my name is nancy boehm and i'm

the president of the grolier club and it's my to welcome you to the second annual kenneth rendell lecture on importance of historical letters and documents. ken rendell has been a dealer since 1959 in historical letters and documents dating from the renaissance to the present period. his business for many years included offices boston and the

gallery in new york city encompassed politics. the law, art, literature, music, science, the military amongst, other areas. ken has authored some of the standard reference volumes in this field, including his history comes to life. ken has been a member of the grolier club since 1972 and is significant contributions to our club over course over 50 years. reflect just a few of his many interests and areas of expertise. one of ken's historical interests is the american frontier, the foundation of his 2004 book, the western of the american dream. it's his own extensive collection of western american memorabilia here. and the club was fortunate to have a selection of this material on show in this very

room in 2005. ken is also the founder and director of the museum of world war two, which has been described as without equal among museums in this historic. the museum loaned major exhibitions and important artifacts and documents to. many distinguished institutions, including the national archives the imperial war museum in london, the morgan library museum in new york, and in spring of 2014, the grolier club of new york for a hugely popular, well-received, received exhibition of posters, photographs and, ephemera, illustrating the power of words and images in world at war. forgeries and journalistic hoaxes are among ken's many interests. he debunks the infamous hitler diaries on behalf of newsweek magazine in 1983 and then headed

investigation for stern magazine into how this hoax was perpetrated for time warner. he proved the diary of jack the ripper was a hoax, and he's been involved in every major forgery case in recent decades as an expert witness. ken is offered his testimony in criminal trials, including that of the mormon white salamander. he received the justice department's distinguished service award for his work, leading to convictions for thefts from the national archives and the library of congress. and is the author of forging history the standard reference document reference on the subject. in march of 2021, his his wife and fellow member, shirley mcnerney. ken donated an and important trove of handwriting facsimiles, forgeries, research files and correspondence documenting his long investing battle with these

hoaxes and perpetrators rose to form at the grolier club the comprehensive randall collection on the death detection of forged handwriting. the collection is the most important and comprehensive on the subject known to exist and is remarkable for its depth and wide range. dating from early 17th century to the modern day, the combination of original forgeries alongside with genuine examples of handwriting and a reference library, gives this collection unparalleled value for study in this notorious difficult field to the club blasting club's lasting benefit. ken has built on this donation by establishing the kenneth randall lecture on the importance of historical letters and documents at today's lecture. hidden themes and collecting. and what i discovered about my own collecting promises to offer

a personal and introspective look into ken's own experiences as a collector, and his experiences and working others. many here in building and shaping their collections renowned for his significant contributions to the field, ken now invites us to explore the deeper and often unspoken aspects of collecting uncover hidden themes and personal revelation missions that come with a lifetime dedicated to preserving history. please join me in welcoming ken to the podium. thank you, nancy. the what? give you that. i'll give you two just when, nancy and i mentioned to nancy i

had the idea that a lot of people don't really know at the basis of their own collecting. and then i went through to two different now three iterations of this subject. and finally realized it's really about me and my collecting and because i'm like the shoemaker with the holes in the soles of his shoes, i thought i knew exactly what was doing. and then i found out there was something else that really was it was covering governing. before i start, i wanted to mention that this lecture series in the future we'll for people who are excited about what they're collecting and particularly involving manuscripts. so this not something i intend to keep the this was i'm doing this nancy suggested it over

lunch dinner that i take this idea of of hidden themes and make it the second one. but i feel a little self-conscious this here and so please i we really need suggestions volunteers and it's not about expense of things at all it's about passion and forming interesting collection as in what you get out of it. so i'm very i'm really looking i have somebody next year the anne marie springer who lives outside of geneva, switzerland, collects love letters in all fields from all periods of history. and she is really excited it. and she was, too, when i met her and last year i knew she was the perfect person. she's now a grolier member and so next year we're all set with love letters.

and he it so duke, help us out. so i don't do this again in a hurry. the i thought that this talk focus quite a bit on collecting those that i worked with because i was really good at understanding the collectors person ality and anticipating they would be interested in without their ever saying i built my business on. that genuine interest in the collector. and i started to write this i was writing about different collectors and and how one guy who wanted to collect president and make a set of presidents. we built a great collection on the founding of america which a lot more interesting and he had i remember saying one time there

was something really i said you have to wire me the money i've got to buy it today. and he i only wanted presidents when met you and know. but now the mcneal collection at university of pennsylvania and he was he was really of it so so it but i go in that direction. i made it kind of more personal to me because they this this subject has really changed my own appreciation of my collection and in the past 50 years, i thought i understood the basic theme of my collection about exploration and settlement of the american west and i defined the american west as the europeans, putting their foot on american soil. so new york was the west when somebody stepped off the.

