The Library & Archives of the Montana Historical Society will close access to collections on December 15, 2022 until early 2025. While we recognize this is an inconvenience, the closure is necessary so we can secure the collections during the renovation phase. If you have questions please email mhslibrary@mt.gov.
Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Thain White research collection: Native Americans and early Montana history, 1866-1995
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- White, Thain, 1913-1999
- Title
- Thain White research collection: Native Americans and early Montana history
- Dates
- 1866-1995 (inclusive)18661995
- Quantity
- 3.5 linear feet of shelf space
- Collection Number
- MC 326 (collection)
- Summary
- This collection consists of research materials compiled by Thain White, well-known local historian and director of the Flathead Lake Lookout Museum. The materials include White's research notes and photographs, articles and publications compiled and bound by subject, books, and journals. Topics covered in the research materials include various battles in Montana, Native American burials and artifacts, forts, the Nez Perce war, canoes, George Armstrong Custer, Howse House, and various topics of local interest.
- 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 is 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
Thain White was born in Milburn, Illinois on January 26, 1913, the son of Ernie and Hazel White. In early childhood, the family moved to Rollins, Montana, where Ernie White established a sheep farm called the Columbia Sheep Company. While working for his father and later on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and in Glacier Park, Thain developed an interest in the history and archaeology of Montana. He conducted archaeological digs with Carling Malouf, Gordon L. Pouliot, and Duane Hampton, developing precise documentation for the sites. Among the sites he explored were the Big Hole Battlefield, the Bear's Paw Battlefield, various Mullan Road and Lolo Pass sites, and others.
In 1949 Thane and his father established the Flathead Lake Lookout Museum at Lakeside to display artifacts of local interest. The Museum also sponsored Thane's research and many of his research papers bear the imprint of the museum. In later years he lived at Dayton, where he died April 30, 1999. He was survived by his wife Fay White.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Collection consists of writings, correspondence, and research materials, arranged by topic. The research was predominantly on topics related to early exploration and Indian wars; however, there are also files on Flathead area history, on wildlife, and on artifacts. There are also photographs of damaged buildings in Belgium and France during World War I and the restored buildings 60 years later.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
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
Arranged by series. Some material housed in oversize boxes, oversize folders, and as volume. See inventory below for more information.
Location of Collection
15:7-5Location of Collection
15:7-5 (Overisize Box 1)Location of Collection
150:3-5 (Volume 1)Acquisition Information
Acquisition information available upon request
Related Materials
Thain White Papers at University of Montana, Missoula, MT; Thain White Papers at Washington State University, Pullman, WA
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Biographical Materials Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1 / 1 | Obituaries; biographical sketch |
1999 |
General Correspondence Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1 / 2 | B-T (correspondents include Blaine County
Museum, Big Hole National Battlefield, Jerome A. Greene, Duane Hampton,
James L. Long, John F. Mathews, John D. McDermott, Sam Murrish, Nez
Perce National Historic Park, Carle F. O'Neil, Joel F. Overholser, Jerry
Peltier, Paul c. Phillips, Saskatchewan Archives Board, Wilfred
Schoenberg, Lois Thain) |
1950-1995 |
Research Notes and Writings Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1 / 3-4 | Battle of the Rosebud (includes
"Artifacts from the Battle of the Rosebud"; clippings) |
circa 1962 |
| 1 / 5 | "Battle of Wolf Mountains, January 8, 1877 :
a visit to the site in 1963" (also includes letter from Charles B.
Erleman and photos) |
1963-1965 |
| 1 / 6 | "Battles of Montana and their locations"
(also includes a few non-Montana) |
undated |
| 1 / 7 | "Big game perches (stands)" (re hunting
blinds) |
circa 1974 |
| 1 / 8 | "Blackfeet Indian burials" (re John Don't
Go Out and Four Horns; includes drawings) |
circa 1967 |
| 1 / 9 | Blackfeet Indian census (includes list of
signers of 1887-1888 treaty, loose notes and clippings) |
1887-1993 |
| 1 / 10-11 | Bone pickers on Blackfeet Reservation
(includes "Bison drives on the Blackfeet Reservation, "A few
archaeological sites on the Blackfeet Reservation, Montana", clippings,
etc.) |
1951 |
| 2 / 1-4 | Buffalo (includes articles, clippings,
National Bison Range Wilderness Study summary, white buffalo) |
1915-1994 |
| 2 /5 | "Paul Bunyan boat" by Kelly Martin (based
on interview with Thain White) |
1971 |
| 2 / 6-7 | Canoes (includes "Kutenai canoe" by D. P.
Mumbrue; "Notes of canoes and hunting etc. of a Kutenai woman" by Mrs.
