Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Charles Kuhlman Research Collection : Battle of the Little Big Horn, 1876-1959
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Kuhlman, Charles, 1872-1959
- Title
- Charles Kuhlman Research Collection : Battle of the Little Big Horn
- Dates
- 1876-1959 (inclusive)18761959
- Quantity
- 1.5 linear feet of shelf space
- Collection Number
- MC 81 (collection)
- Summary
- Charles Kuhlman (1873-1959) was a sugar beet farmer and amateur historian from Billings, Montana. Papers consist of general correspondence (1936-1959) concerning his research into the Battle of the Little Big Horn (1876) and George Armstrong Custer; drafts of his writings; miscellany; and clippings. Many of the letters also reflect his farming business and his interest in foreign policy.
- Repository
-
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov - Access Restrictions
-
Collection open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Charles Kuhlman was born on a farm near Davenport, Iowa, on January 15, 1873. When he was five, his family moved to a farm near Grand Island, Nebraska. Kuhlman attended school in Grand Island when he was free from farm work, about three months of the year. He graduated from high school in 1892. To earn money for college, he taught for a year in a rural school and also raised sugar beets for a local sugar factory. He attended the University of Nebraska on a fellowship, receiving his B.A. in 1897 and his M.A. in 1900. Kuhlman's Leipzig-trained professor in the Department of European History convinced him to go to Europe for further study. In Paris he began research on the Breton Club, a precursor of the Jacobin Club of French Revolutionary fame. His thesis was accepted for a Ph.D. by the university at Zurich, Switzerland. On his return from Europe, Kuhlman accepted a position as instructor for the University of Nebraska history department. Unfortunately, his hearing--which had been poor ever since an attack of measles and mumps--began to deteriorate rapidly and he was forced to give up teaching. In 1903, after leaving the university, Kuhlman married Minnie Wilkinson. They moved to Loveland, Colorado, where Kuhlman engaged in sugar beet farming. Unsuccessful in this venture, they moved to Joliet, Montana, but had no better luck with beets there. He next tried truck farming in Billings, which proved profitable until the late 1920s when the bottom dropped out of the farm market. Kuhlman's mortgaged farm was foreclosed. In 1930, his wife Minnie died. Kuhlman went into a deep mental and physical decline. In August 1935, Kuhlman's children convinced him to accompany them on a visit to the Custer Battlefield. While there, Kuhlman discovered a new interest in life. He was especially fascinated with the burial markers and how poorly their locations fit with accepted accounts of the battle. For the next sixteen years, Kuhlman devoted his European academic training to a close analytical study of the terrain to produce a new interpretation of the Custer defeat. In 1940, he wrote a short book on the battle, General George A. Custer: A Lost Trail and the Gall Saga (popularly known as "Custer and the Gall Saga"). His major work, Legend into History: the Custer Mystery, was published by the Stackpole Company in 1951. It quickly became accepted as the most authoritative treatment to date. During the last years of his life, Kuhlman continued to research the Custer battle, producing several booklets and articles. During the 1940s and 1950s, Charles Kuhlman again devoted himself to truck farming, though never again on the scale of the 1920s. Also for a period in the 1940s, he was head gardener for the agricultural education program of the Billings Polytechnic Institute. His writing and research time was thus dictated by the planting and harvesting seasons. Charles Kuhlman died of cancer September 18, 1959, at the age of 86.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This collection consists primarily of Kuhlman's manuscript drafts and of general correspondence with his publishers and with other historians about his research on Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The letters reflect the painstaking effort which Kuhlman put into his research and into publishing his work. However, the letters also reflect two other aspects of Kuhlman's life: his farming and his interest in politics, especially foreign policy.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
Some of letters on MF 334b
Restrictions on Use
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Preferred Citation
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
Arrangement by series. Correspondence series arranged alphabetically by last name.
Location of Collection
5:3-7Acquisition Information
Acquisition information available upon request
Separated Materials
Maps transferred to Library. See inventory below for more information.
Related Materials
The donor also donated extensive portions of Kuhlman's papers to Brigham Young University. Many of our files interlock with files at Brigham Young. Researchers should be aware therefore that for a complete set of Kuhlman's correspondence with any given researcher both sets of papers must be checked. Click here for more information: Charles Kuhlman collection on the Battle of the Little Big Horn
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
Biographical Material Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 1 | Charles Kuhlman |
1951, 1959 |
General Correspondence Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1 / 2 | Frank L. Anders |
1951 |
1 / 3 | T. M. Anderson |
1954-1958 |
1 / 4 | Armor, the Magazine of Mobile Warfare |
1952 |
1 / 5 | A |
1954 |
1 / 6 | Joseph Balmer |
1952-1957 |
1 / 7 | Charles A. Barrett |
1955-1956 |
1 / 8 | Billings Gazette |
1938-1950 |
1 / 9 | Robert Blumling |
1950-1953 |
1 / 10 | Earl A. Brisinstool |
1936-1954 |
1 / 11 | Robert Bruce |
1949-1950 |
1 / 12 | Miss Bullock |
1952, 1956 |
1 / 13 | Merrill G. Burlingame |
1951 |
1 / 14 | Raymond A. Burnside |
1950-1955 |
1 / 15 | B (correspondents include Bismarck Tribune) |
1936-1959 |
1 / 16 | Grace Stone Coates |
1936-1954 |
1 / 17 | C-E |
1938-1953 |
1 / 18 | R. S. Ellison |
1938-1940 |
1 / 19 | W. A. Falconer |
1939-1940 |
1 / 20 | Charles R. Foley |
1939 |
1 / 21 | Earle R. Forrest |
1940, 1952 |
1 / 22 | F (correspondents include Maurice Frink, Sr.) |
1940-1952 |
1 / 23 | W. A. Graham |
1948-1953, undated |
1 / 24 | G |
1942-1953 |
1 / 25 | J. C. Hixon |
1949-1951 |
1 / 26 | Phil Holman |
1956-1957 |
1 / 27 | James S. Hutchins |
1951-1958 |
1 / 28 | H-J |
1938-1952 |
1 / 29 | Merrill A. Kitchen |
1942-1951 |
1 / 30 | K (correspondents include Emil Kopae) |
1940-1956 |
1 / 31 | James E. LeRossignol |
1941 |
1 / 32-33 | Edward S. Luce |
1939-1955 |
1 / 34 | M. I. McCreight |
1937-1949 |
1 / 35 | Military Service Publishing Company |
1941-1942 |
1 / 36 | Andrew Mills |
1951-1955 |
1 / 37 | M (correspondents include Oscar O. Mueller, Mrs.
