MSS 290
Chapman, W.H. (William H.), b. 1843
- Diary, 1866
- 1 v.
- Farm hand on William J. McConnell's ranch, Payette River, Idaho Territory.
Diary kept by Chapman chronicling his daily life and work on McConnell's ranch near Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, through the winter, spring, and early summer of 1866; his overland journey on horseback back to the Midwest; and social life and work in Jackson, Michigan, and Elgin, Illinois, with family and friends on his return. Includes descriptions of pack train trips from the ranch into the mountains to supply potatoes and produce to the mining camps of Placerville, Centerville, Pioneerville, and Idaho City, Idaho.
William J. McConnell described the establishment of his ranch and the Boise Basin mining towns in his book, Early History of Idaho (Caxton Printers, 1913), especially on pages 121-122 and 187-189.
Purchased 2010.