1. John and Almira Dimick Letters

These letters from the John Buel Dimick Papers were written by John Dimick and his fiancé (and later wife) Almira “Alla” Eberhard during the time John was part of the First Oregon Volunteer Cavalry, “B” Company, beginning in 1862. John was one of hundreds of Oregon men to enlist in the cavalry—he enrolled his name in a Salem recruiting office on January 12, 1862. Sometime in April of that year, he left his family farm in French Prairie to be trained at Camp Ellsworth near Salem. His commission sent him to Fort Walla Walla and Fort Vancouver, among other places, and his letters to Almira provide meticulous records of military life in the Northwest during the Civil War.