1881 Feb 20

Description

Title: 1881 Feb 20
Contributor: Bigeler, F. B., active approximately 1879
Jackson, Charles L., active approximately 1881
Jones, Charles, active approximately 1881
Mentot, G. W., active approximately 1881
Pratt, Thomas M., active approximately 1879-1881
Published / Created: 1881 Feb 20
Abstract: 5 autograph letters, signed, to Thomas M. Pratt, including 2 from Charles Jones, 1 from F. B. Bigeler, 1 from Charles L. Jackson, and 1 from G. W. Mentot. Letters from Jones, Jackson, and Mentot detail the writers' lives as cowboys in Dakota Territory, particularly in Rapid Valley, Rapid City, and Rockerville. Letters from Charles Jones detail his sexual and romantic relationships with Thomas M. Pratt and Charles L. Jackson, and include the use of slang to describe these relationships and Jones's attempts to find a woman to marry. Letter from F. B. Bigeler describes the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bangor, Maine, the suicide of an acquaintance, and anecdotes involving sex and prostitution. Included are 3 photographic postcards of Mill Creek Ranch in Livingston, Montana.
Description: Purchased from Michael Vinson on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2009, and on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2013.
Thomas M. Pratt was a cowboy in Dakota Territory, circa 1879-1881.
Extent of Digitization: This object has been completely digitized.
Language: English

Format: text
Genre: Correspondence
Manuscripts
Subject (Geographic): Bangor (Me.)
Livingston (Mont.)
Rapid City (S.D.)
Rapid Valley (S.D.)
Rockerville (S.D.)
South Dakota--Social life and customs.
West (U.S.)--Social life and customs
Subject (Name): Bigeler, F. B., active approximately 1879
Jackson, Charles L., active approximately 1881
Jones, Charles, active approximately 1881
Mentot, G. W., active approximately 1881
Pratt, Thomas M., active approximately 1879-1881
Subject (Topic): Cowboys--Sexual behavior--South Dakota
Cowboys--Sexual behavior--West (U.S.)
Cowboys--South Dakota
Cowboys--West (U.S.)
English language--Slang
Frontier and pioneer life--South Dakota
Gay men--Sexual behavior--United States
Gay men--Slang
LGBTQ resource
Male homosexuality--United States
Men--Sexual behavior--United States
Prostitution--United States
Sex--United States

Access: Public
Rights: The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.
Citation: Thomas M. Pratt Correspondence. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.