Collection 2336 - WPA records, 1935-1942

Creator: United States. Work Projects Administration (Mont.)

Provenance Note: By the close of 1942, the files created or collected by the Montana division of the Work Projects Administration were discontinued because of the "steady decrease in the project's rolls and the reorganization of its activities in the direction of defense mobilization." A suitable home in each state was to be found for the materials gathered by the WPA writers. The late Dr. Merrill G. Burlingame began negotiating with the WPA to deposit at least some of the materials at the college in Bozeman. In February 1943, the materials were received by Burlingame. Deposited with the Montana State University Library since then, the WPA records had been made available to the general public, but their size, over 250,000 items (57 linear feet) proved overwhelming to all but the most dedicated researcher. In 1995, partial funding was received from the Montana Cultural Trust to reorganize the collection to make it more accessible to all Montanans. Material formerly accessiond as Collection 934 was added on January 30, 2013.

Historical Note: In 1935, almost a fourth of the population of Montana, or about 137,000 persons, were dependent upon some form of federal, state, or county relief assistance. Up to that point, relief came in New Deal programs such as old age assistance, Aid to dependent children, or the construction programs of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) and Army Corps of Engineers. Certainly one of the largest federal projects was the construction of the Fort Peck Dam in Montana. Already by 1935 it was well under way, bringing employment to thousands.

It was also in 1935 that Congress appropriated funding for the Federal Writers Project. The Writers Project was conceived as a unique combination of relief and an opportunity for the advancement of American culture. Under the WPA, the Writers Project received less than one percent of the total WPA budget, just slightly over $2 million. However, now for the first time workers who were unable to do manual labor could receive employment. According to the initial job posting, these included: writers, editors, librarians, historians, archaeologists, research workers, art critics, architects, map draftsmen, and geologists.

The task for the employees of the Federal Writers Project was to prepare material for the American Guide books. They were to accumulate new research material on local history, historical figures, art, folklore, racial groups, scenery, agricultural developments, landmarks, monuments, etc. In sum, whatever made up the life of the community would be researched. Each state had its own team of workers.

When the American Guide for Montana was finished, other projects followed, including those as diverse as a collection of regional recipes (America Eats) to the writing of the history of livestock industry in the West.

Content Description Note: 25 series were discovered, based on the projects that were set in place by the WPA itself. Most were under the administration of the WPA's Federal Writers Project (FWP), though some were administered by the Historic Records Survey. Materials are for Montana, unless otherwise noted.

Numerous projects documented by the Montana WPA are not found in this manuscript collection. They include: Almanac for 1940 and 1941, Copper Camp: the Story of Butte, Pioneers, Ski Manual, Small Metals Mining Study, and Stories of Montana. Most (if not all) of these projects form part of additional 40 linear feet of WPA records held at the Montana Historical Society in Helena, assigned collection number MC 77.

One project of the WPA was to draw plats for each county. Since all that MSU owns is the plat book for Gallatin County, it has been cataloged separately as Collection 2101 ("Book of Township Plats showing land ownerships, operating units, land use, in Gallatin County, c1934-36"). Also, a published version of this finding aid by Elaine Peterson, Guide to the WPA records, : at Montana State University-Bozeman (Bozeman, Mont. : Montana State Univ. Libraries, 1996), is available in the Special Collections stacks at Z6621.B874 no. 1.

For further information about the WPA itself, its "Annual Reports on Progress of the Works Program" is available for the years 1936-42 in the Government Documents collection FW4.1.66.

Contents

Series 1: America Eats

"America Eats" was to be a book published by the WPA Federal Writers Project featuring recipes of the five regions of the United States. One of those regions, the "FarWest," was comprised of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana. The project supervisor was located in Butte, Montana. The collection contains background editorial material and correspondence, along with materials sent in from each state outside of Montana. The Montana field research is more extensive and is divided by contributing counties. The files are great source of recipes such as "Pastie," or "Wild Duck rolled in fresh clay and baked underground." The only trick is that standardized measurements are not included with most recipes.

Box 1

1. Correspondence (Washington, DC office)

2. Editorial procedures and reports

3. Editorial notes (Montana office)

4. Rejected field research material

5. Arizona field research material

6. Colorado field research material

7. Idaho

8. Nevada

9. Oregon

10. South Dakota

11. Utah

12. Washington (state)

13. Wyoming

Box 2 - Montana field research material

1. Blaine County

2. Cascade County

3. Custer County

4. Deer Lodge County

5. Fergus County

6. Hill County

7. Lewis & Clark County

8. Madison County

9. McCone County

10. Meagher County

11. Missoula County

12. Musselshell County

13. Park County

14. Phillips County

15. Powder River County

16. Ravalli County

17. Sanders County

18. Toole County

19. Yellowstone County

Contents | Special Collections

Series 2: Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations

The Directory was a research project under the WPA's Historical Records Survey branch, not the Federal Writers. The headquarters for Montana was in Bozeman at the college. Background materials, instructions, and correspondence are quite substantial. Published materials include not only the Montana directory, but a few other states as well. The directory is arranged by county and then name of the church. The publication is located in Special Collections, BR555.M9M66 1941, as well as in the document stacks.

Box 3

1. Editorial procedures

2. Correspondence (arranged chronologically)

3. News clippings

4. Post office boxes

5. Drafts

6. Typescript

7. Published copy for Montana

8. Arizona

9. Delaware

10. Utah

Box 4 - Church directory by county

1-56. All counties are represented in alphabetical order

Contents | Special Collections

Series 3: Encyclopedia

The Montana Encyclopedia, also known as the State Factbook was meant to be an A-Z encyclopedia for the state. It was to encompass topical headings, people, and cities. It was to be several hundred pages and illustrated. The book was never published. Much of the material was duplicative of the State Guidebook and School Pamphlet material. It also appears that the WPA planned a smaller volume, called the Montana State Almanac. Since the forms and information gathered for this book are indistinguishable from the Encyclopedia, all information is gathered into this series. The biographical information in boxes 6 and 7 are merely retyped single sheets of basic information from Montanans listed in Who's Who in America.

