is true much gold has been and is still being dug but when you take into consideration the numbers engaged and the vast amount of toil privation and suffering performed and endured to obtain it dwindles down into mere nothingness." He writes of the fire that very nearly consumed Sacramento in its entirety, and the ensuing effect on prices of goods. He also gives news of mutual acquaintences who have also made the journey from New York to California, and reports he has "become quite a practitioner in various diseases," owing in no small part to the continuing growth of the California cities.
mssHM 17476