Autograph Letter Signed ("John McIlroy"), Alamo, Oregon, to "Oliver"

Alamo, Oregon: 1904. Four manuscript pages in pencil, on two sheets measuring 10 x 7¾ inches, each folded into six compartments for mailing.

Condition: Good. Toned throughout; small edge chips; small losses at the crease vertices of the first sheet; ordinary fold wear consistent with mailing and age; pencil text legible throughout, though light in places.

Begin Transcription

[Page 1]

Alamo, Ore. 1904

Dear friend Oliver

Yours to hand last night was glad to hear
from you but sorry to hear of your ill
fortune and hope you will soon become well
again you seem to have your share of
bad luck but don't get discouraged luck
will change it's hard to keep a good man
down I showed [...] the letter
you sent she was sorry to hear of your
accident and wants to be remembered [...]

Oliver well you must brace your self up
a little I am going to tell you some
bad news Jessie is married would'ent
that knock you off the christmas tree
she was married the 21st of September to a man
by the name of J. W. Blake from Wilber, Wash[ington]
he is a man of about 36 or 38 and they left
at once for Aberdeen, Washington where
Blake and a partner have started a couple
of stores at Aberdeen and Hoquiam, they

[Page 2]

say Blake is ritch that he is a fine fellow
about all the Alamo crowd were at the wed-
ding except Charley and me, she gave
us the cold shoulder Mr. Mitchell and the
[...] of Granite stood up with them
The old folks rented the Hotel to Henry Steward
and moved to Portland about six weeks ago
Jock Pearce and wife are living in the
house north of the [...] Hotel Jock
is working on the Canton property alone
at [...] the Alamo on the [...]
Jim McGuigan wife has another boy [...]
Spokane Jim is here about to sell his
interest in the Alamo Pete Brady is living
in Jim McGuigan's house Delap went
to southern Oregon about three weeks ago
Mr. Mitchell Charley and me are batching in
our cabin at the [...] Lenhart & [...] got
a fine hundred cord contract at the Orofino
which is mostly done now Stemmetzer has
been working on a fine hundred foot contract

[Page 3]

adjoining the big producer he has over four
hundred feet finished I worked for him about
forty days then Charley and me went
to North Fork and done the assessment
work on our quartz claim W. L. [...]
has organized a big company and will
commence to bed rock flume the north fork
from below the Munro cabins to several
miles up the river they have all the placer
ground from the Bob Gutridge bar six miles
up the river located they put in a steam
saw mill at the mouth of [...] creek built
a mile of ditch flume had 33 men employed
most of the fall you missed by not locating
some placer ground when you were over
there and we did by not having our
claim recorded Bill [...] is home from
Alaska says he is going back in the spring
Burt [...] moved to Sumpter two weeks ago
he is about to have an increase in the family
Charley Hurd married the postmistress Miss Keough at [...]

[Page 4]

Blue Bird mine is running fine stamps on good ore
Red Boy will run a cross cut tunnel on the black-
smith shaft level commencing in a few days
and the country seems to be picking up some
Charley says to tell you he is getting along
as usual and was sorry to hear of your accident
The Anderson boys are near Dawson City, Alaska
Henry writes that he expects to be located there
for the next two years Frank Leigh is still
at the Virginia mine had to take judgement
against that company for wages may get some
of it if the lawyer leaves anything
We have had the finest weather this winter that
I ever saw here there isn't an inch of snow
yet the roads are fine
As I can't think of anything more that would
interest you will close hoping to hear from
you soon

yours truly
John McIlroy
Alamo, Ore.

End Transcription

—

Significance: A rich letter from the short-lived gold camp of Alamo, in the Greenhorn/Granite mining district of Grant County, Oregon, written by John McIlroy to a friend, Oliver, recovering from an accident. The letter marks the tail end of the camp's boom, by 1906 the Alamo post office would close. The letter can be tied directly to the documented history of the district: it twice names "Jim McGuigan," — "McGuigan" is recorded by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries as having acquired the Alamo mine's claims in 1900; it reports the Blue Bird mine "running fine stamps," matching the mine's own operating timeline and it references the Red Boy mine's crosscut tunnel, another documented property of the district. Beyond the mining content, the letter touches on a local wedding, several named residents of the camp, and family news of prospectors "near Dawson City, Alaska," lending it a secondary Klondike-era interest.