but i discovered this a much deeper behind my collection, and it really has increased my in my enjoyment very significantly and i hope i can prompt people to deeper discoveries in their own people, whether historical personality is a living, people have always been the focus of my life to survive the intense neighborhood i up in almost a tenement type of situation. i studied individual personality so that i could appreciate something good in people. and i've never stopped being interested when i went into this field as a dealer, i realized that people who are interested collecting the manuals and books of the past are interested in people in worlds outside of

themselves jobs, which for me them interesting for them selves. and i found they find they don't always know as well they might do what their interests are in the process. they process of getting to know them. i saw pathways to expand their collecting to new people and new content and it was profession really and personally very satisfying. i of course reacted what they said they wanted for their collection. but i was anticipating where it all might head as a reviewer of my memoir, commented that my business was based on a similar concept by steve jobs as apple's mantra. quote some say give the customer what they want, but that's not approach.

our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. and i was so surprised because that was exactly what i was doing. i didn't know he had heard about it. i actually turned down building a library for steve jobs. i just i didn't need complicated science. like what i was told about by his lawyer. it was even more curious that i've had a very clear ideas of what i want to do in philanthropy. hopelessness with financial really poor high school students and people are the major of my concern. and doing something about it in society. i created the spark foundation in boston to bring hope to students who are doing very well in school but don't feel

confident outside their ethnic and financial ghettos. my passion in this area erupted at a western history conference when i listened to a piano of museum curators all agreeing that their museums had to promote white guilt. the davis haters had to realize they were guilty because of what wipe bill in the 19th century did. it went through my mind that i don't do any business in this area and i don't really care anymore if people really disagree. so i spoke up and i talked about what was important about the american west. poor farmers packing up the farm wagon with their when the soil runs out because there was no crop rotation and beginning the long overland trail to oregon and better and free farmland need to be told to encourage

people who felt they couldn't anything to affect their plight in life. i wanted there to be in separation from where america western history and many in the audience with me actually i think it was overwhelming that people in the audience agreed and a statement i made about it inspired high school students that they could act to take action to better their lives, attracted past and future presidents of western history to want to it further. this led to meetings in boston of create doing in conjunction with western history's annual meetings. teacher seminars for high school history teachers to highlight hope in the western movement. this program would be similar to what my partner shirley created with world war two museum's

educational programs used for teachers, which is still very actively used on pbs learning unbelievably to all of us. the whole program, which we were financing, was rejected by the board. western history. they determined that the west is all about guilt and victimization and it's just no wonder high school kids don't like history. i was getting close to the darndest, standing my own, collecting but i wasn't there yet. i had written two books based on my western collection,heirst telling their stories in their and letters and the guide books at brought them west. the stories with their stories in were in own words. the title the western pursuit of the american dream and theme was

people getting off -- in going west for new opportunities. the best and better lives. i had known for 50 years that was the theme of my western collection and my own view of life. if you wanted to do something in life, you had to do something to get it. it could be moving to where there was better work or contemporary times, getting a better education. but you had to take action if you sat on your --. nothing but change to accept your own deterioration. that was, to me, the american dream. i'm always amazed this works so easily. earlier this year, my wife shirley wanted to do something special for our mutual 80th birthday. we decided to go to amsterdam for the vermeer exhibition, the

largest in our lifetime. i ordered copies of the 315 page exhibit and catalog. it was unbelievable work of research and some subjectivity is subjective analysis. different curators from the muumthat own the individual paintings wrote different chapters on. every element that made rmeer so special. shirley and i had seen almost all of the nearly 30 out of 34 veee exhibed i could discuss the painting's effect on me, my favorites, b i had never considered how vermeer created them. i never wanted to think about how of art were created. i to glow in the excitement, the work, not analyze the factors that made them special. i was always irritated by art students who preached about all

the technical details but had no appreciation of the completed painting as a work of art. it was with trepidation that i started, in this 315 page, extraordinary catalog full of blown sections of paintings. it was a tremendous experience, but all through i kept reminding myself that i wasn't going to get lost in the details. and overwhelmed with the elements. vermeer's use of perspective was very detailed and i had never considered the color of the shadows were created. the optics of the use of light through the window, but never any open sky high light was reflected. the falls in draperies and so on, and the highly magnified wide chapters of his brushwork, his use of heavier paint to reflect back light in the future. wherever the painting was hung. i never wanted to lose of the

overall experience. we had bought tickets when the exhibition first was announced. we arrived at the reich's museum in amsterdam and everything functioned extremely well. and i had brought strong glasses and i was able to get up really close, like 12 inches from each painting. i could see all these details and after every i sat down with shirley and we went back to the overall experience appreciating the details enhance the effect of experience, the whole but i didn't lose it and i started thinking my to collection should be collect things should be more like that not just to what the initial reaction. and as i thought about my western collection, it wasn't like a light bulb going off. it was like an arena suddenly having a light on.

