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St. Louis Mercantile Library Special Collections
The special collections of the St. Louis Mercantile Library consist of over 400 individual collections with archival materials numbering in the millions, including over 100 historic newspaper titles, presidential letters, early travel diaries and civil war era letters, fur trade records and the newspaper and printing morgue of the St. Louis Globe Democrat, some of which is available digitally. The M-Series of collections represents the core of the Mercantile's holdings. Finding aids and descriptions can be accessed from the library's website through the Mercantile Special Collections Directory.
St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri-St. Louis
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- M-562 Brown, John Trapping Correspondence
- Letter written by John Brown of Peoria, Illinois to his parents in Morris County, New Jersey. The letter describes plans for possible fur trapping expeditions in the Rocky Mountains and the “Winnebago swamps”. Brown describes the necessary equipment for this kind of expedition and extends an invitation to his friend William Laurence to join the group. He also discusses the rapidly increasing population in the area, the prices of goods, and his work on the construction of the Peoria County Courthouse. The letter is dated July 7, 1835.
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- M-565 Barbeau, Charles Fur Trader's Manuscript Map of Illinois Country
- Manuscript map by fur trader Charles Barbeau. The map illustrates the Illinois Country surrounding the Mississippi River and Kaskaskia River around 1803-1804. The map highlights settlements in the area at the time, including “Fort L’Kentucky” and three English trading posts. Travel times are also noted between various points, and an illustration of an animal appears at the bottom of the page. The name Isaac Hill is also mentioned, possibly referring to the man President Thomas Jefferson commissioned to survey the Illinois Territory around 1808. The verso lists an inventory of furs, livestock, hunting rifles, and other goods in addition to a number of enslaved people. Both the map and inventory are written in French.
Mercantile Library Collections Directory
Mercantile Special Collections Directory
Barriger Library Collections Directory
Barriger Special Collections Directory