Provenance
Purchased from Michael Vinson on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2009, and on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2013.
Biographical / Historical Note
Thomas M. Pratt was a cowboy in Dakota Territory, circa 1879-1881.
Summary
5 autograph letters, signed, to Thomas M. Pratt, including 2 from Charles Jones, 1 from F. B. Bigeler, 1 from Charles L. Jackson, and 1 from G. W. Mentot. Letters from Jones, Jackson, and Mentot detail the writers' lives as cowboys in Dakota Territory, particularly in Rapid Valley, Rapid City, and Rockerville. Letters from Charles Jones detail his sexual and romantic relationships with Thomas M. Pratt and Charles L. Jackson, and include the use of slang to describe these relationships and Jones's attempts to find a woman to marry. Letter from F. B. Bigeler describes the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bangor, Maine, the suicide of an acquaintance, and anecdotes involving sex and prostitution. Included are 3 photographic postcards of Mill Creek Ranch in Livingston, Montana.