i realized what? i what i was really collecting were letters, diaries and books about people's hopes. hope was at the base of what motivated people. if people didn't have hope, they couldn't get off their -- and do. every who went west on the overland trail had to have hope them through all of those hardships. it was so obvious. my concerns about the hopelessness in society were reflected in the basic of my western collection. i looked through my collection with this new insight, and i'd like to share with the journey that i went through as i discovered what it was really all about. th first manuscript is the ultimate expression of hope from

the settlers of the mass who chooses a colony. in september 1664. it was. 112 years before the dlation independence and is declaration of the right of lfovernment under the roy. of 19 iginal given to them to found the colony of massachusetts. with the restoration of king charles. the sond in 1660. the british monarchy renewed its in t arican colonies inhe spring of 1664, st a royal to conquer new netherlands and to supervise new england colonies in july. they arrived in massachusetts, visits bay with their arms. soldiers causing the different factions in massachusetts to unite in opposition to this threat to self-government. in this manuscript response, the

colonists say that in accordance with their original quote, it shall be lawful by force of arms to defend ourselves against. all such persons as shall at time attempt to destroy such an invasion, detriment or annoyance of plantation and their inhabitants. if any man shall conspire against our commonwealth or attempt the subversion of our frame of politic, he shall be put to death. that took real nerve. the royal commission reported this to king charles, who sent them back to boston to demand that they send representatives to london to answer to the king. they again refused the king's demands and his revocation their right to reelect their own government, ignored. the royal commission was much

more successful here in new york, where the dutch with peter stuyvesant, new netherland to the british, who renamed it new york and placed the head the royal commission, who had threatened massachusetts. richard nicoll as the first governor of new york. in that capacity he signed document in 1668. it represented great hope the future and this instance, samuel edsel. purchased 500 acres. quote commonly called by the indians from nashik and the english bronx land. james originally purchased the 500 acres 29 years earlier from the indians. mention what it took at that point. i mean, you look at that this whole area and have the confidence to buy 500 acres.

another person who had a great sense of the future and of hope and i don't think anybody seemed to have more than william penn, the quaker leader who obtained the original land grant that became pennsylvania. inhis letter, 1692, three potential buyers. he writes, quote, i have begun to open my shop again and exposed to sale wares, which i sold long and injurious to myself and family, neglected and quote as, an inducement to be part of his, quote, infinite and growing colony. for 100 shillings, he will 3000 acres of land in said province. nearly a thousand miles to the west. andre dilettante had been deputy leader of lasalle expedition

down the mississippi to its mouth, claiming louisa anna for france in 1682. this document is dated montreal for years later and taunton engaging to voyageurs to go to the illinois country. as for traders, the beginning of the fur trade in north america. the contract specifies the division of furs they hope to obtain and enlists in detail the goods for the indians. 100 years later. the mississippi river was a major issue at the head of the at the end of the american revolution. john jay, one of america's most brilliant statesmen, was in paris for negotiation. quote, the count asked me what were our southern boundaries? and i told him the mississippi. he denied. all right. to that extent and urged several

arguments to show the propriety of a more eastern line between us and spain in exchange for free navigation of the mississippi. jay was authorized to guarantee spanish sovereignty of florida if spain regained from england. you almost have to have a big map because the everything changes. i mean this war that war negotiations. it gets very complicated with because it goes back and forth. france had given louisiana and therefore the to spain but then napoleon conquered spain and so he took it all back. that's how france ends up selling french louisiana to america. they were three years after john

jay in 1785, george washington wrote to the french judge fair, telling him of the power of hope in america, quote, wish, disagreeable consequence choices may not result from the content and contentions respect the navigation of the misses zippy the immigration to the waters thereof are astonishingly great, and chiefly of that description of people who are not very subordinate to your and order of good government. whether the prohibition from the court of spain is just or unjust politic or otherwise it will be difficult to restrain our people from the enjoyment of natural advantages. it devoutly to be wished to enter such stipulations with congress as may avert the

impending evil and, be mutually advantageous to both nations. thomas jefferson's lack of understanding of the hopes the native americans is seen in this letter written as washington's secret tary of state. the line of settled ment had continued to push north, displacing the indians. but jefferson express his hope nevertheless. quote, i think we have no campaign against the this year. there is some ground of expectations that they will accept a peace as we asked nothing in return for it. i mean, it's obviously amazing. i mean, they're getting pushed all the place. and jefferson was oblivious to . it didn't turning attention to the north.

in 1789. alexander mackenzie set out to find a land route canada to the pacific. this is long before lewis clark. he found large river flowing west from northern canada. it continued west as he took it. but then abrupt flowed north and mackenzie, unfortunately became the first persian person go overland to the arctic ocean. undeterred, he wintered not far from where he started on this arctic and wrote this letter in september 1790, discussing and transportation needs for the coming winter. this is the only letter in a private in there almost no letters surviving of mackenzie in october 1792. he did head west again this time

overland, and was the first person to discover in canada there was no water route to the pacific. everyone knows jefferson bought louisiana from the french, but this official retained copy from the commissioners sent to paris to negotiate the purchase details in 12 pages. that napoleon had cellars and thought the price far too low. the american ministers were steadfast in refusing to consider napoleon's and demand for a new negotiated nations. the first consul in the moment of chagrin had what he may a bad bargain, but which we think a good one for him since had better have given it away than hold it with the expense horses

