James M. Aton papers, 1829-2006

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Aton, James M., 1949-
Title
James M. Aton papers
Dates
1829-2006 (inclusive)
Quantity
10.25 linear feet, (20 boxes)
Collection Number
ACCN 2689
Summary
The James M. Aton papers (1829-2006) consist of articles, maps, newspapers, and book excerpts dealing with the natural history, archaeology, ecology, and early settlement of Southern Utah. The papers also include manuscript drafts, correspondence, and photograph use information pertaining to the writing of River Flowing from the Sunrise: An Environmental History of the Lower San Juan by James Aton and Robert McPherson.
Repository
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860

Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu
Access Restrictions

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

James M. Aton has a Ph.D. in English from Ohio University and teaches writing, American Studies, Continental European Literature, Mythology, and Writing at Southern Utah University. Aton has been published in the Utah Historical Quarterly, Western American Literature, and South Dakota Review. He has twice been the recipient of a Visiting Fulbright Scholarship for American Studies. His books include River Flowing from the Sunrise: An Environmental History of the Lower San Juan; The River Knows Everything: Desolation Canyon and the Green; and John Wesley Powell: His Life and Legacy.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The James M. Aton papers consist of articles, maps, newspapers, book excerpts, correspondence, photograph use information, and manuscript drafts.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Preferred Citation

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Gift of James M. Aton in 2012.

Processing Note

Processed by Maggie Anderson in 2012 and 2013.

Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.

Separated Materials

Photographs and audio-visual materials were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

Related Materials

Forms part of the River Running Archives (S.J. Quinney Outdoor Recreation Archives).

