Kevin’s search through the archives was a challenge but it was fun to see the types of things he did find. The amazing documents you see (and handle) there gives you a real respect for the past. The paper – often brittle and worn, the handwriting mostly beautiful but sometimes illegible. The elegantly designed printing on the old government forms. I was thinking about the hours and hours and hours people spent copying, calculating by hand, and meticulously recording details that we were now looking at! I bet they never imagined in a million years that some in 2025 would be scrutinizing what they wrote.
I got to hold paymaster records that were large sheets of paper folded into brochure size booklets for easier transport. They looked like they literally had been through the war (The Utah War actually) with water stains, cracks, bent worn corners, and notes. They had different colors of ink, and the special number assigned to that particular paymaster. It made me imagine those “booklets” stuffed in saddle bags, opened and refolded how many times? In the rain? Snow? And 165 years later I was holding them in my hands asking questions and wondering what their system was like given the little hints I could see written there. I only went through a few boxes but they had the tally of the pay on the outside of the packets and I can tell you the Utah War which was started by rumors and speculations cost the American people a lot of money!
