Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, to Panama (1859). Manuscript "Camp Floyd U.T. Feby. 7" (1859) postmark ties 3c Dull Red, Ty. III (26) on cover to Assistant Surgeon L. C. Lane aboard the USS Decatur in care of the U.S. consul at Panama, endorsed "Via California", 3c was insufficient postage for the rate to Panama so cover was held for additional postage which was paid in cash, manuscript "Paid 20c" and additionally struck with the new "Camp Floyd April 18" rimless arc datestamp, gently cleaned to remove band of toning at left

VERY FINE. AN EXTREMELY RARE COMBINATION OF MANUSCRIPT AND HANDSTAMP POSTAL MARKINGS FROM CAMP FLOYD, UTAH TERRITORY, ON A COVER TO PANAMA SENT VIA THE CHORPENNING MAIL ROUTE.

This was carried by the weekly Chorpenning Mail stagecoach that left Salt Lake City (northeast of Camp Floyd) on April 18, 1859. The stage arrived in Placerville, California, around April 30 and the cover then went to San Francisco for the May 5 sailing of the PMSS steamer Golden Gate, arriving Panama around May 15. The cover is addressed to an officer on the 16-gun sloop-of-war USS Decatur, which ironically had been ordered back to San Francisco on March 23. Although the cover lacks a forwarding notation, it no doubt made its way back to San Francisco. The Decatur had a storied career with service in both the Mexican and Civil Wars and was also the ship that evacuated U.S. citizens connected with the filibustering expedition of William Walker.

Illustrated in Mails of the Westward Expansion on p. 142. Ex Risvold and Walske

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