Gustavus C. Doane papers, 1860-1939

Personal and family correspondence written or received by Gustavus C. Doane, his first wife Amelia Link Doane, second wife Mary Hunter Doane, mother Nancy Davis Doane, and sister Anna G. Doane, and a few other friends and relatives. The earliest letters from California describe conditions there during the Civil War. Other exchanges between Gustavus and Mary Doane describe experiences at various frontier posts in Montana and Arizona. The most extensive files contain letters from Mary at the Presidio, California, and Gustavus on duty in southeastern Arizona during the first half of 1886.

The Military Papers series contains orders, letters, minor reports, clothing and equipment returns, and other military documents created or collected by Gustavus Doane during his post-Civil War career. Correspondents include Nelson A. Miles, Samuel D. Sturgis, and James S. Brisbin. Many of the orders and letters are "true copies," prepared by Doane or at Doane's request from originals held elsewhere.

The subject files contain reports, notes, letters, printed materials, and other original documents pertaining to Doane's life as compiled by Merrill G. Burlingame in preparation for a biographical work. Also part of this series are affidavits for missing property claims, the patent and specifications for the Doane Centennial Tent, and extensive reports and field notes for the Judith Basin Survey and the Snake River Expedition. Correspondents found in this series include John Gibbon, Doane's collaborator in the development of the Centennial Tent. Printed materials in this series pertain to the Second U.S. Cavalry, the Howgate Arctic Expedition, and general topics regarding the Indian wars and the frontier military.

This series contains letter books which Doane originally kept to track his own correspondence, but later adapted for the filing of receipts and return letters. Doane pasted the material within the volumes without maintaining any apparent order, and the inclusive dates of any of the four volumes are an estimate. Many of the letters pasted into the 1886-1891 book pertain to Doane's attempts to gain the superintendency of Yellowstone National Park.

This series consists of typed and handwritten research notes and transcriptions of original primary and secondary sources, both from this collection and those held elsewhere, prepared by Merrill G. Burlingame while preparing a biography of Gustavus C. Doane. The material in this series repeats and supplements the documents found in Series 3 Subject Files.