Robert R. Miller Papers MS-10
Chris S. Ervin CA
Presidio Research Center
2020-03-25
215 East Canon Perdido St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
chris@sbthp.org
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Presidio Research Center
Title: Robert R. Miller Papers
creator:
Miller, Robert Ryal
Identifier/Call Number: MS-10
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1752-2002
Abstract: Research notes, documents, printed matter, and drafts for the book
A Yankee Smuggler on the Spanish California Coast: George Washington Eayrs and the ship Mercury.
Scope and Contents
A Yankee Smuggler on the Spanish California Coast, written by Robert Ryal Miller, was published by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation in 2001. The bulk of these
papers consist of Miller's research notes, correspondence, and photocopies of articles, documents, and online materials used
to write the book. Publication materials include a final camera-ready draft and two reviews of the book.
A separate file contains another article written by Miller in 1975 and a copy of a New Mexican census document that forms
the basis for the article.
Biographical / Historical
Historian Robert Ryal Miller Robert received a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He was professor
of history at California State University Hayward from 1970-1980 and also taught at Indiana University and New Mexico State
University. He has published 13 books and over 20 articles on Latin American history with an emphasis on Mexico and California
before statehood. After retirement, he resided in Santa Barbara, California until his death in 2004.
Captain George Washington Eayrs engaged in trading voyages along the California coast between 1806 and 1813, bartering manufactured
goods for otter pelts. Captured in 1813 while anchored at Refugio Cove, Eayrs and his ship were brought to Santa Barbara,
where he was charged with illicit commerce and put under arrest at the Presidio. He was tried by commandante Captain Jose
Dario Arguello. Eayrs was sent to San Diego and then on to Mexico where he lived until his death in 1855. For almost thirty
years Eayrs wrote dozens of letters, petitions, and legal appeals, trying to get a compensation for his confiscated ship and
its cargo. Finally, in 1842, a joint U.S.-Mexican Claims Commission awarded him $96,000 to be paid by the Mexican government.
Preferred Citation
Robert R. Miller Papers, MS-10, Presidio Research Center, Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, Santa Barbara, California.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist and Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation Research Center as the
owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Smuggling
Smugglers
California--History--To 1846
Santa Barbara Presidio (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Cachupin, Thomas Velez
Mercury (Ship)
Eayrs, George Washington, 1775-1855
box 1, folder 3
Boudinot, May Fidelia. The Case of the Mercury as Typical of Contraband Trade on the California Coast, 1790-1820
1915
General
Master's thesis UC Berkeley; photocopy
box 1, folder 4
Miscellaneous articles and notes
box 1, folder 5
Translation of Acontecimientos en California
General
a photocopy of a translation of
Acontecimientos en California de que hace memoria, Don Jose de Jesus Pico by Thomas Savage, 1878
box 1, folder 6
Eayrs Inquisition Hearing
15 September 1818
General
AGNM 61, vol. 1421, Expediente 13, Fojas 94-98
box 2, folder 7-9
Case File #51 George Washington Eayrs, Record Group 076
1839
General
Photocopy; Boundary and Claims Commission/Arbitration, U.S. and Mexican Claims, Board of Commissioners of 1839; Box 18
box 2, folder 10
Review copy of A Yankee Smuggler
box 2, folder 11
Layout copy of A Yankee Smuggler
box 2, folder 12
Illustrations for A Yankee Smuggler
box 2, folder 13
Blueline copy and jacket of A Yankee Smuggler and publishers correspondence
box 2, folder 14
Reviews of A Yankee Smuggler
box 2, folder 15
Miller, Robert Ryal.
New Mexico in Mid-Eighteenth Century: A Report Based on Governor Velez Capuchin's [sic] Inspection
1752-1975
General
Reprint from Southwestern Historical Quarterly, vol. LXXIX (Oct. 1975); also includes copies of census document created by
Don Thomas Velez Cachupin in 1752 and described in Miller's article
