#MA54
1866
Ocatvo (ca. 20,5 x12,5 cm). 2 pp. on bifolium. Black ink on blue laid paper. Fold marks but overall a very good letter, written in a legible hand.
A historically important original autograph manuscript letter by M. H. Kolloch regarding his discovery of gold at the once thriving mining camp and now-abandoned community of Brownsville, California. The author, apparently a geologist, mine surveyor, or engineer, wrote this letter on his way from the gold mining district of Fairplay (Colorado Territory) to Paradise Valley (Arizona Territory) on 14 October 1866. In the text addressed to his colleague G. W. Swan, Kolloch brags about discovering the north extension of the “richest mine” in Brownsville and enthusiastically reports on a two-foot ledge stuffed with “free gold.” In the rest of the letter, the author discusses a newly-built road to the north extension of the mine, details his official duties, and writes that he needs to construct 200 feet of a road “to intersect with the new one.” Kolloch also explains his decision to travel to Arizona Territory and informs his colleague that he was commissioned to survey a future camp in Paradise Valley. Overall, a historically important original autograph manuscript letter documenting the state of gold mining in the American West in the early years after the end of the Civil War.
The text of the letter (original spelling and punctuation preserved):
"I am on my way to Paradise Valley Arizona, where I have been ordered to a new camp to be established there by the government, having received my commission. I have not been unsuccessful in Brownsville, having discovered the north extension of the richest mine there to which a road is just built. The ledge is 2ft wide and very rich with free gold. I have to build 200 feet of road to intersect with the new one. Being short of stamps I enclose two letters which please have delivered. I hope soon to be able to return you by mail the - in - of the - you were so kind as to let me have.”
