Elisabeth "Beth" Ash McElfresh (1888-1982) was one of three daughters of Mary Hedgepeth Ash. Their stepfather, Frank L. Ash, moved the family to southwest North Dakota in 1902 where he operated a sheep ranch. Beth married Waitman Wiley "Scout" McElfresh in 1905, and served as a chuckwagon cook for cattle and sheep herds in Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas and the couple lived on a ranch near Baker Montana. When her husband died in 1948, Beth joined her sisters at her mother's home in Sheridan, Wyoming, where she published her
The microfilmed Ash family papers consist of typed manuscripts created by Beth McElfresh and her sisters Joy and Jessie. They describe ranching experiences and life near Baker, Montana, along with memories of their father and mother, Frank and Mary Ash. Also included are a number of family photographs. Most of this material was subsequently published in
This collection is open for research.
Original typed reminiscences and family photographs donated by Elizabeth Ash McElfresh to the O'Fallon Historical Museum of Baker, Montana were loaned to Special Collections for copying through the efforts of Sara Kerr of Baker in 1971. The materials were returned to the museum after they were microfilmed.
This collection was processed 2017 January 11