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

I:  Archaeological and historical papersReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
Journal materials of Antonio Armijo
 1829-1830
1 2
References to the Ute Indians from the New York Times index
 1851-1900
1 3
Letter from Major Henry Kendrick
 1953
1 4
Huntington article
 1854
1 5
Ethan Pettit diary
 1855
1 6
Alfred N. Billings journal
 1855
1 7
Macomb, Report of the Exploring Expedition
1859
1 8
Alice Eastwood materials
 1859-1987
1 9
Sketches for the U.S. Geological Survey by William Holmes
 1987-1996
1 10
Hayden Geologic Survey report
 1875
1 11
C. L. Christensen
 1875-1935
1 12
Francis F. Kane diary
 1891
1 13
Cass Hite
 1893
1 14
King, "An Exploration of the Region Occupied by the Cliff Dweller"
 1893
1 15
Cummings' manuscripts
 1900-1953
1 16
Indian Rights Association Against Indian Removal
 1890
1 17
The Illustrated American
1892-1897
1 18
The Salt Lake Tribune
1893
1 19
Correspondence of Caleb West
 1894
1 20
Prudden, "Prehistoric Ruins of the San Juan Watershed"
 1903
1 21
Diary of H. C. Culmer
 1905
1 22
Edgar L. Hewell field notes`
 1906-1909
2 1
Indian Affairs of San Juan City
 1907
2 2
Prudden, On the Great American Plateau
1907
2 3
Hunter, Report Concerning Expedition Sent into the Black Mountain Country in Connection with Indian Matters
1908
2 4
Cummings expedition map
 1909
2 5
Cummings field notes
 1909
2 6
Charles Goodman photography
 1910
2 7
Elk Mountain Mission
 1913-1964
2 8
Bernheimer field notes
 1919-1930
2 9
Hugh Miser fieldwork
 1921
2 10
Correspondence of Hugh Miser and Heber Christensen
 1921-1925
2 11
Neil Merton Judd materials
 1922-1991
2 12
Todd, "Indian Troubles--A Pioneer Experience"
 1925
2 13
Jackson, "The Pioneer Photographer"
 1929
2 14
Indians and the Slave Trade
 1929-1933
2 15
Bernheimer, "Cave Treasures of the Lukaichukais"
 1931
2 16
Denis Julien articles
 1933-1969
2 17
Lowrey, Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition
1933
2 18
Kluckholn, Beyond the Rainbow
1933
2 19
General Paiute information
 1933-1986
3 1
Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley expedition
 1933-1987
3 2
Espinosa, "The Legend of Sierra Azul"
 1934
3 3
Otis Marston correspondence
 1936-1964
3 4
Jackson, "A Visit to the Los Pinos Indian Agency in 1874"
 1938
3 5
Charles Bernheimer
 1940
3 6
Articles on John Wetherill
 1940-1985
3 7
River trip articles
 1943-1996
3 8
Pyle, Home Country and Ernie Pyle's Southwest
1947-1955
3 9
Biographies of Herbert E. Gregory
 1952-1953
3 10
"Chief Hoskanini"
 1953
3 11
Mulder, Among the Mormons: Historic Accounts by Contemporary Observers
1958
3 12
Schiel, Journey Through the Rocky Mountains
1959
3 13
"San Jose Sites in Southeastern Utah"
 1959
3 14
General Anasazi information
 1959-1983
3 15
Articles on James O. Pattie by A. L. Kroeber
 1962-1964
3 16
Brugge, "Vizcarra's Navajo Campaign of 1823"
 1964
3 17
Hafen, "The Mountian Trade of the Far West"
 1965
3 18
Parkhill, The Blazed Trail of Antoine LeRoux
1965
3 19
Quaternary extinctions
 1966-1985
3 20
Brugge, Navajos in the Catholic Church Records of New Mexico, 1694-1875
1968
3 21
"The Prehistoric Community on the Colorado Plateau"
 1968
3 22
Judd, "Men Met Along the Trail"
 1968
4 1
The Archaic
 1968-1980
4 2
Bulger, "First Man Through the Grand Canyon"
 1970
4 3
"Climatic Change and Early Population Dynamics in the Southwestern Unites States"
 1970
4 4
"Testimony of the Sacredness of Rainbow Natural Bridge to Puebloans, Navajos, and Paiutes"
 1973
4 5
Butler Wash Archaeological Project
 1976
4 6
Arroyos
 1976-1983
4 7
Cutter, "Prelude to a Pageant in the Wilderness"
 1977
4 8
"A Cultural Resource Summary of the East Central Portion of the Moab District"
 1980
4 9
"Basketmaker Settlement and Subsistence Along the San Juan River"
 1982
4 10
A Summary of Prehistory of Southeastern Utah
1982
4 11
The Archaic
 1983
5 1
General Anasazi information
 1983-1988
5 2
"Great Pueblo Architecture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico"
 1984
5 3
Final Recapture Wash Archaeological Project
1985
5 4
Folsom site
 1985-1991
5 5
Quaternary extinctions
 1986-1996
5 6
Dolores Archaeological Program
 1987
5 7
"Adaptational Continuities and Occupational Discontinuities: the Cedar Mesa Anasazi"
 1988
5 8
Dolores Archaeological Program, flora and fauna
 1988
5 9
Vale, Western Landscapes: Travel Along U.S. 89
1989
5 10
Aceramic Sites and the Archaic Occupation Along the San Juan River
1990
5 11
Kenneth Ross
5 12
Carnett, "Legal Background of Archaeological Resources Protection"
 1991
5 13
"Consequences of a Mammalian Predator-Prey Disequilibrium in the Great Basin Desert"
 1991
5 14
James Owl stories and grant applications
 1991
5 15
James Owl correspondence
 1991-1992
5 16
Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America
1992
5 17
"The Mouth of Butler Wash Site on the San Juan River, Utah"
 1993
5 18
"The Chimney Rock Archaeological Symposium"
 1993
5 19
"Social Complexity and Hunting Systems in Southwestern Colorado"
 1993
6 1
Pinon-Juniper history
 1993-1996
6 2
Disease and Indian populations
 1995
6 3
"The Bluff Water Project"
 1995
6 4
Ellen Melloy materials
 1995-1996
6 5
Law, "The San Juan River: Forward, Into the Past"
 1996
6 6
"Hunting According to Navajo Tradition"
 1996
6 7
Navajo relocation
 1996
6 8
News stories about Tony Hillerman
 1998
6 9
Abajo archaeology
6 10
Information on packrat middens
6 11
Thales H. Haskell journal
6 12
"An Old-Time Indian Attack Conducted in Two Parts"
6 13
Western Navajo Agency
6 14
Daniels, "Adventures with the Anasazi of Falls Creek"
6 15
Kidder, "Exploration in Southeastern Utah in 1908"
6 16
Jackson, "A Notice of the Ancient Ruins in Arizona and Utah Lying About the Rio San Juan"
6 17
Hugh Miser biography
6 18
Hugh Miser correspondence
6 19
Lister, Earl Morris and Southwester Archaeology
6 20
Nevills expeditions correspondence and publicity
6 21
Rogers, "True Narrative of an Indian Fight"
6 22
T. Mitchell Prudder materials
6 23
Prudder, "A Further Study of Prehistoric Small House Ruins in the San Juan Watershed"
7 1
Articles on Spaniards and the Environment
7 2
Tobin, "Archaeology in the San Juan"
7 3
Cummings, "The Controversy of 1915"
7 4
Wetherill, Reflections on Life with the Navajos in Chacho Canyon
7 5
Wild Rivers Adventures materials
7 6
John Franklin Wright materials

