Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
O.P. Balgord Papers, 1944-1962
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Balgord, O. P. (Oscar Peter), 1885-1974
- Title
- O.P. Balgord Papers
- Dates
- 1944-196219441962
- Quantity
- .2 linear feet
- Collection Number
- Collection 1131, MtBC, us (collection)
- Summary
- The Balgord Papers consist of letters, speeches, press releases, clippings, and legislative memoranda mostly dealing with Montana water policy and Balgord's involvement with related legislation. Particularly prominent are documents discussing the Deadman's Basin Project, the Montana legislature's hearing on water conservation, and three telegrams from United States Senator Burton K. Wheeler.
- Repository
-
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
- Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Oscar Peter Balgord was born on January 16, 1885. He homesteaded north of Lavina (Golden Valley County) Montana and married Emily Lang in 1911. Balgord eventually became a sales clerk and automobile dealer in Lavina and was elected to the Montana legislature as a representative from 1933 to 1939 and a senator from 1941 to 1966. He also served on the State Water Board and was a primary backer of the Deadman's Basin Water Project. The project consists of a diversion canal from the Musselshell River into a natural basin where an earthen dam forms a reservoir and two outlet canals provide irrigation water to users in Wheatland, Golden Valley, and Musselshell counties. The project was begun in 1934 by the federal government and completed in 1941 with the active involvement of the Montana State Water Conservation Board and other state agencies. Balgord considered his work on the project and statewide water policy to be his main legislative achievements before his death in Billings, Montana on October 30, 1974.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Balgord Papers consist of letters, speeches, press releases, clippings, and legislative memoranda mostly dealing with Montana water policy and Balgord's involvement with related legislation. Particularly prominent are documents discussing the Deadman's Basin Project, the Montana legislature's hearing on water conservation, and three telegrams from United States Senator Burton K. Wheeler. The documents have been arbitrarily arranged in subject folders created either by Balgord or Robert Dunbar, the person to whom Balgord gave the material before its donation to Montana State University. Sometime in the 1970s MSU library personnel calendared the contents of the folders and that listing has been preserved as written.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
The O.P. Balgord papers were donated to Montana State University by Robert Dunbar of Bozeman, Montana in 1976. In 1979 this collection was reported to the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections and assigned control number 79-624.
Processing Note
This collection was processed 2013 July 3
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Montana Water Conservation BoardReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/1
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
A public hearing about requests for funds |
1949 | |
O. P. Balgord press release |
January 20, 1951 | |
Joint meeting of the Senate and House Committees on
Water Conservation |
1951 | |
O.P. Balgord speech |
February 12, 1953 | |
Clipping: Water Conservation Program Praised by
Balgord in Reclamation Publication |
1954 | |
O.P. Balgord speech |
January 1955 | |
Letter from Fred E. Buck, State Engineer, to Senator
Balgord
(page two missing)
|
February 4, 1953 | |
Senate Committee hearing on Irrigation and Water
Conservation |
January 24, 1959; January 28, 1959 | |
Fragments: Senate seating chart, page from another
undated Balgord speech |
Ground Water policyReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/2
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Supply installations, by A. G. Fiedler and G. L.
McGuinness
(Ground water problems and their relation to army water supply)
|
1948 | |
Three early drafts of the Ground Water Codes discussed
by the Montana Legislature in the |
1950s | |
Letter from S. L. Groff, Ground Water and Fuels
Branches of the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, to Senator Gordon
McGowan |
January 11, 1961 | |
Letter from Fred E. Buck, State Engineer, to 0. P.
Balgord |
February 5, 1953 | |
Blank form dated
"Declaration of Vested Ground Water Rights"
|
1961 | |
Clipping: State Water Needs Under Study. Billings
Gazette |
December 18, 1968 |
Deadmans Basin ProjectReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/3
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Roundup Record Tribune
(feature story about the project)
|
May 8, 1958 | |
Chart, amount per acre foot of payments on irrigation
projects |
1944-1950 | |
Three telegrams from Senator Burton K. Wheeler about
application and allotment of funds for the Deadman's Basin Project under Works
Progress Administration |
||
Reconstruction Finance Corporation Resolution; Docket
n. Ref. 1071
Funding for the Deadman's Basin Project
|
1940 |
Water Conservation BoardReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/4
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Montana Legislature
Senate Bill n. 176: "An Act Creating a Dept. of Resource Development," sponsored by
Gerard, Balgord, McGowan, Brenner, Shaw, Huntley, Hilling and McElwain
|
1963 |
Montana Reclamation AssociationReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/5
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
"The Future of our State Reclamation Program", speech
by D. P. Fabrick at annual meeting |
October 4, 1962 | |
Letter from W. J. Hagen, about organization
dues |
June 29, 1962 |
Senate Committee on Water ConservationReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/6
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Minutes of the Senate Committee on Water Conservation,
and Flood Control
session of the State Legislature of Montana. The minutes were in the possession of
Senator O. P. Balgord, Chairman of the Committee. This is a copy of the original made
in the MSC Registrar's Office by Martha Hawksworth.
|
1951 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Conservation of natural resources -- Law and legislation -- Montana
- Water conservation -- Law and legislation -- Montana
- Water-supply -- Government policy -- Montana
Personal Names
- Buck, Fred E., 1884-1980 -- Correspondence
- Wheeler, Burton K. (Burton Kendall), 1882-1975 -- Correspondence
Corporate Names
- Deadman's Basin Project, Montana (U.S.)
- Montana State Water Conservation Board
Geographical Names
- Golden Valley County (Mont.)
- Musselshell County (Mont.)
- Wheatland County (Mont.)
Form or Genre Terms
- Legislative records -- Montana
Other Creators
-
Corporate Names
- Montana. Legislature. Senate
Kim Allen Scott, 2013
July 30, 2015
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
