Boxes 1 through 8 in this series contain index cards primarily related to Yellowstone National Park research. The cards in Box 9 relate to Haines' research into the Battle of the Big Hole. Box 10 contains cards pertaining to Haines' other historical research interests. The subject index cards reference the "Data Card," "MsH" files, and the "Pub" listings which Haines used in his work. The index cards refer to sources cataloged by Haines' unique system and depend on certain symbols which follow a term and date. Circled numbers followed by a lowercase "d" means the citation has been transcribed on the "Data Cards" of Series 3. For example, the index card for "Alvarez, Manuel" indicates that information may be found in "Bonneville, 1876" on page 109, and the circled lowercase "d" symbol follows. This means that the information has been transcribed on the "Bonneville, 1876" data card, and a brief citation to the publication or document from which it came is also available on the card. (In this particular case, the Bonneville document appears in Volume 1 of the Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana.) Another common symbol used by Haines on the index cards is the "MsH" notation. This means that the information can be found on the alphabetically arranged photocopies and documents found in the "Manuscript History" files of Series 2. The index cards also refer to information in "Pub" resources, meaning that the information can be found in pamphlets or books cited in the bibliography cards of Series 6 (also arranged in the same alphabetic/chronologic schema). Other references on the index cards occasionally refer specifically to documents within the Yellowstone National Park Archives or to photographs in Haines' personal collection. Since Haines did not consistently use the author's last name as the word identifying the source, preserving the original alphabetic order of the MsH files (Series 2) and the Data Cards (Series 3) has been considered crucial to the proper use of the index cards of this series.

Correspondence, printed ephemera, article offprints, and manuscript photocopies, generally related to the history of Yellowstone National Park, and maintained by Haines in a unique alphabetic arrangement. Regardless of the creator or author of the piece, Haines assigned a name to each document in the files, sometimes with a numeric or alphabetic suffix, and filed all the documents alphabetically based on the first two letters of the assigned name. For example, Box 11, folder 1 contains all the documents which were assigned names starting with the letters Ab through Al, from "Abbie" through "Allen." These names do not consistently refer to the author or creator of the document; occasionally the name refers to the major subject of the document. Haines' original alphabetic arrangement has been maintained, with larger items housed in separate folders which sometimes interferes with the precise order. The most extensive files are those that Haines assigned his own name to, numerically arranged under the "H-ai" folder heading.

5x7 index cards containing brief handwritten transcriptions of manuscript and published resources used by Haines in his research. In most cases the sources are identified by the author's last name in the upper right hand corner of the card, followed by the year of publication or creation of the original. The citation from which the transcription was taken is generally found on the first line of the card, but it is not always complete. The handwritten transcriptions which are placed below the citation line are almost always prefaced by the page number on which the passages appear. All of the data cards have been cross indexed by the index cards in Series 1. Most of the cards relate directly to Haines' work on Yellowstone National Park history, but cards pertaining to his work on the Battle of the Big Hole and other topics can be found in Box 31. The cards have been maintained in Haines' original order, alphabetically with further sorting done chronologically.

While conducting his research on Yellowstone National Park, Haines kept three data notebooks for ready reference. While not as complete or thorough as his other research notes, these notebooks provided ready reference to subjects within three categories: Chronological, Biographical, and Place Names. The chronology notebook has been maintained in that order, with folders containing the pages corresponding to the years indicated. The biographical data notebook has been divided alphabetically by the subject's name. The place names data notebook appears to be an effort that Haines abandoned when he turned his attention to the subject in more detail. The notebook had place names in random order, probably added as Haines discovered more about the particular geographic location, and the pages are consecutively numbered with many pages missing. Access to any particular place name was gained through an index which Haines maintained at the start of the notebook, providing the page numbers on which the particular location was recorded. This consecutive page number arrangement has been preserved, with the index located in the folder preceding the numbered pages.

Haines' major Yellowstone publication towards the end of his life was a planned comprehensive listing of all place names in and around the National Park. In 1974 he apparently intended to prepare a manuscript with a thematic narrative description to preface a comprehensive alphabetic arrangement, but by 1987 he chose to forgo the comprehensive listing to focus on the thematic narrative. The culmination of this effort was published by the University Press of Colorado in 1996, Yellowstone Place Names; Mirrors of History. The papers in this series document the research and publication of this work, including preliminary drafts done in 1974, 1987, and 1993. Other research papers include, maps, tables, notes, publisher correspondence, and a collection of 3x5 index cards giving the name, location, and origin of named features in and around Yellowstone National Park. Of particular interest are the quad map files in Box 33, folders 14-68. These folders were created by Yellowstone National Park naturalist C. Max Bauer in the 1920s and contain sections of the 1921 topographical map of Yellowstone with notations of the named features within those sections. The key to the quad sections is in folder 14.

Citations to published and manuscript materials used by Haines in his work are documented in this series. Materials include 3 x 5" source citation cards, indexes to various Yellowstone National Park publications and manuscript record groups, and general notes of a bibliographic nature. Several of the park related indexes use Haines alpha-chronological classification, which has been added to the folder title.

