Archives West Finding Aid

This series contains personal and biographical documents regarding Joseph Dixon and members of his family. Materials include genealogical information, marriage and birth records, some of Dixon's school notebooks, historical information regarding the Dixon family in North Carolina and early Montana, election certificates, and two other pieces: a stagecoach ticket purchased by Dixon's father-in-law and a slave sale receipt from Alabama.

This series includes incoming and outgoing correspondence from Joseph Dixon's early adulthood until shortly before his death. These materials include both personal and professional correspondence. This series provides detailed insights into Dixon's personal life, private political opinions and strategies, professional (both political and business) relationships, and commitment to the early twentieth century's Progressive movement. Correspondence between Joseph Dixon and his wife Caroline, as well as with other family members, is particularly prevalent in this series, revealing much about daily life during the early part of the century, childrearing, and the roles family members played in Dixon's political career. This series contains correspondence with numerous prominent Montanans and national political figures. Among the most prominent correspondents include: Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover, as well as Joseph G. Cannon, Andrew Carnegie, William A. Clark, Asa L. Duncan, Morton J. Elrod, John E. Erickson, John M. Evans, James R. Garfield, John N. Garner, George B. Grinnell, Simon Guggenheim, A.B. Guthrie, J. Edgar Hoover, William T. Hornaday, Harold Ickes, Hiram W. Johnson, Cornelius F. Kelly, Conrad Kohrs, Robert M. LaFollette, O.M. Lanstrum, Frank B. Linderman, S. Rae Logan, Frank O. Lowden, Charles H. McLeod, George W. Perkins, Gifford Pinchot, Thomas C. Power, Charles N. Pray, Jeannette Rankin, Wellington D. Rankin, John E. Rickards, Carl W. Riddick, John D. Rockefeller, J.H.T. Ryman, Joseph D. Scanlan, A.L. Stone, Mrs. Granville Stuart, Thomas J. Walsh, Burton K. Wheeler, and Frank L. Worden.

Materials in this series are divided into two subseries, general correspondence spanning his adult life and correspondence from his tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Interior during the Hebert Hoover Administration. Gaps and sparse periods likely reflect poor preservation of these materials rather than a significant reduction in Dixon's correspondence.

This series contains publicity materials relating to Joseph Dixon's numerous political campaigns, a few sample ballots, and some election analysis documents. These materials provide insights into campaign techniques during the early 20th Century and document some of the changes in rural progressive candidate campaigns as the movement began to mature and change from the 1910s to the 1920s.

Materials in this series consist of newspaper and magazine clippings, the majority documenting Joseph Dixon's political career. This series also includes some materials relating to the Dixon family in North Carolina and issues of interest to Joseph Dixon. Newspaper clippings in this series are generally organized in large groups and are in poor condition.

This series includes personal and business records documenting Joseph Dixon's personal finances, property holdings, and legal associations. Some materials in this series are closely related to the business records in Series VIII. Researchers may be particularly interested in the tax records and estate documents in this series as they reveal the diversity of Dixon's investments and property holdings.

This series includes a portion of the speeches written/delivered by Joseph Dixon over the course of his career. Most of the speeches in this series are transcripts, though a few are original drafts that include Dixon's notes for rewriting and/or last minute changes. Also included are several items written by other authors about Joseph Dixon and his career achievements. The series also contains a phonograph recording of Joseph and Peggy Dixon (his youngest daughter) singing two folk songs.

This series includes magazine articles, event invitations, ceremony programs, and general research files collected by Joseph Dixon over the course of his career. The research files in this series provide insights into Dixon's personal and professional interests. Most of the materials in this series are invitations and programs documenting the diverse nature of events to which Dixon was invited as a prominent Montana and national political figure. Also included is a file of mementos from Dixon's numerous visits to the White House as a Congressman and member of Herbert Hoover's Administration. Additionally, this series includes a portrait of Mrs. William Clark (wife of the Corps of Discovery co-leader) presented to Governor Dixon and a series of reprints of Charles M. Russell paintings and sketches.

