University of Arizona

Students, faculty, staff, and the public are now welcome to visit Special Collections without an appointment from 9 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday.

Diary of Louis John Frederick Jaeger, 1849

Fragment of a Diary Kept by Louis John Frederick Jaeger, 1892

Louis John Frederick Jaeger (1824-1892) was a ferryman and adventurer. He operated a ferry along the Colorado River in Yuma, AZ from 1850 to 1877.

Frederick’s collection contains a holograph notebook describing his voyage as a passenger on the ship Mason from Philadelphia, PA to San Francisco, CA from Feb. 22, 1849 to Dec. 31, 1849. A later part of the diary tells of his time operating a boarding house in San Francisco and working as a carpenter.