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.^ - abundance did not last long. We saw partridges and pigeons and one or two deer but naturally a large party Hieaw,ftg without attempt to sup¬ press the noise of its movements would not be likely to en^- oounter much game. We saw but fe?; snakes until we got into the^creek district and there quite a number of prairie rattle snakes suffered on account of the natural animosity of man against their species. At one camp on that creek eight or nine were killed. We saw no elk, perhaps there were none there at that time, but we did see numerous antlers shed by the bucks, lying on the ground near our line. The story of our summer's experience has been ex¬ tracted from a diary written day by day during our trip. Thor¬ oughly conversant with the fact that there was nothing of special interest in it, Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites has insisted that it ought to be reduced to writing, and deposited in the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. As a corres¬ ponding member of that society, I yield to the secretary on this point, hoping that his judgment may prove to be better than mine, and that this account of our surveying expedition may have value enough to justify his opinion that it ought to be preserved.
Object Description
Page Title | A preliminary railroad survey in Wisconsin in 1857 |
Author | Davis, Andrew McFarland, 1833-1920 |
Source Creation Date | 1857 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | XML |
Electronic Publisher | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Rights | We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. |
Electronic Publication Date | 2005 |
Digital Identifier | TP061000 |
Description | Andrew McFarland Davis kept this diary of his experiences as a member of an 1857 surveying crew for a projected line of the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad. In it, he describes the changing terrain, working conditions, and mishaps encountered over four months in the field. A shorter, edited version published in 1911 is also presented on the Turning Points site, and by comparing the two readers can see how memory, desire, and the publishing process influence historical sources. |
Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives |
Format | Text |
Recommended Citation | Davis, Andrew McFarland. "Survey account, 1857." Manuscript in the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives (SC 2228). Online facsimile at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=61 |
Document Number | TP061 |
Size | 25 pages |
URL | http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=61 |
Owner Collection | Main Stacks |
Owner Object ID | SC 2228, WIHV00-A313 |
Genre | diary |
County | Adams County; Chippewa County; Clark County; Columbia County; Dunn County; Eau Claire County; Juneau County; Marquette County; Milwaukee County; Waushara County; Wood County |
City | Chippewa Falls; Eau Claire; Milwaukee; Portage; Prairie du Chien |
State/Province | Wisconsin |
Gender | male |
Sub-Topic | Development of the Railroads |
Event Date | 1857-04; 1857-05; 1857-06; 1857-07; 1857-08 |
Event Years | 1857 |
Event Month | April; May; June; July; August |
Animals | Birds; Insects; Mammals; Reptiles |
Climate | Rain; Storms; Weather; High temperature |
Intellectual Life | Research; |
Science and Technology | Surveying |
Topography | Landscape; Prairie; Rivers; Wetlands |
Transportation | Railroads; Roads |
Type | Text |
Description
Page Title | Page 3 |
Author | Davis, Andrew McFarland, 1833-1920 |
Source Creation Date | 1857 |
Language | English |
Digital Format | JPG |
Electronic Publisher | Wisconsin Historical Society |
Rights | We believe that online reproduction of this material is permitted because its copyright protection has lapsed or because sharing it here for non-profit educational purposes complies with the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. Teachers and students are generally free to reproduce pages for nonprofit classroom use. For advice about other uses, or if you believe that you possess copyright to some of this material, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. |
Electronic Publication Date | 2005 |
Digital Identifier | TP061003 |
Owner | Wisconsin Historical Society Archives |
Format | Text |
Owner Collection | Main Stacks |
Owner Object ID | SC 2228 |
Full Text | .^ - abundance did not last long. We saw partridges and pigeons and one or two deer but naturally a large party Hieaw,ftg without attempt to sup¬ press the noise of its movements would not be likely to en^- oounter much game. We saw but fe?; snakes until we got into the^creek district and there quite a number of prairie rattle snakes suffered on account of the natural animosity of man against their species. At one camp on that creek eight or nine were killed. We saw no elk, perhaps there were none there at that time, but we did see numerous antlers shed by the bucks, lying on the ground near our line. The story of our summer's experience has been ex¬ tracted from a diary written day by day during our trip. Thor¬ oughly conversant with the fact that there was nothing of special interest in it, Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites has insisted that it ought to be reduced to writing, and deposited in the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. As a corres¬ ponding member of that society, I yield to the secretary on this point, hoping that his judgment may prove to be better than mine, and that this account of our surveying expedition may have value enough to justify his opinion that it ought to be preserved. |
Event Date | 1857-04; 1857-05; 1857-06; 1857-07; 1857-08 |
Event Years | 1857 |
Event Month | April; May; June; July; August |
Type | Text |