The fortuitous survival of Frank Mack's photographs, notes, and ephemera well into the 20th century is to be, at least partially, credited to businessman Frank L. Besser of Santa Ana, California. The entire 1885 archive was found carefully stored in Besser's personalized leather briefcase sometime after his 1957 death. As it happened, in 1906, an older and, sadly, tubercular Frank Mack died in Santa Ana. Perhaps he had been living there to mitigate the effects of his disease. The connection between Mack and Besser, if any, remains unknown. What cannot be denied, however, is that someone in Santa Ana certainly recognized the significance of Frank Mack's U. S. Grant material and saved it for posterity after the journalist's death.
We, at Leland Little Auctions, are honored to make this unique historical archive available to a caring steward who will follow in the footsteps of Mack and Besser.