Americana from Michael D. Heaston Rare Books & Manuscripts

Michael D. Heaston Rare Books & Manuscripts has published their Catalogue Fifty-Six of Americana - A Fine Selection of Books, Pamphlets, Manuscripts, Broadsides & Maps Pertaining to the United States. The selection (over 200 items) is wide, with the connection being the overriding subject of Americana and that most items are over a century old. As the cover says, these items cover a lot of Whys and Wherefores, and many other questions about the USA. These are a few selections you will find.

While America contemplates whether the time has finally come to elect a woman President, it's worth noting that for the majority of our history, women weren't even allowed to vote at all. It wasn't until 1920 that the passing of the 19^th Amendment that women were finally given the franchise throughout the United States. However, a few states granted that right sooner, with the first being Wyoming. Actually, when the bill was passed in 1869, Wyoming was still a territory, but it would also be the first state granting that right when it was admitted to the Union in 1890. The constitution of the newly admitted state provides, “The rights of citizens of the state of Wyoming to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. Both male and female citizens of this state shall equally enjoy all civil, political and religious rights and privileges.” At the time the territorial legislature adopted the right, the population of Wyoming was overwhelmingly male, and the all-male legislature wanted to attract more women to Wyoming, and with them, the possibility of children and a new generation. Item 197 is an 1893 Cheyenne printing of the Constitution State of Wyoming. Item 197. Priced at $1,250.

Next is a Special Message of Governor Samuel J. Kirkland, in Reply to a Resolution of Inquiry, passed by the House of Representatives, March 2d 1860, in Relation to the Requisition of the Gov. of Virginia, for one Barclay Coppic. Barclay Coppic was an abolitionist living in Iowa, where Kirkland was Governor. He had participated along with his brother in John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry, though he was not present at the raid itself. His brother was captured and hanged in Virginia. The same most likely awaited Barclay if Gov. Kirkland sent him back as required by law to do. The abolitionist Governor balked. He said that the requisition failed to provide sufficient evidence of a crime. Virginia rewrote the requisition and sent it again. However, by that time, Coppic had wisely skipped town so Kirkland could not have fulfilled the demand if he had wanted to. In this printed message by Kirkland, he denies “the insinuations of my sympathy with the crimes lately committed in Virginia,” and accused them of seeking to create sectional prejudice “to destroy the Union if they cannot control it.” Barclay Coppic eventually served the Union in the Civil War and died in action. Item 77. $500.”

After the Civil War, much of the nation's attention shifted to the West, and if it followed the righteous cause during that war, it was not so righteous in its treatment of the people native to those lands. The U.S. signed numerous treaties with the Indians in those years, and ultimately, broke them when it wanted more land. Item 66 is a Treaty Between the United States of America and the Comanche and Kiowa Tribes of Indians, signed in late 1865, proclaimed by President Johnson in 1866. This official publication was printed in a very small edition. According to Eberstadt, “In this treaty, made at the Council Ground on the Little Arkansas River, Kit Carson provides for the possession of the Comanche and Kiowa of a vast Texas Reservation, with reservations. Ostensibly the treaty gave the Indians the Panhandle.” It lasted less than two years. After that, a new treaty reduced the Indian land by about 90%. $2,000.

The Overland or Butterfield Express had a short lifespan, similar to the Pony Express. Butterfield delivered mail to California, but unlike the ponies, also carried passengers in its coaches. It was not quite as fast, but more efficient. Butterfield lasted a bit longer, from 1858-1861. The Civil War broke up its route. After the war, the first transcontinental telegraph and transcontinental railroad eliminated the need for it to arise again. Butterfield carried its load from two eastern points, St. Louis and Memphis, the two joining at Fort Smith, Arkansas, to San Francisco. It followed a southern route, close to the border, so as to avoid winter snow. Item 19 is Tract No. V, Published by the Republican Association of Washington, Under the Direction of the Congressional Republican Executive Committee. Overland Routes to the Pacific. The Butterfield Contract. It was published in 1859. Despite its short, long ago life, remnants of numerous Butterfield stations and its trail can still be found today. $600.

Here is an invitation it would be quite exciting to accept, but unfortunately it was made out to someone else. You would be a bit late to attend anyway as the event occurred 136 years ago. The invitation came from Alexander Graham Bell. It was not the most personal of invitations. It was more like a form with a place to enter the name of the recipient. Still any kind of invitation from Bell was an honor. It reads, “Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell request the pleasure of [Postmaster General & Mrs. Dickerson's] company on Thursday evening, April 19^th at nine o'clock, to meet at the National Academy of Sciences. Scott Circle.” The year was 1888. Item 9. $200.

Michael D. Heaston Rare Books & Manuscripts can be reached at 512-417-8045 or mdheaston@cox.net. Their website is located at MDHRareBooks.com.