Box 5

1. Project outline

2. Project plans

3. Project status

4. Editorial reports

Topical groupings:

5. Agriculture

6. Agriculture--Livestock

7. Agriculture--Soil

8. Agriculture--Sugar Beets

9. Animals

10. Christmas trees

11. Ethnic groups

12. Flora

13. Forest Service

14. Forts

15. Fossils

16. History

17. Ice Cream

18. Indian Reservations-Fort Peck

19. Insects

20. Lumber

21. Minerals and oil

22. Newspapers

23. Railroads

24. State capitol

25. State constitution

26. State officials

27. Statehood

28. Towns

29. Vigilantes

30. Water and dams

Box 6 Biography, 1-127 A-O

Box 7 Biography, 1-65 P-Z

Box 8 (All 56 counties are included in boxes 8-13) Beaverhead - Choteau

Box 9 Custer - Judith Basin

Box 10 Lake-Mineral

Box 11 Missoula-Rosebud

Box 12 Sanders-Valley

Box 13 Wheatland-Yellowstone

Box 14 Card file for Montana cities

Contents | Special Collections

Series 4: Folklore studies

Folklore Studies was a project planned in correlation with the Social-Ethnic Studies (Series 18). In both the approach was to be functional, with the studies organized around nationality groups, regions, and communities. The emphasis was on ways of living and cultural diversity. Both called for the gathering of field data, including interviews, personal histories and documentary materials. Although never completed, the Folklore series was to consist of three kinds of publications: 1) collections of special types (e.g., tall tales, rhymes), 2) collections for regions, occupations, localities, and ethnic groups (e.g., The Folklore of the Berkshires), and 3) national volumes (American Folk Stuff, representing all states and types, and A Folklore Atlas of America, showing the distribution of folk groups and folklore types). The following material only represents material gathered for Montana. Sketches for the project are found in Series 17.

Box 15

1. Index, procedures, manuals, correspondence

2. Manuscript

3. Manuscript (1st draft)

4. Manuscript (2nd draft?)

5. Interviews

6-7 Anecdotes

8. Animals

9. Beliefs

10. Celebrations

11. Customs

12. Indians

13. Legends

14. Remedies

15. Superstitions

16. Tall tales

17. Weather

Contents | Special Collections

Series 5: Health Almanac

The one file folder of material for this project is file folder 18 in Box 15. Although planned as a separate work, only a few pieces from Ravalli and Yellowstone counties remain. It appears that interviews were to be conducted relating to public health and health facilities. An interesting snapshot in time of health problems and resources in the Hamilton and Billings area.

Box 15 (cont.)

18. Health almanac

Contents | Special Collections

Series 6: Indian Legends and Studies

he WPA planned both small mimeographed books of Indian Studies and Collected Indian Legends for each tribe. Interviews were conducted by resident tribal workers, similar to the format used for the WPA Livestock History. Topics covered include legends, history, and social life and customs. Some of the information gathered was published, most notably the "Blackfeet Tipi Legends," by John Ewers. Duplicate copies of most of these manuscripts were made and bound. They can be found in E77.2.W62, no. 1-5 in Special Collections. For some tribes the copy is more complete than the original manuscript collection. Sketches accompaning this series can be found in Series 17.

Box 16

1. Assiniboine

2. Chippewa

3. Crow

4. Flathead

5. Northern Cheyenne-History

6. Northern Cheyenne-Mode of Living

Box 17 - Blackfeet

1. Correspondence

2-4 Original tipi legends

5-7 Revised tipi legends

Box 18 - Cree-Chippewa

1. Correspondence

2-4 History

5-6 Mode of Living

7. Mode of Living (handwritten copy)

8. Religion

Box 19 - Gros Ventre

1. Correspondence

2-5 History (typed)

6-7 History (handwritten copy)

8-10 Legends (typed)

11. Legends (handwritten copy)

Contents | Special Collections

Series 7: Inventory of County Archives of Montana

The Inventory was one of a number of bibliographies of historical materials prepared throughout the United States by workers of the Historical Records Survey of the WPA. Begun in 1935, the project was organized to compile inventories of historical materials, particularly the unpublished government documents and records which are basic in the administration of county government. The published inventories do more than give a list of records, they also attempt to sketch in the historical background of the county. A good source of information about local governments at the turn of the century, how much it cost to run schools and services, and who was employed. Five volumes were eventually published, copies of which are available in Special Collections or the general stack collection under CD3340.H5. These volumes cover: Beaverhead, Carbon, Flathead, Gallatin, Lake, Lincoln, Madison, Mineral, Missoula, Park, Ravalli, Sanders, Silverbow, Stillwater, Sweetgrass, and Toole counties.

Box 20

1-11 Manual

Box 21

1-4 Instructions and project outline

Box 22 (Background materials)

1. Summary of work for each county

2-5 County officers

6. Assessed valuation of counties

7. Births, Deaths, and divorces

8. Election returns, 1924-36

9. Homeowners' loan

10. Legal research

11. Organization charts for counties

12. Population of counties

13. Salaries

14. School statistics

15. Township officers

Box 23

1. Custer County (complete, finished volume)

2-12 Judith Basin County records (1920-39)

Box 24

1-9 Madison County, history and records (1864-1923)

Box 25

1-3 McCone County, history and records (1923-40)

4. Meagher County, history and reccords (1866-1939)

5. Mineral County

6-7 Musselshell County, history and records (1911-39)

Box 26

1-7 Park County records (1887-1940)

Box 27

1-4 Phillips County records (1915-42)

5. Pondera County history and school district data

6. Powder River County history and records (1919-41)

Box 28

1-2. Prairie County history and records (1918-39)

3. Ravalli County records (1893-1938)

4. Richland County history

5-6. Sanders County history and records (1906-39)

7-13. Sheridan County history and records (1913-42)

