How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

"The news we have from Arizona is almost fabulous, and if the accounts are half true, the mines are richer than those of California in 1848...the Navajos are now being drove out by Kit Carson..."

Fort Union New Mexico, November 8, 1863. Bifolium; 9 x 6 1/2 in. (228 x 165 mm). Four-page autograph letter, signed by an unknown Union soldier stationed at Fort Union, New Mexico during the Civil War. In part: "I have no conveniences for writing now, and you must wait till I get to Santa Fe for a good long letter...We had a very severe snow storm while encamped at Ft. Lyon and I took cold, and the result was, I had an attack of pleurisy...the weather was very cold with four inches of snow on the ground and we had to shovel off a place to sleep at night. We lost one or two mules and five or six horses, but continued on our march without a halt, as we were very anxious to get through the mountains. The Raton Mountains are very high, and are apt to be impassable at this season of the year... Gov. Arny, of New Mexico, gave me a place in his ambulance while I was sick, and arranged his blankets and robes so that I could lie down...The weather is now mild and pleasant and I feel almost as good as new, and am now doing my usual camp duty, and devouring an enormous amount of provisions....The news we have from Arizona is almost fabulous, and if the accounts are half true, the mines are richer than those of California in 1848. The rush there will be very great in the Spring...It is said that gold can be found four inches from the surface, and can be dug with a butcher knife. Gov. Arny took with him to Washington some specimens of gold and also gold bullets which he procured from the Navajo Indians; the Indian was sharp, and would not tell him where the gold was to be found, but a military expedition into their country revealed the location of the mines, and the Navajos are now being drove out by Kit Carson..." Creasing from old folds, A few small closed tears along same; scattered toning.

An illuminating letter by a Union soldier stationed at Fort Union describing the ongoing gold rush in the Territory of Arizona, and mentioning frontier legend Kit Carson driving Navajo Indians from the land.

Arizona had been a major stopping off point for settlers making their way to California during the Gold Rush of 1848, but during the late 1850s, major deposits were discovered around the Gila River, leading to a major surge in population for the territory.

Fort Union was an important military outpost for Northern forces, and was the base of operations for General Kit Carson, who took command there in 1862, and defended the western frontier from Confederate incursions until 1865.