 Dr. Herman N. Barnum account of Harpoot in the 1800s, 

Harput was affected by the Hamidian massacres in the 1890s.Circa 1910 the travel time from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Harpoot was about three days by train and then 18 days on horseback.The United States consulate started from January 1, 1901 with Dr. Thomas H. Norton as the consul; he had no previous experience in international relations, as the U.S. was just recently establishing its diplomatic network.