II:  Natural History of Southern UtahReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
8 1
La Sal news stories
 1877-1878
8 2
Congressional report
 1879
8 3
Report of the Commission on Removal
 1889
8 4
"The San Juan River Placers"
 1893
8 5
Irrigation investigations in Utah
 1903
8 6
Experimental dry farm
 1904
8 7
Geology of San Juan
 1905-1991
8 8
News stories on E. L. Goodridge and oil
 1911
8 9
Pierce, "The Measurement of Silt-Laden Streams"
 1916
8 10
News for Hoover and Public lands
 1929
8 11
Forsling, Erosion on Uncultivated Lands in the Intermountain Region
1932
8 12
J. W. Humphrey grazing materials
 1938-1953
8 13
San Juan Record stories concerning Norman Nevills
 1938-1977
8 14
La Sal National Forest historical information
 1940
8 15
Highlights of Grazing History of the Intermountain Region of the Forest Service
1940
8 16
Salt Lake Tribune Empire Edition
 1951
8 17
Colorado River Storage Project hearings
 1954-1955
8 18
Woodbury, "Survey of Vegetation in the Glen Canyon Reservoir Basin"
 1959
8 19
United States v. Utah -the San Juan River Bed Case
 1960
8 20
Glen Canyon surveys
 1963-1965
8 21
Guyman, Ecological History and Biological Resources of San Juan County, Utah
1964
9 1
Woodbury, "Notes on the Human Ecology of Glen Canyon"
 1965
9 2
Information on Lake Powell
 1965-1969
9 3
Literature on Southern Utes
 1965-1972
9 4
Articles on floods
 1966-1978
9 5
Rock art
 1967-1985
9 6
Balsley, "Uranium"
 1970
9 7
Utah State Historical Society Oral History Program, interview with Nadine Adams
 1972
9 8
Physiologic provinces map
 1972
9 9
Utah State Historical Society Southeastern Utah Oral History Project, Kent Frost interview
 1973
9 10
Lake Powell research bulletins
 1973-1975
9 11
Keller-Bliesner water information
 1975-1997
9 12
Articles on sediment and erosion
 1976-1991
9 13
"Settlement and Subsistence Along the Lower Chaco River: The CGP Survey"
 1977
9 14
San Juan Basin Uranium Study
1978
9 15
Rabbitt, A Brief History of the U.S. Geological Survey
1979
9 16
Bureau of Land Management Study of San Juan
 1979
9 17
Turner, Recent Vegetation Changes Along the Colorado River Between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead, Arizona
1980
9 18
San Juan River Recreation Component Study
1980
10 1
Wright, Firs Ecology: United States and Southern Canada
1982
10 2
Navajo Indian Irrigation Project
 1983-1999
10 3
Doyle, Recreational Water Quality Assessment of the San Juan River
1985
10 4
Peterson, Water Rights on the Little Colorado River
1986
10 5
Pisani, "Deep and Troubled Waters: A New Field of Western History?"
 1988
10 6
A Study of Campsite Impacts on the San Juan River, Utah
1989
10 7
"Kayenta Anasazi Archeology and Navajo Ethnohistory on the Northwester Shonot Plateau"
 1989
10 8
San Juan Marina Development Concept Plan and Environmental Assessment
1990
10 9
Godfrey, "The Trouble with Livestock Grazing on Public Lands"
 1991
10 10
"Resource Management Plan, Record of Decision, and Rangeland Program Summary for the San Juan Resource Area"
 1991
10 11
Winter Peregrine Falcon Survey of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area
 1991-1992
10 12
Articles on endangered plants
 1991-1993
10 13
Articles on Aneth Wells
 1991-1996
10 14
San Juan Fall news
 1991-2004
10 15
Gomez-Pompa, "Taming the Wilderness Myth"
 1992
10 16
Earthquakes Near Cedar City, Utah
1992
10 17
What's Old and What's New About the Wise Use Movement
1993
11 1
Grand Gulch Plateau Cultural and Recreation Area Management Plan
 1993
11 2
"The River, the Ditch, and the Volcano: Bluff, 1879-1884"
 1993
11 3
Animas-La Plata news
 1993-1997
11 4
Bluff preservation efforts
 1994-1997
11 5
Navajo Natural Heritage Program
 1995
11 6
Power, "The Economics of Wilderness Preservation in Utah"
 1995
11 7
Notes on San Juan legislation
 1995
11 8
Wilderness surveys
 1995-2000
11 9
Condors
 1996
11 10
Articles concerning the Rainbow Bridge controversy
 1997-1998
11 11
Glen Canyon Institute
 1997-1998
11 12
Rio Grande operations
 1998
11 13
Arizona dams
11 14
"Preliminary Report of 1990-1991 Excavations at Hanson Pueblo"
11 15
Wollin, "Navajo Site Types and Settlement Patterns Along the Middle San Juan River"
11 16
Clark, Water in New Mexico: A History of its Management and Use
11 17
Cliff, "State of the Forest Service"
11 18
Frost, "Recent Trip to Rainbow Bridge via San Juan and Colorado Rivers"
11 19
Glen Canyon Environmental Studies bibliography
11 20
Articles on endangered plant species
11 21
Richardson, "The Escalante National Monument Controversy"
11 22
Articles on bighorn sheep
12 1
Science Applications, An Investigation of Vegetation and Wildlife of the San juan River, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah
12 2
San Juan River ecology
12 3
News stories on Utah and Boulder Dams
12 4
Friends of the Virgin River
12 5
Newspaper articles on water development
12 6
Southwest Utah National Park Service Report
12 7
Elmer Grant Woodruff biography
12 8
Woodbury, "Preliminary Report on Biological Resources of the Glen Canyon"
12 9
Goosenecks State Park information
12 10
Palmer, The Wild and Scenic Rivers of America
12 11
Hundley, The Great Thirst
12 12
Hansen, "The Endangered Species Act and Extinction of Reserved Indian Water Rights on the San Juan River"
12 13
Map of Mexican Hat Dam
12 14
National Archives materials
12 15
Hays, Conservation and the Gospel of Efficiency
12 16
Goodridge Town site
12 17
Glen Canyon research permit application
12 18
Woodbury, "Birds of the Navajo Country"
12 19
Walker, "Archaeological Excavations at River House Ruin"
12 20
San Juan Utes, essay and draft
12 21
Articles on split-twig figurines
12 22
Wilcox, "The Protohistoric Period in the North American Southwest"
12 23
McCool, "Politics, Water, and Utah"
12 24
Spaulding, "Paleological Investigations at the Coombs Site"
12 25
Accounts of Barton murder
12 26
Howard Balsley interview
13 1
Abruzzi, "Ecological Stability and Community Diversity during Mormon Colonization of the Little Colorado River Basin"
13 2
Birton Howard information and manuscripts
13 3
Day, "Cattle Come to San Juan"
13 4
Articles on volcanoes and general climate information
13 5
Articles on the San Juan climate
13 6
Cottam, "Some Ecological Aspects of Grass on Western Ranges"
13 7
General Bluff City articles
13 8
Alder, Metavariability: Sediment Transport Changes Affecting San Juan River Fish Habitat, New Mexico and Utah
13 9
Diaz, El Nino: Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of the Southern Oscillation
13 10
Comb Wash Grazing Allotment
13 11
Kleiner, "Environment and Community Organization in Grasslands of Canyonlands National Park"
13 12
Articles on grasses
13 13
Articles on weeds
13 14
Overstocking materials
13 15
Quammen, Planet of Weeds: Tallying the Losses of Earth's Animals and Plants
13 16
Footnotes of Gary Topping
13 17
Starrs, "Dilemmas of a new age: A half-millennium of landscape change in New Mexico and the Southwest"

