Archives West Finding Aid
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Eliza P. Gillette Letter, 1887 October 5
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Gillette, Eliza P., d. 1897
- Title
- Eliza P. Gillette Letter
- Dates
- 1887 October 51887100518871005
- Quantity
- 1 item
- Collection Number
- Collection 2388, MtBC, us (collection)
- Summary
- The Eliza P. Gillette Letter is a twenty-two page document that was neither signed nor completed and likely never sent to its intended recipient. In the letter, Eliza details her tour group's journey through the park, starting at Mammoth Hot Springs and ending at Bozeman on August 19, 1887. Gillette gives a detailed description of the scenery, accommodations, and other parties encountered during her trip.
- Repository
-
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
- Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Eliza P. Gillette (?-1897) was the sister of Warren Caleb Gillette, western Montana rancher and member of the 1870 expedition through Yellowstone National Park. Eliza was born in Orleans Ontario County, New York and came to Montana to join her brother after his arrival in the early 1860s. Neither sibling ever married, and by the mid-1870s they had established a sheep ranch near Craig (Lewis and Clark County) Montana Territory, although they sometimes used the post office at Dearborn as their address. Eliza lived with her brother as his housekeeper until her death. In 1887, she toured Yellowstone National Park with a small party and wrote a letter to her friend "Mrs. White" after her return home.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Eliza P. Gillette letter is a twenty-two page document that was neither signed nor completed and likely never sent to its intended recipient. In the letter, Eliza details her tour group's journey through the park, starting at Mammoth Hot Springs and ending at Bozeman on August 19, 1887. Gillette gives a detailed description of the scenery, accommodations, and other parties encountered during her trip. The party consisted of eighteen people and was probably led by William Wallace Wylie, one of the Park's pioneer camping concessionaires.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Women travelers-Yellowstone National Park-Correspondence
Geographical Names
- Yellowstone National Park
Form or Genre Terms
- Travelers' writings, American-Yellowstone National Park
Kim Allen Scott, 2009
October 2, 2019
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
