Archives West Finding Aid
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Leo A. Rhein, Jr. and Claire Rhein Collection, 1860-circa 1990
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Rhein, Leo A. Jr., 1919-2017; Rhein, Claire, 1922-2001
- Title
- Leo A. Rhein, Jr. and Claire Rhein Collection
- Dates
- 1860-circa 199018601990
- Quantity
- 0.5 linear feet
- Collection Number
- Mss 480 (collection)
- Summary
- Leo and Claire Rhein were residents of Stevensville, Montana, and retired from the U. S. military. The collection contains a ration book from World War II and military photographs, especially from the U.S. Signal Corps, 1864 to 1959. It also contains Claire Rhein's research files on Fort Owen and Major John Owen.
- 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 encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Leo A. Rhein, Jr. was born in Helena, Montana, on July 29, 1919. He spent all but three of his early years in Wolf Creek, Montana, and attended high school in Big Fork and Helena, Montana. He graduated from Helena in 1938. He continued his education at the University of Wisconsin from 1945 to 1947 and at the University of Montana from 1947 to 1950, graduating with a B.S. in Forestry.
In 1935, Rhein enlisted in the Montana National Guard, and he was called to active duty with the 41st Infantry Division in 1940. From 1942 to 1945, he served in the Pacific Theatre during which he attended the Officer Candidates School. He graduated with the rank of 2nd lieutenant in 1943. He was separated from active duty in 1945, but was later recalled to active duty in 1951. During his military career, Rhein was stationed at posts around the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. He retired from the U.S. Army with the rank LTC with the Corps of Engineers in 1968. Upon Rhein's retirement from the military, he worked for the Bureau of Land Management between 1968 and 1978. After his retirement from the BLM, he traveled around the United States and Canada.
Rhein was married to his wife, Claire, for 54 years. She was born in Dagsboro, DE., on Aug. 19, 1922, the daughter of Nelson and Viola Kassay. Claire served in the U.S. Navy during World War II in Washington, D.C., as yeoman first-class in Adm. Hyman G. Rickover's office, until honorably discharged in 1945. Claire then attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she met and married Leo. She moved to his home state of Montana, where she attended the University of Montana in 1947. She was an Army wife from 1951 to 1968, living in Europe and the Caribbean, as well as numerous Army posts across the United States. They returned to Montana in 1967.
For years she was an active member of the Stevensville Historical Society and one of the authors of "Montana Genesis," published in 1971. She had a fascination for local and state history, as well as a great affection for and involvement in Fort Owen, located in Stevensville. In September of 1986, she was presented with the Montana Historical Society Trustees' Award for Contributions to Montana History. Beginning in 1974, the Rheins donated over 20 years of volunteer service to the K. Ross Toole Archives. Claire was the founder of the oral history program at the Mansfield Library and was active with the Stevensville Historical Society and the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.
The Rheins had nine children. Claire Rhein died on February 14, 2001, and Leo Rhein died on January 6, 2017.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The collection contains a ration book from World War II and military photographs, especially from the U.S. Signal Corps, 1864 to 1959. There are photographs of Apache Indians from around the 1880s, executions in Saudi Arabia, ca. 1960, and the University of Montana, ca. 1990. It also contains Claire Rhein's research files on Fort Owen and Major John Owen.
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], Leo A. Rhein, Jr. and Claire Rhein Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The collection is divided into three series:
Series I: Documents, 1 folder, circa 1945
Series II: Photographs, 0.5 linear feet, 1864-circa 1990
Series III: Research Files, 1 folder, 1860-1982
Custodial History
All materials were collected by Leo and Claire Rhein from numerous undocumented sources and remained with the Rhein family until donation.
Acquisition Information
Gifts of Leo Rhein, Jr., 1980 and another unknown date, and Diana Rhein, 2001.
Processing Note
The actions of the original processors are unknown. In 2002, the collection was reprocessed. A previously processed small collection, SC 360, was combined with unprocessed photographs to create the present manuscript collection. At some point, a VHS tape of Claire Rhein's memorial service was removed from this collection and added to the Friends of the Maureen and Mike Library records (Mss 813). In 2019, Claire Rhein's research files on Fort Owen were added to the collection.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series I: Documents, circa 1945Return to Top
The series contains a War Ration Book that belonged to Leo Rhein, Jr. while he was at the County Hospital in Helena, Montana.
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | Leo A. Rhein, Jr., War Ration Book |
circa 1945 |
Series II: Photographs , 1864-circa 1990Return to Top
The series contains photographs collected by the Rheins, many of which are official U.S. Army photographs. The U.S. Signal Corps is significantly represented in the series, including photographs of officers, signal towers, balloons, and other military equipment. There are a number of photographs from the 41st Infantry in Fort Lewis, Washington, circa 1940-1941, including images of military equipment testing, soldiers training, and an aerial view of the compound. The collection also contains military photographs from Europe and the Philippines during WWI, WWII, and the Korean Conflict, 1951. A smaller part of the series contains photographs of executions in Saudi Arabia, circa 1960, Apache Indians, circa 1880s, and the University of Montana campus, circa 1990s.