attending the establishment by troops, which might occasion war with us. that was always bottom line. it seems. the lewis and clark expedition had to be powered by hope. they didn't know where they were going. the reception would receive from the indian tribes. they did the best they could organizing the corps of discovery, but didn't really know the men lives. and success would depend on one moment on their expeditions. set it all for me. because i saw exactly what they saw when they thought they had conquered the mountain range. they to be between them and pacific. 25 years ago, steve ambrose, a close friend mine led. surely myself and 12 friends, which included ellen michaelson

across by canoe, horseback and hiking on their route. we hiked to the summit of the mountain range. they had expect and stood where they stood when they saw all the mountains of them covered with snow. and i was in awe that they maintained any sense of hope that they could make it through these. but obviously, their hope continued to hold out and their success was symbolized by this letter, written in 1806 by meriwether lewis on their return to pay captain william clark for his service. well, on the late expedition to pacific. one of jefferson's instructions to lewis was to send to washington the chiefs of tribes. they encountered seven chiefs. chiefs were greeted in

washington by jefferson on january four, 1806. his speech to the indians seen here was delivered by him. that day and signed by him. it is one of the most memorable western documents. it is easy to read it cynically, but think jefferson was being hopeful yet paternalistic. it was his version of his american dream. we all know that within two generations he was the native american nightmare. jefferson addressed my friends and. we are now your fathers. i. the desire of becoming a with you. all my children. be on the red. the mississippi. and you are naming them with us as we have done those on side of that river in the bonds, peace and friendship. i wish to learn what we could to

benefit them, furnishing them the necessary as they want in exchange for their furs. i sent beloved cat man captain lewis to get acquainted with all the indian nations and to inform us what what way could be useful to them. in establishing a trade with you. we to make no profit. we shall ask what everything costs us and give you for your furs. whatever we can get for them. if you will cease make war on one another. if will live in friendship with all mankind, you can employ all of your time in providing food and clothing for yourselves and your families. your men will not be destroyed in war. and your women and children lie down to sleep in their cabins without fear. i have given this advice to all your red brethren on this side

of the mississippi. they are increase in their numbers, are learning to close and provide for their families as. we do. we are peaceable and just. i have now opened my to you. let my words into your heart and never be forgot. if ever bad spirits should raise up clouds between us let us come together as friends and explain to each other what misrepresented. the clouds will fly away like the morning fog in the sun of friendship appear and shine forever bright and clear between us. the next year, william clark and now the of the indian for louisiana. he reached out to the lakota chief who he had described it, journalists having blocked the expedition northward journey.

but now they were all and he must have hoped that the teton suchi would have an improved attitude. and in this document he makes him basically an official represent attitude of the american government in the hope that everything will get smoothed out for people following. lewis and crk the establishment of commercial enterprises was a of lewis and ark. and on july fr, 18 oh, wait just two years after t expedition, a boston company, the northwest trading company, was organize to set up a trading post in palmer settlement at the mouth of theles and clark had wd there stated hope was to create a free and extensive trade in pals pearl cotton, cocoa oil, which could be carried from the

northwest coast. lewis and clark encouraged many explorers who now had knowledge of cartography of the west. none was more extraordinary than jedediah. this guy was unreal. when you look what he did. he was the first person white man to reach california by an oval and the first to cross the mojave desert to explore and cross the sierras and travel from california to oregon by land and so on across utah. he created a map of the west that accurate? he represents the hope of the hopes of a mountain man trader and the expectation of survival. he writes in this the only privately owned letter of eight

that have survived, quote, i've been under the necessity of going forward a partnership amounting to part of my capital. but she'll still have eight or perhaps $10,000, which could not could be not be invested any way to please me. that's a lot of money in those days, incidentally. we've been to gentlemen to take our furs forward to philadelphia. it is hardly necessary for me to tell you that i am much more and my element when conversing with the unseen civilized man or setting my beaver traps than in writing letters. his hope of survival ran out next year, and he was by comanches on. the santa fe trail. this letter was one of my early purchasers, which was always

financial. be very challenging for me day. davy crockett, the frontiersman, tennessee, who was exploits were chronicled. davy crockett almanac became a congressman from his state and with his appearance and rough and tumble manners became the target of his detractors. he wrote, i have enemies who would take much pleasure in magnifying plain city of my. i've never enjoyed the advantages which many have abused. i have never prostituted. the humble advantages i do enjoy. just as davy crockett went to texas and died at the alamo, sam houston felt the toll of escaping to the west. in 1829, he was governor of tennessee, but he decided to resign the governorship and

return his life as a trader with the cherokee. in 1831, he discussed his life in intimate detail, summed up in a few thoughts. i am done with goods, but not with good things. i hope to out clothes. my concern migrate to some other theater. nor if it were possible for me to enjoy all the luxuries in life could i endure indolence. i must be. or i would sink the horrible gulf of dissipate sin and debauchery. for telling his future, he continues the things done by me shall be directed to what i most devoutly believe will be my country's glory and good. his future was in texas in this letter written to his brother in 1833. he writes, i am now a resident

