Bob Wethern Papers, 1900-2006

This collection consists primarily of Bob Wethern's research materials, notes, and drafts related to two substantial but unfinished writing projects.

Series 1: Tackle Counter Tales (TCT), 1920-2006. This series contains material related to a planned published collection of hunting and fishing anecdotes. Wethern divided the project into two parts, "Hunting Humor" and "Fishing Funnies." It includes interview transcripts and notes, correspondence, printed material (primarily newspaper and magazine clippings), photocopies, photographs, notes and drafts, and historical materials collected by Wethern. There are also several files related to Wethern's assistance with the early stages of Robert H. Smith's book, Native Trout of North America (1984). There is no particular arrangement in this series; Wethern's files on individuals, general subjects, and special topics are intermixed.

Series 2: The Waterfowler's Pacific Flyway (TWPF), 1953-2003. This project was planned as a work, in partnership with artist David Hagerbaumer, of anecdotes and history framed geographically by the Pacific flyway. This migratory path of birds, mostly waterfowl, stretches from the Arctic region in the far north to Central America in the south. The files for Wethern's flyway project include correspondence; documentation from interviews; newspapers and other printed material; copies of archival documents; files of historical materials collected by Wethern; photographs; and manuscript drafts of some sections and chapters. With the exception of some materials organized topically, this series is arranged in a roughly geographical sequence from south to north by region, state, or province, beginning with coastal areas and continuing with inland areas.

Series 3: Photographs, 1900-1990 (bulk 1979-1990). This series contains photographic images in a variety of formats (slides, prints, negatives, photocopies), primarily reproductions of photographs from archival collections gathered by Wethern for Tackle Counter Tales and the Waterfowler's Pacific Flyway. Other photographs, which were mingled with related materials, were left in Wethern's filing order to preserve contextual information and are located in Series 1 and 2.

Series 4: Index card file and computer diskettes, circa 1980-1990. This series consists of an index card file with Wethern's project notes, and computer diskettes with word processing files.

Note about dates: in the Container List, the dates given for photocopied materials generally reflect the dates of Wethern's research activity, when the material was reproduced and the copies were collected, rather than the dates of the original items.