Montana Institute of the Arts Bozeman History Group Records

Montana Institute of the Arts Bozeman History Group Records, 1948-1977

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Montana Institute of the Arts. Bozeman History Group
Title: Montana Institute of the Arts Bozeman History Group Records
Dates: 1948-1977 (inclusive)
19481977
Quantity: 4 linear feet
Collection Number: 0298, Collection 298, MtBC, us (collection)
Summary: The Montana Institute of the Arts Bozeman History Group Collection contains compact disc recordings taken from the original reel-to-reel and cassette magnetic recordings of their meetings, their interviews with selected individuals, and their special projects such as radio dramatizations from 1948 to 1977. Also included in the series are meeting notes and transcripts, and administrative files of the Montana Institute of the Arts along with materials pertaining to the groups special projects.
Repository: Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions: The reel to reel and cassette magnetic tapes in Series 4 are restricted due to fragility. Researchers should use CD surrogates of Series 1 to access the audio recordings of the various MIA meetings and interviews. Permission to use original tapes must be granted by the Special Collections Librarian.
Languages
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Montana Institute of the Arts was organized April 3, 1948 at a meeting in Helena. This organization's main purpose was to give like-minded individuals an opportunity to celebrate cultural pursuits in the state in fields such as art, literature, drama, and history. The Bozeman history group was a local organization that was established from the state parent. It was this branch's goal to preserve the history of Gallatin Canyon through collecting county and local histories, strengthening the State Historical library, preservation of buildings and geographical regions, and history projects for students. Beginning in the early 1950s, this group began recording both oral histories and prepared speeches presented at their meetings.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Montana Institute of the Arts Bozeman History Group collection contains compact disc recordings taken from the original reel-to-reel and cassette magnetic recordings of their meetings, their interviews with selected individuals, and their special projects such as radio dramatizations. A separate series of meeting notes and transcripts has been created to correspond with the recordings. A third series of documents includes administrative files of the Montana Institute of the Arts along with materials pertaining to the groups special projects, such as the creation of a special Gallatin County history map. The fourth series in the collection is restricted and contains the original reel-to-reel magnetic recordings from which the CD surrogates were produced.

As each meeting session or individual interview was recorded, a separate accession number was originally assigned by Special Collections staff and catalog cards were prepared that listed subject headings and speakers. The information from these cards has been incorporated into this scope and content note. Speakers and people discussed in the meetings include: Dorothy Aasheim, Mary Stuart Abbott, Joe Alberda, Effie Atkins, Joe Ballinger, Edward J. Bell, Frank L. Benepe, Lucien Benepe, Leander M. Black, John V. Bogert, Mildred Boylan, Marvin Brooke, Merrill G. Burlingame, Clara A. Bush, Norma Carmin, Robert A. Chadwick, Lawrence Christie, Garrett Cole, Frank Conley, F.S. Cooley, Harriette E. Cushman, Amelia Brown Demarest, Mary Hunter Doane, Dorothy Dudley, John Fabrick, Burt Fisher, Oalf B. Fjare, Marie Flaherty, George W. Flanders, Bill Fogsly, Harvey P. Griffin, George H. Haine, Aubrey L. Haines, Marlyn Hauseman Jones, Peter Karst, George W. Krattcer, Christine Kundert, Michael Langohr, Don Langohr, Jr., Garrett Lansing, Ike LeForge, Marjorie Ann Leigh, Ora Michener Lemon, W. W. Lessley, Howard Lewis, F.B. Linfield, Mignon Quaw Lott, Winifred Lovelace, Fred J. Martin, Thomas Michener, Grace Miller, Dan Morrison, Oscar O. Mueller, Francis Niven, A. J. Ogaard, E. Paul Orcutt, Francis Smith Patten, John Paugh, Carl H. Peterson, J. Bruce Putnam, Bob Roberts, George Sager, Chris Schlecten, James A. Shedd, George Sinton, Guy Stemba, Malcom Story, Nelson Story, Dewey Street, Granville Stuart, George Stublar, J.C. Taylor, Lester H. Todd, Nick Van Dyke, Dorothy M. Vick, Art Watson, Milburn Lincoln Wilson, Fred Ypma, Ralph Zimmer.

