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CA - Tulare City,Tulare County - 1873-1881 - Tulare City, Tule River Pioneer Letters

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
CA - Tulare City,Tulare County - 1873-1881 - Tulare City, Tule River Pioneer Letters
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
Lot of 14. These letters discuss the Mineral King Mine and mining life for the women. The main writers were Rebecca Crabtree and Paulina Crabtree. The letters are full of the women’s lives. Husbands are really not making much money out of the mines. A woman named “Tempy” was taken to the Stockton asylum by her husband. The town of Mineral King had three stores, four saloons, two hotels, three butcher shops, two sausage shops, one mill, one livery stable, one blacksmith shop, and two assay offices. The stage comes in two to three times a week and has four horses hitched to it. Much talk of disease and death. Paulina Crabtree lost her 5-year-old girl, Frankie Zulah to diptheria. Lots of talk about seven month babies, and marriage. The Crabtrees conclude that spiritualism is dead in their part of the world; however, in one of the letters James Crabtree wrote, “the spirit chose them to go to Mrs. Baldwin,” so all is not dead, apparently. There is also talk of Indian women and another woman who are sent off to Stockton’s state asylum. It seems that some women are fragile and could not stand the loneliness of mining life. The covers belonging to some of these letters are postmarked Portersville California to Miss Louie Earl at Sheeps Head Rook Co., Nev. Stamped Portersville, Cal. Another to Louie Earl was addressed to Winters, Yolo Co., California. The cancel stamp is from Portersville. The last cover is addressed to a Mrs. William Williams in Reno, Washoe Co. Nev. mailed in Mineral King, Cal. None of the covers have postage stamps on them. They have been removed. All the letters are in fine condition.