Box 29

1-3. Silver Bow County records (1889-1905)

4-8. Stillwater County records (1913-42)

9. Sweet Grass County history and records (1895-1940)

10. Teton County records (1910-40)

11. Toole County correspondence

12-13. Treasure County records (1919-42)

Box 30

1-2. Valley County records (1893-1913)

3-4. Wheatland County records (1917-37)

5-7. Wibaux County history and records (1914-40)

Box 31

1-8. Yellowstone County records (1883-1941)

Contents | Special Collections

Series 8: Inventory of Vital Statistics records of Churches & Religious Organizations in Montana

The publication by that title was completed and is available in Special Collections in BR555.M9H52. The files in this collection are the background material used to compile the book. Included are the information record sheets compiled by workers, correspondence, maps showing denominational distribution around the state, and some booklets. In general, the names given the denominations are based on the outline provided by the WPA. Records are sorted alphabetically by county, and correspondence is arranged chronologically.

Box 32

1. 1. Manuscript to the overall publication

2. Adventist, Seventh Day-correspondence, map

3. Adventist, Seventh Day-records

4. Assemblies of God

5. Baptist-correspondence

6-7. Baptist-records

8. Baptist, National (colored)

9. Church of Brethren

10. Church of Christ, Scientist

11. Church of God

12. Church of the Nazarene

13. Congregational & Christian-correspondence, map

14. Congregational & Christian-records

15. Disciples of Christ-correspondence, map

16. Disciples of Christ-records

17. Evangelical-correspondence, map

18. Evangelical-records

19. Full Gospel Mission

20. Greek Orthodox

21. Jewish

Box 33

1-2. Latter-Day Saints (Mormon)

3. Latter-Day Saints, Reorganized

4. Lutheran

5. Lutheran annuals

6. Lutheran, American

7. Lutheran, Evangelical

8. Lutheran, Free Church of America

9. Lutheran, Joint Synod of Wisconsin

10. Lutheran, Missouri Synod

11-14. Lutheran, Norwegian

15. Lutheran, United

16. Lutheran, United Danish

17. Mennonite

Box 34

1. Methodist-correspondence and background

2. Methodist publications

3-4. Methodist-Glacier Park District

5-7. Methodist-Yellowstone District

8. Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal

9. Methodist, Holiness

10. Presbyterian-correspondence, map

11. Presbyterian, pt. 1, Beaverhead-Cascade

12. Presbyterian, pt. 2, Custer-Lincoln

13. Presbyterian, pt. 3, Powell-Yellowstone

Box 35

1. Protestant Episcopal

2. Reformed

3. Roman Catholic-correspondence, map, background

4. Roman Catholic publications

5. Roman Catholic-Gt. Falls Diocese, Big Horn-Cascade

6. Roman Catholic-Gt. Falls Diocese, Choteau-Yellowstone

7. Roman Catholic-Helena Diocese, Beaverhead-Lincoln

8. Roman Catholic-Helena Diocese, Madison-Wheatland

9. Salvation Army

10. Unaffiliated Churches

11. Unitarian

12. United Brethren

13. Unity Metaphysical (Theosophical Society)

14. Y.M.C.A.

Contents | Special Collections

Series 9: Livestock & Grazing History

The WPA planned a history of the livestock industry in the West. Multiple jobs were assigned, including the labor intensive task of hand copying the first brand books. The largest and most complex set of files of the WPA records, there are six distinct parts:

There were also some copies of newspaper articles related to Livestock History, but they were not indexed and the order has been lost. All newspaper articles have been incorporated into Series 11, Montana Newspapers.

A. Livestock History (arranged by county with an index to the individual interviews in the first folder for each county). Because of the extensive indexing done by the WPA, it has not been retyped. Some of the field workers interviewed pioneers in adjacent counties, so the WPA master index (Box 69) should be consulted for a complete listing. Petroleum, Teton, and Wheatland counties do not have pioneer interviews.

Box 36

1-3. Beaverhead County (201)

4-8. Big Horn County (202)

Box 37

1-7. Blaine County (203)

Box 38

1. Broadwater County (204)

2-6. Carbon County (205)

Box 39

1-5. Carter County (206)

Box 40

1-16. Cascade County (207)

Box 41

1-2. Chouteau County (208)

3-11. Custer County (209)

Box 42

1-2. Daniels (210)

3-16. Dawson (211)

Box 43

1-6. Deer Lodge (212)

7. Fallon (213)

Box 44

1-14. Fergus (214)

15. Flathead (215)

Box 45

1-7. Gallatin (216)

8-10. Garfield (217)

Box 46

1-2. Glacier (218)

3. Golden Valley (219)

4-7. Granite (220)

8. Hill (221)

Box 47

1. Jefferson (222)

2-4. Judith Basin (223)

5-6. Lake (224)

Box 48

1-12. Lewis & Clark (225)

13. Liberty (226)

14. Lincoln (227)

Box 49

1-10. McCone (228)

Box 50

1-11. Madison (229)

Box 51

1-10. Meagher (230)

11-17. Mineral (231)

Box 52

1-12. Missoula (232)

Box 53

1-18. Musselshell (233)

Box 54

1-9. Park (234)

Box 55

1-16. Phillips (236)

Box 56

1-16. Phillips (236)

Box 57

1. Pondera (237)

2-13. Powder River (238)

Box 58

1-4. Powell (239)

5-9. Prairie (240)

Box 59

1-15. Ravalli (241)

Box 60

1-18. Ravalli

Box 61

1-8. Ravalli

Box 62

1. Richland (242)

2-8. Roosevelt (243)

9-13. Rosebud (244)

14-18. Sanders (245)

Box 63

1-8. Sheridan (246)

Box 64

1-13. Silver Bow (247)

14-16. Stillwater (248)

17-18. Sweet Grass (249)

19. Teton

Box 65

1-5. Toole (251)

6-7. Treasure (252)

Box 66

1-20. Valley (253)

21-23. Wibaux (255)

Box 67

1-18. Yellowstone (256)

B. Assessment records for livestock and other property:

Box 68

1. Big Horn (1904)

2-3. Choteau (1876-1890)

4. Dawson (1891-1899)

5-7. Fergus (1887-1899)

8. Gallatin (1865, 1866, 1877)

9. Missoula (1866-1876)

10. Musselshell (1883-1887)

11. Prairie (1915-1924)

12-13. Yellowstone (1887-1903)

C. Copies of Brand Books:

Box 69

Wooden card file index to Montana brand owners and the WPA master index to the Livestock history interviews.

