Letter from Theodor Hartweg, Monterey to the secretary of the Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham]

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg, Monterey to the secretary of the Horticultural Society of London [George Bentham]

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/2/2/30

Date

9-12 Jan 1847

Scope & content

Written from Monterey [California, United States of America]

Letter No 8

On onion skin paper with paper backing. Annotated on the backing: 'Recd Mr Hartweg's letter'

He has not been able to write due to difficulties in communication between Mazatlan [Mexico] and Monterey, caused by the war between the United States and Mexico, and the only route for communication is via Sandwich Islands [Hawaii, United States of America]; with so few chances of transporting collections, he is sending all his collections; he has packed them and will send a box measuring two cubic metres with 62 kinds of seeds and 6 kinds of bulbs, to be forwarded by diligence [stagecoach] from Guadalajara [Mexico] to Vera Cruz [Veracruz, Mexico], and a set of duplicates ('46 sorts') in a tin case to Vera Cruz by post to Messrs Barron, Forbes & Co [merchants in Mexico] and Messrs Manning, Mackintosh & Co [agents of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in Mexico]; the two Wardian cases are almost full with several species of oaks, Pavia californica [?Aesculus californica], two species of Prunus and female Garrya elliptica; he wrote to Mr Brown [George Brown, United States commissioner to the Sandwich Islands] at Sandwich Islands in August regarding the Wardian cases sent to him by the Society: 'he did not answer my letter, but sent me three in an indifferent condition by an agent'; due to the unsettled political situation, he has decided to leave Monterey for Yerba Buena [The settlement was named San Francisco in 1847] and then to Sacramento Valley [California], 'an untrodden field, where the settlers are all foreigners, and where I can follow my researches without being disturbed by the belligerent parties'; he expects to stay for about six months, and will not be able to write, as there is no port and little communication with Mazatlan; there is no news from the Pueblo de los Angeles [Los Angeles, California], 'safe [save] that Commodore Stockton [Robert F. Stockton, United States Navy commodore, who captured California during the Mexican-American war] with 300 men marched towards it about six weeks ago from San Diego [California], which place had been recaptured. Colonel Fremont [John Charles Fremont, major in the army of the United States] set out about the same time from here for the Pueblo with an equal force. Another disturbance has also broken out between this place and San Francisco [California]'; he encloses copies of his journal and accounts [see below]

Hartweg's expenses for 9 Jul 1846-9 Jan 1847 include 'a small iron hand spade' $2, 'carriage of pine cones to Monterey' $1.4, 'landing expenses & re-shipping of Wardian cases at San Francisco' $1.6, '1 ½ yards of canvas for seeds' $0.6 and 'freight of three Wardian cases from the Sandwich Islands' $3 [here the list includes 14 more items]

Extent

4 page letter (4 sheets and 2 backing sheets)

Is part of

RHS archive: plant collector papers

Repository

Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library

Copyright

Royal Horticultural Society

Credit Line

RHS Lindley Collections

Usage terms

Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)