Two Holograph Letters relating to a Young Soldier sent out over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, 1822-25

SHEPHERD, Nancy and William Durley

Publication Date: 1822

About this Item

Two holograph letters from the same Midwestern family dated October 18, 1822 (folio, 3pp.) and August 20, 1825 (quarto, 2pp.). Contemporary folds, a few short tears and small nicks, one small spot with minor loss from part of a wax seal, both are very good overall. In the first letter from 1822, worried sister Nancy Shepherd relays the latest family news to her brother Joseph in Indiana, and gives an account of their brother Smiley Shepherd: "Brother Smiley enlisted in the military sometime in the fall of 1815 for the term of five years and [has] not since been seen or heard of except once. Brother John saw him at the mouth of the Sandusky River about one year after he had joined the Army, and about two years after that he sent us word that he was well but was with some other troops going to a station over the Rocky Mountains, west of the Missouri, near the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean, since which time he has never been heard of … ." It is quite possible that Smiley and the other troops were sent to assist the Stephen H. Long Expedition of 1820, the first scientific party hired by the United States government to explore the West, which was sent up the Missouri River and traversed America s Great Plains up to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The second letter from 1825 was written to Smiley Shepherd from his cousin William Durley at Greenville, Illinois, thus confirming that Smiley had indeed returned from his expedition "over the Rocky Mountains." Smiley was now settled in Brown County, Ohio, and Durley, after recounting his current activities, requests "to send me one pint of apple seed of a good quality and if possible some cherry seed and tame plumbs … ." An interesting pair of family letters, referencing an early U.S. military western exploration, possibly in support of the celebrated Stephen Long Expedition of 1820.

Seller Inventory # 552682

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Two Holograph Letters relating to a Young Soldier sent out over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, 1822-25
• Publication Date: 1822
• Condition: Very Good