[Rarebooks] FS: Handwritten compilation of letters from the American West, 1898-1911

[Bob Petrilla]

Alexander, Henry Ruffner. ARCHIVE OF ALEXANDER'S LETTERS FROM THE AMERICAN
WEST TO HIS FAMILY IN WEST VIRGINIA, 1898-1911, AND VARIOUS OTHER
MATERIALS. In a volume handwritten by his son, William Alexander, are 93
letters written by Henry as he traveled through the West "seeking his
fortune." Original manuscript. One volume, octavo, bound in red cloth,
hand-lettered cover and spine titles. The 400 pages of text are printed in
a neat hand, excepting four typewritten pages. Interpolated are maps, some
printed, some hand-drawn by HRA himself and pasted in, these latter showing
the location of his camp and the set-up inside his and Blanche’s cabin, the
plan of the Ohio farmhouse, etc., and there are a few other small pieces
cut out from the letters and pasted in, as well as small snapshots of the
R.R. station in Huntington, the “Washington Ave. house” in 1912 and the
“farmhouse” in Chesapeake, OH, along with a barn for it that “father and
William built.”. Compiled and recopied in 1954 by HRA’s son William, the
volume starts with newclips: an article on “Great Salt Lake” (Salt Lake
City Daily Register, March 1, 1898) “sent home” by Father (HRA) who
“apparently…didn’t believe all of it.”; an obituary for HRA, from the
Huntington Advertiser, Huntington, WV, June 27, 1935; and an obituary for
William Arbuckle Alexander (HRA’s father) from the Christian Observer,
April 29, 1885. Next is a table of contents (1 page), then an 8-page
subject index to the letters, and a 6-page index (by place and date). ~~ In
so-labeled “Part One”, there are a total of 93 letters (1898-1911) written
by HRA when he is in the West, most addressed to his mother and they
comprise the bulk--about 300 pages--of the volume. These are followed by 6
letters written when he’s back in WV in 1912, and 8 when he’s in
Chesapeake, OH in 1912-13. Next come 15 copies of letters written by HRA’s
wife, Blanche, dated 1898-1903. “Part Two” consists of 27 letters written
by HRA to son William, mostly while he’s at college, dating 1920-26; and
“Part Three” consists of 9 pages of transcribed postcards sent home by
William in the summer of 1934, during his car trip through the mountains of
WV, VA and NC.  ~~ The first 93 letters offer a unique picture of life in
the “Wild West”, written by a young West Virginian who had to quit college
after one year at Morgantown due to his father’s illness. Henry Alexander
[HRA] then moved to Charleston and at age 20 became the youngest justice of
the peace ever in West Virginia, before returning to the family farm at
Frazier’s Bottom, WV. When his father died in 1885, however, HRA was free
to follow his dream and head west for the gold rush to the Klondike,
expecting to make his fortune and settle in Alaska. The letters start as he
is “on the tramp” in Kansas, working his way west at a series of unskilled
jobs, and there are vivid descriptions of cowboy life on the prairie and
portraits of life in a number of western towns, some truly “wild and
woolly.” His travels include stops of varying lengths in Kiowa and Dodge
City in Kansas; Little Rock, Arkansas City, and Hot Springs, Arkansas
(where he provides an interesting description of the health spa facilities
and their denizens, including himself); Pueblo, Colorado; Salt Lake City,
Utah (a short side trip, featuring descriptions and opinions on Mormon
sights and life); Sacramento; Portland, Oregon (a fascinating description
of the “Klondikers” setting off from there); and Seattle, Coulee City,
Wilbur, Clark, Colville Reservation, Republic, Belcher (Camp), and Keller,
in Washington (his final destination). They conclude with letters written
back in WV and OH in 1911-13, but those occupy only the final 40 of those
300 pages.    $3,000.00

Trade discount, 20%.  Postpaid in US.

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