Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives
Allred papers
UUS_COLL MSS 118
9 boxes
4 linear feet
1880-1982
Correspondence, personal writings, reports, and reprints covering Allred's professional life and interests. The bulk of the material covers the topics of cattle, cattle trails, western livestock raising, and western historical topics. The collection contains several items relating to Utah history, especially to San Juan County.
Material in English
Processed in May of 2006.
Acquisition information is unknown.
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Allred papers must be obtained from the Special Collections and Archives manuscript curator and/or the Special Collections and Archives department head.
Initial Citation: Allred Papers USU_COLL MSS 118, Box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.
Following Citations: USU_COLL MSS 118, USUSCA.
Berten Wendell Allred was a soil conservationist, a rancher, and a historian and his papers reflect these interests. As a young man, he worked and lived as a cowboy in southern Utah. He later became a soil scientist and began to work for the federal government. Eventually he ended up in Washington, D. C. It was here, in the nation's capital, that he became more academically oriented towards western history. He became active in the Westerners and, together with Jeff Dykes and Fred Renner, formed the Buckaroos. The purpose of this group was to review western Americana books for Westerners' publications
The collection has been divided into three main series--personal material, professional and consultant work, and western history subject files and reprints.
Allred's personal files are comprised of correspondence, biographical material, and his own essays and articles. The correspondence has been processed alphabetically by correspondent. Worthy of note are the correspondence files relating to western artist and author Ross Santee. Allred and Santee were friends, and upon Santee's death, Allred began to work on a biography of the late author. While involved in this project, Allred wrote to and received letters from, Santee's friends and relatives concerning the author. This material is found in the Santee correspondence files. Included in this material are two letters from Santee to Allred that are illustrated with watercolors.
In addition to the correspondence and biographical files are a series of articles and essays written by Allred. These articles reflect his interests in cattle breeds, rangeland, cattle trails, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, outlaws, and general western history topics. Several of his essays relate his experiences while a young man "punchin cows" in southern Utah.
The collection contains a small amount of Allred's professional work. After he retired in the late 1960s, he continued to do range work. Pertinent to this area are his notes and the federal reports on a study done on the Bear River Basin drainage system. Also, in the section are reports from work that Allred did in Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and Mali.
Finally, the collection houses subject files and a series of reprints relating to western history topics. These articles have been arranged alphabetically by author.
Organized into three series-I. Personal, II. Professional, III. Western history subject files and reprints.
Photographs have been removed from the collection and can be found in the A-Board historical photograph collection.
La Sal Mountains (Utah)
Dominquez-Escalante Trail.
Tonto National Forest (Ariz.)--History.
Bear River (Utah-Idaho)
Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)
Green River (Wyo.-Utah)
Cattle trails--West (U.S.)
Cattle breeds
Trails--West (U.S.)
Ranch life--Utah.
Ranch life--Texas.
Range ecology
Conservation of natural resources
Rangelands--Revegetation
Rangelands--Arizona--History.
Ranching
Personal
Series I
undated
Personal materials - Correspondence, Biographical Material and Personal Writings
Incoming Correspondence
undated
1
1
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent, A-L
Incoming Correspondence
undated
1
2
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent, M-Z
Outgoing Correspondence
undated
1
3
Correspondence with J. Evetts Haley
undated
1
4
Correspondence with Louis P. Merrill
undated
1
5
Correspondence with and about, Ross Santee
undated
1
6-11
Biographical Material
undated
1
12-13
Jeff Dykes' appraisal of Allred's book and art collection
undated
1
14
Book catalogues offered by Allred
undated
1
15
"A Personal History
undated
1
16
Folders 16-29 are articles and essays written by Allred that cover the topics of cattle breeds and rangeland issues.
"The Beefmaster Breed"
undated
1
17
"Brahman or Zebu"
undated
1
18
Chapters on various cattle breeds
undated
1
19-20
"Charbray"
undated
1
21
"Herefords"
undated
1
22
"Perfection Breeding and Feeding a Spring Valley Hereford Farms"
undated
1
23
"Conservation of Argentina's Natural Pasture"
undated
1
24
"Fat Cows and Good Grass or Lean Cows and Gullies"
undated
1
25
"How to Develop G.P. Conservation Program Contracts Where Either Public Lands or Unsecured Leased Lands are Used by a Producer"
undated
1
26
"The Place of Grazing Lands In the World Economy"
undated
1
27
"Utah Natural Resources - Wildlife"
undated
1
28
"Utah Ranges are a Vast Multiple Purpose Renewable Resource Little Understood."
