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
Cataloged by Jonathan Naito with assistance from Jain Fletcher; finding aid with assistance from Laurel McPhee, September
2004; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections staff
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
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The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
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
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.
Note
Layout: Average of 25 lines of writing per page.
Script: Cursive.
Binding: Paper boards.
ff. 1v: list of officers associated with the campaign
ff. 2r-52r: journal of the campaign arranged in daily entries
May 6-June 30,
1833
ff. 54r-68r: partial draft of the journal; divided into chapters with summary descriptions at the head of each chapter
May 6-May 15, 1833
