The first written history of the Beemer manuscript is found in a manuscript by Taylor Smith donated by Smith to the Idaho State Historical Society in 1961. Smith's history is published as an appendix in The Peter Beemer manuscript : dance music collected in the gold mining camp of Warren’s Diggins, Idaho in the 1860’s, edited by Vivian Williams (Seattle, Wash.: Voyager Recordings and Publications, 2008), which also contains transcripts of the music. Other histories are found in: The Warren collection : music manuscript book from the Warren, Idaho mining camp, 1864, by John Cochrane (M.A. thesis, Boise State University, 1994) and A Survey of musical activity in the mining camps of Idaho through June of 1865, by Rob McIntyre (M. Music thesis, University of Idaho, 1993).
From the guide to the Peter Beemer Music Manuscript, circa 1864, (Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives)