of another government. knock at door cheese in texas. you want to know what the devil am i doing in texas? he goes on to explain about creating a legal career. he's bought 150,000 acres of land and writes texas is the finest portion of the globe that has ever blessed my in. i put my name to the. houston's involvement in texas rapidly rose. he led the texas army in defeating santa ana had killed all the americans the alamo and was elected the first president of the republic of texas. steven austin and developed the texas colony. he from his father in 1821. and by the time of this in 1832,

he had thousand settlers. he worked to maintain the prosperity from the liberal colony policy and return for obeying the laws and, becoming loyal mexican citizens. this letter was written as it was becoming increased certainly difficult for his colonists accept. his cautious. his hope for future is clearly expressed. quote the affair of general cynthia kierner has made no disturbance in texas and everything here is peace quiet and i think will so. we are very imposed in this remote corner the nation to be misled or deceived by false rumors and reports. austin's hope friendship dependance led to his imprisonment, but he was let out in 1835 and then defeated by houston for the governorship.

the western settlement was was by people's hope. but one act of hope stands out for me. nathaniel wyeth created with making the oregon trail successful, was a boston entrepreneur. he went west in 1830 to the following year. he attended the rendezvous of mt., an indians and supplies this was like a western fair. everybody, thousands of people came together and suppliers came from st louis to trade goods with the indians and with the fur traders and had all kinds of contests. and it was a big party and everybody was basically for a couple of weeks. he invested $3,000 and signed a contract to supply all the trade goods for the following year.

but when he showed up, he found he was double crossed. the rocky mountain fur company had bought the supply from someone else a few days earlier. here he is in the middle and no place, basically in wyoming. he and he's got all these trade goods. so he decided to organize a fort on an indian trail and because he thought in the future would be coming west and they would be able to resupply and his fort fort hall and now idaho it was estimated 270,000 immigrant came through fort and got resupplied. and there's a blacksmith to fix broken and so on. this is a wyeth letter that i personally have thought of to

raise my own hopes. many times, flying across the country from boston and to the west coast. while i impatiently check on how longer the flight is going to be, i recall wyeth from fort vancouver near oregon january. 16th 1833 quote i am about commencing my return and home to boston. and if i am not very unfortunate in that i shall arrive in october ten months later. and i am impatient with 5 hours. so puts it in perspective. francesco. paolo is a california explorer, jesuit missionary, was one of the earliest historians of california in this journal. he chronicles an expedited mission from monterey to, san francisco bay. observations of the terrain and

the suitable ity of various places for the established shipment and missions are. important but. what really got me about this were the descriptions of francisco bay, where he th it could be turned into a port. quote we saw the mouth that is like a narrow channel where the golden gate bridge is, where our greatest jury of san francisco enters the bay of promontory. its channel or strait is about half a league from east to west. we cannot tell if it has a smooth bottom for large scale landings. john sutter, who was an extremely entrepreneur, california pioneer, who came from switzerland.

gold was discovered at his sawmill on the american river. but he had arrived ten years earlier and managed to be granted 50,000 acres in what basically sacramento. he was he raised cattle. he built his sawmill. and notably he built a fort that helped immigrants coming in to cuba, to california, and which exists and this lengthy letter in. 43, you really get an idea of the scale of what people these days could do. my grain fields are very well laid out with european exactness. there is enough land for a thousand acres of potato, corn, peas and radishes, as he mentions. is new venture with is quote,

steam still, which will produce brandy. he complains of the poachers of his cattle but expresses hope fondness. despite the challenges quote, i can assure that my affairs go better. i will be able to pay my debts. as for me, i neglect nothing. i do my best and i hard. we sleep. while sardar was all of his different businesses, the political situation was rapidly developing. in 1846, the bear flag revolt, led by fremont, broke california away from mexico. a later, the rebellion took another turn and a proclamation was issued. the california was part of the united states. this was published two days before the proclamation.

it's the first newspaper published in california. new issue number one value and one it could not have been more hopeful for california indians. quote, we we shall maintain and tire and other severance of all political connection with mexico. we shall maintain freedom, speech and the press. we shall bring the means of a good, practical education to child in california. we shall urge the immediate establishment of a well organized government. we shall advocate a territorial of california to the united. we shall for california for all interests, social, simple, and religious, encouraging everything that promotes these resisting, everything that can them harm. sounds like the california governor right now. it it's amazing that 1846 and to

have those those views at the time i think was very impressive. for john fremont, who led the famous expedition into, the rocky mountains put him south into the center of california's revolt and managed to get appointed governor. that is the in this document is as the governor of california california, six days after california was declared, washington sent that that wasn't there choice and he refused vacate the governorship and was caught marshaled in his hopes of glory he temporarily went down the drain. but not missing a beat.

