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Chase (Alexander W.) Overland Journal
MS.R.061
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine
Libraries
Title: Alexander W. Chase overland journal
Creator:
Chase, Alexander W. (Alexander Wells)
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.061
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1861
Abstract: The illustrated holograph journal of
Alexander W. Chase documenting his family's overland journey from Iowa to California by
covered wagon from May to August 1861. The illustrations include both pencil sketches and
watercolors. The journal is accompanied by 43 loose watercolor illustrations by Chase that
correspond to events or scenery described in the journal. As a first-hand account of a
pioneer journey over the Great Plains in mid-nineteenth-century America, the journal
provides both textual and visual documentation on the landscape, wildlife, and Native
American population of this time period. An informal transcription of the journal produced
by UCI staff is available for consultation.
Language of Material:
English .
Collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by
the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish,
please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
Alexander W. Chase Overland Journal. MS-R 61. Special Collections and Archives, The UCI
Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information
about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder
descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Gift of Gordon and Carole Cole in 1991.
Initial processing by Special Collections staff. Processing completed by Su Kim Chung in
1998.
Born in 1843, Alexander Wells Chase was 18 years old at the time he made the overland
journey across the Great Plains with his family. In 1874 Chase married Isabel Frances
Dickerson, and they had two children, Bertha Griffith Chase and Alexandra Wells Chase. He
died in 1888.
A family genealogy and a scanned photograph of Alexander Chase provided by the donor are
available in folder 5 of the collection. Printouts of digital (JPEG) files of Chase family
photos supplied by the donor are in folder 4 of the collection.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The illustrated holograph journal of Alexander W. Chase documenting his family's overland
journey from Iowa to California by covered wagon from May to August 1861. The illustrations
include both pencil sketches and watercolors. The journal is accompanied by 43 loose
watercolor illustrations by Chase that correspond to events or scenery described in the
journal. As a first-hand account of a pioneer journey over the Great Plains in
mid-nineteenth-century America, the journal provides both textual and visual documentation
on the landscape, wildlife, and Native American population of this time period. An informal
transcription of the journal produced by UCI staff is available for consultation.
Geographic features described in the journal include the Platte River, Black Hills, Rocky
Mountains, Sweetwater Mountains, Castle Rock, Fort Laramie, American Falls, Snake River,
Blackfoot River, Soda Lakes, Carson River, Humboldt River, and the Humboldt Mountains. The
author also describes encounters with local wildlife such as antelope, buffalo, elk, prairie
dogs, wolves, and coyotes. Flora and fauna of the Great Plains, including sage, prickly
pear, gooseberries, and a wide variety of trees, are mentioned in Chase's narrative as well.
The family's encounters with Native American tribes such as the Pawnee, Sioux, Cheyenne,
Shoshone, and Digger Indians are also documented.
Contemporary historical events are also documented in the journal. Chase's narrative begins
with a preamble mentioning the Civil War, and some entries describe news the family has
received on the war's progress during the course of the journey. Other entries describe
encounters with the Mormon wagon trains traveling over the Great Plains, while yet another
entry notes the sudden appearance of a comet on the horizon.
The accompanying loose watercolors depict persons, events, and geographic features that
correspond with various journal entries. Chase's descriptive captions on the individual
watercolors were used to formulate the container list.
Alexander W. Chase Diaries, 1866-1869. Available at the Arizona Historical Society,
Southern Arizona Division, Tucson, AZ 85719.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California -- Description and travel
Indians of North America -- Great Plains -- Archives
Great Plains -- Description and travel.
West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
Overland journals.
Watercolors (paintings)
Overland journeys to the Pacific
Frontier and pioneer life -- Great Plains
Chase, Alexander W. (Alexander Wells) -- Archives