Josephine Aneas; "Pointed bark canoes of the Kutenai and Amur" by Otis
T. Mason |
undated |
| 2 / 8 | "A study of a few Indian canoes" by Thain
White |
undated |
| 2 / 9-11 | Canoes |
undated |
| 2 / 12-16 | Cantonment Jordan (re Mullan encampment,
winter 1859-1860; includes correspondence with Duane Hampton, Winifred
Schoenberg, and Margie Hahn; writings by Thain White and Duane Hampton;
clippings; articles; notes, maps, etc.) |
undated |
| 3 / 1 | Chouteau family |
undated |
| 3 / 2 | "Crow Rock", by Thain White |
circa 1968 |
| 3 / 3 | Dayton Creek Crossing (includes "An early
crossing at Dayton Creek, west shore of Flathead Lake" [2 versions] |
1974 |
| 3 / 4 | Dayton, Montana (includes brochure for
Hiawatha Lodge; map; chronology) |
undated |
| 3 / 5 | Demersville, Montana (includes "The
hanging of four outlaw Indians"; "Old timer tells tale of Demersville
scare"; "Their crimes"; "Demersville" by George F. Stannard [all copied
from Samuel E. Johns collection]; clippings) |
undated |
| 3 / 6 | J. M. Dunn murder site |
1960-1961 |
| 3 / 7 | Flathead Indian Reservation census
(alphabetical order) |
1925 |
| 3 / 8 | Flathead Indian Reservation (includes
"Flathead Lake Kutenai" by Helen Dwelle; "Treaty with the Flatheads,
etc., 1855") |
1855, 1959 |
| 3 / 9 | Flathead Lake Lookout Museum publications
#1, 2, 3, 11 |
undated |
| 3 / 10 | Flathead Lake steamboats and ferries
(includes lists, correspondence, clippings) |
undated |
| 3 / 11 | Flathead Valley (includes field trip;
reading list; "Beautiful Flathead--America's finest lake"; map) |
undated |
| 3 / 12 | Forge welding (includes "Some hints on
forge welding: livestock brands") |
1975 |
| 3 / 13-14 | Fort Assiniboine (includes article by
J. Torrence Harvey and Thain White; correspondence, etc.) |
1941, 1963-1965 |
| 3 / 15 | Fort C. F. Smith ("Some observations at
the site of Fort C. F. Smith, 1866-1868", by Thain White |
1962 |
| 4 / 1 | Fort Conrad (includes information on
Joseph Kipp and James Willard Schultz; and paper and notes by Thain
White) |
undated |
| 4 / 2 | Fort Missoula (photocopies of original
letters, source of originals unknown) |
1877-1881 |
| 4 / 3 | Fort Owen (includes "A study of some of
Fort Owen window glass"; "Billings homestead window glass comparison to
Fort Owen window glass") |
undated |
| 4 / 4 | Fort Peck Indian Reservation (includes
"Some photographs on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana, taken by
Ernest White in 1907") |
undated |
| 4 / 5 | Forts (includes "Partial list of military
posts, forts, fur posts, trading posts, houses, and a few other names
such as towns and settlements of the earlier era in Montana" |
circa 1965 |
| 4 / 6 | Forts and fur posts (alphabetical list
with notes and references) |
1965 |
| 4 / 7 | Hiawatha Lodge |
undated |
| 4 / 8 | Holy Family Mission on Blackfeet Indian
Reservation (also includes Big Spring cabin and grave of James Willard
Schultz) |
1977 |
| 5 / 1-2 | Howse House of Hudson Bay Company
(includes untitled manuscript by Thain White; "Howse House: an historic
and archaeological study" by A. Barry Braunberger and Thain White) |
undated |
| 5 / 3 | Indian outlaws (re Pascale, Pierre Paul,
Antley, and La La See) |
undated |
| 5 / 4 | Indian peace medals (articles and books) |
undated |
| 5 / 5 | Kalispell |
undated |
| 5 / 6 | Daniel Knapp |
undated |
| 5 / 8-11 | Kutenai Indians (includes "Recollections
of Lasso Stasso" 2 versions by Carling Malouf and Thain White; Kutenai
stories; Kutenai monthly traditions; articles from published journals;
bibliography of native games; "Digging sticks and handles of the
Kutenai" [2 versions]) |
undated |
| 5 / 12 | C. M. Lee diary transcript (re
Musselshell; same as portion of SC 1820) |
1868 |
| 5 / 13 | Lewis and Clark Expedition trail in Lolo
Pass area |
undated |
| 6 / 1 | Lewis and Clark Expedition trail in Lolo
Pass area (continued) |
undated |
| 6 / 2-4 | Livestock brands (includes "A few
livestock brands used before 1900 by Indians and whites on the Indian
reservations in Montana" by Thain White; correspondence; notes;
clippings) |
1970-1971 |
| 6 / 5 | "Lolo Creek reflections" |
1976 |
| 6 / 6 | Ramona Marchioli reminiscence (aka
Elizabeth "Bessie" Hand) |
undated |
| 6 / 7 | Angus McDonald (includes "A few items of
the West"; correspondence; notes; etc.) |
undated |
| 6 / 8 | "Medicine Rock" by Thain White (near
Rollins; 3 versions] |
undated |
| 6 / 9 | Misery Hill, Idaho (includes "Relics from
Misery Hill, Nez Perce War, 1877") |