Box 70

1-8. Montana brand owners, Book A, 1873-1884

Box 71

1-8. Montana brand owners, Book B, 1884-1889

9-14. Montana brand owners, Book C, 1889-1894

Box 72 Copies of Montana Stock Growers' Association Brand Books:

1. Brands, 1885-86

2. Brands, 1887

3. Brands, 1894

4. Brands, 1899

5. Brands, 1899 Appendix

6. Brands, 1900

7. Brands, 1902

8. Brands, 1903

9. Brands, 1906

10. Brands, 1940

Box 73

1. Brands--Beaverhead County

2-3. Brands & Assessments--Custer County

4. Brands--Rosebud County

5. Brands--Sweet Grass County

6. Brands--Blackfeet Indian Reservation

7. Brands--Early brands; 1872

8. Brands--History

9. Brands--Rooney manuscript

10. Gilmore Pool 1910 Brand Book

11. Wyoming Stock Growers' Association Brand Book, 1882

 D. Correspondence by county.

Most counties had more than one field worker, but all are sorted by county, not name of worker. Some Livestock correspondence also contains reference to other projects the county worker may have been involved in.

1. Beaverhead

2-3. Big Horn

4. Blaine

5. Carbon

6. Carter

7. Cascade

8-9. Custer

Box 75

1. Daniels

2. Dawson

3. Deer Lodge

4. Fallon

5-6. Fergus

7. Gallatin

8. Garfield

9. Golden Valley

10. Granite

11-12. Hill

13. Judith Basin

14. Lake

15-17. Lewis & Clark

Box 76

1. Madison

2-3. McCone

4. Meagher

5. Mineral

6. Missoula

7-8. Musselshell

9-10. Park

11-12. Phillips

Box 77

1-2. Powder River

3. Powell

4. Prairie

5-7. Ravalli

8. Richland

9. Roosevelt

10. Rosebud

11. Sanders

12. Sheridan

13. Silver Bow

14. Stillwater

15. Sweet Grass

16. Toole

17. Treasure

18. Valley

19. Wibaux

20-21. Yellowstone

E. Background working files

Box 78

Card index by ranch name

Box 79

Card index for Area 4, (Broadwater, Daniels, Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Meagher)

Box 80

Card index for Area 4, (Mussellshell, Petroleum, Phillips, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Valley, Wheatland)

Box 81

Card index (Carter, Custer, Powder River, Rosebud, Treasure)

Box 82

1. Outline of Area 4 (Judith Basin)

2. Outline of Area 6

3. Outline of Southwest Montana

4-5. Outline of Area 7 (Miles City)

6. Outline of Great Falls area

7-8. Corporation records

9. Stockgrower Associations, 1877-1940

10. Livestock companies, Articles of incorporation

11. Cowboy Association

12. Montana Stockmen, 1850-1884

13. Sheep and Wool Growers, 1872-1900

14. Eastern Montana Wool Growers Association, 1883

15. MT Wool Growers Assoc., 1883 Bulletin

16. MT Wool Growers Assoc., 1883 President's address

17. MT Wool Growers Assoc., Secretary report

18. History of MT Sheep industry, Wentworth, 1940

Box 83

1. Outline of events in history of Montana

1. Grazing Service pamphlets, material for talks

2. Dept. of Interior homestead/grazing pamphlets

3. Water and soil conservation in Montana

4. Taylor and Pierce Grazing Acts

5. Taylor Grazing Act in Operation

6. Taylor Grazing Act-comments in the press

7. Taylor Grazing Act-Field copy

8. Taylor Grazing Act-Field copy interviews

9. Organic Act, Territory of Montana, 1864

10. Session Laws, Territory of Montana, 1864-65

11. Session Laws, Territory of Montana, 1866-69

12. Session Laws, Territory of Montana, 1870-80

13. Session Laws, Territory of Montana, 1883-95

14. Session Laws, Montana, 1895-1935

15. Estray legislation, Territorial, 1864-78

16. Laws of Montana

17. Message of Gov. Smith, Virginia City, 1867

Box 84

1. Legislation concerning water rights

2. Census of agriculture

3. Board of Trade report, Helena, MT 1887

4. Territorial Auditor reports

5. Territorial Veterinary Surgeon reports, 1887, 1889

6. USDA reports, Montana

7. U.S. Census reports, Montana, 1860-1935

8. U.S. Census reports, Montana, 1940

9. Statistical reports for Montana

10. U.S. Statistical Abstract, 1939

11. U.S. Forest Service-transcripts-range surveys, fees

12. USFS-transcripts-special range report

13. USFS-transcripts-plant and insect pests

14. USFS-transcripts-range conditions

15. USFS-transcripts

16. USFS-Northern Experiment station

17. USFS-Reports of the Forester

18. USFS-Pamphlets

Box 85

1. Maps

2. Grazing Service 1942 pamphlet

3. Survey of work

4. Jargon

5. Copies of letters

6. Range songs

7. Cattlemen and Indians

8. Early stockmen

9-11. Cowboy stories

12. Green Clay Smith

13. Charley Russell

14. Dude ranches

Box 86

1. Calamity Jane

2. County Extension agents

3. County histories

4-5. Hogan's Army

6. Mineral discoveries

7. Notes on early Idaho history

8. Pioneer personal history

9. Predators

10. Railroads

11. Timber sales

12-15. Bibliographies

F. Manuscripts

Box 87

1-4. Outline of "Beaver to Beef"

5-10. Draft of manuscript

11-15. Final manuscript

Box 88

1. History of Grazing-background

2. History of Grazing manuscript

3. History of Grazing-supplement

4-5. History of Grazing, no. 5, History of Barbed Wire

Contents | Special Collections

Series 10: Men at Work

Short stories by WPA writers Montgomery M. Atwater, William A. Burke, Ralph Powell, and Edward B. Reynolds for a collection that was to be published under the title "Men at work." Most of the stories deal with employment in and around Butte or Anaconda.

