RARE 1879 DEADWOOD DAKOTA TERRITORY COVER / LETTER - MINE RELATED CONTENT
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:3236410 |
Here is an original historic cover and enclosed letter written from DEADWOOD , DAKOTA TERRITORY IN 1879 at the height of the gold mining boom in the famous wild mining town - cover postmarked from DEADWOOD to MRS LUCY THORNTON in San Francisco with letter written to her by son HARRY THORNTON. Letter has content including this account "DID YOU SEE THE ACCOUNT OF THE CLOUD BURST BETWEEN THIS (DEADWOOD) & SYDNEY! I WAS AT THE LEVEE THE NEXT DAY ON THE STAGE - 13 LEVIES WER...E LOST" (this was probably the Sidney Black Hills stage road).Evidently Thornton worked in some sort of mining related business as he discusses being in a mine in Deadwood that was worth $2, 000, 000 and being able to "REAP A RICH HARVEST OF FEES" off it. Actual correspondence from the 1870s is very scarce so this is a rare letter / cover written and mailed during the Black Hills gold rush!!!!! 14 day return. $3 US postage only (will combine purchases). Virginia buyers pay 5.3% sales tax. Thanks!!!On Jun-25-19 at 06:58:10 PDT, seller added the following information:Additional information on this letter and cover: The writer is Harry Innis Thornton, son of the famed judge and member of the federal Public Land Commission for California Harry I. Thornton Sr. His mother was Lucy Crittendon Thornton, and the parents resided in San Francisco. In the 1850s Harry was a member of the California State Senate. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he gave an impassioned speech on the floor defending the Southern right to secede. He resigned and returned to his birth state of Alabama and became a Major with the 58th Regt. Alabama Infantry. He was wounded at Chickamauga, Resaca GA, and Atlanta GA. After the War, he returned to California and practiced law there and in Nevada. His expertise was in handling complex mining litigation.