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1 | 480(II)1: Native Americans on horseback at watering hole (painting) |
undated |
1/2 | 480(II)2: Man being thrown from horse,
stampede in background (painting) |
undated |
1/3 | 480(II)3: Apache Indian Scouts, with two
prisoners who were hanged at Globe, AZ |
undated |
1/4 | 480(II)4: Chatto, Mescalero Apache, Cochise
tribe |
1886 |
1/5 | 480(II)5: Geronomino, chief of the Arizona
Apaches |
undated |
1/6 | 480(II)6: Apache woman whose nose has been
cut off, "this is the Apache penalty" |
undated |
1/7 | 480(II)7: Sanchez, who probably fired the
first shot against troops at Cibicu |
undated |
1/8 | 480(II)8: "Tzoe," a valuable Indian scout
with Gen. Crook's command in the eighteen-eighties |
undated |
1/9 | 480(II)9: Kay-ten-ae, leader of the Warm
Springs and Chiricahua Apaches |
1886 |
1/10 | 480(II)10: Mangas, son of the great Mangas
Colorados |
undated |
1/11 | 480(II)11: Brigadier General Albert J.
Meyer, Chief Signal Officer |
undated |
1/12 | 480(II)12: Former Chief Signal Officers,
U.S. Army, portraits |
ca. 1860-1959 |
1/13 | 480(II)13: Major General R.T. Nelson, Chief
Signal Officer |
January 27, 1959 |
1/14 | 480(II)14: Taking meterological observations
at Ft. Monmouth, NJ |
undated |
1/15 | 480(II)15: Signal Corps Officers at camp
|
undated |
1/16 | 480(II)16: Elk Military Signal Station
|
undated |
1/17 | 480(II)17: Signal Tower, Jacksonville, FL,
Civil War |
December 12, 1864 |
1/18 | 480(II)18: Observation Balloon, Signal
Corps, U.S. Army |
undated |
1/19 | 480(II)19: U.S. Signal Station and Weather
Bureau on Pike's Peak |
undated |
1/20 | 480(II)20: Captain William Mitchell in
Alaska |
undated |
1/21 | 480(II)21: U.S. Signal Station, Point
Barrow, AL |
ca. 1881-1883 |
1/22 | 480(II)22: Signaling for reserves to advance
after retreat of the Spanish, Manila, Ft. Malate |
August 13, 1886 |
1/23 | 480(II)23: Signal Corps Battery wagons
|
1898 |
1/24 | 480(II)24: Cable work on the Malecon Drive,
Manila, P.I. |
1902 |
1/25 | 480(II)25: U.S. Army Dirigible #1, Ft.
Meyer, VA |
1908 |
1/26 | 480(II)26: Signal Corps balloon ascension at
Gas House Field, SE, Washington, D.C. |
April 17, 1908 |
1/74 | 480(II)74: Wolf Creek, 6 photos of Rhein family |
1913-1916 |
1/27 | 480(II)27: Installing telephones in Prince
Murat's mansion, Paris, France, President Wilson's "White House" overseas
|
December 12, 1918 |
1/28 | 480(II)28: Soldier using switchboard,
Argonne Woods |
October 2, 1918 |
1/29 | 480(II)29: Signal Corps wiring detail tying
in pole line, Tartigny, France |
June 10, 1918 |
1/30 | 480(II)30: Putting messages on pigeons,
Headquarters, 42nd Division, St. Pol, France |
May 13, 1918 |
1/31 | 480(II)31: Paphan panel system of visual
aeroplane signaling in use by soldiers, Benuval, France |
July 30, 1918 |
1/32 | 480(II)32: Private E.B. Schoedaack with
camouflaged camera, photographing among ruins, Mareuilen, Dole, France
|
August 25, 1918 |
1/33 | 480(II)33: Sergeant using a Lucas Lamp,
Pretz on Argonne, France |
October 22, 1918 |
1/34 | 480(II)34: "Captured German war pigeons,"
victory parade, New York, NY |
May 1919 |
1/75 | 480(II)75: Wolf Creek, 1 photo and one newsclipping |
1922-1953 |
1/35 | 480(II)35: Element of 41st Infantry
Division, Ft. Lewis, WA |
1941 |
1/36 | 480(II)36: 41st Infantry Division, "Passing
in Review," Ft. Lewis, WA |
1941 |
1/37 | 480(II)37: 41st Infantry Division, "10,000 Men," Ft. Lewis, WA |
1941 |
1/38 | 480(II)38: 41st Infantry Division, Washington |
1941 |
1/39 | 480(II)39: Machine gunner, Air Corps, U.S. Army |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/40 | 480(II)40: "Night Firing" |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/41 | 480(II)41: Soldiers and 81 mm mortars |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/42 | 480(II)42: Soldiers and 75's Barrage, Ft. Lewis, WA |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/43 | 480(II)43: "Anti-tank in action" |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/44 | 480(II)44: Canon-firing at Ft. Lewis, WA, "Big Boys' Talk" |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/45 | 480(II)45: Soldiers with guns in foxholes |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/46 | 480(II)46: "Garand's on the Range" |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/47 | 480(II)47: Soldier in jeep |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/48 | 480(II)48: Soldier on rocky hill with binoculars |
