Manuscripts Record
Metadata
Catalog Number |
9.001 |
Title |
Millican, Robert, 1837-1918 |
Date |
1900 |
Scope & Content |
MILLICAN, ROBERT, 1837-1918 Inventory and description. Handwritten diary with brief entries about weather, work, family relationships and daily events in the life of a Walterville farmer, dated January 1, 1900 to December 31, 1900. Photo postcard of the Millican farmhouse in Walterville, Oregon, 14 miles east of Eugene on McKenzie Highway. (Entered in the Library of Congress National Union Catalog of Manuscripts - NUCMC - as OCLC 795778079) Millican, Robert, 1837-1918 Diary, 1900. Robert Millican came to Portland, Oregon, via Panama, in 1859. Proceeding by riverboat from Portland to Albany, he disembarked and walked the forty miles to Eugene, City. After Spending the winter there, Millican joined a prospecting party bound for eastern Oregon in May 1860. In the Blue Mountains they were attacked by hostile Indians, resulting in the loss of most of the horses, and the men walked back to the Willamette Valley. After having spent some time prospecting for gold in central and eastern Oregon, Millican married in 1867 and settled in Walterville. The diary is a daily account of farm life at Walterville, which was typical of life in any rural area at the time. Diaries served a useful purpose in agricultural areas, recording planting dates, first and last frosts, and the annual harvests. Although the entries are brief, the diary reveals a great deal about family relationships, work exchanges, visits, and daily events. 13 March. Clear & warm. Stock hunted shade. 29 March. Rained hard all day. Paper hanging the order of the day. 20 April. Clear. Lester brought Spot to barn. Had calf. Tinkered all day. 26 April. Rained all day. Idle. 25 June. Light clouds. Made a grindstone frame for Oscar. 13 August. Clear. The boys went to the cow ranch to hunt cattle. Tom aimed to help. I poisoned squirrels & fenced the straw stacks. Irigated the berries. 6 November. Clear. Came down & voted for McKinley. 29 November. Fair. The girls come home to Thanksgiving dinner. Went over the pasture. 25 December. Rain part of day. Went to Christmas tree at Stormants last night. Had Christmas dinner. All the family present but Laurence. |