Mystery Solved: Rocky Bar, Idaho Territory, Was Temporarily Renamed Esmeralda, Circa June– December 1864

Figure 1. July 1864 promissory with Esmeralda dateline and affixed revenue stamps

Figure 1 shows a promissory note from the holdings of the late Lynn Langdon, Idaho document hunter extraordinaire, dated Esmeralda, July 27, 1864, for $256.30 payable in six months, from G. Ebel by Chs. de La Baume, to Felix Lantier. Five 3¢ Telegraph revenue stamps are affixed in a strip of three and pair, canceled “GE July 27 1864” in what appears to be the same hand as on the note itself. On the reverse are notated “Received on the within note one Hundred and ninety Six 30/100 Dollars/JKM Oneill/Rockey Bar/Oct 4th 1864” and “Filed this 27th day of Oct., A.D. 1865/Wm Kelly Justice of the peace.” This last appears to account for the survival of this piece, as early Alturas County court documents featured prominently in the Langdon holdings. See more.