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to Mary [Kelly]

Praises the Mormons for having planted fruit and shade trees around their dwellings from their earliest settlement. Reports that gentile merchants and trade from the emigrants to California has made Salt Lake City a business center. Kelly was Moore...

GLC04194.20

to Mary Kelly

Reports that he left Camp Floyd, Utah, to punish Indians who were murdering emigrants on the North California road; Moore's party attacked an Indian encampment at dawn, killing twenty and driving off the rest.

GLC04194.22

to Mary Kelly

Reports that he has been ordered to accompany the dragoons, who are going out to protect the Emigrant Road. He will camp near Fort Hall, or Lewis Fork of the Columbia River, in Oregon. He is to be sent because the only other doctor had been sent...

GLC04194.31

to James Kelly

Explains that two thirds of the forces with him are out constantly escorting emigrants. Many of the travelers are extremely ignorant, and some sell their weapons to the "very Indians that lay an ambuscade for them at the first canyon they pass...

GLC04194.32

to Mary Kelly

Reports that there have been "no Indian troubles" around Fort Hall yet, and that the emigration is nearly over. Estimates 3,000 people have passed over the road near him and "probably twice that number over the road through Salt Lake and Camp Floyd...

GLC04194.33

to Mary Black

Writes to his friend chastising her for not sending her address sooner. Describes his living conditions and mentions that a gust took off part of his roof during a rain storm. Discusses his lack of reading material. Reports the hanging of a...

GLC04241

to John Young Mason

Writes from the Border Post Office about the effect of gold in California and announces his plans to be among the miners shortly. Asks Secretary of the Navy Mason to put in a good word with the President so he may receive an appointment once he...

GLC04897.04

[Collection of letters from a miner to his wife regarding California] [decimalized]

Written to his wife Ann (occasionally spelled Anne or Ruth Ann) in Chicago. Conger and his wife were both born in New York and lived in Chicago after 1860 and through the 1880 U.S. Census. Conger worked for the U.S. Police.

GLC04672

to Ann Conger

Misdated, possibly 17 June 1868. Explains to his wife that he does not write often because the post office is very far away. He believes the mountain air is good for him and feels better than he has in ten years. Says that the food seems to taste...

GLC04672.01

to Anne Conger

Writes to his wife detailing his journey from the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco. Writes aboard the Aspenwall and the Oregonian, from the coasts of Nicaragua, Mexico, and California. Describes the Panamanian natives and an old town that had...

GLC04672.02

to Anne Conger

Writes to his wife that he has stopped in Sacramento due to illness. Writes about his plans to continue to Plumas County by steamboat, stage, and sleigh. Due to the difficulty in transportation, he may not be able to write often. The included...

GLC04672.03

to Ann Conger

Writes to his wife that he has walked 120 miles in four days and still has another 130 miles to go into the mountains. His feet are sore but he feels great. Describes sleeping on the ground and the arduous journey ahead of him. The included...

GLC04672.04

to Ann Conger

Writes to his wife that he is working hard for his mining company. Reports that the weather is cold and that the nearest post office is forty miles away. Describes the food and says that the men in the company take turns cooking and baking. The...

GLC04672.05

to Ann Conger

Writes to his wife about how mountain life agrees with him. Describes the local mountain men as uncivilized and sickly. Reports that he is in Indian country where the natives are killing the new settlers and plans on leaving for Red Bluff in the...

GLC04672.06

to Ann Conger

Writes to his wife about the lack of correspondence he has received, and desperately wishes to hear from her. Explains that Gurkes Ranch is a 150-acre vineyard and describes all the fruit he has been eating. He wishes he was able to send Ann a...

GLC04672.07

A tour of duty in California; including a description of the gold region: and an account of the voyage around cape Horn...

Title continues "with notices of lower California, the Gulf and Pacific coasts, and the principal events attending the conquest of the Californias." California scenes include a quicksilver mine, California capital Monterey, the Sacramento River, and...

GLC04708

to Mary.

He has heard that Orson and Gaffer have died and Eddie has had an accident. He worries that his letters to her may be ignored or returned. He is amazed that "one so kind hearted could be so hard and unforgiving." He will continue to send money...

GLC05245.19

to Owen Horsfall

He thanks Owen for the "nicest and newsiest letter" yet. He will send money to Owen for a vacation and to Aunt Annie for his parents' headstones. He advises Owen that diet is the key to perfect health. He wants the whole family to visit next...

GLC05245.20

to Owen Horsfall

He is sending Owen and Eddie several gifts including watch chains and Eskimo trinkets. The river has seven inches of frozen ice and the skating is terrific. He recommends "a regular and judicious course of athletics and gymnastics" as health is...

GLC05245.21

to boys

Mush ice is forming in the Bering Sea and "the great white silence" is coming. He would do anything to see them. He sent them the gifts and not money because he wants them "to be able to put on as good an appearance as anyone." He counsels Eddie...

GLC05245.22

to Owen Horsfall

He wishes he could see the family and wishes them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The Army company in Alaska will be relieved next year. "Nome has become quite metropolitan" and he will soon be a member of the "Arctic Brotherhood." They...

GLC05245.23

to Owen Horsfall

Smith the mailman set a record with his dogteam averaging 100 miles per day. He explains the idea that glaciers or volcanoes left the gold nuggets and that Alaska was originally tropical. The Republicans are "between the devil and the deep sea"...

GLC05245.24

to Owen Horsfall

Hopes to get a mail contractor's position as the pay is not bad. Will try to visit them next summer if possible. Telegraphic news told of "imminent" war between Russia and Japan, a Chicago theatre fire, and a railroad wreck. Wishes he were better...

GLC05245.25

to Owen Horsfall

Writes that he is proud of Owen's studies and not surprised at Eddie "having a girl." Read that a captain is going to leave Port Clarence and try to reach the North Pole by the Northwest Passage. Mentions that anthracite was used as coal for the...

GLC05245.26

to Owen Horsfall

Plans to go to the Koyukuks. States his chances of obtaining a mail position are "nil." Writes that he has "given [Mary] freedom through the court" and expects she will choose another man. He still respects her but feels that both she and the...

GLC05245.27