Box 89

1. Assistant manager of the Bijouaaa

2. Ballyhooa

3. Blood and bread

4. Day's work

5. Dry lightning storm

6. Greenhorn miner

7. Hot metal

8. Killer

9. Man-made rain

10. Press agent

11. What! No adventures?

Contents | Special Collections

Series 11: Montana newspapers

At least two projects appear to have been underway dealing with Montana newspapers. One was to retype articles that had relevance to the Livestock & Grazing History. The other was to copy everything from old newspapers. This latter project was part of the Historic Records Survey. Since no background information is now part of these files, the newspapers have been sorted by title, using the standard newspaper name given by the Montana Historical Society newspaper project (1986). Files followed by dates are complete transcriptions of the newspaper.

Box 90

1. 1-2. Newspaper inventories

3. Directory of newspapers published in Montana

4. Instructions

5. Anaconda Standard

6. Avant Courier (Bozeman, 1875-83)

7. Avant Courier (Bozeman, 1877-79)

8. Benton Weekly Herald

9. Big Hole Breezes

10. Big Timber Express

11. Billings Herald

12. Billings Herald (1883)

Box 91

1-10. Billings Gazette

Box 92

1-2. Billings Gazette

3. Billings Gazette (1888-91)

4. Billings Gazette (1902-03)

5. Billings Gazette (1904-05)

6. Billings Gazette (1906-09)

7. Billings Gazette (1910-13)

8. Billings Gazette (1930)

Box 93

1. Billings Times

2. Bitter Root Bugle

3. Boulder Monitor

4-9. Bozeman Courier

10. Bozeman Weekly Chronicle

11. Butte Inter Mountain

12. Chinook Opinion

13. Daily Item (Missoula)

14. Ekalaka Eagle

15. Fergus County Argus

16. Flathead Courier (1936-40)

17. Glasgow Courier

18. Glendive Independent

19. Great Falls Tribune

Box 94

1-2. Havre Daily News

3-4. Havre Daily Promoter

5-7. Havre Plaindealer

Box 95

1. Helena Independent (Daily)

2-5. Helena Weekly Herald, 1866-1879

6-9. Helena Weekly Herald

10. Jordan Gazette

11. Judith Basin Star

12. Lewistown Democrat News

13-15. Livingston Enterprise

1. Livingston Post

2-5. Madisonian (Virginia City)

6-7. Malta Enterprise

1. Meagher Republican

2. Miles City Independent

3. Miles City Star

4. Mineral Argus

5-6. Mineral Independent

7. Missoula and Cedar Creek Pioneer (1870-75)

Box 98

1. Missoula County Times

2-4. Missoula Pioneer & Gazette

5-11. Missoulian, 1873-1930

12. Montana Live stock Journal

13. Montana Stock & Mining Journal

Box 99

1-3. Montana Post

4. Montana Record Herald

5. Northwest Livestock Journal

6. Philipsburg Mail

7-8. Phillips County News

9. Phillips County News (1924-25)

10. Phillips County News (1934)

11. Plainsman

Box 100

1-5. Plentywood Herald

6. Powder River County Examiner

Box 101

1-2. Post (Billings) 1882-85

3. River Press (Ft. Benton) 1880

4-13. River Press (Ft. Benton)

Box 102

1-7. River Press (Ft. Benton)

Box 103

1. Rocky Mountain Gazette

2-4. Rocky Mountain Husbandman

5. Roundup Record

6. Saco Independent

7. Stockgrowers Journal

8. Sun River Sun

9-11. Times (Virginia City)

12. Townsend Star

13. Tri-county News

14. Weekly Independent (Deer Lodge)

15. Western News

Box 104

1-5. Yellowstone Journal

Contents | Special Collections

Series 12: Montana state capitol

One file folder containing the draft manuscript for the Montana chapter of a book, "State capitols," which was to cover all states. The book was never finished, but the Montana manuscript was reworked and separately published in Helena. A copy is available in Special Collections at NA4412.M9S72 1938. Manuscript is located in Box 104, folder 6.

Contents | Special Collections

Series 13: Noted American architects

Another national project, this book was to have contributions from every state. All that is contained in this one file folder is a sketch of Montana architect Cass Gilbert and a few notes about Montana architecture. Located in Box 104, folder 7.

Contents | Special Collections

Series 14: Photographs

Over 600 black and white photographs which were used in the various projects are found in this series. Most appear to have been taken for the State Guidebook and Livestock History. Most subject folders have more than one print. Also included are some postcards and early photographs collected by the field workers, as well as some photographs of the WPA workers. The photographs have been sequentially numbered, with the photograph numbers immediately following each folder title.

