Collection Summary
Mead, Elwood, 1858-1936
Elwood Mead papers
1882-1981
05258
3.77 cubic ft. (11 boxes)
University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
English
Elwood Mead was a nationally known irrigation
engineer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
BiographyElwood Mead (1858-1936) was territorial engineer
and later, the first state engineer of Wyoming, 1888-1889, and author of its
first water code. From 1899-1907, he was in charge of irrigation investigations
for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was chairman of the Rivers and Water
Supply Commission in Victoria, Australia, 1907-1915, professor of Rural
Institutions at the University of California, 1915-1924, and Commissioner of
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1924 until his death in 1936. Mead
supervised the construction of Hoover Dam; Lake Mead was named in his
honor.
Scope and ContentThe Papers, 1882-1958, concentrate on
Elwood Mead's life after 1908. The collection includes correspondence from 1909
to 1950 (most of which is between him and his son Tom Mead), but also includes
a letter from Herbert Hoover, notes on water rights cases in Wyoming, eight
scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on irrigation and water resources
concentrating from 1898 to 1904, nine photograph albums, including two of
Yellowstone National Park and two of Wyoming, maps (from the 1950s), the 1889
Wyoming Territorial Engineer's report, and the 1893-1894 biennial Wyoming State
Engineer's report, the books Irrigation Institutions and Helping Men Own Farms,
awards, a financial statement of Tom C. Mead, and personal memorabilia. The
papers also contain newspaper clippings, reports, and articles that are either
written by or are about Elwood Mead. The focus of much of this published
material is on irrigation and water resource development in the American
West.
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes,
and the collection is open to the public.
Copyright Information
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright,
property, and libel laws as they apply.
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For more information, read our full statement.
The Elwood Mead Papers, 1900-1942, are preserved at the Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
The Elwood Mead papers were donated to the American Heritage Center from
1973-1975 by Thomas Mead and Lionel V. Baldwin and Morrill Elwood Marston Jr. from 2021-2022.
The collection was processed by Daniel Davis in December 1995, revised by D.C. Thompson in January 2001, and updated by Jamie J. Greene in September 2022.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Elwood Mead Papers, Collection
Number 05258, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Access Terms
Mead, Tom Chase.
United States. Bureau of
Reclamation
Wyoming. State Engineer's Office
Irrigation -- United
States
Irrigation -- West (U.S.)
Water resource development -- United States
Water resource development -- West (U.S.)
Dams -- West (U.S.)
Engineers
Wyoming -- Photographs
Yellowstone National Park -- Photographs
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Wyoming
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Water and Water Rights
Environment and Conservation
National Parks
Politics, Government, and Law
Public Utilities
Container List
Series I. Correspondence and Legal Notes
This series contains correspondence mostly between
Elwood Mead and his children. It also includes notes on legal cases dealing
with water rights in Wyoming.
Box 1
Folder 1
Elwood Mead legal notes on water rights cases in Wyoming
1900-1913
1Folders 2-3
Elwood Mead correspondence with Tom Mead
1909-1935
14
Elwood Mead correspondence with Tom Mead and children
no date
15
Miscellaneous correspondence
1915-1935, no date
16
Correspondence between Tom Mead and J.T. Peterson
1949-1950
17
Biographical notes on Hiram W. Chase
no date
11Private letters - Elwood MeadJune 1897 - August 1899
11Correspondence1930-1935
Series II. Published Materials
This series contains reports, articles, and two books
written by Elwood Mead, and reports, newspaper clippings, and articles that are
written about Elwood Mead and projects he was involved with.
18
Second Annual Report of the Territorial Engineer of
Wyoming
1889
19
Second Biennial Report of the State Engineer of Wyoming
1893-1894
110
Articles, reports, and newspaper clippings by Elwood Mead
1922-1934
111
Newspaper clippings about Elwood Mead
no date
112
Articles and newspaper clippings about Elwood Mead and the
Bureau of Reclamation
1917-1935
113
Memorials to Elwood Mead
1936
114
Elwood Mead obituaries
1936
115
Committee of Organization for Third National Conference on
Marketing and Farm Credits
no date
21
Irrigation Institutions: A Discussion of the Economic and
Legal Questions Created by the Growth of Irrigated Agriculture in the West, by
Elwood Mead
1910
22
Helping Men Own Farms: A Practical Discussion of
Government Aid in Land Settlement, by Elwood Mead
1920
23
"The Elwood Mead Professorship of Engineering" at Colorado
State University
no date
Series III. Miscellaneous Material
This series includes newspaper clippings, articles, and
memorabilia.
11Biographical information - Elwood Mead1928-1936
11Biographical information - Lucy Florence Mead Marston (daughter)undated
11Invitations1908-1935
2 and 11Newspaper clippings and articles1909-1981
25
University of Wyoming Honorary Law Degree
1914-1934
Series IV. Photographs
This series contains photograph albums of Wyoming
and Colorado irrigation projects, various scenes from Wyoming and Colorado,
Yellowstone, Victoria, Australia.
2 and 11Photographs1882-1940
3
Photograph album of Yellowstone National Park and
surrounding area
no date
3
Photograph album given to Mead by Chas. A. Guernsey of the
French Creek Mining Company in British Columbia
1899
3
Photograph album of various spots in California, Texas,
Arizona, and (probably) Wyoming, and of the State Engineer's Office in
Cheyenne
no date, 1894-1895
3
Photograph album of various ranches, towns, streams, and
rivers in Wyoming
no date (ca. 1900)
4
Photograph album of Mead home and ranch, irrigation
canals, construction projects, rivers, dams, and water works
no date
4
Photograph album of Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks, the
Palette Ranch, mountain lakes, a drainage map of Wyoming, and various other
scenes from around Wyoming
1897, no date
5
Photograph album of irrigation works and canals, Native
Americans, Yellowstone Park, and the Big Horn, Green, Greybull, Medicine Bow,
and Shoshone Rivers
no date
5
Photograph album of Yellowstone National Park area and
Native Americans
no date
5
Photograph of Elwood Mead
no date
11Photo album/scrapbook containing family photographs compiled by Lucy Marston (daughter) and newspaper clippings about Mead1860-1970
Series V. Scrapbooks
Series contains scrapbooks with newspaper clippings mostly from
1899-1935.
6
Four scrapbooks entitled "States No. 10, Interstate No.
11, Irrigation No. 4, 3. States"
1899-1904
7
Four scrapbooks entitled "Miscellaneous and Personal No.
2, 13 Dry Farming, Drainage + Rural Engineering, S433.1 No. 1"
1893-1916.
11Scrapbook of newspaper clippings1935
Series VI. Oversized Material
This series consists of maps, charts, and awards.
8
Grand Canyon Sectional Aeronautical Chart
no date
9
21 topographic maps and maps of Colorado, Utah, Nevada,
Wyoming, Arizona, and the United States
no date, 1957-1958
10
Universal Exposition Award for Investigations in Rural
Engineering and Irrigation, commemorative diploma to Mead by U.S. Department of
Agriculture, commemorative diploma awarded to Mead at the Universal Exposition,
Medal from the Exposition Universelle de 1900
1900-1904