undated
1
29
Essays and articles written by Allred
undated
Covers topics of cattle trails and general western history
"American Cattle Trails"
undated
2
1
"The Chisholm Trail"
undated
2
2
"Colonial Seaboard Cattle Trails"
undated
2
3
"Colonial Settlement and Cattle Origins"
undated
2
4
"First Texas Longhorn Beefsteaks in New York, 1854"
undated
2
5
"A Stand Up Shoot-Out"
undated
2
6
"Broomtails"
undated
2
7
"Chasing Mavericks in the Cedars"
undated
2
8
"Cowboy Miser"
undated
2
9
"The Cross H Ranch"
undated
2
10
"Danites - The Mormons' Secret Service. Porter Rockwell, Bill Hickman, John D. Lee"
undated
2
11
"Environmental Quality"
undated
2
12
"Erosion On the Chisholm Trail"
undated
2
13
"The First Western Rendezvous"
undated
2
14
"Flat Top Ranch"
undated
2
15
"History Grazing on Tonto National Forests as told to Allred by Rangers Fred W. Croxen and Joe H. Hand""
undated
2
16
"History of the American Cowboy and Cattle Ranching"
undated
2
17
(Handwritten manuscript)
"Horse Thief Trail"
undated
2
18
"I Cut My Teeth on a Saddlehorn"
undated
2
19
"Injun Medicine"
undated
2
20
"The Life of a Horse and Buggy Stageline Operator"
undated
2
21
"Nick Wilson Story, Granstville, Utah"
undated
2
22
"Joseph Nimmo's Scarce Report of the Early Range Cattle Trade"
undated
2
23
Joseph Nimo, Jr. correspondence and notes to an introduction about Nimmo
undated
2
24
"Mercur"
undated
2
25
"The Pleasant Valley Feud"
undated
2
26
"Punchin Cows"
undated
2
27
Sheepherders Song
undated
2
28
"To Zion in a Handcart"
undated
2
29
"The Green: Rendezvous River"
undated
2
30
"Rivers that Feed America's Dead Sea
undated
2
31
"The Sacramento: Nile of the West"
undated
2
32
"The Utah War - 1857-1858 or Buchanan's Blunder"
undated
2
33
"West Desert"
undated
2
34
Articles and essays written by Allred
undated
"Rivers that Feed Old Lake Bonneville"
undated
3
1
"Miscellaneous Essays by Allred"
undated
3
2-3
Biographical Sketches - Jeff Dykes, John Ross Browne, Tom Horn, Oury Brothers, Burton Mossman, William Wolfskill, and Mary Hunter Austin
undated
3
4
Notes
undated
3
5-9
Articles by Allred in the Sheep and Goat Raiser magazine
undated
3
10
Notes from Saudi Arabian work.
undated
3
11
Oral interview of Allred conducted by Charles Peterson
undated
3
12-13
"Grand and San Juan County Reminiscences About William Eugene Gordon,"
1973 May 18
3
14-16
The remainder of the box contains six spiral notebooks with notes about various topics that were of interest to Allred.
Professional
Series II
undated
Consultant work conducted by Allred
undated
Bear River Basin Inventory and Assessment of the Biotic Resources.
undated
4
1
Utah Division of Water Resources
"Land Quality of the Croplands, Rangelands and Commercial Forest Areas of the Bear River Basin"
undated
4
1
Utah Division of Water Resources
Bear River Basin project notes, etc.
undated
4
2-8
Consultant Work
undated
4
9-16
Reports from the Bear River Basin Project
undated
5
(2 books)
Materials from Allred's work in Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Africa
undated
6
Correspondence regarding work in Mali
undated
6
1-3
Reports from Mali
undated
6
4-8
Notes on African work
undated
6
9
Material from work in Argentina
undated
6
10-18
LaSal National Forest History and excerpts from the Grand Valley Times
undated
7
Western History Subject Files and Reprints
Series III
undated
Subject Files
undated
American Cattleman's Association
undated
8
1
America's Cattle Trails - Map
undated
8
2
Camp Floyd
undated
8
3
Dobie, J. Frank
undated
8
4
Map of Moab area
undated
8
5
Old Trail Drivers Association of Texas
undated
8
6
Predator problems in Utah - Articles about
undated
8
7
Redd Ranch - Clippings about
undated
8
8
Swan Cattle and Land Company
undated
8
9-12
Photographs of maps and trails in American history
undated
8
13-16
U.S.D.A.
undated
8
17
Utah Cattle History - Clippings about
undated
8
18
Utah Cattlemen's Association
undated
8
19
Utah Historic Trail Maps
undated
8
20
Utah War
undated
8
21
The Westerners - miscellaneous publications
undated
8
22
The Westerners - San Diego Corral publications
undated
8
23
The Westerners - Potomac Corral publications
undated
8
24
The Westerners - Tucson Corral publications
undated
8
25
Wyoming Hereford Ranch
undated
8
26
Reprints
undated
Articles about the western range appearing in the American Cattle producer
undated
9
1-3
"B"
undated
9
4
Bell, James G.
