, 1884-11-06
THE WESTERN WORLD.
The Historian of the Rockies Now in
Cheyenne.
The Work Bancroft Has Accom-
pIished and is Doing.
He Comes to Wyoming to Complete
its History.

MI. Hubert IL. Bancroft, of San Fran
cisco, has just arrived at Cheyenne, and
is registered at the Inter Ocean. Although
Mr.. Bancroft historical labors have been
well known to the world for the past
quarter of a century, it may not be out of
place in view of this visit to give THE
LEADER readers a brief sketch of what he
has done and is doing.
Mr.. Bancrof's native place is Ohio,
where he was born in 1882, spending his
younger days in working on a farm, and
attending school in winter. When sixteen
years of age he entered a book store in
Buffalo, New York, and three years after
was sent by his employer to open an es-
tablishment in California. Success at
tended his efforts, and this business to-
day is the largest in its line of any West
of the Mississippi river.
At an early day in his business career
Mr.. Bancroft became deeply interested in
gathering information regarding the early
affairs Of California, then Of Oregon and
Mexico, and at length of the whole
western half of North America from
Alaska 10 Panama, and as far Fast as
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas.
He bought every book and manuscript he
could find which had been written or
printed within this territory, or elsewhere,
relating to it. He went to New York
and ransacked the shops there;
also to Mexico and to Europe on
the same mission. until now his
collection number 40, 900 volumes, and he
is still adding TO it as opportunity offers.
All there works relate to this Territory,
which makes it the largest collection on
any one subject in the world. For great
Ell. safety, a few years ago, Mr.. Bancroft
erected a fire proof building on Valencia
street in the suburb of San francisco,
especially for his library, and for the use
Of his assistants, of whom he has not
less than fourteen constantly employed.
In his work of collecting Mr.. Bancroft
could not satisfy himself alone with what
was already in existence. There e mil
lions of important facts relative to the
settlement and developmentof this county,
lodged alone in the recollections of those
who had spent their lives in making these
Western States and Territories what they
are, and who are and ever will be a part
Of their history. Unless some action was
taken with regard to this great mass of in
formation. the knowledge of these facts
would die with the individuals possessing
them, and so be lost to the world forever.
Mr.. Bancroft thought he could do no bet
ter work than to secure what he could of
that class of knowledge from oblivion, so
he sent out men, and went also himself,
and took down in writing from their own
lips the experiences of these men, the
pioneers and empire builders of this
greatest and farthest West, or as many Of
them as he could meet. and the result
was over two thousand manuscripts, vary
ing in size from n few pages to several
volumes. filed with important historical
material nowhere else existing, and which,
but for Mr.. Bancroft's timely efforts,
would have been lost to the world. Hith-
erto this work has been confined to
the States and Territories west of
here. Mr.. Bancroft is here now, to do
this SAINT work for Wyoming.
And the present is an exceedingly OPP
perfume time for such a work. Ten years
ago would have been too soon, the terri
tory being so young as scarcely to have
had a history; ten years hence many of
the facts which can now be gathered and
saved will have passed away, along with
their sole possessors. 1t is needless to
say that this is a work of great public
utility, or to urge u ever ready and pat
riotic citizens to afford him every aid in
their power.
But collecting is not the only work Mr..
Bancroft is doing. He began to gather
this material with no definite idea of what
would be done with it, and really without
knowing how formidable the task was
which he had marked out for himself, and
when he saw the material coming in, year
after year, and piling itself in huge mass
es on his library shelves, he presently
began to realize the fact that in such a
shape it was really of little value to the
world. For to wade through it would
take half a dozen lifetimes. Then the de-
sire came to do this work also, to employ
competent men to index, extract and re
duce the masse to such order as to enable
him, as the author, to embody all the per
tinent facts in a condensed and properly
arranged form. The result was a full and
complete history of this Western North
America, or rather series of histories, of
which Wyoming forms a part, and the
whole of which Nh. Bancroft has now in
a forward state toward completion.
The County Commissioners.
The County Commissioners held a