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James Sanks Brisbin papers, 1850-1891

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Brisbin, James S. (James Sanks), 1837-1892
Title
James Sanks Brisbin papers
Dates
1850-1891 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 39 (collection)
Summary
James Brisbin, a Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, native, served as an Army officer in the Civil War and the Indian Wars, 1868-1891. He was stationed at Fort Ellis, Fort Assiniboine, Fort Custer, Montana Territory, and many other western forts. Brisbin was also a writer and publicist. The collection contains a small amount of correspondence (1860-1890), and writings (1850-1891) concerning the Army, the Indian Wars, the West, and Montana Territory.
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 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.
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Biographical Note

James Sanks Brisbin was born at Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1837. He attended Boalsburg academy and received a college education. Upon completion of his schooling, he purchased and edited the Centre Democrat, at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. During the same period, Brisbin studied law and was later admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania. He was known in Pennsylvania as an anti-slavery orator. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the First Dragoons. Brisbin subsequently served in both major theaters of the war, as a line officer, staff officer, and organizer of regiments of Negro cavalry. In this latter capacity he was promoted to Colonel of the 5th U.S. Colored Cavalry. During his war service, Brisbin attained the commissioned rank of captain and the brevet rank of major general of volunteers. After the war he remained in the regular army, aiding in the establishment of the Freedman's Bureau and in organizing the colored regiments. In 1868 he was stationed in the West. From 1868 until the time of his death in 1892, Brisbin served in the northwestern United States as an officer in several cavalry regiments, including the Second, Ninth, First, and Eighth regiments. During his western career, he was a staff officer, battalion or squadron commander, post commander, and regimental commander; and served at Fort D. A. Russell, Fort Pease on the Yellowstone River, Boise Barracks, Omaha Barracks, Camp Stambaugh, Fort Ellis, Fort Assiniboine, Fort Keogh, Fort Custer, Fort Niobrara, Fort Robinson, Fort McKinney, and finally at Fort Meade in South Dakota. At the time of his death Brisbin was a colonel in command of the Eighth Cavalry Regiment and was in command at Fort Meade. In 1882 Brisbin purchased a ranch on the Yellowstone River and was very interested in agriculture, land, and cattle ranching, for which he acquired the nickname "Grasshopper Jim". He was also a prolific writer. His most widely known works are The Beef Bonanza and Beldon, the White Chief. Brisbin was a very active publicist and drew heavily upon his experiences and observations in the West to promote the area and its resources. Throughout his career he was a constant contributor of articles and letters to Eastern periodicals on a wide range of subjects. On June 15, 1861 James Brisbin married Mary Jane Wagner. The Brisbin's had four children, John, Marguerita, Alfred, and Catherine. Brisbin's wife died at Fort McKinney in 1887. He married his second wife, Amelia Wilson, in 1891 in Red Wing, Minnesota. In the 1880s due to failing health Brisbin was transferred to the east and resided in Red Wing. He died January 14, 1892 in Philadelphia and was buried in Red Wing, Minnesota.

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Content Description

Papers. 1853-1891. 2 linear feet. This collection consists almost exclusively of drafts and copies of James S. Brisbin's writings. These writings generally focus on his army career, the Plains Indian and the Indian Wars, and other facets of his experiences in the Northwest. Also included are articles and handwritten copies of letters to newspapers on a wide variety of topics. The collection also contains a small amount of correspondence, including Civil War era letters, family letters and correspondence on Brisbin's military career in the West. A portion of this collection has been microfilmed (Microfilm 328).

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by series. Some material housed in Archives map case. See inventory below for more information.

