Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Wallace Family records, 1926-1959
Overview of the Collection
- Title
- Wallace Family records
- Dates
- 1926-1959 (inclusive)19261959
- Quantity
- 0.50 cubic feet
- Collection Number
- MG 494
- Summary
- Correspondence, legal documents, photographs, and newspaper clippings created by the Wallace Family from their time at Cabin Creek and Big Creek, Idaho.
- Repository
-
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
From the 1920s, Merl R. Wallace operated the United States Forest Service Cabin Creek ranger station, 6 miles upstream of Taylor Ranch, now the Taylor Wilderness Research Station, located in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. Merl married Jeannette (Jean) Orr in May 1927 and shortly after Merl and Jean developed the Flying W cattle ranch in nearby Big Creek Idaho. While living there, they had a son named William Borah (Bill) Wallace. The Wallaces eventually left the area and divorced. Jean raised Bill in Boise and Merl moved to Alaska and remarried. Bill Wallace attended the University of Idaho, graduating with a degree in Forestry in 1951, going on to deliver mail along Big Creek by horseback in 1952.
In 2005, Taylor Ranch managers Jim and Holly Akenson met Bill Wallace and his wife Mary Acker at a College of Natural Resources alumni event and invited them to visit Taylor Ranch. It was Bill's first time on Big Creek in 30 years. They flew in and were taken up on a pack trip to Cabin Creek and saw the old cabin where Bill was born. As this new relationship developed, Bill Wallace and Mary Acker decided to donate money to the Unviersity of Idaho to renovate Taylor's historic Lewis Cabin, constructed by homesteader Dave Lewis between 1911 and 1921, and who had been a friend of Bill's mother, Jean.
Unfortunately, neither Bill nor Mary lived to see the cabin renovation completed in summer 2008. However, Bill's daughter Barbara, flew out to Taylor to see the completion of her father's work. It was about this time that Barbara entrusted her family's historical material to the Taylor Ranch.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The material was collected and preserved by Barbara "Babs" Johnson (Wallace), granddaughter of Merl and Jean Wallace. The material was originally saved in two large blue binders and comprises of original Wallace family documents. There are legal documents (including a marriage certificate), photos, maps, and clippings, but the bulk of the content is correspondence from Merl to Jean, covering much of the time that Merl Wallace lived on Cabin Creek and Big Creek. Envelopes if present are inlcuded after each letter. Letters from Jean to Merl were not included and presumed to have been lost. Also included is a short autobiography written by Jean later in life.
The original order of the contents was preserved, and the series numbers denote the original binders.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
[DESCRIPTION OF ITEM], Wallace Family records, MG 494, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, ID.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Barbara Johnson (Wallace) donated the collection to the Taylor Ranch Wilderness Station in 2009. Amie-June Brumble, station manager at Taylor Wilderness Research Station deposited the binders at Special Collections in 2011 for preservation and safe keeping (MA 2011-03).
Related Materials
Related materials may be found in Manuscript Group 190 David (Cougar Dave) Lewis Papers.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series 1: Wallace Family Records, Binder 1, 1926-1934Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Clippings, Idaho Highway Map, Flying W Ranch pamphlet 8 items
|
undated |
| 1 | 2 | Marriage License and Certificate 1 item
|
25-26 May 1927 |
| 1 | 3 | Idaho Folklore, written for Idaho Writer's Project, Works Progress Administration, contributed by Mrs. Jean O. Wallace 5 items
|
20 July 1937, undated |
| 1 | 4 | Idaho Primitive Area, Points for Consideration 1 item
|
25 November 1930 |
| 1 | 5 | Autobiography - Jean Orr Curtis 1 item
|
undated |
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence 4 items
|
1926, undated |
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence 9 items
|
January-April 1927 |
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence 12 items
|
May 1927 |
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence
6 items : Note on letter dated 30 March 1928 saying date must be wrong - Billie was born in 1933
|
1928-1930 |
| 1 | 10 | Correspondence 5 items
|
1931 |
| 1 | 11 | Correspondence 16 items
|
1932 |
| 1 | 12 | Correspondence 27 items
|
1933 |
| 1 | 13 | Correspondence 12 items
|
1934 |
Series 2: Wallace Family Records, Binder 2, 1934-1959Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 14 | Alaska Steamship Tickets, Alaska Map 4 items
|
undated |
| 1 | 15 | Photographs 17 photographic prints
|
4 July 1932, undated |
| 1 | 16 | Photographs 10 photographic prints
|
undated |
| 1 | 17 | Photographs 21 photographic prints
|
undated |
| 1 | 18 | "Building a Log Cabin" by Chilson D. Aldrich 1 item
|
1930 |
| 1 | 19 | Correspondence
6 items : Note on letter dated Tuesday the 28th states "I think the was written after Merle went to Alaska and he and Jean divorced" GWM 9-15-2010
|
1934 |
| 1 | 20 | Correspondence 11 items
|
1935 |
| 1 | 21 | Correspondence 5 items
|
1936 |
| 1 | 22 | Correspondence 16 items
|
1937 |
| 1 | 23 | Correspondence, Taxes 17 items
|
1938 |
| 1 | 24 | Correspondence 6 items
|
1939-1941 |
| 1 | 25 | Correspondence 17 items
|
1942-1943 |
| 1 | 26 | Correspondence 6 items
|
1944 |
| 1 | 27 | The Frontiersman
1 item : Volume 1, number 49
|
7 May 1947 |
| 1 | 28 | Affidavit, License, Correnspondence, Story 8 items
|
August 1947-November 1959, undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Correspondence
Geographical Names
- Big Creek
- Cabin Creek
- Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness (Idaho)
- Taylor Wilderness Research Station
Finding aid created by Amy Thompson
2020
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