this is san francisco getting laid out in 1847 and this is the assignment of lot 213 in san francisco. i could not figure out where 213 was. it be interesting if it was on california's. the hopes of the more men's were focused on religious freedom and personal safety and they hoped to use entrepreneurs field skills to accomplish their goals. their leader and prophet joseph smith was murdered in 1844 and it was apparent couldn't stay in illinois. brigham young smith's successor wrote this lengthy to the governor of alabama pleading their hope to be allowed to settle their, quote, separate, suffer us in behalf of a decent

franchise and long people to proper. a few suggestions for. your serious consideration in hope of a friendly. it is not our present design to detail multiplied and aggravate that wrongs we have received in the midst of the nation that gave us birth. but he does exactly that. he continues. will it be too much, for us to ask for you to convene a special session of your state and furnish us a silent? or will you express your views concerning what is called the western measure of colonizing the latter saints in oregon or some other remote place which the hand of oppression shall not crush every noble and distinguish patriotic feeling.

brigham young asked the states who wrote the same letter to other places, and i have the new hampshire one. and in new hampshire the governor saved his response to brigham young that there was no possibility possibility, two years after trying to relocate someplace. brigham young wrote from winter quarters in which omaha that everything organized for his great migration and quote, i expect start for the mountains. it is necessary for a pioneer company to be on the way as early as possible to ensure the crops. if the love me as i love them, they will not long behind. i like a father with a great family of children around me in winter storm and i am looking with calmness, confidence and

patience for the clouds to break and the sun to shine so that i can run out and plant and snow. we say children come home. we have done. we could and are satisfied. it will be all right. and there for sure our father will do all that is necessary be done when the strength of his children fails. this is what was driving the country crazy. in 1849, when the reached settled areas, the plaster gold in this pan is actually from california gold rush. the small nuggets were found in the original area of sutter's. these nuggets in the larger concentration of gold are mixed with remnants of the wooden box. it was originally in were shipped aboard the ss central

america, which sank off of north carolina in an 1857. it was recovered in 1986 from 8000 feet. the original gold pan has a better provenance. it came from the klondike gold rush, which recovered from a cabin on bonanza creek in the yukon. in 1967. it is one of the artifacts i personally collected. from the cabin. california gold rush actually began january 48 when james marshall saw the glint of gold sutter's mill. sutter, writing from retirement after he lost everything. squatters. quote the account of the great discovery is quite incorrect. the special where it states the

first gold was picked up by little daughter of marshall and carried to her father. he never had a daughter. the trail's west had been followed for decades by the indians and the fur traders. the emigrants to oregon and the mormons. eireligious freedom. the migration that overwhelmed all of the numbers of people was. the gold rush. people from every walk of life. were part of the hysteria. the gold that caused of people to go west west and april 1849, young physician charles boyle left his wife and three young children. only few months after getting his medical degree to go to california, he joined on a ship

with people as their official physician and wrote this journal, quote, it is not necessary to relate all the causes which induce me to leave home on a long and dangerous journey. suffice to say that the constant poverty which has hitherto confined my powers and limited my field of action has become onerous. and i feel to make one might effort to descend from my from the slavery of the detested sin of being poor. and here i am thus, far on my way to california. he was a successful physician in california, but he never found any gold. but many of the prospectors express expectations.

but not this guy writing in from independence at the point where you started in 1849. many difficulties in dangers which we have to encounter before we can expect to. see the promised land of gold. we have 2000 miles from this to califor u 700 across the prairie. we will make the biggest danger will be the indians. it's. this is the first of three brothers to head to the gulf. this guy had enormous confidence. and in the road while he was on the oregon trail, a man who is at all afflicted with laziness had better change it for most persevering industry before he starts as a lazy man could not

himself more out of his element than by starting on a trip this kind. my entire thoughts on california and its gold and our which is all we have been hauled from home six weeks and traveled nearly 600 miles is scarcely begun. for many an ocean was the best way to san francisco cisco. andrew dickens and left new york in. april 1849 and the passengers organized themselves into association, which interests me quite a lot the way these people would came together. they created their rules. i mean how we are going to get along, what kind of rules that are going to be. he also listed the passengers and what they did. and it's very interesting

because the passengers raised ranged from a physician to a bookbinder, which is kind of appropat as look at l ese bindings here. there was also a decorative type artist, daguerreotype photographs that only been around for ten years, but they were very during the gold rush so that people could send home pictures themselves, usually with gardens. it's amazing how men do that. i mean, they've got a gun in their belt. they're holding a gun. anyhow, there weren't any women around. maybe many won't go off into their. this journal was written by a guy named brush on board the trescott. in 1849. this there's nothing else. and michael section quite like

this he talks about the food every day gives a really good sense of life you know four months you're sailing around cape horn and they had a tough time going around cape horn. they lost two crewmen overboard and they went into a chilly chilean port resupply. and he writes that he to shore the inhabitants here are very indecent. every house you pass, you can see a number of young ladies, which are very good looking in all saying, come in, come in. california. i went into every house i saw. they appear to be perfectly honest and loving. they this ship took on supplies and also two young girls of accommodation for the captain's own use. we actually spent so much time to make every word was

transcribed correctly. the girls referred to as models art entertain passengers and crew by bathing on deck. and then on june 15th, the no pleasant and very warm. but in the evening a small touch of the model artists in the cabin among the ladies and gentlemen lights blown up. then the captain nothing on but his shirt. and i the note here it seems that the captain's hopes when he took the ladies aboard were realized. but the guy wrote all that he didn't go to the gold fields. he went to fort vancouver and he started a dictionary of the chinook language, which is really rare and a lot more interested in the indians than i would have expected.

