News from the MHS Research Center - April 2016

by Molly Kruckenberg, Research Center Director

A monthly report of cool new (and sometimes old) collections, reference resources, and projects that you might be interested in.

New Online Resource

Montana Newspapers is now available for your use and research pleasure. Check it out! Also check out Natasha Hollenbach’s recent blog post about searching Chronicling America and Montana Newspapers for hints, tips and tricks on using the sites. We have already been approached about working with local historical organizations to add seven new titles to the site.

Cool Resources Available for Use

The Butte Tombstone Co. records (MC 247) are a valuable, but underutilized collection. The collection as a whole is 18 linear feet in size and contains business records, interoffice correspondence, account and cash books, general ledgers, organizational records, and subject files. Accounting for nearly a third of the collection, it is in the subject files where the genealogical material lies in the form of customer orders submitted to the company from 1904 to 1925. These orders contain information on the deceased person’s name, next of kin, dates of birth and death, and the shape, size and location of the monument. Although based out of Butte, it expanded offices to Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena, and Missoula, as well as Idaho Falls, ID. It appears records were submitted by families of the deceased from all across the state.

Newly Received Collections (not yet processed, but available for use)

Fanny Sperry Steele Papers. These include papers documenting her career as a rodeo star, wild west show performer, dude ranch operator, and outfitter. Also included in the collection are the journals of her nephew and fellow Helena native, Dan Hilger. The archival collection is complimented nicely by a large collection of vintage photographs of Fanny and the Hilger family, as well as a number of artifacts accepted by the Museum.

Some Neat Things We’ve Been Working On

• On Monday, March 21, the Research Center helped host 130 sixth graders from CR Anderson Middle School in Helena.   Each student spent 40 minutes in the Research Center conducting research on a specific Montana Territorial topic, from Red Cloud to Bair Knuckle Boxing and Harriet Sanders.  The successful day was a culmination of several months of planning with MHS Outreach & Interpretation staff and teachers from CR Anderson.
• Government Records Archivist April Sparks and State Archivist Jodie Foley presented at the regional meeting of the Montana Association of School Business Officials discussing 2015 changes to records management laws and records retention requirements for local governments.

Come visit us to use these collections and explore Montana history!

Tips for Newspaper Research

by Natasha Hollenbach, Digital Services Technician

A New Resource

Announcements celebrating the availability of the new online resource Montana Newspapers have been circulating the past couple of weeks.  Between this resource and Chronicling America, now over 600,000 pages of Montana newspapers are available digitally to all.  As wonderful as that number is, it’s only about 8% of published newspapers in Montana.  While ideally anyone doing newspaper research would have the time and ability to come to the Montana Historical Society, we know that digital collections are the primary resource for many.  Given that, I thought I’d introduce you to a few ideas on how to avoid the pitfalls of searching online newspapers. 

http://www.montananewspapers.org

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Problems with People

There are many reasons why individuals appear in newspapers.  Some of them are good: travel, community involvement, school activities, married, or proved up for a homestead.  Some are bad: unusual accident, involved in criminal activity as victim or perpetrator, failed to pay taxes, or died.  In other words, not everyone will appear in the newspaper even if they lived in a small community.  Maybe they just led a nice quiet, uncontroversial life.

For those who do appear in newspapers, it’s important to remember that newspapers are created by people.  Reporters spelled names as they heard them, so when searching for individuals consider other spellings or how it could have been misheard.  Were they known by their middle name or initials?  Lastly, when you find mention of a person matching the name you’re looking for, check the details.  Are they from the area you think they lived in?  Are other people, especially family members, mentioned in the article?  Chances are there are multiple people with a given name so the person you find might not be the person you’re looking for. Last year I did a post about A.J. King who lived in Kalispell, but when searching I discovered that there was another A.J. King who lived in Missoula.

The AJ King I was looking for
The Great Falls Tribune
August 1, 1919

Not the AJ King I was looking for
The Daily Missoulian
December 27, 1914

One last consideration for names concerns how newspapers were put together.  Early newspapers were set one letter at a time and the finished article had to fit in a given space, so often names were shortened.  William became Wm., just as Joseph became Jos.  Last names starting with Mc or Mac were sometimes shortened to M’.  The software powering both of these interfaces is very literal.  It searches for exactly what you type into the search box.  For example if you search for MacDonald, any newspaper article which spelled it M’Donald won’t be in your results list. 

Remember When: Events

Often event names are assigned retrospectively.  For example during the Panic of 1893 no one used that phrase in their reporting.  Other times it’s a matter of differing perspectives.  We had a student in the Research Center last summer researching the Marias Massacre.  She reported that she had been using Chronicling America (which was gratifying), but she hadn’t found any coverage of it in the available Montana papers (which was concerning).  After trying multiple search terms, I discovered that the reason she hadn’t found anything was because the Montana papers didn’t consider it a massacre.  Instead I found their coverage by searching for Colonel Baker.