III:  Mormons in San Juan CountyReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
14 1
Articles by Frank Silvey
 1855-1940
14 2
Journal of Eliza Smith Lyman
 1878-1885
14 3
Diary of Platte D. Lyman
 1879-1894
14 4
Mitchell affair
 1884
14 5
Frances A. Hammond diary
 1886-1888
14 6
Barton, "Utah Humanities Review"
 1880
14 7
Lyman, "A Relic of Gadianton: Old Posey as I Knew Him"
 1923
14 8
Jones, "The San Juan Mission to the Indians"
 1942
14 9
Brooks, "Indian Relations on the Mormon Frontier"
 1944
14 10
Lavender, One Man's West
1945
14 11
Jenson, History of the San Juan Stake
1946
14 12
Lyman, "The Fort on the Firing Line"
 1948
14 13
Fife, Saints of Sage and Saddle: Folklore Among the Mormons
1956
14 14
Utah Historical Quarterly, Summer 1964
14 15
Lyman, History of San Juan County: 1879-1917
1965
14 16
Lynn Lyman interview
 1967
14 17
Rogers, "Piute Posey and the Last Indian Uprising"
14 18
Lyman, The Trail of the Ancients
1972
15 1
Albert R. Lyman interviews
 1973-1988
15 2
McCabe, Cowboys, Indians, and Homesteaders
1975
15 3
Hugh Nibley articles on the environment
 1978-1989
15 4
Powell, Emery County: Reflections on its Past and Future
1979
15 5
Lectures by Charles S. Peterson
 1984-1988
15 6
The New Republic
1990
15 7
Bluff City newspapers
 1990-1996
15 8
Brigham Young University's Lyman Collection register
 1991
15 9
Valle, "Around the Hat"
 1991
15 10
Grove, "Origins of Western Environmentalism"
 1992
15 11
Alexander, The LDS Church and the Wasatch Oasis Environment: Stewardship, Reverence, and Exploitation
1992
15 12
Blue Mountain Shadows
 1992-1993
15 13
Evaluation and notes on Rocks and Holes; Hills and hollows
2004
15 14
Article on post offices
15 15
"Pages and items from the autobiography of Samuel Rowley"
15 16
Charles Redd correspondence on the purchase of Indian Creek
15 17
Lyman, "Josephine Wood"
15 18
Jones, The Writings of Kumen Jones
15 19
"The U.S. Geological Survey's Library System"
15 20
Articles on Mormon environmental history
15 21
Bluff City layout and houses as noted by A. R. Lyman
15 22
James Douglas articles
15 23
Silvey, History and Settlement of Northern San Juan County
15 24
Reese Richards and Peter Shirts chronology
15 25
Information on John Taylor
15 26
Journal of John Standifird

