Content Description Includes 29 black and white photographic prints from the O'Brien family of Newlon, Montana. The collection includes views of the O'Brien family homestead, 1890 to 1910; a class photo with James and Ted O'Brien; James O'Brien with friends, circa 1905; a man with horses advertising an O'Brien Hardware store; the Sidney Hospital, circa 1906; Mrs. Margaret McBride, circa 1870; Mr. Siward on horseback, 1910s; views of unidentified men with horses; Gerald O'Brien, son of George and Bertha...

Abstract John Owen (1818-1889), a pioneer fur trader in the Northwest, built Fort Owen in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana Territory, and served as a special agent for the Flathead Indians. Collection contains diaries and journals (1850-1871); a combined register of births, deaths, and marriages of Fort Owen residents; a letterpress book (1858-1859); an account book (1850-1860) for trade at Fort Owen, which also contains accounts (1876-1889) for some other firm; and a bill of sale (1850) for the land...

Abstract Pierre Chouteau, Jr. and Company was a St. Louis, Missouri, based fur trading company with operations on the Upper Missouri River, including the area that later became Montana. Records include a letter from Pierre Menard (1810) from the region around Three Forks; Fort Benton Journal, Fort Sarpy Journal, and Fort Union Journal (1854-1856); and scattered correspondence and financial records (1834-1864). [Includes copies. Journals published in Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana,...

Abstract

Martha Plassmann (1850-1936) was a Montana pioneer, historian, and journalist. Collection consists of her autobiography and over 500 historical articles written for the Great Falls Tribune and the Montana News Association during the 1920s and 1930s. The articles, based on her own memories and on research, cover a wide range of topics, especially fur trappers, explorers, and vigilantes.

Content Description

Samuel T. V. McBee papers documenting his time as homesteader and postmaster in Barnard, Valley County, Montana. Documents include Homesteading Application Postmaster appointment documents, livestock brand registers, Wheat Growers Association stock certificate, Grain Commission and Cattle Club documents.

Abstract

Wilbur Edgerton Sanders (1861-1935) was a mining engineer and son of Wilbur Fisk Sanders. Collection (1875-1896) includes incoming correspondence from his father, his brother James Upson Sanders, and others; and diaries, chronicling his education, youth, early mining career, trips to Yellowstone, and a visit to the Blackfeet Reservation in 1896.

Abstract

Wilbur Fisk Sanders (1834-1905) was a Bannack, Virginia City, and Helena, Montana, attorney, vigilante, and Republican politician. Collection (1856-1930) includes biographical materials; correspondence (1861-1905); diaries (1866-1867); legal documents; financial records; speeches; historical writings; and miscellany, including scrapbooks. There is a small subgroup of Harriet Peck Fenn Sanders' correspondence (1874-1902) and diaries (1888, undated).

Abstract

Clark Shipman farmed in Vermont and New Jersey before travelling to Montana Territory with his son Henry, in 1881, and settling near Lewistown. Two of his daughters, Winifred and Gertrude, taught school in the area. The collection (1814-1989) consists primarily of correspondence (1841-1955) of various family members; diaries (1882-1908); and miscellaneous legal documents, financial records, and clippings. Photographs were transferred to the Photograph Archives.

Abstract

John Shober (1832-1925) was a Helena, Montana, miner, attorney, and state legislator. Collection (1832-1952) includes descriptions of frontier social and mining conditions. Included are subgroups for Shober's nephew John H. Shober, Jr., manager of a ranch near Townsend; and of his niece Harriet Shober Nolan, wife of Cornelius B. Nolan.

Abstract

Records (1884-1956) of the Society of Montana Pioneers and the Society of Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers consist of minutes, correspondence, membership lists, and biographical materials on members.