A little research tells me that the Durkee family was important in the settlement of Oregon, with the first members of the family moving from New England to San Francisco during the gold rush in 1850, and later settling in Oregon. There, it seems they were responsible for a fair amount of early development, including the establishment of Durkee, an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, so named in 1883 named when the railroad bought its right-of-way from the Durkee family. This sketchbook was signed by Elton Silas Durkee (1871-1927, from what I can find) who notes his location as Portland Oregon, though it includes a drawing of the Eugene City Public School fire, and I do wonder if some of the estates pictured were of early homes in and around Durkee as well. In addition to listing this sketchbook here, I thought I'd see if I might try to contact some Oregonian historians to see if any interest as well!
Photos document all pages excepting a few blank pages at the end. Drawings are all done in pencil, and on the front but not backs of the pages. I love the amount of information they capture, detailing houses, estates and surrounding homes and landscapes. My favorite drawings are the old later on in the bunch where his hand loosens up and he seems to find great joy drawing flowers and trees and clothes hanging on a clothesline! A pretty cool piece of history.
8 1/2" x 11" x 1/2". Overall good condition, with wear to the cover and spine and a lot of smudging to the first inside drawing, and elsewhere some scattered stains and smudges, but most of the drawings are still bright and crisp and clear. There are two loose drawings (pictured last in photos) that show more damage.
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