Collection

Lorenzo Lorain letters, 1855-1968

• 1855-1968 (Creation)

Collection consists of twenty-one autographed letters written by Lorenzo Lorain between 1855 and 1861. The letters contain descriptions of Lorain's military service, including yellow fever epidemics, the forced removal of Native peoples from the western region of the Oregon Territory to the Coast Reservation, and his photography. The letters are addressed from West Point Academy, Aspinwall, Fort Dalles, San Francisco, Fort Walla Walla, Fort Umpqua, and Camp Day near the Klamath Basin. The correspondents include Lorain's father, Dr. Henry Tilden Lorain, and his sisters, Mary Jane Ashman and Martha (Merty) Eliza Lorain. Also included in the collection are biographical research notes and correspondence concerning Lorenzo Lorain and Edward Perry Vollum, collected by Nancy A. Hacker between 1958 and 1968.

Digitized materials available online in OHS Digital Collections consists of the original correspondence written by Lorain between 1855 and 1861 in folder 1 of Mss 417.

Undigitized materials available for use at the Oregon Historical Society research library include research notes and correspondence collected by Nancy A. Hacker between 1958 and 1968 in folder 2 of Mss 417.

https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv172652

• Lorenzo Lorain photographs

Lorenzo Lorain was born in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania on August 5, 1831. After graduating from West Point Military Academy in 1856, Lorain was commissioned as a second lieutenant with Company L, Third Artillery, based at Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory. His company was reassigned to Fort Umpqua, in Douglas County, Oregon Territory, in August 1857. While at Fort Umpqua, Lorain and the other members of his unit were charged with overseeing and enforcing the forced removal of Native peoples from their homelands onto the Coast Reservation. Lorain was also one of the earliest photographers to work in Oregon and his photographs are the earliest known images of the region's tribal communities. Lorain was transferred to Virginia in March 1861, at the start of the Civil War. After being wounded during the battle of Blackburn's Ford in July 1861, Lorain transitioned into a series of teaching positions at West Point Academy, Lehigh University, and in the Department of Engineering at the U.S. Artillery School in Fort Monroe, Virginia. Lorain died on March 6, 1882 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Online collection contains a selection of items from the full collection. The remainder of the collection can be viewed on-site at the OHS Research Library.

• Citation: Lorenzo Lorain letters, Mss 417, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.