IV:  Chapter draftsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
16 1
Imagination chapter
16 2
Federal chapter
16 3
Exploration chapter
16 4
Folson, Archaic Anasazi chapter
16 5
San Juan manuscripts corrected by copy editor
 2000

V:  Personal correspondenceReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
17 1
Correspondence
 1988-1992
17 2
Correspondence
 1993-1994
17 3
Correspondence
 1995
17 4
Correspondence
 1996
17 5
Correspondence
 1997-2006

VI:  Photographs and photograph use informationReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
18 1
Pictures of Charles Goodman and Zeke Johnson
 1904
18 2
Aerial images of San Juan
 1937-1992
18 3
Articles on photography
 1947-1992
18 4
General photgraphy information
 1992-1996
18 5
Adams photgraphy
 1996
18 6
O. C. Hansen photograph use documents
 1999
18 7
Photograph permission forms
 2000
18 8
Photograph forms
 2000
18 9
General scanned photographs
18 10
Robert McPherson's photograph captions
18 11
Xeroxes of Charles Goodman photographs
18 12
Streambed changes in bluff
18 13
General scanned photographs
18 14
Hindley photographs and notes
18 15
Photographs from the United States Geological Survey

VII:  General book materialsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
19 1
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens
 1990-1994
19 2
San Juan news publications
Includes High Country News, Sage from the Cedars, and Canyon Echo
1992-1996
19 3
Chronology of the San Juan River Canyons
1994-1995
19 4
Readers' comments
 1999
19 5
Colorado River sources
 1999
19 6
Book contract
 2000
19 7
Chronology for Green River through Desolation Canyon
19 8
Map covers and bibliography
19 9
San Juan River story
19 10
Bibliography notecards
19 11
Bibliography notecards
20
San Juan River notecards

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Archaeology--Utah, Southern
  • Ecology--Utah, Southern
  • Natural history--Utah, Southern

Personal Names

  • Aton, James M., 1949---Archives

Geographical Names

  • San Juan River Valley (Colo.-Utah)--Environmental Conditions

Form or Genre Terms

  • Articles
  • Correspondence
  • Drafts (documents)
  • Maps
  • Newspapers

Finding aid created by Maggie Anderson.
2013 (last modified: 2020)

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