Richard Urquhart Goode diaries, 1883-1888 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:The collection consists of two volumes of diaries kept during Goode's 1883 participation in the Northern Transcontinental Survey in central Washington Territory; together with a letter (1888) from National Geographic Society. Upon his departure from Viginia, his fiance decided to not correspond with him while he was away on the survey. In order for her to understand what he was doing, he determined to keep a diary which she could read on his return. The diaries are full of description about the country he was surveying, the pleasures and hardships of camp life, and the difficulties of the survey. In them he describes ascending Mount Stuart in Chelan County without benefit of climbing gear or ropes, the harrowing experience of a stage coach ride in western Montana, the cooking abilities of their Chinese cook, and Goode's theory of evolution