undated |
| 6 / 10 | Mullan Road (includes copy of "Blazing
the Mullan Trail" by John Strachan |
1860-1861 |
| 6 / 11 | "Navigation on lake and river", by Barry
Braunberger |
undated |
| 6 / 12-17 | Nez Perce War (includes "Clearwater
Battlefield...a preliminary survey" by Thain White; "The Battle of the
Clearwater" by Luther P. Wilmot; "The site of where seven Nez Perce
warriors were killed, 1877, and some thoughts on old Fort Belknap";
bibliography by Aubrey Haines; "The possible site of the Rains scouting
party tragedy"; "Relics from the Big Hole Battlefield"; letters;
brochures; clippings |
1960-1969 |
| Oversize Folder | ||
| 1 | Nez Perce War map (Oversize Folder: See
Archives Map Case) |
1960-1969 |
| Box/Folder | ||
| 7 / 1 | Old Mission State Park, Cataldo, Idaho,
brochures |
undated |
| 7 / 2 | Frederic Remington |
undated |
| 7 / 3 | Rollins, Montana (includes paper,
correspondence, clippings) |
1970-1993 |
| 7 / 4-6 | Saleesh House (includes "The possible
location of Saleesh House, a fur trading post built by David Thompson,
1809-1810 in Western Montana" by Thain White; correspondence; notes;
clippings) [Oversize maps in Map Case] |
1961-1973 |
| 7 / 7 | Salish Indians (includes monthly
traditions; untitled manuscript) |
undated |
| 7 / 8 | Sara DesChamps Saloway reminiscence (re
capture of Lawrence Finley, in 1890) |
1949 |
| 7 / 9 | "Scarred trees in Western Montana" [2
versions] (also includes clippings and correspondence) |
1954-1982 |
| 7 / 10 | "A search for the site of Sitting Bull;
where he spent the first winter in Canada after the Custer massacre" (re
Frenchman River, Saskatchewan) |
1960 |
| 7 / 11 | Sheep (includes "Sheep herders dictionary
of Blackfeet Indian words" by Harold Prouty; "A brief account of the
Columbia sheep" by Bill Denecke; "A lamb's tale" by Daniel N. Miles;
"Ovine surgery in purebred flocks" by J. W. Britton) |
1944-1958 |
| 7 / 12 | Spokane House (clippings, including Jaco
Finlay's grave) |
1940-1951 |
| 7 / 13-14 | Stagecoaches and stagecoach lines
(includes "Gold, stage stations, robbery and history : a story as told
by my parents" by Thain White; "Thunder Mountain"; "Abstracts of
passengers and way bills"; broadsides; pamphlets; clippings; etc.) |
1971-1992 |
| 7 / 15 | "A study of a few Indian burials" by
Thain White |
1968 |
| 7 / 16 | "A study of the lithograph 'Flathead Lake
looking southward' in Pacific Railroad reports and surveys, 1853-1854"
by Thain White |
undated |
| 7 / 17 | David Thompson (clippings) |
1988-1998 |
| 7 / 18 | "The war holes, Southern Saskatchewan,
Canada" (2 versions; correspondence; notes) |
1960-1974 |
| 7 / 19 | Wild Horse Island (includes "Wild Horse
Island" by Judy Brown and Debbie Kasberg; "Schnitzmeyer: homestead era
photographic artist" by Paul Fugleberg; correspondence; brochures;
clippings) |
1971-1992 |
| 8 / 1-2 | World War I (re France and Belgium;
includes notes, clippings re veterans, etc.) |
undated |
| oversizebox | ||
| 1 | World War I (oversize photos of damaged
cathedrals, and other buildings) |
undated |
| Box/Folder | ||
| 8 / 3 | Yellowstone Wagon Road (includes "A few
relics from the rifle pits of the Yellowstone Wagon Road and prospecting
expedition, 1874"; Rosebud Site) |
1968 |
Miscellany Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 8 / 4 | Advertisements from Outlook Magazine |
1911-1918 |
| 8 / 5 | County maps from Montana Stockgrowers
directory |
1901 |
| 8 / 6 | Inventories (includes Thain White
library; Thain White Papers at University of Montana; Thain White Papers
at Washington State University) |
undated |
| 8 / 7 | List of articles by Thain White |
undated |
| Volume | ||
| 1 | United States Geological Survey Charles D.
Walcott Eighteenth Director Annual Report 1896-97 Part III Economic Geolog |
circa 1897 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Archaeology--Montana
- Canoes and canoeing--Montana
- Coaching (Transportation)--Montana
- Fortification--Montana
- Frontier and pioneer life--Montana
- Indians of North America--Montana--Antiquities
- Steamboats--Montana--Flathead Lake
- World War, 1914-1918--Belgium--Pictorial works
- World War, 1914-1918--France--Pictorial works
Personal Names
- White, Thain, 1913-1999 (creator)
Geographical Names
- Dayton (Mont.)
- Demersville (Mont.)
- Flathead Indian Reservation (Mont.)
- Flathead Lake (Mont.)
- Flathead River Valley (B.C. and Mont.)
Finding aid prepared by Ellie Arguimbau
2004
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Loading...
