Theodore Norman was born in Clark County, Missouri on February 15, 1841. In 1857 he traveled to California as a freighter. He made his home in California until 1870 when he came to Montana and again worked as a freighter and prospector. He eventually purchased an irrigated farm in the Gallatin Valley, and a separate home on a parcel near the town of Bozeman. Norman married Josephine L. Gee on February 22, 1877 and the couple had nine children. Theodore Norman died in 1932.
The Theodore Norman diary and record book transcription describes his travel between Missouri and California from 1869-1870, and a portion of his trip from Corinne, Utah to Montana Territory. Also included are accounts and a record of farm production and calves born from about 1870 to 1889.
This collection is open for research.
An original diary and record book created by Theodore Norman was loaned to Special Collections for transcription by Frank Norman of Belgrade, Montana on September 23, 1965. The diary was returned to Norman following its transcription by library personnel, and a carbon of the typed transcript was provided to the Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana, who assigned it collection number SC 144. The present location of the original diary is unknown.
This collection was processed 2009 October 7