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Finding Aid for Edward Worrell : A journal of a campaign through the south western and western prairies in the months of May and June 1833
170/119  
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  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content
  • Indexing Terms
  • Related Material

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Edward Worrell A journal of a campaign through the south western and western prairies in the months of May and June 1833
    Date (inclusive): 1833
    Collection number: 170/119
    Creator: Worrell, Edward, ? -1877
    Extent: 68 leaves : paper ; 250 x 205 mm.
    Abstract: Two copies (one full, one partial) of a daily journal kept by U.S. Army surgeon Edward Worrell. The journal is noteworthy for its insights into the day-to-day life of a solider in the American West, as well as the attitudes of such soldiers on Native American culture.
    Language: Finding aid is written in English.
    Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
    Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
    Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

    Administrative Information

    Restrictions on Access

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Purchase, Zeitlin Books, ca. 1930s

    Processing Note

    Cataloged by Jonathan Naito with assistance from Jain Fletcher; finding aid with assistance from Laurel McPhee, September 2004, in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Edward Worrell : A journal of a campaign through the south western and western prairies in the months of May and June, 1833 (Collection 170/119). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 4230403 

    Biography

    Edward Worrell was born in Delaware; he left civilian life to serve as an assistant surgeon at Fort Gibson, a post he held from 1832-1833. He was honorably discharged in 1842 and died in 1877.

    Scope and Content

    This bound manuscript includes the full text of a daily journal kept by Edward Worrell, an assistant surgeon who was part of an 1833 U.S. Army expedition to confront and contain the Pawnees in present day Oklahoma, and what appears to be a partial second draft of the same journal. Located in the Three Forks Region of present day Oklahoma (then Arkansas), Fort Gibson was actively engaged in attempts to diplomatically and forcibly convince local tribes and those relocated from the East to recognize the sovereignty of the United States government. The 1833 expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel James Many was the second such expedition to originate from Fort Gibson, and like the 1832 campaign, ended in failure. The detachment consisting of two select companies of the Seventh Infantry and three companies of Rangers traveled 513 miles in 55 days, however, the soldiers were slowed by their heavy equipment, lack of sufficient provisions, disease, and extreme weather conditions. On June 30, 1833 they returned to Fort Gibson having had only indirect interactions with members of the Pawnee tribe. Throughout his journal, Worrell comments on the day-to-day life of a member of the U.S. Army and the beauty of the prairie, while also recording events of potential military importance. It seems as if he later attempted to produce a version of his journal for public or private circulation; the partial second draft is divided into chapters with brief summaries at the head of each chapter.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

    Genres and Forms of Material

    Manuscripts.

    Related Material

    A copy of this manuscript is in the Negative Microfilm Collection, no. 02493.
    Bound Manuscripts Collection (Collection 170)  . Available at UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.