Journal and letters, 1852-1853.

8 items.

English

Gift of William Robertson Coe.

Thomas Lewis was born in Wales, came to Portsmouth, Ohio in 1832, and worked in the Gaylord mill. In 1852 he and his eldest son Charles, crossed the Plains to the mines and Thomas returned by sea. He died in Portsmouth.

Lewis's journal and letters to his wife Nancy describe an 1852 journey from Ohio to California. They went by boat to Cincinnati, St. Louis, and St. Joseph, then overland by the Platte, Sublette's Cut-off, Soda Springs, Hudspeth's Cut-off, the Humboldt, Carson River, Scott's Cut-off, and to the mines. The journal records life at the mines and in California, and Thomas's return voyage by Nicaragua on the ships New Orleans and Mary Howard.

June 01, 2002

Thomas Cotton Lewis Journal and Letters. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Diaries - United States.

Miners United States.