1861-1877

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

re: "A quiet, lonesome, pleasant Sunday afternoon, the grass is commencing to look green . . . ."

GLC05201.031

Circa 1893

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

re: "It just occurs to me that if you enclose this letter in one of your own nice letters to Sister, it will save me some work," [1893/4/8, and the next three undated letters may have been part of a packet of letters sent from Arthur Hartsuff to his wife at one time, do not separate]

GLC05201.032

13 March 1893

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Envelope

Title: to Florence Hartsuff

re: Florence Hartsuff, 147 Montagne St. Brooklyn, N. Y. , envelope with two cent postage stamp and cancellations for Fort Omaha (March 13), Omaha, NEB (March 13), and Brooklyn, N. Y. (March 15).] Written at Fort Omaha

GLC05201.033

27 November 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling little girl"

re: Hartsuff writes to Florence at boarding school and tells her about the preparations for war which began, without warning, on Sunday, 11/24 with a sudden call to arms. Hartsuff's unit, plus three artillery batteries have been put on standby near the reservation. Most of the trouble, in his opinion, can be traced to "a Messiah dance" [the Ghost Dance] that has taken root particularly among the Sioux. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.012

2 December 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling Florence"

re: Hartsuff writes to his daughter at boarding school. He reports that nothing has changed in the "situation" with the Indians since his letter of 11/27. There is a group, numbering in the thousands, camped around them on the Agency and professing friendship. There is a more substantial unfriendly group camped thirty miles away. Not a shot has yet been fired. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.013

14 December 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling wife and children"

re: Again, there is no news from the Agency. Reports claim that some of the "hostiles" are coming in, but others claim that they are not. Hartsuff marvels that only the day before he was in Omaha with his wife and is now in South Dakota. Goes on to compliment Florence on the way she "expresses herself" and praises her progress at school. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.014

20 December 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling baby and wife"

re: Again, there is no news from the Agency. Reports claim that some of the "hostiles" are coming in, but others claim that they are not. Hartsuff marvels that only the day before he was in Omaha with his wife and is now in South Dakota. Goes on to compliment Florence on the way she "expresses herself" and praises her progress at school. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.015

24 December 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling little buttercup"

re: Hartsuff writes to his daughter and tells her about the territory and life on the reservation. He describes "ration day" - when the Indians gather to receive their food from the stores - and a cattle division. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.016

[15 December-29 December 1890]

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: [to unknown]

re: letter fragment in which Hartsuff claims that nothing has changed, although a "burial party" has been sent out to bury dead Indians and his own hospital is full of wounded. Claims that General Miles has sent a Peace Party out to the Indians to give them one last chance. "Peace if we can - war if we must." Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.017

28 December 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling Florence"

re: Hartsuff reports on the capture of the last of the "hostiles" and the prospect for their delivery to Pine Ridge the next day. Then he turns to the more important business of warning his daughter against the dangers of flattery and vanity - both of which can "ruin" a young woman. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.018

25 August 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling Florence"

re: Hartsuff apologizes that he was not able to spend more time with his family during their recent vacation and reflects on the prospect of his family "breaking up" as Florence goes off to boarding school. Writen at Camp Baker.

GLC05201.019

2 January 1891

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling wife and baby"

re: Hartsuff tells his wife and daughter about the conditions in his field hospital built from nothing and now housing fifty men comfortably. Claims that most of what is in the newspapers is true, but he can add nothing to the accounts because he knows nothing else. Written at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency

GLC05201.021

6 April 1870

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alice Hartstuff

re: apologies for a disagreement which happened before he left for San Francisco. Hartsuff complains that "it is hard work doing nothing" in the city and reports that he is distracted by thoughts of his wife whose picture he frequently looks at. Hartsuff also claims to have had a portrait made and promises to send his wife a copy as soon as a print is made.

GLC05201.001

28 May 1876

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my dear wife"

re: Hartsuff reports his arrival at Fort Fetterman from Laramie, Wyoming (a journey of about one week through bad weather). On arrival at Fetterman, Hartsuff reports that he was attached to the staff of General Crook as Medical Director and that the company, augmented by three hundred Crows, left Fetterman on 1876/5/29 with only the barest of provisions: "Officers have by order only one robe and two blankets, no table, no chair - in fact nothing except a bag or valise." Written at Fort Fetterman

GLC05201.002

8 July 1876

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to wife

re: 7/8, Hartsuff reports that General Crooks forces have not moved much since his letter of 6/28, but with the expected arrival of a train on 8/11 or 8/12 they expect to be under arm and on the march again. He also reports that "fighting Indians . . . is quite unlike fighting white men, for no prisoners are taken, there is no base and no rear" no way to take the wounded off the field and no quarter requested or given from an enemy that expertly exploits every weakness in their defenses. In this letter, Hartsuff begins to refer to the Sioux as "Red Devils" and expresses confidence that the…

