Research materials related to the Baja California studies of geographer Peveril Meigs, III. Meigs conducted field research in northern Baja California, Mexico, between 1925 and 1936 observing geology, climate, indigenous populations, mission sites, and local culture in preparation for his 1932 doctoral dissertation entitled "The Dominican Missions of Lower California" and his ethnographic monograph entitled THE KILIWA INDIANS OF LOWER CALIFORNIA (1939). The collection contains journals with daily observations of people, the natural environment and historical sites; photograph albums with black-and-white images described in his journals; and hand drawn maps, particularly of the area around Arroyo Leon. Also included are notes and typescripts on his fieldwork and published sources on Baja California and Dominican mission history; published maps; annotated publications; and correspondence with his dissertation advisor, Dr. Carl Sauer, and other notable scholars including ethnographer A.L. Kroeber, geographer Homer Aschmann, and historian Peter Gerhard. Of interest is Meigs's translation, from Spanish into English, of Dominican padre Luis de Sales's "Noticias de la Provincia de Californias en Tres Cartas." Also included are notes and data compiled in the 1950s on Baja California's climate history and several papers by Meigs on peninsular Indian culture written in the 1970s. The collection does not contain material related to Meigs's research on other arid deserts or tide mills. The research materials are arranged in eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY MEIGS, 3) WRITINGS BY OTHERS, 4) JOURNALS, 5) PHOTOGRAPHS, 6) MAPS, 7) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, and 8) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.

Peveril Meigs, III was born in Flushing, New York, on May 5, 1903. His family moved to Santa Barbara, California, and Meigs later attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he received an A.B. (1925) and a Ph.D (1932) in geography. As an undergraduate studying with Dr. Carl Sauer, Meigs became interested in Baja California and planned his first trip to the peninsula in the summer of 1925, accompanied by fellow graduate student C. Warren Thornthwaite.

12.40 linear feet (5 archives boxes and 8 oversized folders)

Fragile journals in box 2, folder 11-15 and box 3, folder 1-10 are restricted. Patrons must use preservation photocopies.