Creator: Brown, Ed C.

 

Provenance Note: This collection was donated to Special Collections by George and Anne Stagg (niece to Ed Brown), Forsyth, Montana, February, 1965.

 

Historical Note: Ed C. Brown was born in 1877 in Kansas to Mr. & Mrs. A.L. Brown. His family moved by covered wagon from Kansas to Iowa in 1889. He went to work at the U Cross Ranch near Buffalo, Wyoming in the 1890s. Ed was a ranch hand, and later became the ranch boss. He farmed south of the Yellowstone River near Ballatine and Huntley Project, Montana between 1912 and 1964.

 

Content Description Note: The papers pertain to Brown's farming activities including: crops planted and prices; dairy cattle photos and breeding records; diaries of daily activities and weather; Huntley Project Irrigation District maps; reminiscence of working on the U Cross Ranch near Buffalo, Wyoming in the 1890s. The collection is arranged in six series: Diaries, Correspondence, Maps and Diagrams, Photographs, Printed and Literary Materials, and Financial Documents.

 

Series 1: Diaries

Diaries written by Ed C. Brown, primarily covering daily activities and weather reports. A birth and death register of Brown's family, friends, and acquaintances is in Box 2, Folder 2.

Box 1
1. Diaries 1930-1931
2. Diaries 1932-1933
3. Diary 1934-1938
4. Diaries 1951-1952
5. Diary 1953
6. Diaries 1954-1955
7. Diaries 1956-1958
8. Diary 1959
Box 2
1. Diary 1960-1961
2. Birth and death register

Series 2: Correspondence, 1958-1960

Personal correspondence received or written by Ed Brown between 1958-1960. The correspondence is mainly with W.W. Magee, reminiscing of working at the U Cross Ranch near Buffalo, Wyoming during the 1890s. Photographs referred to in these letters are in Series 4, Photographs.

Box 2 (cont.)
3. Letters written by Ed Brown 1958-1960, inc.
4. Letters received by Ed Brown 1958-1960, inc.

Series 3: Maps and Diagrams

Sketches of Brown's field plots and maps for Huntley Project.

Box 2 (cont.)
5. Sketches of field plots and crops planted 1934-1960
6. Huntley Project area and land owners, Montana 1910, 1940

Series 4: Photographs

Photographs are of W.W. Magee and his travels, and Brown's dairy cows. Photographs are individually numbered, duplicates are given the save number. Photos vary in size.

Box 2 (cont.)
7. Photographs #1-6
#1. J.P. Magee, Parks, and Fred Hamilton, Hazelton, Wyoming 1904
#2. W.W. Magee 1954
#3. Magee's "modern sheep wagon" 1957
#4. Magee in the Tetons 1957
#5. Magee by his office
#6. Will Kline, Henry Kline, and H.W. Magee in ranch yard
8. Dairy cow photographs #7-17
#7. Nigger 1925
#8. Lopsy 1925
# 9. Edith 1926
#10. Edna 1926
#11. Ella 1926
#12. Ellen 1926
#13. Erma 1926
#14. Eva 1926
#15. Flossie 1926
#16. Frannie 1926
#17. Pet 1926

Series 5: Printed and Literary Materials

Newspaper clippings, booklet, descriptions of pictures, and materials covering Huntley Project Irrigation District are topics in this series. Newspaper clippings include obituaries, advertisements, and other stories. The booklet known as the "Argument Settler" list facts on many topics. The hand written descriptions of pictures were done by Ed Brown. The pictures were donated to University of Wyoming Library and Archives by Brown in 1959.

Box 2 (cont.)
9. Newspaper clippings
10. Brown's Argument Settler
11. Huntley Project Irrigation District papers 1940-1959
12. Descriptions of 25 photographs given to the University of Wyoming, 1959

Series 6: Financial Documents, 1913-1959

Ledgers, account books, investments, county tax records, and other materials related to financial matters of Ed Brown. Materials related to Brown's livestock and farm operations are found here. The memo books in Box 3, Folders 6-8 contain daily living expenses, cost of trips the Brown's took, and farming ideas and notes. Farm lease contracts are in Box 3, Folder 13, and land tenant's production and yields are in Box 3, Folder 14.

Box 2 (cont.)
13. Ledger 1928-1933 and land use records 1934-1957
14. Land payments and use 1947-1957
15. Investments 1942-1964 and Accounts 1952, 1956
Box 3
1. Ledger 1933, 1953, Investments 1946-1956, and miscellaneous records
2. Account books 1928-1934
3. Account book 1935-1947
4. Account book 1948 and diary and family information
5. Account books 1949-1959
6. Memo books 1918-1939
7. Memo books 1942, 1946, 1947, 1956-1961
8. Memo books 1949-1952
9. Yellowstone County tax assessments 1912-1925
10. Yellowstone County tax statement 1925-1959
11. Federal land rent 1944-1945
12. Cropping practices, USDA 1959-1961
13. Land leasing and farm contracts 1917-1951
14. Crop yields 1945-1960
15. Miscellaneous financial documents 1921-1940
16. Dairy cattle breeding records, 1921-1940
17. Certificates for shares of the capitol stock, 1913-1921

Updated: 5/4/09