Newberry Library - A trip to the gold regions of the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 1860 1860

A trip to the gold regions of the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 1860 1860

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Open book A trip to the gold regions of the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 1860 1860

Title A trip to the gold regions of the Rocky Mountains in the summer of 1860 1860

Creator Young, John D. (John David), 1839-1898

Date 1860

Place Colorado, Great Plains, Illinois--Chicago, Overland Trails, Saint Joe Road

Language English

Subjects Frontier and pioneer life, Gold miners, Gold mines and mining, Indians of North America

Summary John D. Young's narrative of his 1860 round trip from Chicago to the Colorado gold fields and his experiences there, probably composed in Chicago after the trip. Contains full descriptions of encounters with frontier justice, friendly and hostile Indians (Potawatomi, Pawnee, Comanche, Arapahoe, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne), a Rocky Mountain forest fire, great buffalo herds, a "hurricane" at Marysville, and a prairie dog village. Also discussed in detail are rich Missouri farmlands poorly utilized under slavery, the Pony Express, towns and forts (Quincy, St. Joseph, Marysville, Fort Kearny, Denver, Tarryall), scenery and terrain, road conditions, diet, clothing, equipment, diggings (Tarryall, Blue River, California Gulch, etc.), methods of gold extraction, claim salting, etc.

Biographical/Historical Note Colorado gold rush participant and Ottawa, Ill., lumber merchant.

Extent 1 v. (120 p.) ; 32 cm

Format Sources, Manuscripts, Travel literature, Transcripts

User-Contributed Transcription The night passed away without any accident in the morning when the sun rose there was countless herds of buffalo all around us we were hemmed in on every side, the only vacent spot of earth for miles was the small space that surrounded ourselves and horses. We got somewhat alarmed about getting ourselves and horses safely out of the beseigers lines. we hitched up drove our frightened and unwilling teams at the herd uttering the cries we heard from the soldiers the evening before and had the satisfaction to see the huge animals give away and open a passage for us. It was like the celebrated passage through the Red Sea, for miles and miles on either side of us was a solid body of those gigantic animals roaring and bellowing the very earth shaking beneath their tread. Sometimes a huge bull would plunge his horns into the earth and throw up a shower of earth and stones others would lay down on their sides and spin round as if they were revolving on a pivot they would continue at that untill they had a wore a circle into the ground Sometimes they were so unpleasantly close that we struck? them with the whip they were awfully scaered and made the most frantic exertions to get out of our way. We tickled their sides with several volleys of buck shot when struck they would throw their heels high in the air and strike their horns into the earth. there was plenty of calves among them but we could not get a shot at them the old one always protecting them sheltering them from us. We traveled all that day not camping till the middle of the afternoon still that endless trong extended ahead of us far as the eye could reach we had now traveled through there fifteen miles and still it seemed we were as far as ever away ? the end. All that night they

Transcription Status Needs review

Transcription Note This document was transcribed by volunteers as part of the Newberry Transcribe crowdsourcing initiative.

Archival Collection Title Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number VAULT Ayer MS 3210

BibID 991330378805867

Rights Status No Copyright - United States

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

IIIF Resource Type Canvas

Size 3063px × 3795px 33.29 MB

File Created 08/21/2023

Filename 991330378805867_Ayer_MS_3210_00064.tif

Unique Identifier NL11LVR8

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