Diaries, notebooks, correspondence, hand-drawn maps, and miscellaneous notes pertaining to Haines' research interests and activities in Yellowstone National Park and western history. Most of the material in this series is not directly related to any particular Haines publication. Most folder titles were originally provided by Haines.

The Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (BOR) of the National Park Service of the Interior Department began to investigate creating the proposed Oregon National Historic Trail as a part of the new category of National Historic Trails within the National Trails System (NTS) Act of October 2, 1968 by recruiting historians, state, and federal agencies to document the route and potential sites to be included in such a trail. Aubrey L. Haines was contracted in 1972 to report on the numerous sites along the route. The notebooks, a project log (journal), and photographs for this Historic Resource Study done during the summer of 1972 are present here. The papers also include: manuscripts, original typed and handwritten manuscripts, indexes, site lists, outlines, pamphlets of source materials and other research for the report published as the "Historic Sites along the Oregon Trail" by the National Park Service, Denver in June, 1973. Notecards, maps, map tracings, contract and project correspondence, financial records and other items related to the study are accompanied by correspondence, manuscripts and editing materials for the subsequent 1981 publication a book of the same name by Aubrey L. Haines and the Patrice Press. Four revised editions of the book (the last in 1994) resulted from this research.

Haines began his research into the 1877 Battle of the Big Hole prior to his assignment at the national battlefield park, but while there his inquiries expanded to include archaeological surveys and intensive terrain mapping. The result of Haines' interest was a book length manuscript, first titled "A Sharp Little Fight," and later changed to "An Elusive Victory." The materials in this series include several draft versions of the manuscript, research notes, and maps. The topical files of alpha-numeric sources have been preserved in their original order. These files are similar to the "History MS research files" placed in series two; the alphabetic name usually followed by a date.

Aubrey Haines began his professional writing career in the 1940s when he began publishing brief works on Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rainier. Much of his early work formed the foundation of more substantial publications such as Mountain Fever and The Yellowstone Story. In 1984, Haines donated literary manuscripts, drafts, proof sheets, research notes, and related correspondence pertaining to five of his major publications: Yellowstone National Park Its Exploration and Establishment (1974); The Valley of the Upper Yellowstone (1965); Osborne Russell's Journal of a Trapper (1955); The Yellowstone Story (1977); Mountain Fever (1962). These materials were accessioned and processed as Collection 2231. This series contains similar material for Haines' shorter works as well as a few files pertaining to his earlier donation, especially Yellowstone National Park, its Exploration and Establishment. Haines' work on this title involved a controversy with the upper administration of the National Park Service, and the manuscript revisions and correspondence files for this title are particularly important. This series also contains files pertaining to unpublished works, some of which were written during Haines' college years. The files have been arranged alphabetically by the title of the published work, with a bibliographic citation for that work incorporated into the folder listing. The folder titles of unpublished works do not have citation information.

During his lengthy career, and on into his retirement, Aubrey Haines was a much sought after speaker on Yellowstone history. Often accompanying his remarks with 35mm slides, Haines taught formal courses for the Yellowstone Institute and spoke to groups such as local historical societies and service clubs. The materials in this series consist of Haines' scripts for his talks and slide presentations. The first item, a bound volume of handwritten notes, contains many different speeches given.

Haines corresponded with a number of colleagues, publishers, and fellow historians during his career and did not consistently assign their letters to any of his various topical files. The letters in this series were simply collected as they arrived, with no apparent sorting strategy. Many of the letters pertain to Haines' ongoing interests in Yellowstone National Park history, the Oregon Trail, the Nez Perce Indians, and other topics represented in previous series. Some of the letters bear notations on the date of Haines' reply. The letters have been arranged in alphabetical order by author.

Clippings from newspaper stories related to Haines' research interests, including Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rainer, and the Battle of the Big Hole.

Some of the citations from Series 1 may refer to pamphlets other than those that Haines kept in Series 2, the History "MsH" Files. The pamphlets in this series bear the same alpha/chronological notations as those in Series 2 but were kept separately by Haines. Few seem to be cited with the bibliography cards in Series 6, making their retention in Haines' original order necessary.

Microfilm of original primary source documents used by Haines in his research of Yellowstone National Park and western history; 35mm negative motion picture film clippings from "Magic Yellowstone," a moving picture filmed by Jack Ellis Haynes to promote tourism for the Northern Pacific Railroad in the 1920s. The film clips, on nitrate based film, have been removed from the collection for secure storage before their transfer to electronic media.

Personal reference copies of the Yellowstone National Park Superintendent's Annual Reports, Yellowstone Nature Notes, The Yellowstone Interpreter, Archaeology in Montana, and the Trowel and Screen. Some of the issues contain marginal notes by Haines.

Maps and oversize materials which relate to most of the preceding series, removed for oversize flat storage. This series contains a various types of maps, such as hand-drawn maps, sketches, blueprints, and contour maps.