The New Northwest (Deer Lodge)
April 8, 1870

Choosing Your Search Terms
The biggest challenge is determining the correct terminology for your search.  Technological, social and transportation changes all had significant influence over the terms used in newspapers to describe what was happening.  Advertisements are perhaps the clearest way to see these shifts.  To meet this challenge, background reading on the time period or topic will usually provide terms that can be used for your newspaper search.  Another valuable resource is the Index to Advertisers in Montana Newspapers. Created by one of our awesome volunteers, the index includes the store, the people associated with it, the newspaper, city, date of ad, type of products, and the text of the ad. At this time it includes the Yellowstone Journal (1882-1891) and The New Northwest (1869-1885), but the index is an expanding work in progress.


The New Northwest (Deer Lodge)
Nov. 11, 1869

The New Northwest (Deer Lodge)
March 4, 1881

Conclusion

Newspapers are often called the first draft of history.  That’s a good description when reading historic newspaper articles.  However, when searching for articles, I think of them more as a time portal back to the week of publication.  In order to get the most out of the newspapers, you have to put yourself into the minds of those who created the content.  How would they have described the world around them?  How did the current events affect them?  What were their biases and worldview?  What questions were they trying to answer?  Sometimes a name is all you need for a successful search, but you really realize what an amazing resource the newspapers are when you search with these questions in mind.

EXTRA! Montana Newspaper Stories 1864-1922: Bison Recovery and Protection

As early as the 1830s, explorers in the American West began to predict the eventual extermination of bison (B. b. bison). In time, conservationists, including wild game hunters, sought legislation to protect bison herds. Ranchers like Michel Pablo and Charles Allard also attempted to save the wild bison. Some herds were relocated to Canada, while others migrated to Yellowstone National Park.

Key dates

1872—In an effort to protect the herds, the territorial legislature establishes an annual bison-hunting season, running from February to mid-August.
1874—The U.S. Congress passes HR921, which prohibited the "useless slaughter" of bison within U.S. territories. President Grant refuses to sign the bill.
1894—The National Park Protective Act imposes penalties for poaching in national parks.
1895–1901—Montana counties appoint game wardens to enforce hunting laws.
1909—More than 18,000 acres on the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana are designated The National Bison Range.

From the newspapers

• Montana Legislature (February 21st), Bozeman Avant Courier, February 27, 1879, p. 3
• Allard’s Famous Herd of Buffalos Snapped by Standard’s Camera, Anaconda Standard, November 26, 1899, p. 28
• To Preserve Bison, Yellowstone Monitor, April 2, 1908, p. 1
• American Bison Society Publishes Annual Report, Daily Missoulian, June 27, 1909, p. 9
• All But the Outlaws of Great Buffalo Herd Moved From Flathead to Make Room for the Settler, Daily Missoulian, July 4, 1909, p. 13
• The Buffalo is Coming Back, Fergus County Democrat, September 2, 1913, p. 2
• The Buffalo Comes Back, Great Falls Daily Tribune, August 15, 1919, p. 6
• Back Trailing on the Old Frontiers, Great Falls Tribune, August 6, 1922, p. 3

To find more

Search the following terms in combination, proximity, or as phrases: bison, buffalo, preservation, american bison society, yellowstone national park, national park protective act, samuel walking coyote, michel pablo, charles allard, pablo-allard herd

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Written by Catherine W. Ockey

News from the MHS Research Center - March 2016

by Molly Kruckenberg, Research Center Director

A monthly report of cool new (and sometimes old) collections, reference resources, and projects that you might be interested in.

Newly Processed Materials Available for Use:

In the Photograph Archives, we have acquired and processed an oversize photographic print of Marysville showing the town and mining buildings.  The names of mining claims, including the Drumlummon, are superimposed onto the print.

Newly Received Collections (not yet processed, but available for use):

The Archives recently received a collection from the Backcountry Horsemen of Montana. The collection contains material spanning back to its creation in 1973 in the Flathead. This local organization, the first of its kind, later joined with similar organizations in Idaho and other surrounding states to create the Backcountry Horsemen of America. The papers include material from the original Flathead Valley Chapter, the statewide organization, the national organization, as well as papers from chapters in surrounding states. The collection also includes a number of photographs.

Collections Currently Being Processed:

David Cogley donated a self-published copy of his Vietnam journal.  He served in Vietnam from 1969-1970 in the 101st Airborne, and wrote his journal shortly after returning home.  Recently, he resurrected the work and has created bound copies for distribution.   Aside from oral histories, the Research Center has very few primary docs concerning Montana veterans’  Vietnam experiences.

Some Neat Things We’ve Been Working On:

• The new Montana History Compass, replacing the Montana History Wiki, is now available for use!  Take a look at the revised site, which includes a sortable and filter-able data set of all of the newspaper held on microfilm.
• Arriving soon, the Montana Newspaper repository will allow for improved access to nearly 300,000 pages of Montana newspapers not available on Chronicling America!  Look for the public release around the middle of this month.