Merle Mullican) |
1940-1959 |
1 / 38 | Melvin J. Nichols |
1952 |
1 / 39 | Elwood L. Nye |
1947-1952 |
2 / 1 | George Osten |
undated |
2 / 2 | W. H. Oury |
1936 |
2 / 3 | George W. Paxson |
1952-1954 |
2 / 4 | Jerome Peltier |
1952-1955 |
2 / 5 | P (correspondents include Parmly Billings Memorial
Library, C. M. Pedigo) |
1950-1959 |
2 / 6 | Edith Kuhlman Rachmanow |
1956 |
2 / 7 | Kenneth H. Rea |
1953-1958 |
2 / 8 | Frierson H. Rice |
1940-1950 |
2 / 9 | Harold Rixon |
1951-1955 |
2 / 10 | Mrs. Ralph Rose |
1958 |
2 / 11 | Francis Vinton Ruckman |
1952 |
2 / 12 | Don Russell |
1953-1957 |
2 / 13 | Earl Scudday |
1954-1960 |
2 / 14-18 | The Stackpole Company (includes predecessor, Military
Services Publishing Company) |
1951-1958 |
2 / 19 | R. Steele |
1943, 1951 |
2 / 20 | Marian W. Stover |
1953-1960 |
2 / 21 | S-T (correspondents include John K. Standish, Bill
Talmadge, Mrs. Charles D. Thompson) |
1940-1958 |
2 / 22 | U.S. Government Agencies (include Interior
Department; Library of Congress; U.S. National Archives) |
1938-1948 |
2 / 23 | Robert Utley |
1951-1955 |
2 / 24 | Glendolin Damon Wagner |
1933-1952 |
2 / 25 | W (correspondents include C.C. Warner) |
1942-1953 |
2 / 26 | Unidentified |
1941-1958 |
Financial Records Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
3 / 1 | Royalty Statements |
1952-1959 |
3 / 2 | Miscellaneous |
1940, 1952 |
Maps Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
3 / 3 | List of maps transferred to the Library |
Writings Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
3 / 4 | Legend into History, foreward (draft) |
circa 1951 |
3 / 5 | Legend into History, "Reconnaissance in Force"
(drafts) |
circa 1951 |
3 / 6 | Legend into History, "Captain Benteen's Scout"
(drafts) |
circa 1951 |
3 / 7 | Legend into History, "The Weir Point Episode"
(drafts) |
circa 1951 |
3 / 8 | Legend into History, "The Action on Custer Field"
(drafts) |
circa 1951 |
3 / 9 | "Analysis of General Terry's Letter of Guidance to
Custer" (drafts) |
circa 1957 |
3 / 10 | "Foreward: "An Analytical Study of the Article by
Colonel Robert P. Hughes..." (drafts) |
circa 1957 |
3 / 11 | "A Guide for the Custer Battlefield" (draft); "Custer
Battlefield National Cemetery Montana" (with annotated map) |
undated |
3 / 12 | "Did Custer Disobey Gen. Terry's Instructions?" |
circa 1957 |
3 / 13 | "Did a Man in Private Life Known as Frank Finkel
Escape from the Custer Battle?" (in German) |
circa 1953 |
3 / 14 | "A New View of the 'Last Stand'" |
1957 |
3 / 15-16 | Research notes and fragmentary writings |
circa 1955, undated |
Miscellany Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 1 | Book collectors' catalogs and file cards |
1957, undated |
4 / 2 | Book reviews and promotional material |
1951-1952 |
4 / 3 | "Organization and Strength Table of General Custer's
7th U.S. Cavalry, June 25, 1876" |
undated |
4 / 4 | Rosebud mileage |
1953 |
4 / 5 | Teaching certificate of Minnie Wilkinson |
1894-1896 |
4 / 6 | "The Washita," by Francis M. Gibson |
1907 |
4 / 7 | "The Brand Book" |
1947-1948 |
4 / 8 | Miscellaneous |
Clippings Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
4 / 9 | Books, speeches, etc. on Custer battle |
1939-1957 |
4 / 10 | Crazy Horse |
undated |
4 / 11 | George Armstrong Custer |
1938-1954 |
4 / 12 | Custer Battlefield |
1951-1959 |
4 / 13 | Kuhlman's books and speeches |
1946-1957 |
4 / 14 | Miscellaneous |
1938-1952 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Cheyenne Indians--Wars, 1876
- Cold War
- Dakota Indians--Wars, 1876-1877
- History--Research
- Little Big Horn, Battle of the, 1876
Personal Names
- Kuhlman, Charles, 1872-1959 (creator)