I became a history buff in the late 50’s in areas around Nevada. Later I visited southern California, Arizona, Idaho, and some of Colorado. I started visiting abandoned mining towns and collecting old maps that covered the areas. I also spent many hours in the libraries, checking out their history. There were a few old structures still standing that had hurriedly been vacated, leaving old browned newspaper, (most were badly chewed by field mice, etc.) as well as many old letters, a few of which I still could read and attempted to save. Now in my later years, I have accrued a rather large collection of notes, books, letters and collectables that I decided to pass on to others who may have the same fascination of the past.