powers left from eastport, maine, in 1849 and the day the beginning of this, he wrote, never was a cruise more product of of interest than our cruise thus far bound on a voyage of this length with the uncertainty of a continuation in of health or bettering our worldly condition. on the 14th of february, they were within sight of cape horn at the tip of south america, loaded their deck and in recognition of their easy into the pacific fire to the legendary blowing from the pacific to the atlantic immediately, gripped them with perilous and they headed for the protection of the east side of an island six miles away for the next eight days. they were stuck there.

they were preparing at one point to be broken up on. the rocks. the fantasy of instant wealth swept the country. jim laden wrote to friends before starting on my and romantic journey. i am satisfied that the is inexhaustible. tom pierce wrote it from illinois. as he left for the promised land. we think the prospect is good for making money fast and hope we shall be able to fetch enough to come home and buy a good farm. in a letter to his wife upon arriving in san francisco, another one wrote, gold is just as abundant was reported. i shall make a fortune here. turning to what would an increasingly common subject, he

continues. this is our last separation. no, consider orations of profit or honor shall ever again separate. robert french wrote to his parents, offering a new insight. the 27 pounds lump of gold you heard of was in these diggings. there is gold here? lots of it. but the thing is to find it. if a man lucky, he can find it. we've been very well. but live in hope. we are not discouraged going back to the irrepressible gamble family who we saw on the overland trail, the first letter that the son writes when he gets to california is there's just so money and there's just so much gold. but so far, i find any. but i'm not going to come home until i have 25 or $30,000 worth. a year later had really set in

and he writes to his father saying, don't come. it's a fool's errand. many of the 49% daguerreotype photographs like to their family. i actually had trouble trying to find one without holding guns. but there were there was a lot of sentiment. i mean, basically the way it went in the gold fields was everybody wanted the everybody had all this hope. but then a year later wanted to go home. but the letter that stands out. this is in june, 1850. quote, you write, you do not know. but i think more of gold than i do of you. for i would not go to california. i assure you, i would not swap you for your heft in gold.

that kind of b and i unusual compliment and wle all this was going on about gold and building towns, 48 delegates met in monterey to establish the constitution. california, this first newspaper printing is a marvel of understanding, compromise and. hope for the future of california acknowledged. king that all political power is inherent in the people and that government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people. while it is believed no power has been given, which is not thus essentially. the convention deemed individual rights as well as public liberty, are amply secured by the people in a spirit of amity, compromise and mutual concession for the public good.

the peace, happiness and prosper parity of the whole people. individual opinions were freely surrendered to the will of the majority. when every citizen of california shall find himself in life, liberty and property, all will unite. find a guiding light to people groping through the of religious superstition or political fanaticism. the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. communication. communications, this new state. and the main part of the country achieved a milestone and with the first transcontinental stage line president buchanan wrote this tribute issued on the news of the first oval in mail arrive from san francisco in 1858. 23 days and 4 hours was the time for a person or communication.

mail service was cut to ten days with the pony express as seen here with the wonderful pony express stamp added. but after 18 months, the pony express passed into romantic history as the telegraph operational. and this was contract between the builder of the telegraph, which was private in the united states, which paid $40,000 for priority. the last remaining thing for the american west was the railroad. and this is leland stand offered certificate that he had completed the first 92 miles from sacramento across the mountains and was entitled to the payment.

this photograph is in the collection. it was taken by the official photographer of the union railroad because i thought it signified so much the railroad is is out there carrying all the rails, but to get to the rail head. they still need wagons and it's kind of an interesting to me. relic of. andinally opportunities for hope the saddle moment was seemingly limitss limitless and if they weren't limited here the cherokee lands ands booklet and map. it was very simple you didn't pay ng. you just pushed the indians. and while my western collection ends, basically at that point, the one thing i saw just was so

full of hope was a photograph in an auction and. i thought it really belong in here. and it was going west in the dust bowl. and you know, it's an item of bill now. it's not a covered wagon, but you've got the gold and and the whole thing. and i thought it really symbolized his the american spirit of always trying to do better. so that concludes tour through my own discover. so what my collection really represented in terms of my basic concerns in life and i really enjoyed my so much more and enjoyed pulling all stuff out and looking at things like, why did i ever buy the telegraph document? i mean, what does that have to do with that? it was hope, it was the future.

it the changes. the railroad really changed. so i just urge people to think more deeply about the there could be a lot of hidden things that you really can enjoy a much more. we have a few minutes for questions. if you have any. i happy to go off on a different tangent. thank you. remember the c-span is is. i mean, is nothing controversial. i turned c-span down when. i did the talk about my memoir because it was too personal. i wanted to engage people on a personal level.