Item: 1
1932-1933
"A Log of the Texas-California Cattle Trail, 1854." Southwestern Historical Quarterly.(3 parts)
Reprints "B"
undated
9
5
Bishko, Charles Julian
Item: 1
1952
"The Peninsular Background of Latin American Cattle Ranching" The Hispanic American Historical Review
Bogue, Allan
Item: 2
1947 July
The Progress of the Cattle Industry in Ontario During the Eighteen Eighties". Reprinted from Agricultural History 21: 163-168
Bonner, James G.
Item: 3
1963 Spring
"The Open Range Livestock Industry in Colonial Georgia" Reprinted from the Georgia Review. 27: 85-92
Burnett, Edmund Cody
Item: 4
1963 July
"The Hog Drivers' Play-Song and Some of its Relatives." Reprinted from Agricultural History. 23: 161-168
Reprints "D"
undated
9
6
Dobie, J. Frank
Item: 1
1949 January
"Tom Candy Pontin's Drive of Texas Cattle to Illinois." The Cattleman
Duffield, George C.
Item: 2
1924 April
"Driving Cattle from Texas to Iowa, 1866Annals of Iowa.
Dykes, J. C.
Item: 3
undated
"A Range of Man's Library"
Reprints "F"
undated
9
7
Freeman, J. D.
Item: 1
undated
"The Gila River: South West Trail"
Friis, Herman R.
Item: 2
undated
"The Humboldt: Life Line Through the Desert."
Fussell, G. E.
Item: 3
undated
"The Size of English Cattle in the Eighteenth Century"
Reprints "H"
undated
9
8
Hammond, George P.
Item: 1
undated
"Onate's Effort to Gain Political Autonomy for New Mexico" The Hispanic American Historical Review
Harger C. M.
Item: 2
1982 June
"Cattle Trails of the Prairies" Scribner's Magazine
Haines, Francis
Item: 3
1938
"Where Did the Plains Indians Get Their Horses?" American Anthropologist
(Blank Author)
Item: 4
1938
"The Northward Spread of Horses Among the Plains Indians" American Anthropologist
Reprints "H"
Item: 1
undated
9
9
"The Problem of Hands on Spur Ranch" Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Hutcheson, Virginia Sue
Item: 2
undated
"Cattle Drives in Missouri" Missouri Historical Review
Reprints "L-N"
undated
9
10
Lasley, John F.
Item: 1
1969
Results and Progress of Beef Cattle Heterosis Project. North Missouri Research Center.
Lawrence, Eleanor
Item: 2
1931 March
"Horse Thieves on the Spanish Trail." Touring Topics.
Lemmer, George F.
Item: 3
1947
"The Spread of Improved Cattle Through the Eastern United States to 1850." Reprinted from Agricultural History. 21: 79-93
Morrisey, Richard J.
Item: 4
1951 July
"The Northward Expansion of Cattle Ranching in New Spain, 1550-1600." Reprinted from Agricultural History. 25: 115-121
Reprints "O"
undated
9
11
O'Neil, Floyd A. and Gregory C. Thompson
undated
"The Dominguez-Excalante Trail From Montrose, Colorado to the Head of East Fork Douglas Creek, August 27-September 7, 1776"
Reprints "P-R"
undated
9
12
Palmer, William I.
Item: 1
undated
"the Colorado: Barrier to Western Progress"
Redd, Charles E.
Item: 2
undated
"Short Cut to the San Juan"
Rhoad, A. O. and J. Kleberg, Jr.
Item: 3
1946
"The Development of a Superior Family in the Modern Quarter Horse." The Journal of Herdity. 37: 227-238
Rusho, W. L.
Item: 4
1974 July
"Prehistory and History of the Green River Basin, Wyoming." Utah Westerners
Reprints "S"
undated
9
13
Smither, Harried, ed.
Item: 1
undated
"Diary of Adolphus Sterne." Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Streeter, Floyd Benjamin
Item: 2
undated
"The National Cattle Trail"
"V-Z"
undated
9
14
Vallandigham, E.M.
Item: 1
undated
"What is the Mason Dixon Line?"
Weaver, J.E. and F.W. Albertson
Item: 2
undated
"Resurvey of Grasses, Forbs, and Underground Plant Parts at the End of the Great Drought." Ecological Monographs v.13, no.1
Wentworth, Edward N.
Item: 3
undated
"The Patterning of Meat"
(Blank Author)
Item: 4
undated
Hereford Personalities in the Saddle and Sirloin Club
Williams-Humiston, Belle
Item: 5
undated
"Reminiscences of my Father and Mother."
Wilson, Adam
Item: 6
undated
"Hunting Texas Wild Boar." The Cattleman
Woodward, Carl R.
Item: 7
undated
"Agricultural Legislation in Colonial New Jersey"
Zeichner, Oscar
Item: 8
undated
"The Transition from Slave to Free Agricultural Labor in the Southern United States"