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Robert J. Moore Manuscript Collection, 1860-2021

Overview of the Collection

Title
Robert J. Moore Manuscript Collection
Dates
1860-2021 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 box, (.25 linear feet)
Collection Number
UUS_COLL MSS 559
Summary
The Robert J. Moore Collection documents the activities of Robert J. Moore, who served in the U.S. Army during the "Indian Wars" throughout 1869-1873 and later became a Deputy Registration Officer in Stockton, Utah, in 1883-1884 as well as a First Lieutenant and Captain in the Montana National Guard in 1887.
Repository
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives Division
Special Collections & Archives
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
Logan, UT
84322-3000
Telephone: 4357978248
Fax: 4357972880
scweb@usu.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Robert J. Moore was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, in 1848. At the age of 15, during the Civil War, he enlisted as a Corporal in Kentucky's First Capital Guards at Frankfort. In 1868, after a few years of farming following the war, he enlisted in the U.S. Army's Second Calvary Regiment for a term of five years. During most of Moore's enlistment, he was stationed at Fort D. A. Russell (now Warren Air Force Base) near Cheyenne, Wyoming, and he regularly patrolled the Stillwater-Yellowstone area of Montana and Wyoming. He rose in rank quickly and was promoted to First Sergent of his Troop in 1871. Following his discharge in 1873, Moore settled in Stockton, Utah, where he married and opened a saloon. In 1881, he was hired to lead a freight trip up the Montana Trail where he was able to search for possible homesteads. Following his return to Stockton, Moore and his family relocated to Dillon, Montana, where he worked as a miner, served as an under-sheriff, and eventually became a senior Forest Examiner for the Department of Agriculture. The Moores remained in Montana until their mid-70s when they moved to California to live near their son. Robert Moore died in 1928.

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Content Description

The Robert J. Moore Collection documents the activities of Robert J. Moore, who served in the U.S. Army during the "Indian Wars" throughout 1869-1873 and later became a Deputy Registration Officer in Stockton, Utah, in 1883-1884 as well as a First Lieutenant and Captain in the Montana National Guard in 1887. The collection consists of paper materials regarding his time in the Army; his professional activities following the war; and assorted correspondence and other papers relating to savings, investments, insurance, cemetery plots, and the resolution of Moore's and his wife's estates. The collection is arranged in a single series and housed in a single document box.

The collection includes a five-page letter to the "Commander of the National Indian War Veterans" in which Moore describes his combat experiences between 1868 and 1873 in Utah and the Yellowstone-Stillwater region of Wyoming and Montana, including battles at Big Popo Agie, Atlantic Gulch, and Miners Delight. In addition, the collection features Moore's daily diary from 1881, which features a first-hand account of a freighting trip where he led one of the last wagon trains up the Montana Trail from Salt Lake City to Bozeman and delivered supplies to individual ranchers along the way.

Other items in the collection include Moore's 1871 appointment certificate as First Sergent in the Second Calvary Regiment, his 1873 U.S. Army Discharge certificate, two 1883-1884 Territory of Utah Certificates appointing him as a Deputy Registration Officer in Stockton, two 1887 Territory of Montana commissioning certificates appointing him as a First Lieutenant and Captain in the Montana National Guard, a cryptic letter received in 1899 from Little Trail Creek, a 1912 appointment and follow-up correspondence with lawyers and the Governor of Montana regarding a 1913 lawsuit filed by the widow of a former mining partner, and a copy of Moore's service record obtained from the National Archives.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Robert J. Moore Manuscript Collection must be obtained from the Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Preferred Citation

Initial Citation: Robert J. Moore Manuscript Collection USU_COLL MSS 559. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.

Following Citations:USU_COLL MSS 559, USUSCA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection is arranged semi-chronologically.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Armed Forces--Montana.
  • Armed Forces--Utah.
  • Armed Forces--Wyoming.
  • Indians of North America--Wars.

Personal Names

  • Moore, Robert J.--Diaries.

Drew Roberson and Clint Pumphrey
2021

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

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