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1894 - 1911. Oak map case, 70 by 10-1/4 by 4-1/2 inches. Case mounts to the wall; hinged door opens to hang down and reveal 3 maps on tin rollers. A fourth roller is empty.

Map 1: Lentell's New Railroad, Township & Educational Map of the State of California compiled from the latest official & authentic sources, adapted for use in institutions of learning, business offices, libraries, etc. 1894. 69-3/4 by 62-3/4 inches. Color map with multiple insets and informational tables. OCLC lists one holding at UCLA. Mounted on cloth with tears to the bottom edge in need of repair.

Map 2: Denny's Official Map of the County of Humboldt California showing Township Sections and Property Ownerships compiled from official surveys, Records and Private data, 1911. Edward Denny & Co. San Francisco. 54-1/4 by 72-1/2 inches. Mounted on thin cloth. Inset of Eureka and Humboldt Bay, and inset of California showing counties. Shows Indian Allotments (Dawes Act). With Historical and Descriptive two-column text. Very nice condition. 5-1/4-inch uneven toning along bottom edge. No holdings listed in OCLC.

Map 3: J. N. Lentell Map of Eureka Humboldt County, Cal. 1904. 54 by 57-1/4. One map on four sheets mounted to a cloth backing on tin rollers. Probably made from an earlier map; printed cancels cover the year and several ownership blocks. Showing block and lot numbers. Earliest printing of this map on OCLC is 1888. Lentell was an engineer. 2-inch hole at bottom of map (but not through cloth backing) at border not affecting text. Vertical seam a bit off on top half. ISBN: 281AIB1047404.

San Francisco: D. S. Stanley & Co, 1893. 112 pages, including more than 200 half-tone reproductions of photographs. Roughly 9 by 11 inches. The most elaborate of the 19th century booster publications on Humboldt County, California, extolling the region's extensive natural resources with an eye toward attracting investment. As with most such publications of the era, it proudly proclaims that no Chinese lived or worked in the county--they had been forcibly expelled in 1885. The book was produced through the newly established Chamber of Commerce and was filled with many pages of economic data, at least some of which was more inspirational than actual. According to reports published at the time in local newspapers, 15,000 copies of the book were printed, most in decorated wrappers; "a hundred or more copies bound in leather", and an unspecified number (presumably in the hundreds) in thin cloth-covered boards. Despite the large print run, it is remarkably uncommon, perhaps due to the cheap binding, which tends to fall apart (the expense breakdown for the publication provided by the Chamber after the book was finished allocated only a penny per book for binding, compared to 20 cents for paper and printing). ISBN: B00I9JU05O.

San Francisco: D.S. Stanley & Co, 1893. 112 pages, including more than 200 half-tone reproductions of photographs. The most elaborate of the 19th century booster publications on Humboldt County, California, extolling the region's extensive natural resources with an eye toward attracting investment. As with most such publications of the era, it proudly proclaims that no Chinese lived or worked in the county--they had been forcibly expelled in 1885. The book was produced through the newly established Chamber of Commerce and was filled with many pages of economic data, at least some of which was more inspirational than actual. According to reports published at the time in local newspapers, 15,000 copies of the book were printed, most in decorated wrappers; "a hundred or more copies bound in leather", and an unspecified number (presumably in the hundreds) in thin cloth-covered boards. Despite the large print run, it is remarkably uncommon, perhaps due to the cheap binding, which tends to fall apart (the expense breakdown for the publication provided by the Chamber after the book was finished allocated only a penny per book for binding, compared to 20 cents for paper and printing). 11.5 x 9.25 inches. ISBN: B0008746NC.

San Francisco: D.S. Stanley & Co, 1893. 112 pages, including more than 200 half-tone reproductions of photographs. The most elaborate of the 19th century booster publications on Humboldt County, California, extolling the region's extensive natural resources with an eye toward attracting investment. As with most such publications of the era, it proudly proclaims that no Chinese lived or worked in the county--they had been forcibly expelled in 1885. The book was produced through the newly established Chamber of Commerce and was filled with many pages of economic data, at least some of which was more inspirational than actual. According to reports published at the time in local newspapers, 15,000 copies of the book were printed, most in decorated wrappers; "a hundred or more copies bound in leather", and an unspecified number (presumably in the hundreds) in thin cloth-covered boards. Despite the large print run, it is remarkably uncommon, perhaps due to the cheap binding, which tends to fall apart (the expense breakdown for the publication provided by the Chamber after the book was finished allocated only a penny per book for binding, compared to 20 cents for paper and printing). 11.5 x 9.25 inches. ISBN: B0008746NC.

Portland, OR: Portland Printing House, 1908. 495 pages. The author lived in Humboldt County, California (mostly on a ranch on the Mad River), and learned to cut and survey timber in the Douglas fir and redwood forests near his home. While working for a surveyor, he started selling inside information on the value of plots about to be made available to homesteaders.

This was Puter's first exposure to the rampant fraud in government sales of timberland. About the turn of the century, he moved a couple hundred miles north, to Oregon, where he expanded his fraudulent land dealings by overtly hiring men to claim timberland and then transfer the title. The fraud eventually resulted in the indictment of both of Oregon's Congressional representatives and one of its senators. Puter was also indicted and convicted of fraud, and he wrote this tell-all expose from the Multnomah County jail.

The book was edited and supported by Horace Stevens, a former federal land agent, who implores the federal government to invalidate the many fraudulent timber holdings in the Northwest. Despite naming names and testifying in court, Puter's efforts to come clean had little impact. He was pardoned by Theodore Roosevelt prior to the book's publication as a reward for testifying against others in land fraud trials. An uncommon title. ISBN: B0016M36WK.

Eagle Grove, IA: 1928. 3 pages, autograph letter, signed. Written longhand to the western author Zane Grey, seeking to interest him in telling Seth Kinman's story. Kinman was one of the more interesting characters who lived in Humboldt County, California. He hunted bear, elk, and Indians with equal enthusiasm. He was a great self-promoter and made elk horn and bear paw chairs, which he presented to Presidents Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Hayes, and Cleveland, but not before having Mathew Brady take his photograph for CDVs, which Kinman sold as souvenirs. His collection of oddities and curios was exhibited at the 1893 World's Exposition in the Humboldt County exhibit. Kinman gave Richmond, the author of this letter, the manuscript of his autobiography and his scrapbook of newspaper clippings. Most of what we know about Kinman (and how much of that is true is a matter for another catalog entry) comes from Richmond's edited version of those materials. This letter offers a brief summary of Kinman's exploits and Richmond's relationship with Kinman. ISBN: 281AIB1030886.

San Francisco: D.S. Stanley & Co, 1893. 112 pages, including more than 200 half-tone reproductions of photographs. The most elaborate of the 19th century booster publications on Humboldt County, California, extolling the region's extensive natural resources with an eye toward attracting investment. As with most such publications of the era, it proudly proclaims that no Chinese lived or worked in the county--they had been forcibly expelled in 1885. The book was produced through the newly established Chamber of Commerce and was filled with many pages of economic data, at least some of which was more inspirational than actual. According to reports published at the time in local newspapers, 15,000 copies of the book were printed, most in decorated wrappers; "a hundred or more copies bound in leather", and an unspecified number (presumably in the hundreds) in thin cloth-covered boards. Despite the large print run, it is remarkably uncommon, perhaps due to the cheap binding, which tends to fall apart (the expense breakdown for the publication provided by the Chamber after the book was finished allocated only a penny per book for binding, compared to 20 cents for paper and printing). 11.5 x 9.25 inches. ISBN: B0008746NC.