Mitchell Family Papers, 1869-2006 PDF XML
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Mitchell family
- Title
- Mitchell Family Papers
- Dates
- 1869-200618692006
- Quantity
- .2 linear feet
- Collection Number
- Collection 2489, MtBC, us (collection)
- Summary
- The Mitchell Family Papers include the Campbell Mitchell diary, mounted portrait photographs of Mitchell family members, typed and handwritten memoirs and historical narratives by various family members, assorted letters between family members, a newspaper clipping history of the family in Park City, land and mine claims, genealogical information and assorted other ephemera.
- 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: 406-994-4242
Fax: 406-994-2851
https://www.lib.montana.edu/archives/contact-form/ - Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research.
- Additional Reference Guides
-
An alternative form of this finding aid can be found at http://www.lib.montana.edu/collect/spcoll/findaid/2489.html
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Freighting first brought William L.C. Mitchell from Kansas to Bannack and Virginia City, Montana Territory, in 1864. In 1869 Mitchell returned to Kansas where he married Mary (Molly) Cowan on February 27. On May 17, 1869 William and Molly, along with brothers Campbell and Alexander Mitchell and the William Chaffin family, journeyed by wagon train from Fort Scott, Kansas to the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana. Campbell Mitchell kept a diary during the overland journey, describing the route from Fort Scott, through Fort Kearney, Nebraska, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Montpelier, Utah, and Bannack, Montana, all while driving a herd of cattle in addition to the wagons. The Mitchells were joined in Montana by other family members who traveled up the Missouri river by boat and all eventually settled in the Bitterroot Valley until the Nez Perce War of 1877. Campbell Mitchell was killed that year in the Battle of the Big Hole, and in 1879 William L. C. Mitchell, his wife Molly, and children Emma, Maude, Minnie, Florence and Burton Luther Mitchell, left for the Yellowstone Valley and settled near present day Park City. Burton Mitchell, the donor of this collection, is the grandson of Burton Luther Mitchell.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Mitchell papers include the Campbell Mitchell diary, mounted portrait photographs of Mitchell family members, typed and handwritten memoirs and historical narratives by various family members, assorted letters between family members, a newspaper clipping history of the family in Park City, land and mine claims, genealogical information and assorted other ephemera. A published version of the Campbell Mitchell diary can be found in The Song of the Bitterroot by Leda Mitchell Reed (1986).
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
- Subject Terms :
- Frontier and pioneer life-Montana
- Overland journeys to Montana-Personal narratives
- Pioneers-Montana-Bitterroot River Valley-Diaries
- Wagon trains-Great Plains
- Family Names :
- Mitchell family
- Geographical Names :
- Bitterroot River Valley (Mont.)-History
- Great Plains-Description and travel
- Park City (Mont.)-History
- Form or Genre Terms :
- Deeds-Montana
- Diaries-Great Plains
- Family papers-Montana
- Histories-Montana
- Memoirs-Montana
- Mining claims-Montana
- Photographs-Montana
- Other Creators :
-
- Personal Names :
- Mitchell, Campbell, d. 1877 (creator)
