My great-aunt's Travel Diary c.1903

[Mike Shea]

In my family archives we have hundreds of letters written by my 2nd great-grandmother and her children from 1903-1914 after they departed Alturas, CA for the gold fields of Nome, Alaska. One such gem in our collection is my great-aunt's 'Travel Diary' that she kept after their departure for the gold fields on May 20, 1903. It must have been quite an adventure for a mining and ranching family. I could go on and on about their life, however, for the sake of nautical history, I have posted a few pages from her diary as she records the departure from the Arlington Docks in Seattle, WA aboard the SS Ohio of the Alaskan Steamship Company. The diary was written in a small "Miners Memorandum Handbook.' 

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by Mike Shea
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[druxey]

That is a valuable window into those times and places. Please preserve it carefully and perhaps transcribe the contents for a wider audience.

[Jim Lad]

Great to see that you've posted it, Mike.  Druxey's advice is good.  We have my G-G-Grandfather's 'day book' from when he was a surveyor working on the surveys on the first railway lines in New South Wales.  I've scanned the entire day book and also transcribed it so that it easily readable - especially for the younger generation who may not be used to reading cursive script.

 

John

[thibaultron]

At least they can read cursive!, here in the US they are seriously talking about not teaching cursive! Claim no one uses it any more.

[Jim Rogers]

And the reason nobody uses cursive anymore is that schools don’t teach it and teens don’t text it. 

I tried to read the page but had trouble. Great find though.