Materials in this series document aspects of Joseph Dixon's business activities with particular representation from his law practice and involvement with the Missoulian Publishing Company. Most of Dixon's law practice records detail estate resolutions but also include some materials regarding electrical power disputes in northwestern Montana. These latter materials are particularly insightful when examined in conjunction with legislative correspondence in Series II and in light of Dixon's efforts to open non-Indian settlement and promote infrastructure development on the Flathead Reservation. Some financial records associated with materials in this series can be found in Series V.

Materials in this series relate to Joseph Dixon's federal public service, including a small amount of background research for Congressional proposals and maps documenting railroad rights-of-way in the Flathead Valley of Montana. Most of the maps in this series correspond with Dixon's efforts to establish a federal irrigation system in the Flathead Valley and on the Flathead Reservation.

This series includes a portion of the administrative, legislative, and legal documents generated during Joseph Dixon's tenure as Governor of Montana. These materials provide insights into Dixon's policy goals and his intentions for political reform. Dixon's short tenure as Governor was largely marked by his attempts to implement corporate tax reform (primarily on the mining industry) and to prosecute Frank Conley for misuse of state funds while Warden of the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. The Conley Case materials are one of the most extensive existing records of this significant event in Montana politics, a turning point in the state's Progressive movement. Conley was acquitted of all charges and Dixon's political opponents aggressively portrayed the Governor as an egomaniacal partisan and a "Bolshevik" attempting to subvert free enterprise in a state prison system.

This series includes correspondence and campaign materials documenting Bull Moose Party activities during the 1912 national election. Materials primarily concern Theodore Roosevelt's Presidential candidacy, but also record some of the concerns and actions among party leaders to create a larger and more lasting political organization than just a platform for Roosevelt's presidential bid. These materials document party strategies; methods for creating a unified support network among previously independent voters, dissatisfied Republican Party members, and progressive-minded Democrats; and lend insight into the political culture of the 20th century's first, and very influential, third-party movement.

This series contains 26 bound, newspaper clippings scrapbooks and 2 autograph books. Newspaper clippings in this series range widely from stories about Joseph Dixon to his colleagues and business associates, and from Republican Party and Bull Moose Party stories to articles about issues of personal and professional interest to Dixon. Most materials in this series are well documented for publication source and date; however, several overlap in time and material indicating they likely were collected/compiled by more than one individual. The autograph books in this series primarily contain signatures from fellow members of Congress during Dixon's years in the U.S. House and Senate but also include signatures from a few Administration officials and prominent Americans.

This series contains photographs dating from the mid 1860s to 1933 and three drawings dating from 1837 to 1890. These images primarily document Joseph Dixon's political career, his professional associates, prominent early Missoulians (including Dixon's extended family), and Missoula buildings from the 1890s through the 1910s. Some of the photographs document Hell Gate, Missoula's Montana Territory predecessor community. This series also includes a few photographs of other western Montana buildings. The images of prominent Missoulians and buildings preserve rare images of great interest to Montana historians.

This series contains numerous items collected by or presented to Joseph Dixon over the course of his public career. Most items commemorate or recognize Dixon for his public service and were presented by fellow politicians, civic groups, fraternal organizations, or business associates. This series also contains some personal effects such as his eyeglasses, wallet, and a leather carrying case for business cards. Materials in this series, considered in relationship with collection documents, present a wide-ranging perspective on Joseph Dixon's life and interests.

Hugh W. Dixon was Joseph Dixon's father. This series contains some of his personal correspondence and a ledger from his Snow Camp, North Carolina, business. W.W. Dixon was an attorney in Butte, Montana; it is unclear why his correspondence book is in with Joseph Dixon's papers. The ledger in this series records business transaction for Stafford, Clark, and Dixon--a rural community and agricultural supply operation.