1½ pp. on 4-page lettersheet. From his cousin ("Dear Coz"). Chicago: 20 July, 1848.* 3 pp. on 4-page lettersheet. From Samuel Baird. Watertown, Wis.: Jany 20, '49. Both the letters are addressed to young Henry Haight, not yet 25 and a promising lawyer, in St. Louis. The first is a rather sloppy letter, written apparently just to kill time ("It is awful hard for to make up a letter out of so few materials as are to be found..."). The second, however, is much more thoughtful, and is written at an auspicious time: "I suppose you are aware that the great Eye of the world is turned towards the newly discovered Eldorado. Even our quite little village is peering over the Snowy Mountains - we have many among us who seriously talk of straddling a mule, & beating him westward - they cannot see or talk of anything but glittering dust... I therefore beg leave to trouble you with a few inquiries - whether you will be able to answer them or not I do not know, but I thought it quite probable that there would a great many go from your city & you must have heard more or less said about the route & the required outfit..." A significant letter at the beginning of the great year of the Gold Rush. Provenance: A private California collection.