Gustaf "Gus" M. Carlson was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, August 21, 1907, the son of Gustaf "Gust" and Anna J. Carlson, Swedish immigrants. He graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1931 as a mining engineer. The following year he got a masters degree in geology from the same school. He moved to Helena, Montana, where his father and brother Lars were officers of the Montana-Idaho Mines Company and its successor the Montana Consolidated Mines Corporation. The companies owned the Spring Hill Mine, south of Helena, and the East Pacific Mine, near Winston, among others. When the Spring Hill closed at the beginning of World War II, Gus Carlson enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served from 1942 to 1946 in Virginia and Hawaii. Gus Carlson later returned to Helena, where he was a specialist in diamond drill exploration. He did survey work at many mines around the state. Gus Carlson married Dorothy Clements in 1964. He died in Helena in the summer of 1996. Gust Carlson, Sr. was born in Dalsland, Sweden September 17, 1869. He settled in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1893. He founded the Carlson Exploration Company there in 1903. He helped develop mining claims around the west, including a zinc mine in Wallace, Idaho, and the Spring Hill Mine near Helena. He was knighted by King Gustaf V of Sweden in 1923 in recognition of his prominence in Swedish American affairs. His wife was Hanna Forsman and they had three sons and two daughters. Gust Carlson died November 28, 1956, on a return trip to Duluth from Helena.
Collection consists predominantly of subject files kept by Gustaf "Gus" M. Carlson and his father Gustaf "Gust" Carlson on local mines including the Spring Hill (near Unionville), the Klondyke and the Sourdough (in Elkhorn); the East Pacific and the Kleinschmidt (near Townsend); the Drumlummon (near Marysville); mines in the Corbin and Wickes area; and other mines in Montana and Idaho. The most extensive files concern the Spring Hill Mine (near Unionville), owned by the Montana Consolidated Mines Corporation, and includes daily mine production reports (1939-1940), diamond drilling records, and level books. Also included are general subject files on mining processes and maps [OVERSIZE MATERIAL: Map Case] of Iron Ore and Eureka Gulches, Leslie Lake Group, the Skyline, and mines and claims near Corbin and Marysville. [Photographs and maps transferred to the Photograph Archives and Library respectively].
by series
available upon request
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection