Photocopies of poems and drawings by J. Goldsborough Bruff.

Joseph Goldsborough Bruff (1804-1899) is best known as a topographer, journalist, and artist of the gold rush era. Bruff was born in Washington, D.C., on October 2, 1804. He attended West Point from 1820 until his resignation in 1822, when he left to sail, as a cabin boy, to Europe and South America in 1822. From 1827 to 1836 he worked as a topographical engineer, predominantly at Gosport Naval Yard in Norfolk, Virginia. He returned to Washington, D.C., in 1837 and from 1838 to 1849 worked for the United States Bureau of Topographical Engineers. Bruff then organized the Washington City and California Mining Association, which he accompanied to California on its overland journey in 1849. While in California he produced extensive journals and drawings of the mining camp experience. In 1853 Bruff returned to Washington, D.C., where he worked in office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department until his death on April 14, 1889.

0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder)

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