LOC/T/T5. Mining Engineering and Metallurgy

Abstract John Commingers Ainsworth (1822-1893) was the major founder of the Oregon Steam Navigation (OSN) Company, the most powerful transportation monopoly in the Pacific Northwest. Ainsworth was also involved in a number of other ventures, including the Northern Pacific Railroad (NPRR) and various gold, silver and coal mining operations. The John Commingers Ainsworth Papers contain Ainsworth’s diaries, autobiography, personal correspondence, photographs, and the business records of the Oregon...

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The Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company records contain the correspondence between Andrew Sherwood and the Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company. The letters concern an expedition to Alaska in search of gold. The collection also contains printed matter and maps concerning the expedition. Finally, it contains two journals by Andrew Sherwood spanning the time of the expedition.

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Alex M. Applegate, son of Charles Applegate, lived near Yoncalla, Oregon In 1862 he went to the Salmon River mines, Idaho. Collection contains three volumes. One and two are Applegate's daily diary labeled 1861 and 1862. Volume three is a composite, with a title page: "Ventures and Adventures of a Party of Webfoot Miners on their Way to and in the Poly Region of the Northern Mines."

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The company also operated as the Applegate Mountain Ditch Co. Applegate Quartz Mining Co. collection includes an account book, time roll, and check book

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I. Banta worked for an English company that explored for mineral deposits in Alaska from June 10 through June 25, 1902. The I. Banta Papers contain a ledger for the 1902 journey and a transcription of a book that served as both a diary and ledger for the journey. Also included is a letter from Harold Banta, the son of I. Banta, that explains the context of his father's journey to Alaska from reminiscences of his father's stories of the trip.

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In 1870, Rollin Simeon Belknap claimed a hot springs site located in Oregon, in the western foothills of the Cascade Mountains, that is now known as Belknap Hot Springs. The collection contains a letter of June 5, 1872, from Belknap to A. Gibbs, asking Gibbs to pass on a bottle of water (that was sent with the letter) to a chemist for tests, as the springs he found were said to be good for healing. (The bottle is not included in the collection).

Abstract Jonathan Bourne was a politician in Oregon at the turn of the twentieth century. In 1885 and 1897, he was a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, and was elected U. S. Senator in 1906. Considered a progressive, Bourne was a founder and president of the National Progressive Republican League in 1911 and organized the Republican Publicity Association in 1912. Most of the collection consists of U. S. Senate correspondence and case files. The Senate case files relate to topics which...

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Elijah Lafayette Bristow (1832-1887) is the son of Elijah Bristow (1788-1872), the first white settler within the present day boundary lines of Lane county. Collection contains 1 copy of Bristow's manuscript of " Rencounters with Indians, Highwaymen and Outlaws." He comments on his father's experiences in the upper Willamette Valley; Indian tribes; impact of the California gold discovery; and his own experiences in the mines in northern California in 1853.

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Albert Burch (1867-1943) was a mining engineer during the early 1900s in California. The collection (1897-1942) contains papers related to mine work and photographs, including those of workers of the Mountain Copper company.

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Josiah Burnett of Eagle Creek, Oregon, worked in mining, survey work, and farming. The collection (1852-1874) contains correspondence regarding family, mining, and politics, and also contains articles of incorporation of Oregon businesses.

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The collection contains a petition by Thomas Chavner, addressed to the people of Jackson County, Oregon, regarding a bridge over the Rogue River at Dardanelles. The collection contains the petition of October 24, 1864, and includes a list of supporters.

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The collection contains the record book and the stock certificates book for the Columbia Mines Company.

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The Cornucopia Mines company of Oregon was incorporated July 30, 1927 by Robert W. Betts, Blaine Hallock, and James H. Nichols as a successor company to the Baker Mines company. The collection contains corporate records, financial ledgers, and correspondence, 1918-1941.

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Henry Cummins (1840-1901) was a well-read and enthusiastic student of topics various and sundry with a partiality for pseudo-science. The collection (1858-1863) consists of Cummins' personal correspondence as well as a memory book and miscellaneous papers.

Abstract George Allan Dyson was born in England in 1843 and his family moved to the United States soon after. In 1861 Dyson sailed to California to work in the gold mines. A few years later he moved to Brownsville, Oregon and established the town’s first newspaper, the Brownsville Advertiser, in 1878. Dyson mined in central Idaho in the 1880s, and moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1899, where he worked as a tinsmith until his death in 1935. The collection consists of diaries, letters, ledgers, manuscripts...

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John F. Eccles, of Portland, Oregon wrote a letter dated March 13, 1862, to Colonel Brophy, of California, about the nature of Oregonians, and also about mining.

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The collection comprises the congressional files of Mathew "Harris" Ellsworth, U.S. Representative of the Oregon Fourth District.

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Collection consists of reminiscences of Frazar's childhood in Massachusetts, early life at sea, a trading voyage to California and Oregon (via Panama), 1850-1851, and experiences as a trader in the southern Oregon mines, 1852-1853.

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Nathan Gellert (1889-1959) was an engineer specializing in design and construction of gas plants and problems of gas technology. The papers include volumes of data and conclusions for a series of engineering projects as well as corporate records.

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Daniel Giles was born in 1836. He traveled overland from Iowa to Oregon in 1852. Collection consists of a typed copy of the account of Giles' journey overland from Iowa to Oregon in 1852, and his experiences in gold mining and Indian fighting in southern Oregon, 1853-1855.

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A. J. Grover wrote a letter dated April 18, 1863, to Edwin Beebe, of Placerville, Idaho to say that he had been delayed by Indians and it was too late for best market in Placerville; he also quotes prices in mining towns.

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The collection contains one letter dated January 5, 1863, from A. J. Grover to Edwin Beebe, of Portland, Oregon, giving a good report of Boise mines.

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Collection Includes debit and credit accounts, Scottsburg, Oregon, 1857, 1858; accounts of Union Ranch, Curry County; Salmon Gulch Mine; personal accounts; receipts for tuition, Umpqua Academy.

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The collection contains a letter dated February 16, 1872 from H. Epps Hardy of Walla Walla, Washington Territory, to Dick [Hardy?]. The letter describes itinerant life, and Hardy explains that he spends most of his time inside mines.

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Florence M. Hartshorn (1869-1943) was a photographer who lived in the Yukon during the gold rush. The collection consists of an album and loose prints made by Mrs. Hartshorn and her husband, documenting the landscape of the region, entrepreneurs and residents.

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James R. Harvey was secretary of the Grants Pass, Oregon, Chamber of Commerce. The collection consists of business correspondence and files containing correspondence and other documents regarding projects important to Grants Pass and Josephine County such as the California and Oregon Coast Railroad, Crescent City Harbor Development, and Old Channel Mine.

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William Howard travelled from Clackamas County to the minefields of eastern Oregon to dig for gold with his brother Charles. The collection consists of a single diary detailing his journey and early mining experiences.

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Crawford Isbell (1837-1864) lived in Eugene, Oregon, worked in mines in California, and was murdered on on the road between Canyon City and Eugene. The collection (1864-1865) contains correspondence from Isbell to his siblings, and letters from other's regarding Isbell's murder.

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The Krome Corporation organized in 1941, acquired mineral property, and constructed a plant for the concentration of chromite ore in southwestern Oregon. The collection contains files from corporation attorney William E. Walsh and files include information on land acquisition, sales, and correspondence with members of congress, 1941-1956.

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Kaspar Kubli (1830) established Kubli General Store in 1872 and operated it until his death in 1897.  The collection includes six volumes of account books dating 1858-1888.