Location of Collection

2:5-2

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Separated Materials

Maps transferred to Library. See inventory below for more information.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Biographical Materials

    • Description: Personal record; special statement
      Dates: 1861, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1
  • Incoming Correspondence

    • Description: B-H (correspondents include J.V. Bogert; D.W. Benham; O.B. Harlan [?])
      Dates: 1865-1877, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
    • Description: Edmund Shurley
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
    • Description: S-W (correspondents include A.G. Shaw; C.R. Wade; unidentified)
      Dates: 1868-1888
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
  • Outgoing Correspondence

    • Description: Ezra Brisbin (re political conditions)
      Dates: November 1860
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
    • Description: W.B. Kelley (re organization of the Army)
      Dates: 1877
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
    • Description: Miscellaneous (correspondents include Statesman; wife Jane Brisbin; brother; U.S. Congress Committee on Public Lands; Col. George L. Andrews; Gen. E.S. Godfrey)
      Dates: 1867-1892
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
  • Miscellaneous Correspondence

  • Legal Documents

    • Description: Power of attorney
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
  • Maps

    • Description: Map of Kittson County, Minnesota [Map Case]
      Dates: undated
      Container: Oversize Folder 1
    • Description: List of maps transferred to Library Map Collection
      Dates:
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
  • Reports

    • Description: James S. Brisbin's report to General Sheridan on Indian agency fraud [draft]
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
    • Description: Appendix A [to Brisbin report]: Charles W. Hoffman statement
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
    • Description: Appendix B and E: Horace Countryman affidavit
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 13
    • Description: Appendix C: William Carr affidavit
      Dates: 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 14
    • Description: Appendix D: George Town affidavit
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 15
    • Description: Appendix F and L: H.A. Searls affidavit
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 16
    • Description: Appendix H: Charles W. Hoffman affidavit
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 17
    • Description: Appendix I: Ed Ball statement
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 18
    • Description: Appendix J: William B. McAdow affidavit
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 19
    • Description: Appendix K: Ed Ball, A.J. Hunter, and James Wilson affidavits
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 20
    • Description: Appendix M: George Town affidavit
      Dates: 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 21
    • Description: Appendix N: Ed Ball affidavit
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 22
    • Description: Appendix O, P, and Q: J.R. Wilson and C.L. Clark affidavits; Rev. T.C. Iliff statement
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 23
    • Description: Appendix S: Ed Ball report
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 24
    • Description: Appendix T: George S. Browning report
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 25
    • Description: Appendix V: George W. Frost indictment
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 26
    • Description: Appendix W: Henry C. Countryman, James Walters, Milligan, L. Bravo, J. Siverin, and C. Winckel affidavits
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 27
    • Description: Appendix X: H.C. Bulis orders
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 28
  • Speeches

    • Description: Death of Senator John Logan
      Dates: 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 29
    • Description: Fourth of July speech
      Dates: 1858
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 30
    • Description: Fourth of July speech, Crawford, Nebraska
      Dates: 1889
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 31
    • Description: "George Washington"
      Dates: 1881
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 32
    • Description: Miscellaneous
      Dates: 1850s-1880s
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 33
  • Writings