Box 105

1. Absarokee National Forest, #1

2. ACM Smelter (Great Falls), #2-3

3. Anaconda Copper Mining Company, #4-12

4. Arnold, Jack, #13-15

5. Aviation, #16-23

6. Badlands, #24-30

7. Basket weaving, #31

8. Beaver Creek Park Road, #31a

9. Big Hole Battle, #32

10. Billings (Mont.), #33

11. Birney (Mont.), #34

12. Bitterroot Valley--Blodgett Canyon, #35

13. Bowden, John H., #36

14. Bozeman, John, #37

15. Branding, #38

16. Cabinet National Forest, #39

17. Cattle, #40-46

18. Cattle guard, #47-48

19. Cattle on range, #49-63

20. Cattle ranching, c.1900, #64-72

21. Centennial Mountains, #73-74

22. Chuck wagons, #75-76

23. Clark Fork on the Columbia, #77

24. College of Mineral Science and Technology, #78-80

25. Continental Divide, #81-82

26. Cowboys, #83-95

27. Cowboys--Latta, Frank, #96-101

28. Cowboys--Latta, Walter, #102-110

29. Cricket fence (Big Horn County), #111-113

30. Crops, #114-117

31. Custer National Forest, #118-120

32. Dairy cattle, #121

33. Dams, #122-132

34. Deer Lodge National Forest--Rattlesnake Creek, #133

35. Drought cattle, #134-135

36. Dude ranching, #136-140

37. Eastern Montana Normal School (Billings), #141-142

38. Fishing, #143-144

39. Flathead Lake region, #145-147

40. Flora, #148-151

41. Forests, #152-164

42. Fort Assinniboine, #165-181

43. Fort Benton, #182-187

44. Fort Custer, #188-194

45. Fort Ellis, #195-198

46. Fort Howe, #199

47. Fort Logan, #200-203

48. Fort Maginnis, #204

49. Fort Smith, #205-212

50. Fossils (Fort Peck area), #213-216

51. Gallatin Canyon and National Forest, #217-225

52. Gallatin River highway, #226

53. Gallatin Valley, #227

Box 106

54. Gas wells (Baker), #228-232

55. Gates of the Mountains, #233-234

56. Glacier National Park, #235-257

57. Glaciers, #258-259

58. Glasgow (Mont.), #260

59. Gold Creek, 261

60. Great Falls (Mont.), #262-269

61. Hall, Bob, #265

62. Haying, #266-269

63. Helena (Mont.), #270-285

64. Horses, #286-304

65. Hysham (Mont.), #305

66. Independence (Mont.) (ghost town), #306

67. Irrigation, #307-310

68. Judith Basin, #311

69. Kalispell (Mont.), #312-315

70. Kootenai River, #316

71. Lakes, #317-324

72. Lame Deer (Mont.), #325-327

73. Lewis and Clark Caverns, #328

74. Lewistown (Mont.), #329-330

75. Little Rockies, #331-337

76. Livingston (Mont.), #338

77. Lumbering, #339-342

78. Malta (Mont.), #343

79. Medicine Rocks, #344-345

80. Mexican cattle, #346

81. Mexican migrant labor, #347-358

82. Miles City (Mont.), #359-364

83. Milk River, #365

84. Mining, #366-373

85. Mission Range, #374-376

86. Missoula (Mont.), #377-381

87. Missouri River, #382-383

88. National Bison Range, #384

89. Nevada City, #385

90. Northern Montana College (Havre), #386

91. Oil development, #387-395

92. Pioneer (Mont.), #396-398

93. Poplar (Mont.), #399

94. Railroads (Soo Line), #400

95. Ranches, #401-413

96. Ranches - Bair, Charles ranch home, #414-415

97. Ranches - Hobble Diamond, #416-418

98. Ranches - Open Box Bar, #483-484

99. Ranches - Quarter Circle U, #419-482

100. Ranches - 76, #485-497

101. Ranches - Three Circle, #498-517

102. Ranches - William Tonn, #518-530

103. Redwing, Ed, #531-532

104. Rocky Mountain Public Health Service, #533-535

105. Rocky Mountains, #536

106. Rodeos, #537-549

Box 107

107. Rosebud County, #550-551

108. Roundup, #551-560

109. Roundup camp, #561

110. Ruby Range, #562

111. Saddle, #563

112. Sheep, #564-594

113. Shelby (Mont.), #595-596

114. Sidney (Mont.), 597

115. Sports, winter, 598

116. Steamboats (replica of Far West), #599-600

117. "Steer Montana", #601

118. Terry (Mont.), #602

119. Thompson, David (memorial), #603

120. Three Forks of the Missouri, #604-605

121. Thurston, C. A., #606

122. Tobacco Root Mountains, #607

123. Trail herd (Texas cattle), #608-613

124. Treasure County, #614-615

125. Virginia City (Mont.), #616-634

126. Warm Springs (Mont.), #635

127. West Yellowstone (Mont.), #636

128. Western art (painting by Walt Mead), #637

129. Western Montana College (Dillon), #638-641

130. Wibaux (Mont.), #642

131. Wildlife, #643-654

132. Wolf Creek, #655

133. WPA workers, #656-665

Contents | Special Collections

Series 15: School Pamphlets

75 mimeographed pamphlets were planned for distribution to Montana schools. This series contains the many drafts written by the state writers. It also has background research material, some of which is quite detailed. Only the "Naming of the Blackfeet" folder contains an actual published pamphlet. Although many were written by experts in their discipline, the pamphlets were to be only 3-5 pages and aimed at children in the Intermediate Grades (4-6). The correspondence and critiques of the pieces from the Washington, D.C. office are particularly interesting.

Box 108

1. Background

2. Correspondence

3. Assiniboine moon calendar

4. Bitterroot

5. Buffalo stone

6. Calamity Jane

7. Charles M. Russell

8. Chief of the Bearpaws

9. Coming Day, the fearless

10. Copper mining and smelting

11. Flathead Lake

12. Forest fire prevention

13 Fort Peck Dam

14. Fort Shaw

15. Fort Union

16. Forts William H. Harrison and Fort Missoula

17. Forts

18. Frank B. Lindeman

19. From Beets to sugar

20. Fur trade

21. Ghost town

22. Granville Stuart

23. How Major Ronan prevented an Indian war

24. James Willard Schultz

25. Jim Olafson and the Mother Lode

26. Missouri River navigation

27. Montana Constitution

28. Montana forests

29. Montana place names

30. Montana sapphires

31. Morrison Cave

32. Mullan Road

33. Naming of the Blackfeet

34. Pioneer freight trains

35. Refining of oil

36. Rodeo

Contents | Special Collections

Series 16: Serviceman's Almanac

In July of 1942, field workers for the Montana Writers' Project were notified that they were to postpone work on other projects and begin gathering material for a publication to be sent to all servicemen from the state. The instructional memo stated, "This material should have a patriotic theme if possible, but should also include light and humorous stories and accounts that would be interesting to boys away from home. Such material as the time when Montana and Wyoming cowboys from the Powder River country were gathered together from several outfits in the last World War and staged a rodeo in France when they broke some newly arrived horses. Also, interesting human interest stories even though they are not related to the patriotic or war them would be appreciated. It should be remembered that the purpose of the pamphlet is to entertain the soldiers and revive the home ties rather than to throw slogans and sermons at them." Most of the files contain correspondence, only Ravalli has some stories.