so nothing was recorded that night. but i don't see what people collect is very controversial. you any questions? yes, sir. this is really a comment that all of these things you're showing us made me think of. was stegner or angle repose. and then you think of. guthrie so in a sense, we read in the reading group through his novels last year and you give a wonderful of the sort of experience which they put together in their fiction. so no, i very much appreciate what you've shown. thank you. thank you. it really was the spirit of america. i mean, everybody can debate, you know, whether that still exists or in when i wrote the preface to one of my two western books. i didn't really know what the current american dream is.

but i think become much clearer over that. i think that i said to someone at lunch today that malcolm, who was a big collector in this field, he once did editorial and he listed everything that everybody said was bad about america. and then in large it said that why everybody wants to move here and it was a really good point. there are a lot of problems in the country. but it is a land of of imagined opportunity anyhow. thank you. they just a quick general can wonderful talk but is there a

general guess about how much gold came from california. the from i don't from the gold rush i just if. i know it was a huge amount i mean on the ss california. the world and it was just about it was a ship 1856 or whatever i said. i mean, there was an enormous amount of gold bullion. a mint was set up. san francisco, two men coin ins from the gold rush. it really mattered. i mean, what i've always wondered, though, with all of this is what they held good as gold. i mean, you make jewelry out of it, but it's just that everybody agrees that gold is valuable just like bitcoins. well, yeah, he make. maybe you can make jewelry out them. maybe that's what they'll end

with. i a little bit of a technical question. you mentioned earlier about this fellow. i'm sorry you mentioned this fellow who assembled an in an dictionary. how do you represent the indian language did they have a written language. oh, i think phonetically the transliterated. yeah. yeah yeah. it's very interesting when people have that interest. i had commented in a previous talk here about john elliott and roger williams and we bought a roger williams dictionary and explained of indian ways and there were so few people who cared to pay attention. i a way they were savage was really i at i thought was very

admirable for that guy. that was a very that's a very confusing journal the about the with the captain and what went on on the boat i met. i a lot of journals and diaries nobody else and a trip like that that they at least not that they wrote about now they may have in their hopes have had a journey like that, but not in their reality. i can't. congratulations. thank. i've known ken, like, forever. i'm not going to touch the colonialism. the killing of people were already there and so forth. just say, you know, anybody who did this had to think it has to be better than what i mean, right now it's just so i'm sort of flipping the hope, the complete misery of so of the

people throughout american history or history in general life is tough. people are evil. i mean, they they i mean, they, you know, i, i was so glad get out of the war field. i mean, you know, you deal with world war two all the time. i started in world war two because i was fast and hated with the way good people were motivated in england to fight alone against hitler and the propaganda and how people in country came together and they and all the different nationalities mixed and everybody was much closer to having immigrated or their parents had immigrated. but i ended deal. you had to deal with the bad guys and the nazis in the rallies and all kinds things that are particularly upsetting these days. and when you go back to history,

people are always fighting what i said about, you know, who who who owns louisa hannah? well, it keeps changing hands of european wars. and you and in the united states and it's a it's a wonderful hope that it will all change. but and one thing you can do when, the natives were fighting one another. well, they were friends with the united states. they they the indians did fight one another. and but they but i don't know, 25 years ago, whenever we decided that the indians were just all peaceful and fantastic. but the way were the problem. well, they were the they i've gotten involved with the indians situation in wyoming because i'm involved with the of the mountain man, which is in pinedale and it's in the middle of no place.

they have gas under the town which so they could build this museum and and and do a good job and they had a problem they thought with the with the sioux over new expansion. they asked my advice and and i said, well, what's the problem and they said they want the black hills back. i said, give it to them, you know, first of all, you don't have them and and the indians were just pushed off of. it's a terrible they were treated horribly. they were treating each other pretty badly. and you know, the sioux they weren't the first nation to be in wyoming. they those indians out because the buffalo provided food so it i don't know if you try to figure out about the fairness in

life and it isn't fair. thank you very much. i was just curious if you had considered the fashion there was for the gold rush. that is levi's, and the denim industry, because that would seem to. and i wondered if any of your letters mention that. no, but it is a big deal. i'm going for the first time to a western conference, las vegas tomorrow, and i've never gone to this. there are thousand dealers with western now artifacts for sale and in the auction there a lot of levi's know with all these dates and they get dated apparently from the buttons on the flies and i have been looking at the prices levi's people people seem to collect

everything but. the people ask me well what do you think you're going to find at this show? i have no idea and no space, anything. well, deliberately i mean, it's interesting you ask about the levi's. it was a big deal. and terry bellinger told me one time, a long most of you longtime members, terry bellinger, he told me this, i mean, how in the world terry ever came up with this the zippers were invented because people during the gold rush were standing around and they had metal on their flies and they up. but by the fire. so they wanted to get rid of the metal buttons and zippers invented. now, i don't know whether true, but it's very amusing, but it's a very good, terrible bellinger story.

ken. ken thank you. that's a great clothing, i think. i don't think you can beat that after. thank you again. and thank you for agreeing to do for a second time. and we will tempt you back. so.