Newberry Library - Grand trip across the plains diary, 1859 May 19-Aug. 23

Title Grand trip across the plains diary, 1859 May 19-Aug. 23

Creator Brooks, Alden Finney, 1840-1932

Date 1859

Place Oregon National Historic Trail, United States--Overland Trails, Utah--Salt Lake City, West United States

Subjects Artists, Frontier and pioneer life, Overland journeys to the Pacific, Pioneers

Description In box with title: Across the plains. Brooks.
Diary, p. 1-44; Reason for the trip, p. 45-47, 50-51; and letter to Edward E. Ayer, p. 48-49.
Ms. essay by Brooks on portrait painting (2 p.) and biographical clippings laid in.

Summary A.F. Brooks' overland diary, kept during his journey from the Missiouri River, May 19, 1859, to the head of the Humboldt River, Aug. 23, 1859. The diary concludes with an essay, "Reason for the trip," written at a later date, and a July 2, 1923, letter to Edward E. Ayer. Brooks travelled via the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers, over the Rockies to Salt Lake City, and then to the Humboldt. He describes scenery and landmarks, his own swimming and sketching, wildlife, Indians, campsites, etc. Noted are Pike's Peak, Mormon, and government trains; Fort Kearny; Courthouse, Chimney, and Independence Rocks; the Black Hills; Salt Lake City (including a meeting with Brigham Young); and the Shepard train massacre. Daily mileage records are kept on the front end-paper. Numerous sketches mentioned in the text are lacking. Brief essay describes the continuation of Brooks' trip to California and his activities there.

Biographical/Historical Note Artist, overland traveller, and Civil War veteran. Born in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1840, Brooks moved with his family to Platteville, Wisc., in 1856. He taught school briefly in Elk Grove before joining a neighbor's prairie schooner for the trip to California. Brooks left his party at the Truckee River and travelled by stage to California, where he prospected and painted in Eureka, Orleans Flat, Nevada, and Grass Valley. Returning to Ohio to enlist in the 105th Ohio Volunteers, Brooks spent much of the Civil War as a lieutenant and topographical engineer on the staffs of Gens. J.J. Reynolds and G.H. Thomas. Studying art in New York, Brooks set up his studio in Chicago and remained there until his death in 1923.

Extent 1 v. (51 p.) ; 19 cm

Format Correspondence, Diaries, Manuscripts, Travel literature

User-Contributed Transcription Days drives 19 1st 10 miles 20 2nd 6 " 21 3rd 16 " 22 4th 20 " 23 5" 20 " 24 6" 12 " 25 7 " 3 " 26 8 " 7 " 27 9 " 21 " 28 10 " 5 " 29 11" 24 " 30 12 " 16 " 31 13 " 20 " 1 14 " 12 " 2 15 " 4 " 3 16 " 7 " 4 17 " 16 " 5 18 " 9 " 6 19 " 18 " 7 20 " 20 " 8 21 " 20 " 9 22" 25 " 10 23" 15 "11 24" 0 "12 25" 20 "13 16" 16 "14 27" 18 " 15 28" 20 "16 29" 18 "17 30" 15 "18 31st 16 "19 32d 18 "20 33d 20 "21 34th 6 "22 35" 8 "23 36" 18 "24 37" 23 "25 38" 10 "26 39" 22 "27 40" 20 "28 41st 10 "29 42d 20 "30 43d 22 "1 44th 22 "2 45" 15 " 3 46" 12 "4 47" 0 "5 48" 14 "6 49" 14 "7 50" 21 "8 51" 20 "9 52" 10 "10 53" 13 "11 54" 14 "12 55" 22 "13 56" 17 "14 57" 14 "15 58" 18 "16 59" 22 "17 60" 1 "18 61" 22 "19 62" 21 "20 63" 12 "21 64" 18 "22 65" 0 "23 66" 18 "24 67" 15 miles5 unclear/4 unclear 68th 12 -26 69" 11 - 27 70" 0 - 28 71" 10 - 29 72" 8 - 30 73" 24 - 31 74" 16 - 1 32 crossed out--image 75" 10 [miles] 2 76" 19 - 3 77" 11 - 4 78" 30 - 5 79" 12 - 6 80" 15 - 7 81" 22 - 8 82" 15 - 9 83" 12 -10 84" 12 -11 85" 18 -12 86" 12 -13 87" 16 -14 88" 16 - 89 - 18 miles - 90" 19 - 91" 20 - 92" 20 - 93" 15 - 94" 0 - 95" 21 - 96" 15 - 97" 25 - 98" 21- 99" 11- 100" 18- 101" 21 - 102" 18 - 103" 12 - 104" 21 - 105" 3 - 106" 25 107" 30 - 108" 3 - 109" 0 - 110" 20 - 111 35 112 23 113 0 114 36 115 16 116 24 117 10 unclear 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130

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 Collection

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number Ayer MS 111

BibID 136207

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.

Size 1807px × 2141px 11.10 MB

File Created 12/04/2013

Filename 991362078805867_Ayer_MS_111_00002.tif

Unique Identifier NL1V9N1