Letter signed Alex [Badger], Steamer Hassaloe, to Mother [Mrs. Alexander Badger, Sr., St. Louis]. Since my last letter was written, our boat has gone into the passenger trade, whilst the Idaho lays up for repairs. We make three trips a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The water at present is so high that freight cannot be taken over the Cascades Portage. We take gold dust from the miners for their passage, and I have a pair of gold scales in which I weigh the “dust.” The weather is getting hot here, and the water is up to an unheard of height. It is up to the eaves of the houses on the first street. I have been on a rowing excursion through the streets., 1862 June 17

Item — Box: 1, Folder: 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Collection contains material of the St. Louis-based Badger family, including letters of Capt. Alexander Badger, Sr. and Jr.; newsclippings; bonds; steamboat memoranda; a pilot certificate issued to William H. Cable in 1852; envelopes of Wells Fargo and Overland Mail; cards of steamboat Magnolia and a timetable of St. Louis railroads and steamships; material concerning the Badger, Cable and Cayton families; two Missouri defense bonds issued in 186-; and several letters of Alexander Badger, circa 1860, written from Fort Vancouver, Western Territory, and various places in the west, which describe everyday happenings.