GLC05201.003

19 June 1881

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to wife

re: Hartsuff opens with the admonition that his wife and children should deprive themselves of nothing since he is deprived of almost every comfort in the field. He goes on to describe the High Sierra as "worse than anything you ever saw, barren sand hills, dirt and dust meet us on almost every side, and almost no vegetation and no trees to releive the monotony." Also gives a rough sketch of the tribes, their locations and the prospects of trouble in the upcoming relocation of the Uncompahgre Utes from "their old haunts to their new, from these sand hills, deep canyons, rugged mountains,…

GLC05201.004

19 June 1881

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to brother

re: true to his "prediction", Hartsuff is now in the Rockies. He describes the setting to his brother and then goes on to discuss the "complicated" situation with the Utes who are being forced from one reservation to another in the wake of 1) the "Mackie and Thomasburg massacre" and 2) the discovery of "several rich mines" on their former territory.

GLC05201.005

8 July 1881

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling wife and children"

re: Hartsuff again considers the prospects of trouble with the upcoming relocation of the Uncompahgre Utes to their new reservation in Utah at the junction of the Green and White Rivers. He expresses contempt for the "Civil Authority" which "spend & squander & steal" appropriations while the military looks on and enforces its arbitrary will on the Utes. Hartsuff, concerned about the assassination of Pres. Garfield, worries that the consequences "will convulse the whole country". Written at Cantonment on the Uncompahgre also known as Fort Crawford.

GLC05201.006

17 July 1881

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Florence Hartstuff

re: letter fragment describing the calvary camp, Hartsuff's headquarters, to his young daughter.

GLC05201.007

13 November 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling little girl"

re: Hartsuff writes to his daughter Florence at boarding school thanking her for the gifts that she sent home and reassuring her that the entire family thinks about her often and wonders what she might be doing at school. He also compliments the style and form of the letter that accompanied the gifts. Written at Fort Omaha

GLC05201.009

25 November 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: to "my darling wife and baby"

re: description of the journey from Rushville, "where we left the RR", to the Pine River Agency. He also notes the general air of "stability & comfort" at the Agency - the prosperity of the farms, the "cheerful" disposition of the people, the number of schools and churches. Hartsuff also renews his acquaintance with "old Red Cloud" and other chiefs he has met before.

GLC05201.010

27 November 1890

Hartsuff, Arthur, fl. 1870-1893

Autograph letter signed

Title: [to unknown]

re: Hartsuff reports on various visit within the Pine Ridge reservation including a call on the Agency Doctor -- "a full-blooded Sioux, . . . a full graduate of Dartmouth and Harvard College, of course speaks English perfectly is bright & polished in his manner & deportment as any young man in polite society" - and the local Episcopal minister ("an educated half-breed") and his wife. Hartsuff also makes reference to a new "messiah religion" among the Sioux and Utes. Although he doesn't know what it is called, he is referring to the Ghost Dance religion. Written at the Pine Ridge…

GLC05201.011

February 17, 1689

Danforth, Thomas, fl. 1689

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Charles Frost

Writing to Major Charles Frost in Kittery, Maine, at the beginning of King William's War (1689-1697), Provincial Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Danforth orders him to go to Boston and gather troops: "You shall in all places and by all ways & means to your power take, kill, & destroy ye enemy without limitation of place or time as you shall have opportunity." Mentioned is Lt. Simon Willard (1605-1676). In the margin is a recommendation to Frost of a "Lt. Andrews". It is not known if the date on the piece is old style or new style. Docket reads: "To Maj. Charles Frost in [illegible]…

GLC05580

February 16, 1885

Parker, Ely S., 1828-1895

Header Record

Title: Autograph letter by and copyright photo of Ely S. Parker [Decimalized]

GLC05190

February 17, 1834

Harrison, William Henry, 1773-1841

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Thomas Chilton

A very long letter to Chilton, a Kentucky congressman, in which Harrison recounts his experiences in the wars in the Northwest Territory. Voices his support for Chilton's proposal to extend the pension laws to veterans of the Indian Wars in the northwest, describing those conflicts as a continuation of the American Revolution. Reviews General Anthony Wayne's campaign in Ohio from 1793-1795 (Harrison served as his aide-de-camp). Describes the hardships faced by soldiers, and issues relating to recruitment, pay, and casualties. Recounts, at length, the careers and hardships of two…

GLC05300