    • Description: "Adventures in the Far West, or Life in the Regular Army"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 34
    • Description: "Adventures in the Far West Recalled from an Indian Campaign"
      Dates: circa 1887
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 35
    • Description: "Alfalfa: California Notes"
      Dates: 1875
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 36
    • Description: "The Alfalfa Question"
      Dates: 1887
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 37
    • Description: "An Appeal for the Army" (re the Springer Bill)
      Dates: 1888
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 38
    • Description: Army
      Dates: 1888, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 39
    • Description: "Army Sports Out West"
      Dates: circa 1882
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
    • Description: "Bear Story"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
    • Description: "Beef, Beef, Beef"
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
    • Description: "The Beef Kingdom"
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
    • Description: "The Beef Supply"
      Dates: 1882
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
    • Description: "A Big Horn Hunt" (Belden: the White Chief, chapter 24)
      Dates: circa 1871
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
    • Description: "A Bit of History: Xerxes"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
    • Description: "Black Canon of the Big Horn, Goblin Land"
      Dates: circa 1890
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
    • Description: Black Hills of South Dakota
      Dates: 1875
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
    • Description: Brisbin's life in the Army
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
    • Description: "The British Disserters"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
    • Description: "A Buffalo Hunt" (Belden: the White Chief, chapter 25)
      Dates: circa 1871
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
    • Description: California
      Dates: 1876, 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
    • Description: "Cattle Growing Out West"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 14
    • Description: "Cheyenne Indians" [outline for Captain Ewers)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 15
    • Description: "Chicago's Indian Fighter" (re Edmund Shurley)
      Dates: 1889
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 16
    • Description: "Close of a Great Political Campaign"
      Dates: 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 17
    • Description: Crow Indian lands
      Dates: circa 1881
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 18
    • Description: "Evidence that Diseased Pleuro-Pneumonial Cattle Are Sold for Human Food"
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 19
    • Description: "Farewell" [poem]
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 20
    • Description: "The Farmer's Daughter" [poem]
      Dates: 1856
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 21
    • Description: "Field Notes: Glimpses of Army Life for Harper"
      Dates: circa 1876
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 22
    • Description: "Glimpses of Poe's Life"
      Dates: 1879
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 23
    • Description: "The Grand National Concert"
      Dates: circa 1877
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 24
    • Description: "A Great Indian Battle" (re Wagon Box fight)
      Dates: circa 1888
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 25
    • Description: "The Great Kentucky Crow Roost"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 26
    • Description: "The Great Republic Lode"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 27
    • Description: "Horse Growing Out West" (Beef Bonanza chapter 11)
      Dates: circa 1881
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 28
    • Description: "Hymen and Cupid" (re marriage and romantic love)
      Dates: 1850s
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 29
    • Description: Indian Legends #1-19 [missing #4, #5, and #8]
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 30
    • Description: "Information for the People" (includes "A Curious Cat Fight" and "Public Land Becoming Scarce")
      Dates: 1891
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 31
    • Description: Jefferson Davis
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1
    • Description: "Justice to the Indian"
      Dates: 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 2
    • Description: "The King Maker" (re the Earl of Warwick)
      Dates: circa 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 3
    • Description: "The Language of Signs" (includes glossary)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 4
    • Description: "Life, Travel in the West, including the Custer Massacre"
      Dates: circa 1883
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 5
    • Description: "Maginnis Gold Mines"
      Dates: 1882
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 6
    • Description: "Maxims of War" (re military science)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 7
    • Description: "Montana" (re agricultural and mineral potential)
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 8
    • Description: National Indian policy
      Dates: 1878-1881
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 9
    • Description: Nebraska
      Dates: 1875-1886, undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 10
    • Description: Negroes
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 11
    • Description: "The New American Gold Fields" (re northern Idaho)
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 12
    • Description: "New Facts about Lincoln's Assassination"
      Dates: 1890
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 13
    • Description: "The New West"
      Dates: 1890
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 14
    • Description: "A Night in the Rebel Army"
      Dates: 1887
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 15
    • Description: "Not Only Across but Up and Down the Continent" [outline of proposed book]
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 16
    • Description: "Origins of the War" (re Sioux Indian War of 1866-1868; two versions)
      Dates: 1877, 1889
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 17
    • Description: "Our Indian Problem"
      Dates: 1889
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 18
    • Description: "Our Public Domain"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 19
    • Description: "The Poe Controversy"
      Dates: 1879
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 20
    • Description: Politics
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 21
    • Description: "The Powder River Country"
      Dates: circa 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 22
    • Description: Precious metals production (re mining)
      Dates: circa 1885
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 23
    • Description: Reconstruction in Kentucky (two incomplete versions)
      Dates: circa 1867
      Container: Box/Folder 3 / 24
    • Description: "Red Men of America" (book on Indians)
      Dates: 1881
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 1-4
    • Description: "The Regular Army"
      Dates: circa 1874
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 5
    • Description: "Remarkable Indians" #1-8 (re Attakullakulla; Totapia; Woman Thief; Catherine Wabose; Black Beaver; John Bushman; Jim Ned; and Mahtotohpa)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 6
    • Description: "Report of a Talk with Crow Chiefs at Ft. Custer, Mont."
      Dates: 1891
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 7
    • Description: "Resources and Interests of Nebraska" #1, #3, #6, #8 (re tree growing, forest culture, etc.)
      Dates: 1873
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 8
    • Description: Retirement of General John P. Hatch
      Dates: 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 9
    • Description: "A Ringing Army Letter" (re the Springer Bill)
      Dates: 1888
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 10
    • Description: Santees (portion of Belden, the White Chief in different form)
      Dates: circa 1871
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 11
    • Description: "Scalps, etc." (Belden, the White Chief, chapter 16)
      Dates: circa 1871
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 12
    • Description: "Sheep Growing Out West (Beef Bonanza, chapters 8-9)
      Dates: circa 1881
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 13
    • Description: "Sioux Language, a Complete Dictionary of the Sioux Language As Spoken by that Great and Warlike Tribe of the Plains"
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 14
    • Description: "Sketches of Noted Frontiersmen" (includes Jim Bridger, Sir George Gore, Mariano, Clyburn, Juan Galvan, and Captain Martin Scott)
      Dates: 1872
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 15
    • Description: "The Snake Lands"
      Dates: 1878
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 16
    • Description: "Steamboating on the Missouri" or "Sitting Bull's Country" (two versions of article)
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 17
    • Description: "Tracing the Red Men" (re origins of different Indian tribes?????)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 18
    • Description: "The True Story of Poe's Life"
      Dates: 1879
      Container: Box/Folder 4 / 19
    • Description: "Under What King This Year?" (re American trotting horses)
      Dates: 1884
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 1
    • Description: "Wants the Army Washed"
      Dates: circa 1886
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 2
    • Description: "The West"
      Dates: 1882
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 3
    • Description: "What the Census Tells Us" (includes "Our Country," "The Roll of the States," "Our Agricultural Wealth," and "The Christian Religions in the United States")
      Dates: circa 1881, 1888
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 4
    • Description: "Where Gold Is"
      Dates: 1885
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 5
    • Description: "William the Conquerer"
      Dates: circa 1873
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 6
    • Description: "Woman"
      Dates: 1853
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 7
    • Description: Women
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 8
    • Description: Miscellaneous fragments
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 9
  • Miscellany

