Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
- Overview of the Collection
-
Biographical Note
- Content Description
- Administrative Information
-
Detailed Description of the Collection
- Letters, postcards, and greeting cards
- Oral history interview, version 1
- Oral history interview, version 2
- Oral history interview, version 3
- Wallis Huidekoper bibliography and manuscripts
- Henry Shippen Huidekoper pamphlets
- Various historical and livestock pamphlets
- Newspaper clippings
- Photographs
- Land sales agreement and deed
- Names and Subjects
Wallis Huidekoper Collection, 1880s-1959
Overview of the Collection
- Title
- Wallis Huidekoper Collection
- Dates
- 1880s-195918801959
- Quantity
- .2 linear feet
- Collection Number
- Collection 436, MtBC, us (collection)
- Summary
- The Wallis Huidekoper Collection consists a selection of letters exchanged between Dr. Merrill G. Burlingame and Wallis Huidekoper regarding the editing of an oral history interview conducted in 1954, a 1929 letter from Edward Douglas Branch thanking Huidekoper for his favorable comments on The Hunting of the Buffalo (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1929) and a 1938 letter from Martin S. Garretson, again thanking Huidekoper for favorable comments on his book, The American Bison (New York: New York Zoological Society, 1938). Also included are edited versions of an oral history interview with Huidekoper conducted by Elizabeth DeFrate and Merrill G. Burlingame on July 26, 1954 and transcribed from an audio tape, a typed bibliography of Huidekoper's articles, along with two original manuscripts he wrote concerning artist Charles M. Russell has been placed in a separate folder. Other materials include printed brochures and pamphlets written by or pertaining to Huidekoper' father, Henry Shippen Huidekoper and newspaper clippings pertaining to historic sites in the Germantown, Pennsylvania area, Wallis Huidekoper, Theodore Roosevelt, and ranching in North Dakota and Montana. Six photographs of North Dakota badlands residents circa 1880s and the Huidekoper ranch near Big Timber, Montana, circa 1956, complete the collection.
- 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
Wallis Huidekoper was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on February 2, 1870. His father was Henry Shippen Huidekoper, a Major General in the Pennsylvania National Guard and a former Philadelphia postmaster. As a sixteen-year-old, Wallis spent a summer vacation on his cousin A.C. Huidekoper's ranch in North Dakota. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1891, Huidekoper returned to his cousin's ranch, where he worked as a horse wrangler. In 1906 he left the North Dakota ranch and bought a ranch on the eastern slope of the Crazy Mountains in Montana. This ranch eventually grew to 33,280 acres on the American Fork of the Musselshell River. Huidekoper served in Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War. During World War I, he served in the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In addition to his ranching and military careers, Huidekoper was a book collector, a historical writer, and a collector of Charles M. Russell art. He donated his "little ranch," a 110 acre operation near Big Timber, Montana, to Montana State College (presently Montana State University) in 1956, intending it to be for the use of the Veterinary Research Laboratory. In early 1957 a collection of about 275 volumes from Huidekoper's personal library were transferred to the MSC library. Wallis Huidekoper married Lillian Porter O'Brian in September 1906. She died in 1952 and he died October 26, 1956.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The collection consists of materials gathered by Professor Merrill G. Burlingame and Montana State University library personnel from documents gathered independently or found laid in the various books donated by Wallis Huidekoper in 1957. These materials include a selection of letters exchanged between Dr. Merrill G. Burlingame and Wallis Huidekoper regarding the editing of an oral history interview conducted in 1954, a 1929 letter from Edward Douglas Branch thanking Huidekoper for his favorable comments on The Hunting of the Buffalo (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1929) and a 1938 letter from Martin S. Garretson, again thanking Huidekoper for favorable comments on his book, The American Bison (New York: New York Zoological Society, 1938). Of interest in the Garretson letter is an anecdote concerning the observation of a bison herd in the Oklahoma panhandle during the summer of 1884. The collection also includes three consecutively edited versions of an oral history interview with Huidekoper conducted by Elizabeth DeFrate and Merrill G. Burlingame on July 26, 1954 and transcribed from an audio tape which appears to have been lost. A typed bibliography of Huidekoper's articles, along with two original manuscripts he wrote concerning artist Charles M. Russell has been placed in a separate folder. Three folders of printed material consist of brochures and pamphlets written by or pertaining to Huidekoper' father, Henry Shippen Huidekoper and newspaper clippings pertaining to historic sites in the Germantown, Pennsylvania area, Wallis Huidekoper, Theodore Roosevelt, and ranching in North Dakota and Montana. Six photographs of North Dakota badlands residents circa 1880s and the Huidekoper ranch near Big Timber, Montana, circa 1956, complete the collection.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Letters, oral history interviews, printed materials and photographs pertaining to Wallis Huidekoper were collected by Merrill G. Burlingame and Montana State University library personnel in a series of accessions from 1954 to 1959.
Processing Note
This collection was processed 2011 September 20
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Letters, postcards, and greeting cards, 1929-1959Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/1
Oral history interview, version 1, 1954Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/2
Oral history interview, version 2, 1954Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/3
Oral history interview, version 3, 1954Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/4
Wallis Huidekoper bibliography and manuscriptsReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/5
Henry Shippen Huidekoper pamphletsReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/6
Various historical and livestock pamphletsReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/7
Newspaper clippingsReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/8
PhotographsReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/9
Container(s) | Description |
---|---|
#1: A. C. Huidekoper and Badlands ranchers |
|
#2-5: Huidekoper ranch, Big Timber, Montana |
|
#6: Stagecoach
[halftone print]
|
Land sales agreement and deed, 1917Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/7
(formerly accessioned as Collection 1401)
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- American bison-Oklahoma-Oklahoma Panhandle-Anecdotes
- Historic sites-Pennsylvania-Germantown
- Pioneers-North Dakota-Photographs
- Ranches-Montana-Big Timber-Photographs
- Ranching-Montana
- Ranching-North Dakota
Personal Names
- Branch, Edward Douglas, 1905-1954-Correspondence
- Garretson, Martin S-Correspondence
- Huidekoper, Arthur Clarke
- Huidekoper, H. S. (Henry Shippen), b. 1839
- Huidekoper, Wallis, 1870-1956
- Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
- Russell, Charles M. (Charles Marion), 1864-1926
Geographical Names
- Badlands (N.D.)-Photographs
- Big Timber (Mont.)-Photographs
- Germantown (Pa.)-History
Form or Genre Terms
- Interviews
- Oral histories
- Photographs
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Burlingame, Merrill G. (Merrill Gildea), 1901-1994 (creator)
- DeFrate, Elizabeth, interviewer (creator)
- Huidekoper, H. S. (Henry Shippen), b. 1839 (creator)
- Huidekoper, Wallis, 1870-1956 (creator)
Corporate Names
- Montana State College (creator)