Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame
Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT 59717-3320
United States
Phone (406) 994-4242
Fax (406) 994-2851
http://www.lib.montana.edu/archives/
University Archivist
spcoll@www.lib.montana.edu
Collection 0292, MtBC, us
Burlingame, Merrill G.
(Merrill Gildea), 1901-
Mary Hunter Doane Collection
1881-1950
8 items
The Mary Hunter Doane Collection consists of speeches,
reminiscences, and an oral history interview collected by Burlingame. The papers include: a
1931 address delivered to the Society of Montana Pioneers relating her childhood journey to
Montana Territory and early residence in Virginia City and Helena; an undated reminiscence
of her experiences and incidents of early frontier Army life; a transcription of an undated
paper she prepared for the Mount Hyalite Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
on the history of Montana forts; a transcription of an oral history interview conducted with
Merrill Burlingame in 1950 regarding St. Vincent's Academy; a portrait of Mary taken while
she was living with her husband at the Presidio, San Francisco, ca. 1880s; a dance card for
a social held at Fort Assiniboine, Montana Territory, on November 23, 1881. Two manuscript
speeches by Doane were added on August 15, 2005.
Collection materials are in English
Biographical Note
Mary Hunter Doane was born in Missouri in 1859, the oldest of six children born to Dr.
Andrew Jackson Hunter and his second wife, Susannah. In 1864, Hunter brought his family to
Montana Territory where they lived briefly in Virginia City, Helena, and Bozeman. In 1870,
Hunter staked a claim to land encompassing a hot spring near the Yellowstone River in
present day Park County and there developed a health spa. Mary grew up in Bozeman and at
Hunter's Hot Springs before she attended St. Vincent's Academy in Helena in 1876. On
December 16, 1878, she married Lieutenant Gustavus
Cheyney Doane and traveled with him to a wide variety of military posts in
Montana, California, and Arizona prior to his death in 1894. Mary remained a widow for the
rest of her life, living in Bozeman and becoming active in a number of historical
organizations such as the Society of Montana Pioneers and the Daughters of the American
Revolution. She gained a reputation as an "encyclopedia of Montana history" in her later
years, and began a friendship with Professor Merrill G. Burlingame that lasted until her
death in 1952. Burlingame both transcribed some of her writings and collected original
documents from her.
The Mary Doane collection consists of speeches, reminiscences, and an oral history
interview collected by Burlingame. The papers include: a 1931 address delivered to the
Society of Montana Pioneers relating her childhood journey to Montana Territory and early
residence in Virginia City and Helena; an undated reminiscence of her experiences and
incidents of early frontier Army life; a transcription of an undated paper she prepared for
the Mount Hyalite Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution on the history of
Montana forts; a transcription of an oral history interview conducted with Merrill
Burlingame in 1950 regarding St. Vincent's Academy; a portrait of Mary taken while she was
living with her husband at the Presidio, San Francisco, circa 1880s; a dance card for a
social held at Fort Assiniboine, Montana Territory, on November 23, 1881. Two manuscript
speeches by Doane were added on August 15, 2005.
This collection is open for research.
Speeches, reminiscence, oral history interview, photograph, and ephemera pertaining to Mary
Hunter Doane were donated to Special Collections by Merrill G. Burlingame in several
different accessions beginning in 1965. This collection incorporates accession numbers 292,
739, 792, and 2045.
This collection was processed 2009 January 30
Doane, Gustavus
Cheyney,-1840-1892
Doane, Mary
Hunter,-1859-1952
Doane, Mary
Hunter,-1859-1952
Daughters of the American
Revolution.-Mount Hyalite Chapter (Bozeman, Mont.)
Society of Montana
Pioneers
St. Vincent's Academy (Helena,
Mont.)
United States.-Army-Military
life
Fort Assiniboine (Hill County,
Mont.)
Montana-History,
Military
Presidio of San Francisco (San
Francisco, Calif.)
Catholic schools-Montana-Helena
Fortification-Montana
Frontier and pioneer
life-Montana-Helena
Frontier and pioneer life-Montana-Virginia
City
Frontier and pioneer life-West (U.S.)
Overland journeys to Montana-Personal
narratives
Oral histories-Montana
Reminiscences-Montana
Elementary and
Secondary Education
Military
Overland Journeys
to the Northwestern United States
Pioneers
Woman
Montana
Oral
Histories
Photograph
Society of Montana Pioneers speech
1931
Undated speech, "Experiences and incidents of early
frontier army life"
Essay, DAR, "History of Montana Forts"
Oral history interview
1950
"St. Vincent's Academy"
Photograph, Mary Doane
circa 1880s
Dance card, Fort Assiniboine
1881
Speech, "Historic Sites in Montana"
1930 January 10
Speech, "Greetings from the President of the Pioneers of
Gallatin County"
1935 February 22