ca. 1940-1941 |
1/49 | 480(II)49: "Tanks on the Jump," Ft. Lewis, WA |
1941 |
1/50 | 480(II)50: Melinta Tunnel, Signal Corps Message Center, Manila, P.I. |
April 24, 1942 |
1/51 | 480(II)51: Private Roy W. Humphrey being
given blood plasma by Private First Class Harvey White after shrapnel wound, Sicily, Italy |
August 9, 1943 |
1/52 | 480(II)52: Corporal Arthur Marino working in snow, tracing broken field wire for splicing, European theatre of operations
|
December 25, 1944 |
1/53 | 480(II)53: 7th Fleet Headquarters, Leyte, P.I. |
March 15, 1945 |
1/54 | 480(II)54: Caisson bearing Franklin D. Roosevelt's body |
April 14, 1945 |
1/55 | 480(II)55: Artist conception, radar to the moon |
January 1946 |
1/56 | 480(II)56: Camp Murray Area, Fort Lewis, WA (aerial) |
February 21, 1946 |
1/76 | 480(II)76: Buffalo called Big Medicine |
1947 |
1/57 | 480(II)57: Elements of Company A and K, 35th Infantry Regiment, Korean Conflict |
February 1, 1951 |
1/58 | 480(II)58: Corporal Elmer Soprano leans over
a cliff to fasten a jump as group rehabilitates lines from Tanyang to Chechon, Korean Conflict |
January 31, 1951 |
1/59 | 480(II)59: Remote control for drone, Woodbridge, VA |
1956 |
1/60 | 480(II)60: Soldiers and new tactical television camera |
1956 |
1/61 | 480(II)61: All weather radar equipment, Ft. Huachuca, AZ |
1956 |
1/62 | 480(II)62: First American radar, page from patent restrictions |
1957 |
1/63 | 480(II)63: U.S. Patent for radar |
1957 |
1/64 | 480(II)64: Army pictorial service photographer, Nettuno, Italy |
Feb. 12, 1944 |
1/65 | 480(II)65: Colonel Lukas Hoska, 35th AA Brigade, Missile Master installation, Ft. Meade, MD |
1957 |
1/66 | 480(II)66: Electronic beam radar inside plastic balloon |
October 1958 |
1/67 | 480(II)67: AN/TSC-16 radio system with operators pictured |
April 15, 1959 |
1/68 | 480(II)68: First successful flight of Drone SD-2, Yuma, AZ |
April 1959 |
1/69 | 480(II)69: Severed hand suspended by a rope, Saudi Arabia |
ca. 1960 |
1/70 | 480(II)70: Severed hand suspended from a rope, Saudi Arabia |
ca. 1960 |
1/71 | 480(II)71: Severed hand suspended from a rope, Saudi Arabia |
ca. 1960 |
1/72 | 480(II)72: Man being led to execution, Saudi Arabia |
ca. 1960 |
1/73 | 480(II)73: Decapitated man after execution, Saudi Arabia |
ca. 1960 |
1/77 | 480(II)77: St. Mary's barbecue, Mary Ann Combs and son Abel |
ca. 1975 |
1/78 | 480(II)78: Event on the University of Montana Oval |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)79: Event on the University of Montana Oval |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)80: Event on the University of Montana Oval |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)81: Event on the University of Montana Oval |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)82: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)83: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)84: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)85: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)86: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)87: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)88: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
1/78 | 480(II)89: Panoramic view of University of Montana campus taken from Mount Sentinel |
ca. 1990 |
Series III: Research Files, 1860-1982Return to Top
The series contains Claire Rhein's research files on Fort Owen and genealogical information on Major John Owen. It includes her correspondence with other Owen family researchers.
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/79 | Fort Owen research files
|
1860-1982 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Apache Indians--Photographs
- Executions and executioners--Saudi Arabia--Photographs
- Montana -- History -- Sources
- Photography, Military
Personal Names
- Owen, John, 1818-1889
- Rhein, Claire K., 1922-2001
Corporate Names
- United States. Army. Signal Corps
- University of Montana--Missoula--Alumni and alumnae
Geographical Names
- Fort Owen (Mont.)
Form or Genre Terms
- Photographs
- Ration books
- Video tapes