View XML QR Code

Frank C. Craighead papers, 1907-2025

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Craighead, Frank C., Jr. (Frank Cooper), 1916-2001
Title
Frank C. Craighead papers
Dates
1907-2025 (inclusive)
Quantity
60 linear feet, (144 boxes)
Collection Number
2650
Summary
This collection contains the collected research of Dr. Frank C. Craighead Jr. (1916-2001), a scientist and naturalist. He is best known for his studies of grizzly and black bears in Yellowstone Park with his twin brother John Craighead, which were done to learn about the animal's habits and movements. This long-term study led the brothers to develop the radio-tracking of wildlife to learn the bear's movements and habits and how they interacted with and impacted the park. Papers and correspondence detailing this study, as well as photos and publications, make up most of the collection's contents. Also included are papers relating to Dr. Craighead's other research into raptors, mountain wildflowers and wilderness survival, among other subjects.
Repository
Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Frank Cooper Craighead Jr. was born, along with his twin brother John, on August 14, 1916, in Washington D.C. to Dr. Frank C. Craighead Senior and Carolyn Johnson Craighead. Along with their parents and younger sister Jean, Frank and John spent their childhood in the D.C. area participating in many outdoor activities, including fishing and natural history. The long association with the natural world was both a hobby and a passion for Frank and John. Their first turn towards professional was in 1934 when they took a trip out west to Wyoming with friends to pursue their long-time hobby of falconry. The photos and observations of this trip led to their first article "Adventures with Birds of Prey," published in National Geographic in 1937. They published their first book together, Hawks in the Hand, in 1939. Both brothers attended Pennsylvania State University for undergraduate degrees in science and received MS Degrees in Ecology and Wildlife Management from University of Michigan. Both completed their PhDs at the University of Michigan in 1949.

Throughout these years, they continued their own personal work with birds, and their published articles caught the attention of K.S. "Bapa" Dharmakumarsinjhi, an Indian prince who reached out and visited the brothers in the U.S., then invited them to visit his own falconry operation. That year long visit, paid for by the National Geographic Society, created a film about the experience Life with an Indian Prince. Later in life, they also published a book on the visit. They had both started working on their doctorates in 1941, but the outbreak of World War II shifted their plans of study. Although both had intended to enlist in the U.S. Army, the US Navy recruited them to set up a survival training program for pilots and sailors during the conflict. As USNR Lieutenants, they worked in Pensacola, Florida, and also trained with other Navy instructors in the Marshall Islands and Philippines. As part of their work with the Navy, the manual How to Survive on Land and Sea was published. They continued conducting survival training with the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War.

Frank's career first took place outside of formal academia. He worked with the government on classified defense research from 1953 to 1955, then managed the Desert Game Range in Nevada from 1955-1957. In the late 1950s he also worked for the US Forest Service in DC, and from 1967 to 1977, he worked for the State University of New York at Albany. In 1959, the brothers reunited professionally to begin their study of the grizzly bears of Yellowstone National Park. The study, which lasted until 1971, involved the trapping of over six hundred grizzlies. The bears had never been studied to this extent to learn about their habits (food, denning, for example), and it was hoped that this research would help to learn how to manage the bear population as it interacted with humans. John Craighead was first approached about the project, and then he drew Frank into it. Their greatest contribution was the development of wildlife radio telemetry, to create radio collars to be placed on the bears, and then use radio signals and antenna to track their movements to figure out where the bears where going and what effect that had on the bears, people and the park itself. As part of this process, they had to develop techniques to tranquilize the bears in order to put the collars on them without putting the workers in danger from the bear, and vice versa. Because the data showed the bears ranged beyond the park, Frank and John expanded the definition of "Yellowstone" the borders of the 3,500 square mile park to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to allow for this movement. This definition means that a 18,750–34,375 square mile area spanning MT, ID and WY, including Grand Teton National Park. This expanded the research focus of their work, and all of the flora and fauna within it. The Craigheads are also well-known for their contributions to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.

Starting in the 1950s the Craigheads went on rafting trips as part of their survival trainings. This led them both to appreciate the beauty and importance of the rivers, and the need to protect them. They wrote an article for Naturalists in 1957 proposing a river classification system to help people better understand this, as well determine where human intervention would help or harm. In 1958, Frank was asked to prepare a paper on this topic to help with the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, which was set up to study the country's recreation needs and determine how to classify rivers of great scientific and recreational value, among other classifications. He did this via his Outdoor Recreation Institution, collecting a list of 650 rivers to be considered for designation as National Rivers. This was part of the overreaching push for the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 to designate and protect rivers. In addition to their work on the grizzlies, they also conducted studies on elk, geese and birds of prey, and published research on these various animals. They became well-known to the world through not only their research, but also the films and photographs they produced featuring their work. Frank also published two books: Track of the Grizzly and For Everything There is a Season.

