Collection is open for research.
Gift of Val Monroe, 2022.
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. Items in the collection are in the order in which they were received from the donor.
"Val's Pals," also called the "River Girls," were a group of friends based in Bozeman, MT who organized women-only fishing trips in southwest Montana between 2001 and 2020. The group was formed by Val Monroe and has included the following members: Ginny Heimann, Lila Bishop, Diane Alexander, Margie Reeves, Carolyn Hopper, Dede Christman, Mary Ann Nielsen, Tove Hunter, Barb Moll, and Helen Tobol. Mostly retirees, Val's Pals traveled together each year to a different location in the southwest Montana and Yellowstone region for a group fishing retreat.
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT
Photographs are housed in plastic sleeves with labels stuck to the exterior of the sleeves. The archivist has transferred information from the labels to the back of photographs or to the pieces of paper onto which photos are pasted. Labels transferred by the archivist are written in pencil.
Processed in 2024.
The Val's Pals scrapbook documents the yearly trips of the women-only fishing group started by Val Monroe. The full title of the scrapbooks is "Val's Pals 'Ladies Only' Fly Fishing Friends 2001-2021* To Be Continued," and includes photographs and descriptions of each trip. The scrapbook is arranged by year, each of which begins with a one-to-two-page description of where the group traveled, where they stayed, who attended, the rivers they fished, and general impressions of the area. The group traveled throughout southwest Montana including Jackson, Twin Bridges, Cooke City, Fishtail, Three Forks, and Red Lodge, as well as Island Park, ID and Yellowstone National Park. Bodies of water mentioned in the scrapbook include the Big Hole River, Madison River, Ruby River, Stillwater River, Jefferson River, Lamar River, Shoshone River, East Fork of the Bitterroot River, East Rosebud River, Grasshopper Creek, Miner Creek, Mill Creek, Rey Spring Creek, Big Creek, Warm Springs Creek, Darlington Ditch, Trout Lake, and Georgetown Lake.
Copyright held by Val Monroe.