Gareth C. Moon Papers, 1941-1993

The collection contains former Montana State Forester Gareth C. Moon’s personal papers and materials related to the preparation of his book, A History of Montana State Forestry (Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1991). The personal papers include correspondence, Moon’s compositions for Freshman English, certificates and awards, and one photograph. One item of note is a typewritten copy of a narrative written by Moon’s grandfather, Abraham Ledieu, a French-Canadian who came to the Montana territory prior to 1820. In the narrative, Ledieu recalls his exploits with western exploration and hunting parties in the Montana territory and his work carrying mail to Fort Union and surrounding outposts.

The collection also contains materials related to Gareth C. Moon’s history of Montana State Forestry. These materials include clippings, correspondence, manuscript drafts, and twenty audiocassette tape recordings of Moon discussing the history of Montana forestry. The recordings were typed into narrative form by Mike Moon and probably became the basis for his publication. The collection includes a draft of the manuscript from 1985 and another draft with a foreword completed in 1988, that was published as a book in 1991