American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming

Spring 1998 Heritage Highlights

Clarke Diary Donated to AHC

The World Wide Web is receiving much attention these days, good and bad. The American Heritage Center has the Web to thank for a valuable new acquisition. Mr. Eric Harmon of Lakewood, Colorado, was searching the Web for information on a person with the initials "R.D.C." who authored an 1867 diary. On the Center’s website he found the description of Robert Dunlap Clarke’s 1868 diary which the Center holds. A visit to Laramie confirmed that the two diaries were written by the same man: an army paymaster who traveled on the Bozeman Trail during 1867 and 1868 carrying the pay for the officers and soldiers at the forts.

Major Clarke’s daughter, Eliza, married Major Thomas Tipton Thornburg who was killed during the Ute war of 1879. Their daughter married Dan Casement, son of General Jack Casement who built much of the Union Pacific line across Wyoming during the late 1860s. Dan Casement and his wife had three children: Mary, Frances, and Jack. The American Heritage Center acquired the 1868 Clarke diary from Mary Casement Furlong in the 1960s. Mr. Harmon’s father acquired the 1867 Clarke diary from Dan Casement’s son Jack. Believing that the diaries belonged together, Mr. Harmon graciously donated his diary to the Center to be placed with the Robert Dunlap Clarke Papers. The digital version of the Clarke diary can be found at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ahc/digital/clarke1.htm

  New Elevator for the Centennial Complex

During the last year, supporters of the American Heritage Center and the University of Wyoming Art Museum have worked together to raise $200,000 for a new entryway and elevator for the Centennial Complex. Thanks to the support of the following corporations, foundations and individuals, the AHC & UAM have met their goal. The UW Trustees have pledged the remaining funding needed to complete the project and construction is scheduled to begin this summer. Please join us in thanking and applauding the following people who, in making this project possible, ensure that everyone, regardless of age or health, will enjoy the research opportunities, classes, exhibits, and lectures in the Centennial Complex.

  Nellie Tayloe Ross Papers, Grace Raymond Hebard Papers Being Processed

  Return to the Spring 1998 Heritage Highlights Index

American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, P.O. Box 3924, Laramie, WY 82071.  Phone:  307.766.4114,  Fax:  307.766.5511, Email: shelstad@uwyo.edu.  Copyright © University of Wyoming, 1999.  Created on June 27, 1999.  Last modified on August 24, 2000.