Memoirs describing expeditions and military service in Alaska and the Philippines, 1898-1926.

0.42 linear ft. (1 box)

English

Purchased from William Reese Co. on the William Robertson Coe Fund No. 3, 2003.

Luther S. Kelly, known also as "Yellowstone Kelly", was a trapper, hunter and Army scout. In 1898 Kelly was sent to Alaska to serve on the Reindeer for Alaska Relief Expedition. He was later assigned to an expedition under E. F. Glenn that scouted mail routes to Yukon posts. In 1899 Kelly was hired by the Harriman Expedition and traveled in Alaska before being assigned to command a Philippine post at Dapitan in Mindanao. After successfully resisting a seige by escaped convicts and outlaws in March of 1903 in Surigao, Kelly was appointed Indian Agent at the San Carlos Agency in Arizona. He retired to Paradise, California where he wrote his memoirs; a portion describing his life through 1892 was published in 1926 as "'Yellowstone Kelly': the Memoirs of Luther S. Kelly". He died in 1928.

Typescript memoirs, with manuscript corrections in pen and pencil, by Luther S. Kelly describing his adventures and exploits in the West, Alaska, and the Philippines after 1892. Thirteen chapters describe Kelly's experiences in Chicago at the Columbian exposition in 1893, the Pullman strike, and his friendship with Buffalo Bill Cody; the 1898 Reindeer for Alaska Expedition which includes observations about Laplanders; the Glenn Expedition which introduced Kelly to the Alaskan interior and to geologist and photographer W. C. Mendenhall; the Harriman Expedition; Kelly's experiences in the Philippines; as well as communications with William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. Each chapter excluding the first is preceeded by a summary of chapter contents and originally paginated as if carrying forward from Kelly's 1926 published volume. Includes a typescript review of "Yellowstone Kelly" attributed to Charles J. Finger. Accompanied by 27 photographs from Alaska and the Philippines, captioned on the verso in pencil and type, and notated for inclusion in specific chapters. Two prints are by Edward S. Curtis and fourteen are by W.C. Mendenhall.

August 14, 2003

Accompanied by a container list.

Luther S. Kelly, Memoirs Describing Expeditions and Military Service in Alaska and the Philippines. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Luther S. Kelly, Memoirs Describing Expeditions and Military Service in Alaska and the Philippines. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.