In 1964, Frank founded the Environmental Research Institute in Moose, Wyoming. The organization grew out of Frank's project, the Outdoor Recreation Institution, which was formed as part of his research into wild rivers. The name of the organization changed to the Craighead Environmental Research Institute, then changed a final time to the Craighead institute. Since its founding, it has designed and managed research projects focused on Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Northern Rockies, and also global projects. Its goal is to research and maintain healthy ecosystems for the people, animals and plants living in them.

Frank married Esther Stevens, with whom he had three children: Lance, Charlie and Jana. In the late 1960s Frank and Esther permanently moved to Moose, Wyoming after years of commuting/traveling to their cabin, and would live there the rest of their lives. Esther passed away in 1980, and in 1987 Frank married his second wife Shirley. Frank passed away in 2001 at age 85 from complications of Parkinson's Disease.

Return to Top

Content Description

This collection documents the research and career of Frank Craighead (1916-2001), naturalist and researcher. The bulk of the collection concerns Frank's work in wildlife biology and science, particularly his work with his twin brother John on grizzlies and black bears in Yellowstone National Park (1959-1971)that pioneered wildlife radio tracking and management. By devising a way to safely tranquilize the bears, and then fitting them with radio collars, they were able to track them via bio-telemetry and satellite from a distance and also using the technology to track the bears even to their own dens. This study not only helped in learning about the bears and their habits, but also helped to expand understanding of Yellowstone Park and how animals moved about it, expanding wildlife studies and management beyond just the park to focus on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This research and study also helped to inform the conservation movement around the park, as well as lead to deeper understanding of wildlife ecology. Also present is research on raptors and other birds of prey, as well as Canadian geese and other animals, spanning from initial publications in the 1930s up through the 1990s. This also includes drafts and final copies of several of his published manuscripts, including Track of the Grizzly, and the brothers' joint work Survival on Land and Sea written for the U.S. Navy. The brothers' publications started with their National Geographic articles in the 1930s, and covered a range of books up until Dr. Craighead's final book, For Everything There is a Season.

In addition to Dr. Craighead's research, there are also numerous scientific and professional publications, as well as works of other scientists that he collected as related to his own research.

Included in this collection are research and correspondence related to Dr. Craighead's work in developing the radio-tracking of wildlife, mainly bears and other large mammals, as well as various projects and media endeavors with groups such as National Geographic and U.S. Park Service. The Craighead brothers' conservation work also included working to preserve wild river systems, leading them to do research in support of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. While there is a series made up of correspondence kept and organized by Frank Craighead or one of his secretaries, there is correspondence spread throughout the collection.

Audiovisual materials include photographs (mostly of grizzly and survival research) and audio recordings of lectures. Maps, mostly annotated, complement other research material. The Craighead Institute's website also forms its own series.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph], [Year if available], [Collection title], Box [Box number], Folder [Folder number], Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections, Montana State University Library.

Preferred Citation

[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is divided into the following series: Research, Correspondence, Photographs, Publications, Audiovisual Materials, Maps, and Web Archive. Materials were generally kept in the same arrangement as they arrived in.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Craighead Institute, 2019.

Custodial History

The collection was held by the Craighead Institute prior to donation. Portions of the collection were damaged by or lost to a structure fire at the Craighead home in Moose, WY.

Processing Note

Upon donation, the collection was reviewed to determine its contents, and then virtually arranged by series based on the review. Boxes were physically grouped by series, and reboxed. During the review, duplicate items (papers, publications) were pulled and one copy remained. The initial processing was completed in December of 2020. In preperation for digitization, additional processing and decriptive work was completed in 2022.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Animal radio tracking
  • Conservationists--Montana
  • Habitat (Ecology)
  • Naturalists--Montana
  • Wildlife conservation

Personal Names

  • Craighead, Frank C., Jr. (Frank Cooper), 1916-2001--Archives
  • Craighead, John J. (John Johnson) 1916-2016

Corporate Names

  • Craighead Institute
  • Environmental Research Institute (Moose, Wyo.)

Geographical Names

  • Yellowstone National Park

Form or Genre Terms

  • Articles
  • Audio visual materials
  • Correspondence
  • Manuscripts
  • Maps
  • Photographs
  • Photographs
  • Research (documents)
  • Web archives

Finding aid prepared by Sophia Phillips (2020) and Courtney Griffin (2022)
2022

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...