Correspondence with Frontiersman Robert Campbell Regarding the Fur Trade, 1825 

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Nov 21, 2014 - Nov 22, 2014

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• Lot Description
  Correspondence with Frontiersman Robert Campbell Regarding the Fur Trade, 1825 
  
  Lot of 3 letters.
  
  Robert Campbell (1804-1879) was born in Ireland to a Scots family of modest means. But as the youngest child of his father's second wife, his inheritance would not be much, if anything. He decided to follow his older brother, Hugh, to America. Hugh seemed to find his place in North Carolina. Robert went on soon after and arrived in St. Louis in 1824. Shortly after arrival, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis (consumption), and it was recommended that he head West for the climate.
  
  He joined the fur trading party of Jedediah Smith in late 1825. When he realized Campbell's literacy, Smith made him the expedition clerk. The group spent a couple of hard winters in the mountains. The expedition split into two groups, reconnecting occasionally. The group with which Campbell was traveling was attacked by Indians, suffering a number of losses. They were attacked again the next summer, but this time with few losses.
  
  Letters are dated April 30, May 9, and May 25, 1825. The first two are from James Keyh(?), the third, from Robt. Wiley. In the first letter, written from Cape Girardeau, Keyh writes: We met the Phoenix and suppose you must have received the goods although I had not an opportunity of ascertaining that they were aboard. He also informs Campbell about a payment on an account and about a few barrels of pork that are on hand.
  
  The second letter was posted from Wheeling. Keyh notes that they arrived later than anticipated because of the low water in the rivers. Therefore he will take the stage overland to Baltimore instead of continuing on the river to Pittsburgh.
  
  The third letter is from Philadelphia. Mr. Wiley notes that he has just received a letter from Mr. Keyh. They are expecting a ship from Ireland any day. He notes that there is not much newsworthy on his end, in part because he is stuck in the store most of the time. He does thank Campbell for the moccasins that Campbell sent to him.
  
  Campbell decided to return to St. Louis in the spring of 1829, with 45 packs of beaver pelts, which he sold for over $22,000, for which he received a commission. He later established himself in St. Louis as a banker and real estate broker. He married and raised a family, and opened a dry goods store, specializing in goods needed by frontiersmen and explorers, and in turn sending furs and Indian goods to the East. In addition, he ran a hotel (until it burned in 1877) and bought steamboats. On one of these, the A.B. Chambers, Mark Twain had his first pilot's job on the Mississippi.
  
  Campbell's wife, Virginia, was 18 years his junior. Campbell had to wait several years after he met her until she was old enough to marry. But the couple seemed to be successful. They had 13 children, although only three lived to adulthood. Robert Campbell was such a significant member of the St. Louis community that the family home has been preserved as a museum since WWII. 

  Condition

  Very fragile. All have holes and small areas of missing text. There has been an effort to stabilize them with archival tape.
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