Guide to the Alexander W. Chase Overland Journal, 1861
Processed by Su Kim Chung; machine-readable finding aid created by
Brooke Dykman Dockter
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Phone: (949) 824-3947
Fax: (949) 824-2472
Email: spcoll@uci.edu
URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/rrsc/speccoll.html
© 1998
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
Arts and Humanities--Fine Arts--Drawing
History--History,
California--General
Geographical (by Place)--California
Guide to the Alexander W. Chase Overland Journal
Collection number: MS-R 61
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
University of California
Irvine, California
Contact Information
- Special Collections and Archives
- The UCI Libraries
- P.O. Box 19557
- University of California
- Irvine, California 92623-9557
- Phone: (949) 824-3947
- Fax: (949) 824-2472
- Email: spcoll@uci.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/rrsc/speccoll.html
- Processed by:
- Su Kim Chung
- Date Completed:
- June 1998
- Encoded by:
- Brooke Dykman Dockter
© 1998 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Alexander W. Chase overland journal,
Date (inclusive): 1861
Collection number: MS-R061
Creator:
Chase, Alexander W. (Alexander Wells), 1843-1888
Extent:
0.2 linear feet (1 box)
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
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:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
Alexander W. Chase Overland Journal. MS-R 61. Special Collections and Archives, The UCI Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Gordon and Carole Cole in 1991.
Processing History
Initial processing by Special Collections staff. Processing completed by Su Kim Chung in 1998.
Biography
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.
Related Collections
Alexander W. Chase Diaries, 1866-1869. Available at the Arizona Historical Society, Southern Arizona Division, Tucson, AZ
85719.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Chase, Alexander W. (Alexander Wells), 1843-1999--Archives.
Overland journeys to the Pacific--Archival resources.
Frontier and pioneer life--Great Plains--Archival resources.
Indians of North America--Great Plains--Archival resources.
Great Plains--Description and travel--Archival resources.
California--Description and travel--Archival resources.
West (U.S.)--Description and travel--Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Materials
Overland journals.
Watercolors.
Collection Contents
Box : Folder 1 : 2
Watercolor drawings, 1861.
Physical Description:
43 items.
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 1. When the shore is won at last . . .
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 3. The overland route to California
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 9. Ancient bluff ruins
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 12. Fire in the Black Hills
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 14. Drowning and midnight burial of the drowned man
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 16. Sweetwater Mountains
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 17. Independence Rock
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 21. Sweetwater Gap and Castles
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 23. Wind River Mountains
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 26. Green River Mountains
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 27. Salt River Valley
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 31. Devil's Sugar Bowl
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 34. Humboldt Mountains
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 35. Red Rocks on Humboldt Sink
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 36. Crossing the desert
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 37. Lake Bigler [i.e., Lake Tahoe]
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 38. Lake Bigler from the Summit
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 40. California sketches
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 41. Implements of the trade
Box : Folder 1 : 2
No. 42. Monte Diabolo from Sacramento River, Lancaster, and Sacramento before the flood
Box : Folder 1 : 3
Transcript of journal, unedited draft.
Physical Description:
47 pages.
Box : Folder 1 : 4
Printouts of digital (JPEG) files of Chase family photographs supplied by donor, ca. 1840-ca. 1920.
Physical Description:
9 items.
Box : Folder 1 : 5
Genealogy for and photocopy of a scanned photograph of Alexander Wells Chase
