Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Descriptive Summary
Title: Skaar (Sven) Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1893-1973
Collection number: Mss123
Creator:
Grace Skaar
Extent: 0.5 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Skaar (Sven) Collection, Mss123, Holt-Atherton
Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Biography
Sven Skaar was an amateur historian and novelist who lived in Nevada
City, Calif. between 1945 and 1973. He operated Ott's Assay Office as a museum
there from 1963 until his death (1973). Skaar's research interests centered on
persons and events associated with 19th century California. He penned two
completed novels on California figures: "Murder in the Valley," based on the
exploits of train robbers, Chris Evans and John Sontag; and, "One more
mountain," a fictionalized biography of Henry A. Meiggs. Skaar also left an
incomplete, untitled work on the Nathan Bowers Express, copious notes on the
Henry Crabb party's activities in southern Arizona Territory, and a lengthy
account of the activities of Idaho bandit, Henry A. Plummer.
Scope and Content
The Sven Skaar Collection consists principally of notes and clippings
related to Skaar's fiction. There are also clippings and correspondence
pertinent to his activities in Nevada City and to the history of 19th century
Anglo California with particular emphasis on the northern mother lode.