Machado (Jess) Collection, 1846-1990

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Summary

Title:
Machado (Jess) Collection,
Dates:
1846-1990
Creators:
David Machado
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Machado (Jess) Collection, Mss256, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

Background

Scope and content:

Machado's papers reflect his interests in natural history, horsebreeding, and the Mormon/Carson Emigrant Trail. They consist of approximately nine linear feet of notes, maps, slides, photocopies of primary sources, pamphlets, flyers, and other materials.

Biographical / historical:

Jess Machado was born in Stockton, California in about 1908. After being orphaned as a young boy Machado was raised in the Salvation Army Orphanage at Lytton, Sonoma County. During his late teens he left the orphanage to live with his maternal grandparents, the Sousas, in Stockton. His grandfather worked in law enforcement and during the 1940s was elected Sheriff of San Joaquin County. From 1928 through 1931 Machado attended Stockton High School. Upon graduating from high school he enrolled in a teacher training course at Modesto Junior College. Following the completion of his coursework at Modesto J.C. Machado taught elementary school science until 1942. He was also employed for a time at the City of Stockton's Silver Lake Camp in El Dorado County. The stimulus of this environment engendered Machado's lifelong interest in the Carson Pass Area and the history of the Emigrant Trail which passes close by Silver Lake. In 1942 Machado enlisted in the U.S. Army and spent the duration of World War II in the South Pacific. After the War, Machado resumed teaching but also studied landscape gardening and weather forecasting. He continued to collect information on the Carson Pass portion of the Emigrant Trail and began to study trail diaries in an effort to establish the definitive route of the Trail through the Pass and beyond. During the 1950s he married Marian Uhart and settled in the San Fernando Valley where he worked as a landscape gardener for the City of Los Angeles. At this time he began breeding Arabian horses. Upon Jess' retirement the Machados acquired a vineyard in the Turlock area. Following his wife's premature death, Machado devoted most of his time to the study of the Emigrant Trail. At the time of his death in 1992, he was widely regarded as an expert on the Carson Pass leg of the Trail.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Physical description:
8 linear ft.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Don Walker; machine-readable finding aid created by Don Walker
Date Prepared:
© 1998
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from paper by means of scanning and OCR; OCR file edited for typographical errors before encoding. Date of source: 1993.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Machado (Jess) Collection, Mss256, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

Location of this collection:
University of the Pacific, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University Library
Stockton, CA 95211, US
Contact:
(209) 946-2404
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