Bancroft was born in Granville, Ohio to Azariah Ashley Bancroft and Lucy Howe Bancroft. He attended the Doane Academy in Granville for a year, and he then became a clerk in his brother-in-law's bookstore in Buffalo, New York. In March 1852, he was sent to San Francisco, California, where he initiated and managed a regional office of the business. He also began his own publishing house. In 1868, he resigned from his business in favor of his brother, A. L. Bancroft. He had accumulated a great library of historical material, and abandoned business to devote himself entirely to writing and publishing history. In the course of his research, Bancroft employed researchers and field agents to gather original materials and interview pioneers, including the subjects in this collection from Gallatin County, Montana. Bancroft's library was purchased by the University of California in 1905, and he died in 1918.
The Montana Dictations were gathered by Bancroft's field agents in 1884 and 1885. Each subject interviewed provided brief biographical data and information concerning the social life and customs in frontier Montana. The people interviewed, and the place where interviewed, are as follows: At Bozeman, Edward D. Alston (1842-1886); E. T. Campbell (1842- ); Riley Cook (1853- ); W. H. Ellis (1826- ); Peter Emmel (1840- ); E. D. Ferguson (1841- ); M. M. Ferguson (1837- ); George W. Flanders (1842- ); Thomas Garlick (1836- ); John Hanson (1840- ); D. R. Harris; Frank Hill (1837- ); Charles Holmes (1836- ); John A. Howes (1817- ); J. S. Huffine (1849- ); James Kent (1841- ); Alexander Kissell (1839- ); G. W. Krattcar (1826- ); Owen McCann (1840- ); S. J. McGuire (1850- ); George E. McKinsey (1822- ); J. W. Mardis (1841- ); R. T. Menefee (1833- ); Louis Mize (1859- ); Allen Myres (1828- ); John W. Nelson (1835-1907); W. C. Newton (1853- ); Francis Purcell (1840- ), with McCann above; John E. Reese (1819- ); Robert N. Riddle (1840-1912); William Sheppard (1846- ); Joseph Sparlin (1835- ); Moses Temple (1848- ); Thomas J. Towler (1850- ); David D. Walton (1834- ); William White (1834-1915); Amos Williams (1840- ); W. W. Wolverton (1846- ); at Central Park, Benjamin F. Dawes (1833- ); Henry Keebe (1840- ); W. H. Potter (1853- ), "the only man I have found who came out with Bozeman"; Benjamin T. Sanborn (1849- ); Mark M. White (1857- ); at Gallatin City, J. Burrell (1839- ); F. J. Dunbar (1837- ); George Hutchison (1835- ); O. W. Jay (1844- ); John Thomas Miller (1833- ); Samuel Scow (1858- ); Rufus Smith (1855- ); Asa Kimbal Stanton (1832-1896); M. Witten (1856- ); at Hillsdale, J. S. Ballard (1847- ); Andrew Cowen (1834-1899); R. M. Craven (1842- ); W. H. Murray (1847- ); at Riverside, O. Byam (1854- ); at Salesville, C. Etherington (1831- ); John W. Marshall (1844- ); at Three Forks, T. T. Callaghan (1854- ); A. L. Shed (1853- ); D. A. Swarner (1852- ); at Willow Creek, E. S. Banta (1832- ); G. L. Dukes (1824- ); George W. Hoskins (1824- ).
These photocopies of original documents held by the Bancroft Library are provided for research use only. No further reproduction is permitted. Written permission of the Head of Public Services of The Bancroft Library is required for publication/citation.
Photocopies of original transcribed interviews with Gallatin County, Montana, pioneers gathered by agents of Hubert Howe Bancroft and part of the collections of the Bancroft Library, University of California, were donated to Montana State University by Jock Eggers in the summer of 1982. The citation of the original documents at the Bancroft is BANC MSS P-I30, Montana Dictations: Gallatin County, 1884-1885.
This collection was processed 2014 November 13