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A Letter Home from a California Freighter, 

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 300.00 USD
A Letter Home from a California Freighter, 

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Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
2pp, 7.75" x 9.5", n.d., n.p. stated. William P. Snell to Father (and Mother) in Oakland, Michigan. He asks that letters be directed to Placerville, CA. This would have been a central location, since he notes that he is: ...driving my team from Sacramento to Carson City a distance of 125 miles & sometimes to Virginia City some 16 miles further "hauling freight." He also notes that what he is being paid has fallen from $4-5/cwt to $2.50-3, and horse feed had gone from $1-1.50 to $4. He also notes at the beginning that I was very glad to learn that yourself and Mother were able to be about a & that a part of our folks are alive & tolerably well & remain with you at this difficult time. Since Carson City was founded in 1858, and the only inflationary period between about 1820 and 1920 was during the Civil War, we suspect this letter dates to that period. He also notes that ...in a Democratic government ...we have provisions for settling variances without war, are not the Southern States alone faulty for not availing themselves of such helps, but am not aging at this time to consider politics much one or the other way. Most of the letter is personal, but it does give a view of conditions outside the immediate "war zone" and the effects on even distant Americans. 

The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana

Condition: Expected folds, minor toning, a few period ink smears.