Box 108 (cont.)

37. Big Horn

38. Hill

39. Lewis & Clark

40. Missoula

41. Park

42. Phillips

43. Powder River

44. Ravalli

Contents | Special Collections

Series 17: Sketches

Artwork for the various projects has been placed in this single series.

Box 109

1. Billings, Montana Hispanic celebration broadside

2. (Illustrations by Fred Gone and Martin Buckman to accompany Series 6, Gros Ventre)

   Warshield

   Tipi (2)

   Medicine drum

   Medicine bowl

   Bone whistle

   Indian with a bow

   Indian shooting a gun

   Indian standing

   Woman with travois

3. (Illustrations by D. C. Wheeler of Lame Deer)

   Indian woman and papoose with travois

   Hammer or club (2)

   Cheyenne mocassin designs

   Tepee and drying rack

   Cherry pounders (2)

   Parfleche

4. (Illustrations to accompany Series 6)

   Fort Benton ground plans (2)

   Sun Moon legend, 2 sketches by Victor Pepion

   Why buffalo have black tongues, by Max Big Man

   How the buffalo got his hump, by Bob Hall

   How the antelope got their markings, by Bob Hall

   Four Tails Teepee legend, by Cecile Black Boy

   Sacred arrows and tepee (7)

   White man chopping tree, by Karl Tyler

5. (14 illustrations for the book about Folklore submitted by Walt J. Mead.)

   Rancher's home was everyone's castle

   Buffalo hunter

   Robbers' rock, Bannack, MT

   Cowboy hazing a longhorn

   End of a rustler

   The remuda

   Starving cow in winter snow

   Trail boss signaling for water

   The herd on the trail

   Pack horses

   Roping a steer for branding

   Gun belt

   Cowboy teaching a bronc to rein

   Cabin

6. (10 items by Art Brown)

   Horses at hitching rail

   Cowboy eating

   Cowboy and chuck wagon

   Horse waiting to be saddled

   Cowboy's enemy (the plow, etc.)

   Troubles of a trail boss

   The ladies also rode

   Home near Wolf Creek

   Cowboy

   Articles at Cowboy Museum

7. (3 items by C. W. Scott)

   Cowboys hazing dudes

   Horse holding a roped steer

   A wolf

8. (31 items by Bob Hall)

   Bucking bronc

   Charlie Russell

   Each ranch ran horses

   The chuck wagon

   Cowboy and pack horse

   Mountain men

   Joe Johnson on Hellza Poppin

   U.S. mail horse hitched before a saloon

   Campfire

   Steer's head, horse head, cowboy

   On the Musselshell

   Roping a calf, deserted homestead

   Ranger posting "prevent forest fires" sign

   First 50 years are the hardest

   Trailing a cow out of a bog

   Montana wolves

   Six pioneer scenes

   Calamity Jane

   Waiting for a chinook

   Cowboy turning a stampede

   Cowboys working cattle

   Jerline mule team

   The Verendrye party

   Marquis De Mores and his packing plant

   The ram rod's most likely a Texanner

   Prairie schooner

   Two saloon scenes

   Hazing a horse

   Driving a team into a storm

   Mountain men and wagon train

   On night watch

Contents | Special Collections

Series 18: Social & Ethnic Studies

WPA administrative correspondence shows that this was to be a separate WPA project. However, much of the material is reminiscent of what was gathered for Folklore Studies and the State Guidebook. It is interesting that the German Colony in Lewistown was included since the opinion at the administrative level was to exclude coverage because of the Nazis in Europe.

Box 110

1-3. Instructions

4. German Colony, Lewistown

5. Italians in Red Lodge

6. Greek

7. Lithuanian-Correspondence

8. Lithuanian

9. Scandinavian-Correspondence

10. Scandinavian

11. Danish

12. Norwegian

13. Swedish

Contents | Special Collections

Series 19: State Guidebook

The American guides were the original project of the Federal Writers Project. In the opinion of the federal government, they were a "terribly safe thing to do," especially since many Congressional opponents of the New Deal thought the Writers Project a "boondoggle". Nonetheless, the Project was funded (less than 1 per cent of the total WPA budget) and begun in July 1935. The guidebooks are an interesting study in federal versus state control. Though federally funded, the staff working on the guidebooks were located in each state. Some staff wished to be forthright and were no doubt surprised to find censorship from the Washington office. When the Montana guide was reviewed in Washington, D.C. criticism was aimed at the writers for mentioning the labor unions in Butte in a positive light, as well describing the pigsties and flophouses in Billings! The federal image of the guidebooks was more in keeping with a "Chamber of Commerce" conveyance of information. Censorship was imposed on several guidebooks, Montana's being one of them. The background material used for the 1939 published work, "Montana: a state guidebook," is contained in boxes 116-126. Only Broadwater and Toole counties are missing.

