Autograph memoir by Henry Williams, written in 1867, recounting an 1866 journey from Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming to Virginia City, Montana. Williams describes accompanying Jim Bridger from Fort Smith, Montana, along the Bozeman Trail to the Yellowstone River; Bozeman, Montana; and Virginia City, Montana. Williams describes the landscape and prospective locations for military forts.
Description:
Henry Williams served as a guide for the United States Army at Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming, 1866. and Purchased from Michael D. Heaston on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2016.
Subject (Geographic):
Bozeman (Mont.)--Description and travel, Bozeman Trail--Description and travel, Fort Phil Kearny (Wyo.), Montana--Description and travel, Virginia City (Mont.)--Description and travel, West (U.S.)--Description and travel, Wyoming--Description and travel, and Yellowstone River--Description and travel
Subject (Name):
Bridger, Jim, 1804-1881 and Williams, Henry, active 1867
Typescript memoirs between cardboard boards with handsewn and taped binding, with annotations in pencil and ink in two hands, describing John Robson's experiences as a young man in Wyoming from 1911 to 1915. Robson's account details life as a sheepherder and camp tender in No Wood, Lone Tree, and several other small Wyoming towns. He describes activities in Wyoming ranging from fishing and freighting to haying and cattle round-ups; he describes several ranches, including the ZL Bar Ranch and the OX Bar Ranch, both owned by a syndicate representing the interests of Scottish-American firms; and relates multiple trips to and from the United States and Scotland, including his final return across the Atlantic during World War I. His narrative provides a detailed account of the social network among Scots in Wyoming from 1911 to 1915. Appended to his narrative is a list of all Hawick men Robson knew to have settled or worked in Wyoming as well as five poems about Wyoming ranch life.
Description:
John Robson emigrated to the United States from Hawick, Scotland in 1911. After a voyage to New York and a train trip across the plains he arrived in Moneta, Wyoming. Over the next four years, Robson worked in various capacities in the sheep and ranching industries, travelling through much of Wyoming. In late 1913, he made a trip to Scotland for the winter, returning to Wyoming the following spring. In 1915, Robson decided to fight in World War I; he returned to Scotland. Denied regular service because of poor eyesight, Robson enlisted in the Army Veterinary Corps. and Purchased from Jordan Antiquarian Books on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2003.
Subject (Geographic):
Hawick (Scotland), Lonetree (Wyo.), Moneta (Wyo.), No Wood (Wyo.), OX Bar Ranch (Wyo.), Wyoming--Description and travel, and ZL Bar Ranch (Wyo.)
Subject (Name):
Robson, John,--b. 1893
Subject (Topic):
Ranch life--Wyoming, Ranches--Wyoming, Scots--Wyoming, Sheep industry--Wyoming, Sheep ranchers--Wyoming, and World War, 1914-1918--United States
Typescript, carbon, copy of a memoir written by Theodore Boos concerning his service in the United States Army, 10th Infantry Regiment, 1857-1862. Most of the memoir concerns Boos's experiences during the Utah Expedition, 1857-1858, in which the Army intervened in the government of Utah Territory in response to reports of Mormon rebellion. Boos describes in detail the progress of the campaign from Fort Leavenworth to Salt Lake City, including destruction of supply trains by Mormons, the effects of hunger, desertion by soldiers, encounters with traders and American Indians, and other incidents of the march; arrival at Salt Lake City, his impressions of the city and relations between soldiers and Mormons; and the building of Camp Floyd and incidents during two years of encampment there. In 1860 the 10th Regiment left Utah for Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Boos describes life at Fort Laramie, his impressions of Dakota Indians, and news of the Civil War and decisions by officers at Fort Laramie to serve in the United States or Confederate Armies. He briefly describes his discharge in 1862 and return to Chicago, Illinois.
Description:
Purchased from Fred A. Rosenstock on the William Robertson Coe Fund, 1971.
Subject (Geographic):
Fort Laramie (Wyo.), Great Plains--Description and travel, Salt Lake City (Utah), Utah--Description and travel, Wyoming--Description and travel, and Wyoming--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Subject (Name):
Boos, Theodore, 1836-1894, United States Army Infantry Regiment, 10th, and Utah Expedition (1857-1858)
Subject (Topic):
Dakota Indians--Government relations and Mormons--Utah--History--19th century