Cool Things We’ve Used from the Collections:

A patron question prompted us to look for information on business communications being written in code.  After careful searching of the catalog and Archives West we found 2 books that we have that deal with this topic.  In the early 1900's businesses used telegrams to communicate important information quickly.  Telegrams could get expensive because you were charged by the word.  The code books were created by specific industries to code common phrases and numbers so that longer messages could be communicated in fewer words.  One of the books includes a letter that was sent to a company and included the name of the code book used along with a list of locally created codes that they would use in their communication.  An example from McNeill's Code shows the phrase I estimate the ore in sight to amount to 36450 tons and to have an approximate value of $400,000.  This could be communicated by 3 cipher words: Imminebant, Esfumacao, Zeitparole.  Imminebant is decoded to I (we) estimate the ore in sight to amount to ____ tons and have an approximate value of _____.  The other 2 words decode to the values that were listed above.

The Library has McNeill's Code (1908 edition) and Broomhall's The Imperial Combination Code for Mining, Company Promoting, Financial and Stock Exchange Purposes from 1913.  We also have some telegraphic codes from the Anaconda Copper Mining Company in the MC 169 collection.

Montana Frank and the Wild West Show

by Molly Kruckenberg, Research Center Director

Montana Frank Shows, poster,
printed by the American Show Print
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, c.1910.

The MHS Research Center recently acquired the “Montana Frank” poster shown here.  As part of our acquisition process, we research potential contributions to ensure they fit within our collecting mission.  Sometimes the stories behind the items we acquire are as interesting or more interesting than the items themselves; that is the case with this poster.

“Montana” Frank McCray’s story reads like fiction – and some of it very well may be.  Known variously as Montana Frank, Colonel McCray, and Montana McCray, his life was as varied as his name.  Reportedly born in 1864 in the area that became Butte, long before the town was the “richest hill on earth,” Montana Frank variously reported that he was a scout for the Army at Fort Shaw, rode for the Pony Express, ranched near Wolf Creek, performed as a roper and rider in Wild West shows, wrote cowboy music, and mined in Idaho.


The son (again, reportedly) of Army Major Lyman F. McCray and Rosella Fanner (also seen as Rosellia Tanner), Frank spent his youth in Montana.  While many of his activities are undocumented in contemporary sources, later biographical newspaper articles provide self-reported details of his early life in Montana Territory.   As a child he moved to Fort Shaw with his family and, upon his father’s death when he was 17, he moved to Helena with his mother.  Shortly thereafter he returned to Fort Shaw, where he worked as a government scout.  At the age of 19 he married Elaine Powers of Helena. 

Montana Frank’s claim to fame is the time he spent performing in “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of the Rough Riders of the World” show.  From about 1893 until about 1899 Montana Frank was a roper and rider in the show.  He performed with the show in 1893 when it set up an independent exhibition near the Chicago World’s Fair.  After leaving Buffalo Bill Cody’s show, he continued performing with the Keith-Orpheum vaudeville circuits. 

Advertisement,
Stevens Point Daily Journal,
Stevens Point, Wisconsin,
July 26, 1917.

Wild West shows were immensely popular in the United States and abroad from the 1880s until the 1930s.  In addition to Buffalo Bill’s show, popular shows included the Miller Brother’s 101 Ranch Wild West Show and Doc Carver’s Wild West show.  These shows and scores of others toured around the United States as well as in Europe and Australia.

Sometime around 1910 Montana Frank attempted to organize his own Wild West show.  Evidence has been found of shows being performed in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Montana Frank had posters printed to advertise his show.  The MHS Research Center’s recently acquired Montana Frank Show poster is dated 1910 and was printed by the American Show Print in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  

Montana Frank lived the last decades of his life in Grangeville, Idaho, with his second wife Grace.  One of his later past-times was to write cowboy songs and melodies.  He passed away in Idaho in 1959.


“’Montana’ Frank L. McCray in front of log cabin,” Courtesy Buffalo Bill Center of the West, P.320.286.  (link to their online version of the image at http://library.centerofthewest.org/cdm/ref/collection/MS320/id/192) 
(Used with Permission)

Sources:
• “Man Born in Butte in 1864, Frank McCray, Dies in Idaho.”  Montana Standard, April 5, 1959.
• “Montana Frank McCray, Last of Buffalo Bill Scouts, is Found Living in Salmon River Wilds.”  Helena Daily Independent.  April 11, 1938. 
• Russell, Don.  The Wild West; or, A history of the Wild West shows, being an account of the prestigious, peregrinatory pageants pretentiously presented before the citizens of the Republic, the crowned heads of Europe, and multitudes of awe-struck men, women, and children around the globe, which created a wonderfully imaginative and unrealistic image of the American West. [Fort Worth]: [Amon Carter Museum of Western Art], [1970].
• “Melodic Gift is ‘God-Given:’ Montana Frank McCray, last of Scouts and Frontiersman, Writes Songs.”  The Spokesman-Review.  August 1, 1937.
• “Last Buffalo Bill Scout, at 73, Finds Nature, Unmarred, Best.”  The Spokesman-Review.  July 11, 1937.
• Freeborn County Standard, Albert Lea, Minnesota, August 31, 1916.
• Advertisement, Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 26, 1917.