Box 111

1-2. Manual of instructions

Box 112

1-3. Manuscript draft

4. Bibliography

5. Index

6. Chronology

7. Editorial comment

8. Editorial reports

Box 113

1. Essay 1 - Preface

2. Essay 1a - Contemporary

3. Essay 2 - General description

4. Essay 2a - Forests

5. Tours 10-11

6. Essay 2c - Flora and fauna

7. Essay 2d - Natural setting

8. Essay 3 - History

9. Essay 3 - North Central Montana

10. Essay 3a - First Montana counties

11. Essay 3b - Historical markers

12. Essay 3b - Blackfeet Indians

Box 114

1. Essay 3e - Folklore

2. Essay 3f - Folk music

3. Essay 3g - Square dances

4. Essay 3h - Call of the trail

5. Essay 3i - Calamity Jane

6. Essay 4a - Transportation

7. Essay 5 - Ethnic groups

8. Essay 6 - Government

9. Essay 7 - Industry

Box 115

1. Essay 7a - Mining

2. Essay 8 - Arts

3. Essay 8 - Press

4. Essay 8 - Education

5. Essay 8 - Montana State College (Bozeman)

6. Essay 8 - University of Montana

7. Essay 9 - Recreation

8. Essay 9 - Points of Interest

9. Essay 9a - Societies & associations

10. Essay 9b - Labor unions

11. Essay 9c - Dude ranches

12. Essay 9d - Bibliography

13. Essay 10 - Glossary

Box 116 FECs (Field Editorial Copy for counties)

1. Beaverhead

2. Big Horn

3. Blaine

4. Carbon

5. Carter

6. Cascade

Box 117

1. Choteau

2. Custer

3. Daniels

4. Deer Lodge

5. Fallon

Box 118

1. Fergus

2. Flathead

3. Gallatin

4. Garfield

Box 119

1. Glacier

2. Golden Valley

3. Granite

4. Hill

5. Jefferson

6. Judith Basin

7. Lake

Box 120

1-2. Lewis & Clark

3. Liberty

4. Lincoln

5. Madison

6. McCone

7. Meagher

8. Mineral

Box 121

1-2. Missoula

3. Musselshell

4-5. Park

Box 122

1. Petroleum

2. Phillips

3. Pondera

4. Powder River

5. Powell

6. Prairie

7-8. Ravalli

9. Richland

10. Roosevelt

11. Rosebud

Box 123

1. Sanders

2. Sheridan

3-5. Silver Bow

6. Stillwater

7. Sweet Grass

8. Teton

9. Treasure

Box 124

1. Valley

2. Wheatland

3. Wibaux

4-5 Yellowstone

Box 125 (City guides)

1. Anaconda

2-4 Billings

5. Bozeman

6. Butte

7. Frenchtown

8. Glasgow

9-10. Great Falls

11. Havre

12. Helena

13. Kalispell

14. Lewistown

15. Livingston

16. Miles City

Box 126

1-10. Missoula

11. Virginia City

Contents | Special Collections

Series 20: Story of the Buffalo

The volume was never published, but a fairly complete draft from 1942 is available, along with 363 abstracts of research reports on buffalo which were background material gathered for the book. Every aspect of buffalo is covered, including origin, description, habits, extermination, economic value, conservation, Indian and pioneer stories, and piskuns. An extensive bibliography is included.

Box 127

1. Outline of the book

2-15. Finished copy of the book

16. Abstracts of research reports

17. Persons associated with buffalo

18. List of illustrations

19-20. Bibliography

Box 128

1-22. Research reports 300.001-300.199

Box 129

1-17. Research reports 300.200-300.363

Box 130 (Background material to the research reports and correspondence.)

1. Abundance

2. Albinos

3. Bones, meat, etc.

4. Economic value

5. Extermination

6. Habits

7. Flathead Indian Reservation

8. Hunting

9. Newspaper clippings

Contents | Special Collections

Series 21: Transcripts of original documents

The WPA index to the 70 documents which were once part of the collection is included in the first box. A similar scheme to the Livestock History was employed, using 600 as the base number for the series, followed by consecutive numbering. Originally labelled by the writers as "Diaries, journals, etc.--transcripts of original documents--talks, speecches, radio addresses, also material from manuscript case of Historical Library, Helena, Montana." Only 39 titles remain. Some files contain information about where the original document was located. Titles used were assigned by the WPA workers.

Contents | Special Collections

Series 22: Up Unto the Sun

Manuscript of a play adapted from "Montana, a dramatic chronicle" by Eleanor Plummer, Edward Reynolds, Wilma Parsons, Guy Rader, and Ralph Henry; dramatic adaption by Larrae Haydon and Kenneth Mulholland. A pageant in honor of Montana's 50th anniversary as a state and 75th as a territory. Originally prepared for the Lewistown Jubilee celebration, July 2-4, 1939, but published and utilized by other communities after that. This manuscript dates from January 23, 1941.

Box 133

1. Manuscript

Contents | Special Collections

Series 23: USA Pictorial Guide

A book published as an item within the American Guide series, entitled "The United States of America: a pictorial guide for its newest citizens." It was also referred to as the "National Picture Book." Folder one contains the outline for the entire U.S. manuscript, while folder two has the completed manuscript for the Rocky Mountain section which includes Montana and surrounding states. The few remaining photographs which were part of the book have been separated and are now contained in Series 14 or have been inadvertantly placed in the general Special Collections picture collection.

Box 133 (cont.)

2. USA Pictorial guide--Outline

3. USA Pictorial guide--Rocky Mountain section

Contents | Special Collections

Series 24: WPA Radio Talks

Talks made as part of five "electrically transcribed" radio programs of the Federal Music Project (FMP), which were sent to radio stations. The distribution was part of the general plan to make available the best productions of the unemployed musicians of the FMProject to citizens who do not live in or near the cities in the the FMP units were organized.

Box 133 (cont.)

4. "The Federal Music Project program of the WPA"

    "The WPA and the Nation's Health"

    "An Architect Surveys WPA Work"

    "A Business Man's View of the WPA"

    "Recreation for America"

Contents | Special Collections

Series 25: Your Vacation in Montana

A single file folder containing some of the notes that were to be included with photographs of Montana. Part of the overall "American Recreation Series," the volume was never completed.

Box 133 (cont.)

5. Notes on book

Contents | Special Collections

Updated: 1/30/13