Stout Family Papers - Archives West

Stout Family Papers, 1877-1979 (Bulk dates: 1940-1976)

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Stout Family
Title: Stout Family Papers
Dates: 1877-1979 (Bulk dates: 1940-1976) (inclusive)
Date of CollectionDate of Collection
Quantity: 2.83 cubic ft. (2 record boxes, 1 document box, 1 F22 oversize flat box)
Collection Number: 08414
Summary: The Stout Family Papers consist of business and legal documents, correspondence, photographs, diaries, and other material that relates to the lives of members of the Stout Family and extended family members including the Norton Family. Much of the material relates to Calvin Stout Jr. and his military service during World War II, the Stout Family Ranch near Cody, Wyoming, and the life of Ola Stout including her service as a telegrapher for the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad (C, B & Q) in northern Wyoming and southern Montana. There are photographs of the small northern Wyoming communities of Garland and Lost Cabin, as well as oral history recordings of the history of the Stout and Norton families in the Big Horn Basin.
Repository: American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions: Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Stout Family were longtime residents in the Big Horn Basin in northern Wyoming. Calvin R. Stout Sr. and Ola Norton were married in 1921. They had five children, Calvin Jr., Joan, Leona, Charles, and Ada. Calvin R. Stout Jr. was born in Hardin, Montana on July 22, 1922. He graduated from Powell (Wyo.) High School in 1940 and was killed in action in France on January 6, 1945 during World War II. Joan Stout was born on November 12, 1923 in Toluca, Montana. She graduated from Powell High School in 1941 and received nursing training at Denver General Hospital. She married Raleigh Schilling in 1945. Leona Stout was born on June 16, 1926 in Powell. She married James Lawson. Charles “Chas” Stout was born in Powell on April 7, 1929. After graduating from Huntley Project High School near Ballantine, Montana in 1948, he joined the U.S. Air Force. He married Lottie Howlette in 1956. He died on March 10, 1977. Ada Stout was born on January 10, 1932 in Powell. She graduated from Huntley Project High School near Ballantine, Montana in 1950. She was a librarian in Sheridan in the 1970s. She married Arlie Howard.

Calvin Russell Stout Sr. was born in Missouri on September 17, 1900. His family relocated to Montana when he was a child. Later, he and his brother Everett settled in the Big Horn Basin. Calvin Stout Sr. died in Cody on October 28, 1958 and is buried in Powell. Bertha Viola “Ola” (Norton) Stout was born on April 22, 1894 in Nebraska. Her parents were Owen and Louisa (Gotschall) Norton. In the very early 1900s the family moved to the Big Horn Basin where her father was the railroad agent at Garland. Ola became a railroad telegrapher for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (C, B & Q.) in about 1917. After taking some time off to raise her family, she returned to telegraphy and retired in 1959, having served at numerous points along the railway in Wyoming and Montana. In 1940, Ola and Calvin purchased a ranch west of Cody near the banks of Buffalo Bill Reservoir. After the death of Mr. Stout in 1958, the family proceeded to sell the ranch. Upon her retirement in 1959, Ola settled in Sheridan. She became ill late in 1977 and died at a Denver hospital on January 13, 1978. After a funeral service in Sheridan, she was buried in Powell.

Ola (Norton) Stout had three sisters, Ada, Zada, and May. Ada was born in 1883 and taught in rural schools in northern Wyoming in the early 1900s and also worked as a telegrapher for the CB&Q Railroad. In 1911 she married Gilbert Halley. They made their home in Sheridan where she died in 1972. Their daughter, Katherine, married a prominent Sheridan businessman, Raymond Zullig. Zada was born in 1885 and married Robert W. Spratt in 1910 in Garland. They lived on the Bay State Ranch near Ten Sleep, and in 1945 they went to Lost Cabin where they lived in and owned the J.B. Okie Ranch House also known as the Lost Cabin Castle. R.W. Spratt was a Wyoming Game and Fish commissioner from the 1940s to the 1960s. He died in 1965 and Zada died in 1957. May was born in 1891. She married George Taylor and spent most of her adult life in Oregon.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Stout Family Papers consist of material from the members of the Calvin Sr. and Ola (Norton) Stout Family as well as from members of their extended families including the Norton Family. The bulk of the collection spans the 1940s to the 1970s. There are some documents and photographs dating from 1877 to the 1930s. Boxes 1 and 2 contain family files that are arranged alphabetically by family name or subject. This material is comprised of photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and legal and business documents. Much of the material relates to Calvin Stout Jr. who served in World War II. Other files pertain to the Stout Ranch near Cody. The files contain business and legal documents that relate to the operation of the ranch. There are several files containing documents related to Ola Stout’s time as a telegrapher for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. Photographs include those of family members as well as early photographs of the small Wyoming communities of Garland and Lost Cabin. Box 3 contains diaries and daily planners from Ola Stout from 1940-1976, as well as audiotapes containing oral histories of Ola Stout and her sister Ada Halley that pertain to their life in the Big Horn Basin in the early 1900s. Box 4 is an oversize box that contains a scrapbook of photographs from the 1930s-1970s, and there are maps of the Stout Ranch from 1939-1969.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Stout Family Papers, Collection Number 8414, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Related Materials

There are no known other archival collections created by members of the Stout Family at the date of processing.

