Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Angus and Catherine McDonald Papers, 1858-1899
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- McDonald, Angus, 1816-1889; McDonald, Catherine, 1815-1902
- Title
- Angus and Catherine McDonald Papers
- Dates
- 1858-1899 (inclusive)18581899
- Quantity
- 1 volume
- Collection Number
- Mss 344
- Summary
- Angus McDonald was an early Montana settler; his wife, Catherine, was a Nez Percé. The collection consists of a volume of stories and poems that Catherine told her children that were written down by Angus, and some later notes attributed to Winona Adams.
- Repository
-
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Angus McDonald was born in Scotland in 1816, and came to Fort Colville in what is now the state of Washington in the fall of 1839 as a trader for the Hudson's Bay Company. He went to Fort Hall in what is now Idaho in 1840. In 1842, he married a Nez Percé woman, Catherine, at Fort Hall; their marriage was solemnized by a Jesuit missionary in 1854. They had twelve children between 1845 and 1871: Duncan, John Christina, Donald, Anne, Margaret, Thomas, Alexander, Archibald, Joseph, Angus Colville, and Mary. Angus also had another son, Angus Pierre, by another Native American woman. Angus McDonald was sent to Fort Connah on the Flathead Reservation in 1847 and set up his own family home nearby at Post Creek. In 1871, McDonald retired from Hudson's Bay, which was closing down its U.S. operations, and settled back on the family home at Post Creek. He had a lifelong interest and education in English literature, particularly Shakespeare. He died in 1889.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This collection consists of a volume of stories told by Catherine to her children and written down by Angus. According to James Hunter in Scottish Highlanders, Indian Peoples, it was custom among her people to tell stories that featured events in which she had been involved. Angus apparently carried around a ledger to record these stories, which he embellished with his own literary style. However, the story content is regarded as Catherine's own. The book contains both stories and poems; some are incomplete, and there are pages missing from the book. The book also contains marks and penmanship exercises in a child's hand. In addition, there is a sheath of partial typescript transcripts in the back. Handwriting and circumstance suggest that these are the papers of Winona Adams, a librarian at Montana State University (now The University of Montana) who published an edited version of one of the stories in the Frontier and Midland in 1930.
The collection also includes a full transcription of the original materials that was given to the Archives by Steve Anderson in 2007.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.
Preferred Citation
[Name of document or photograph number], Angus and Catherine McDonald Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Original materials received from an unknown source in 1974. Full transcription was created and donated by Steve Anderson in 2007.
Related Materials
The Montana Historical Society holds a small collection of Angus McDonald's letters, poems, and his reminiscence that details his travels and experiences in Canada and the Northwest beginning in the 1840s as told to his son, Duncan.
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Indians of North America--Folklore
- Nez Percé Indians--Folklore
- Nez Percé women
- Penmanship
Personal Names
- McDonald, Angus, 1816-1889--Family
Family Names
- McDonald family
Form or Genre Terms
- Poems
- Stories
Occupations
- Women storytellers--Montana
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Adams, Winona (creator)
- McDonald, Catherine, 1815-1902 (creator)
Finding aid prepared by Jodi
Allison-Bunnell
1999
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
