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Leslie Watson "Gay" Randall Papers, 1817-1960

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Randall, L.W. (Leslie Watson), 1893-1970
Title
Leslie Watson "Gay" Randall Papers
Dates
1817-1960 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 linear feet, (3 boxes)
Collection Number
Mss 044
Summary
Gay Randall managed his family's dude ranch, the OTO Ranch, near Gardiner, Montana, and later wrote about the ranch and early days in the West and near Yellowstone National Park. The collection contains family genealogy, Randall's writings, and numerous photographs of the ranch.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and the University of Montana--Missoula.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Leslie Watson "Gay" Randall, was born in 1893 in Gardiner, Montana, and grew up on the OTO Ranch. His father, James Norris "Dick" Randall, had bought the property in the Cedar Creek Valley, northeast of Gardiner, Montana, just outside Yellowstone National Park, in spring 1898. He intended it to be a ranch, but soon began hosting hunters. Soon the ranch became a dude ranch, the OTO Ranch, one of the first of its kind in Montana. It became a thriving business; by the 1910s, Randall became well-known as "Mr. Dude Ranch" in regional and national publications. The physical facilities of the ranch expanded to include a lodge, guest cabins, and other buildings. Demand for dude ranch vacations increased notably after World War I, and the Dude Ranch Association was founded in 1926 in Bozeman, Montana. With the 1930s Depression, business slowed, and the Randalls sold out to C.T. Libby in 1934.

Randall was married to Wiletta Gertrude Husted, who was born in 1897 in Livingston, Montana. They had three children: Abigail Josephine, William Edward (born 1918), and George Richard. Gay managed the OTO Ranch for a time; he produced advertising and marketing materials for the ranch. By the early 1950s, he was publishing stories of the Old West in popular magazines and living in Clarkston, Washington. He published Footprints Along the Yellowstone, stories of frontier Montana, in 1961. He also wrote an article in Montana, the Magazine of Western History on his father and the history of dude ranching in Montana and Wyoming. He died in 1970.

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Content Description

The collection contains family genealogy, Randall's writings, and numerous photographs of the ranch. Randall's writings consist of magazine and newspaper articles and an unpublished book that offer his perspective on the early West, the beginnings of dude ranching in Montana, and the early history of Yellowstone National Park. The photographs, most of which were originally produced for publicity materials for the OTO Ranch, also show the Randall family and some early history of Yellowstone National Park.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number], Leslie Watson "Gay" Randall Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series:

Series I: Genealogy, 2 folders, 1817, 1945

Series II: Writings, 1 linear foot, 1951-1960

Series III: Photographs, 0.5 linear feet, 1886-1941

Custodial History

The materials remained in the possession of the Randall Family until transfer to the Archives.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Bill Randall, 1977. Transfer to the Archives was facilitated by Joel Bernstein and Glenda Bradshaw.

Processing Note

The original processers arranged the collection, produced a cursory finding aid, and separated photographs from the collection; some were integrated into the Archives' photograph collections, and some remained unprocessed. In 2004, the collection was reprocessed: photographs were integrated, the collection (formerly the Gay Randall Papers) was re-named, the collection was minimally re-arranged, and a new finding aid was produced.

Separated Materials

During original processing a Swedish psalmbook was moved to the Special Collections department.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Jodi Allison-Bunnell
2004

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

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