Archives West Finding Aid

The Mathew Damm diaries are actually photocopies of original transcriptions prepared by Damm during the years preceding his death. It was Damm's practice throughout his life to keep a diary in pocket memoranda books which he would later transcribe onto ruled notebook paper in a three ring binder. It is not known how thorough the transcriptions are, but the level of detail in any particular day's entries suggests that most of the information was faithfully copied. The diaries describe routine farm and ranch life, cattle, sheep, accidents, weather conditions, and interactions with many neighbors who are named. Although a continuous record, the diaries have significant gaps. Damm recorded few entries for 1916 and none at all for 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, and 1943. Damm paginated his entire transcription, and did not necessarily start a new year's entries on a separate sheet, so the date divisions as recorded on the folder headings overlap by a few days in either direction.