    • Description: The Brady Guards of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania
      Dates: 1859
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 10
    • Description: Constitution of the International Cattle and Horse Growers Congress
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 11
    • Description: "Flatboating down the Yellowstone" (written by unidentified woman)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 12
    • Description: Folk songs
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 13
    • Description: Indian speeches (copied by Brisbin from various sources)
      Dates: undated
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 14
    • Description: List of artifacts transferred to Museum
      Dates:
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 15
    • Description: Messages from post commanders, etc. [copies]
      Dates: 1875-1876
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 16
    • Description: Proposed bill allowing Brisbin's retirement as a brigadier general
      Dates: circa 1887
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 17
    • Description: "St. Xavier's Mission", written by P. Prando, S.J.
      Dates: 1890
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 18
    • Description: Songs of Horace Greeley's presidential campaign
      Dates: 1872
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 19
    • Description: Testimony of Two Belly Woman
      Dates: 1877
      Container: Box/Folder 5 / 20

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Frontier and Pioneer Life
  • Frontier and Pioneer Life--[1860S]
  • Frontier and Pioneer Life--[1870S]
  • Gold Mines and Mining
  • Authors--Montana
  • Crow Indians
  • Dakota Indians
  • Dakota Indians--Wars, 1865-1868
  • Federal Aid to Indians--Montana
  • Horse Industry
  • Indians of North America--Government Relations
  • Indians of North America--Languages
  • Indians of North America--Wars
  • Military Bases
  • Mines and Mineral Recources--Montana--Fergus County
  • Mines and Mineral Resources--Idaho
  • Missionaries
  • Missouri River--Commerce
  • Public Lands
  • Sheep Ranches
  • Steamboats--Missouri River
  • United States. Army--Military Life

Personal Names

  • Brisbin, James S. (James Sanks), 1837-1892 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Bighorn Canyon (Mont. and Wyo.)
  • Madison County (Mont.)
  • United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
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