Archives West Finding Aid

A teacher and scholar of the history of the American West, and in particular the history of the Pacific Northwest, Keith A. Murray was born on October 31, 1910, in Nez Perce, Idaho. He was educated at Whitworth College, where he received a BA in 1935, followed by the MA (1940) and PhD (1946) in history from the University of Washington. He was employed as a teacher at Richland (Wash.) High School and at Kent (Wash.) High School and as the principal of Coupeville (Wash.) High School before his appointment in 1946 to the faculty of the History department of Western Washington University (then Western Washington State College).

Dr. Murray wrote extensively about regional history. His notable works include Pig Wars (1968), concerning an infamous 1859 incident between U. S. and British soldiers on San Juan Island, The Modocs and Their Ways, about the Modoc Indians of California, and Reindeer and Gold, based on an Alaskan reindeer herder's journal. He also authored numerous articles on local history topics and was a prolific contributor of book reviews to professional journals in the field of history of the American West. A beloved teacher who once estimated that he had taught more than 20,000 students during his career, Dr. Murray retired from the faculty of Western Washington University in 1977 as Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History. The Goltz-Murray Archives & Records Center commemorates his long years of exemplary service to the University. Dr. Murray died on March 9, 2000, in Bellingham, Wash., at the age of 89.