Collection 1263 - Samuel P. Eagle Papers, 1906-1967

Creator: Eagle, Samuel P., 1881-1950

Provenance Note: Business and family papers created or collected by Samuel P. Eagle were loaned to the Montana Historical Society for microfilming by the Eagle family of El Cerrito, California in 1978. The Montana Historical Society donated an additional print of the film to Montana State University the same year.

Historical Note: Samuel P. Eagle was a West Yellowstone, Montana merchant and postmaster. Eagle left his native Pennsylvania in 1902 to come west. He worked as a seasonal hotel bartender in Yellowstone National Park where he met his wife, Ida Carlson, who worked as a waitress. They married in 1907 and shortly thereafter established a store at West Yellowstone which catered to the growing tourist trade. In November 1909, Samuel P. Eagle, Jr. and Ed Eagle, began to research materials about their family and West Yellowstone history in the 1970s. The sons gathered the documents appearing on this microfilm for the preparation of their 1978 book, West Yellowstone's 70th Anniversary.

Content Description Note: The documents appearing on the microfilm include biographical material, general correspondence, financial records, legal documents, reports, clippings, and miscellaneous materials reflecting the growth of West Yellowstone as a tourist center. Subjects include West Yellowstone's airport design and construction, postal service, skiing, snow surveys, and the tourist trade.

Contents

One reel negative microfilm, ca. 25 feet, Biographical material

Early family history and genealogy

General Correspondence, 1907-1950

Financial Records, 1918-1919

Legal Documents

Deed, Grace G. Miller to Samuel Eagle, 1906

Contract, Yellowstone Park Assn. And Samuel Eagle, 1907

Leases, 1927-1932

Will of Samuel Eagle, 1913

Reports

Statistics on Yellowstone National Park usage, 1921

Report of Conservation Committee, 1932

Report of Commissioner of Aeronautics, as prepared for the office of the Governor and State Relief Administration, 1935

Snow Survey, by Henry Eagle, hydrographer, 1936

Clippings, 1935-1967

Miscellany

Lists of registered voters in West Yellowstone Area, 1916-1952

Lists of Postmasters and Post Offices, 1862-1909

Lists of registered guns, 1918

Petitions, 1916, 1931

Plats and maps, ca. 1915, 1933

Certificates, 1909-1929

National Republican Leagues material, 1924

West Yellowstone School equipment, 1915

Updated: 5/27/09