Acquisition Information

The Stout Family Papers were donated to the American Heritage Center by members of the Stout family between 1978 and 1983.

Processing Note

Processing Information

The collection was processed by John Richard Waggener in April 2006.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Garland, Wyoming (newspaper clippings about), 1959-1976Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 1

Halley, Ada (Ada Norton and Gilbert Halley Family)(Includes Raymond Zullig Family), 1941-1972Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 2

Howard, Ada (Ada Stout and Arlie Howard Family), 1932-1977Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 3

Lason, Leona (Leona Stout and James Lawson Family), 1963-1976Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 4

Norton Family, 1877-1977Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 5

Photographs - Garland, Wyoming, Circa 1910Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 6

Photographs - Halley, Ada Family (Includes Zullig and Norton families), 1908-1972Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 7

Photographs - Howard, Ada (Stout) Family, 1960-1974Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 8

Photographs - Lawson, Leona (Stout) Family, 1939-1976Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 9

Photographs - Miscellaneous (Includes Buffalo Bill Cody), Circa 1900-1971Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 10

Photographs - Negatives, Circa 1950s-1970sReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 11

Photographs - Norton Family (Includes images of Powell), 1886-1974Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 12

Photographs - Railroad (CB&Q), 1950-1973Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 13

Photographs - Ranch (Stout Ranch), 1940-1965Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 14

Photographs - Schilling, Joan (Stout) Family, 1945-1973Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 15

Photographs - Spratt Family (Zada Norton and Robert Spratt Family) (Includes Lost Cabin and Ten Sleep ranch areas in northern Wyoming), Circa 1920-1965Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 16

Photographs - Stout, Calvin Jr., 1924-1945Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 17

Photographs - Stout, Charles, 1948-1974Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 18

Photographs - Stout, Ola, Circa 1930s-1970sReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 19

Photographs - Stout Family (Calvin Sr. Family), Circa 1930s-1940sReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 20

Photographs - Stout Family (Calvin Sr., his brother Everett and father Charles), Circa 1890s-1970sReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 21

Ranch (Stout Ranch near Cody), 1934-1969Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 22-35

Ranch (Stout Ranch near Cody) (Includes pamphlets of Dude Ranches near Cody including the Morris Ranch), Circa 1915-1960sReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 36

Ranch (Stout Ranch near Cody) (Includes an article about the "Governor's Reception Room" door glass panel that was at the Stout Ranch), 1978-1979Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 37

Railroad - Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q) (Includes Ballantine, MT, Order of Railroad Telegraphers, Ola Stout's retirement, and the Sheridan Division), 1917-1977Return to Top

Container(s): Box 1, Folder 38-42

Schilling Family (Joan Stout and Raliegh Schilling Family), 1942-1970Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 1

Spratt Family (Zada Norton and Robert Spratt Family) (Includes Lost Cabin, Wyoming), 1940-1966Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 2

Stout, Calvin Jr. (Includes death file and correspondence during World II), 1922-1959Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 3-8

Stout, Calvin Sr., 1908-1958Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 9

Stout, Charles Family, 1948-1977Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 10

Stout, Everett Family, 1972-1973Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 11

Stout, Leona, 1940-1941Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 12

Stout, Ola, 1942-1978Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 13-16

Taylor, May (May Norton and George Taylor Family), 1965-1976Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 17

University of Wyoming Cowboys Football vs. Houston (Program and game tickets), November 22, 1969Return to Top

Container(s): Box 2, Folder 18

Diaries and Daily Planners for Ola Stout, 1940-1975Return to Top

Container(s): Box 3, Folder 1

Audiotapes of oral histories of Ola (Norton) Stout and Ada (Norton) Halley of their early memories of life in the Big Horn Basin including the town of Garland, Circa 1970Return to Top

Container(s): Box 3, Folder 2

Overzize material: Maps of Stout Ranch near Cody, 1939-1969Return to Top

Container(s): Box 4, Folder 1

Oversize material: Scrapbook containing photographs of early Big Horn Basin, Lost Cabin, Stout Family and Norton Family, Circa 1930s-1970sReturn to Top

Container(s): Box 4, Folder 2

Additional Container ListsReturn to Top

The American Heritage Center is in the process of converting its older container lists to a more accessible format. This link is to an older version of a container list.

Container(s)	Description
	Link to Accessioning Worksheet (PDF)

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Railroads -- Montana
Railroads -- Wyoming
Ranching -- Wyoming
Telegraphers
World War, 1939-1945

Geographical Names

Wyoming -- History -- 1890-1918
Wyoming -- History -- 1919-1945
Wyoming -- History -- 1946-

Form or Genre Terms

Scrapbooks
Audiotapes
Diaries
Photographs

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