The subjects of the meetings and interviews include: Agriculture; Aviation; Bear Creek; Bear Canyon; Big Timber; Bozeman ; Bozeman Deaconess Hospital ; Bridger Canyon; Chesnut (Mont.); Chinese; Deer Lodge Farms; DHS Ranch; Diamond City; Drought; Electrical Power; Elkhorn Ranch; Farmer's Institutes; Federal Surplus Relief Association; Fergus County; Gallatin Canyon; Gallatin County; Gallatin Gateway; Gallatin National Forest; Geology; History Rock; Holland; Homesteading; Hylite Canyon; Insurance; Lewis and Clark Caverns; Logging; Manhattan State Bank; Mellville ; Missouri Breaks; Montana Extension Service; Montana State Prison Farm; Montana State College; Montana Winter Fair; Morrison Cave; Mortgage Companies; Mount Hagen Livestock Company; Newspapers; North American Mortgage Company; Norwegians; Paradise Valley; Photography; Pompey's Pillar; Pony ; Presidential Electors; Ranching; Red Bluff; Salesville; Shedd's Bridge; Sheep; Siksika Indians; Skiing; Sweet Pea Festival; Three Forks; Tourism; Vigilantes ; Virginia City; Water Rights; Wibaux County; Willow Creek; Yellowstone National Park.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Series 1: Compact Discs, 1950-1977

Series 2: Meeting Notes and Transcripts, 1950-1977

Series 3: Other Montana Institute of the Arts Records, 1948-circa 1960s

Series 4: Reel to Reel and Cassette Audio Tapes, 1950-1977

Acquisition Information

Montana Institute of the Arts Bozeman History Group recordings were donated to the Montana State University Library over a twenty year period beginning around 1955. The following accession numbers originally assigned to the various recordings, transcripts, and other documents were incorporated into the present collection: 298, 299, 450, 454, 475, 482, 574, 575, 576, 581, 584, 597, 625, 640, 647, 660, 665, 742, 810, 870, 871, 872, 894, 905, 978, 1009, 1010, 1051, 1063, 1122, 1123, 1128, 1242, 1270, 2005, 2048, 2357, 2358, 2361.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2004 September 14

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

1: Compact Disc Recordings, 1950-1977Return to Top

The contents of this series consists of digital recording discs taken from the original reel to reel or cassette magnetic tapes that were accessioned over a period of about twenty years. Discs one through sixty-five are arranged chronologically and represent either recorded general meetings of the Montana Institute of the Arts group or special interview projects from June 21, 1958 through April 15, 1977. Beginning with disc number sixty-six, the chronological arrangement of the recordings is disrupted due to the complexities in reconstructing the actual original order during the processing of this collection.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	compact-disc
1	1	Oscar Mueller and Mary Stuart Abbott Study of Vigilantes with the daughter of Granville Stuart	[June 21, 1958]
1	2	Gallatin Gateway Residents Early Bozeman; Sales Family; Social life in Gallatin Valley	[September 1965]
1	3	Marie Flaherty Willow Creek and Three Forks	[November 1966]
1	4	Mrs. James Hamilton Trip through Yellowstone National Park in 1883 and 1886	[January 1967]
1	5	Wiley Davis Chinese living in Virginia City	[January 1967]
1	6	John Fabrick North American Mortgage Company; Homesteading and drought in Montana	[April 28, 1967]
1	7	Harriet Cushman Morrison Cave/Lewis and Clark Caverns	[September 1967]
1	8	E. Paul Orcutt Deer Lodge Farms; Mount Haggin Livestock Company; Montana State Prison Farm	[November 24, 1967]
1	9-10	Edward J. Bell Homesteading in Montana; Wibaux County; M.L. Wilson; Jack Taylor	[January 26, 1968]
1	11	Fred J. Martin Montana Newspapers; Park County Weekly; Failing Newspaper Act	[February 23, 1968]
1	12	E. Paul Orcutt Powder River Cattle Company; Federal Surplus Relief Association; Drought Conditions; Ranching	[March 18, 1968]
1	13	Marjorie Leigh Microfilming archives in Yellowstone National Park for Montana State University	[April 25, 1968]
1	14	Aubrey Haines History of Naming of Yellowstone National Park	[May 30, 1968]
1	15	Art Watson Montana Bar, Montana mining; Ghost towns; Diamond City	[July 28, 1968]
1	16	Lucien Benepe Early Bozeman; Gallatin Valley Enterprises; Montana State College; Frank Benepe	[October 25, 1968]
1	17	Delmar and Mrs. White White Family History	[February 28, 1969]
1	18	Penwell Ranch Gallatin Valley Pioneers; Ranching; Flour milling	[March 29, 1969]
1	19	H.G. Darlington Madison Valley Homesteading	[April 25, 1969]
1	20	Pony Residents History of Pony; Madison County Families; Mining	[August 3, 1969]
1	21	George Sinton Autobiography of Irish immigrant; Ranching in Montana; Pompey's Pillar; Manhattan	[October 9, 1970]
1	22	Don Langohr Sr. Mike Langohr, first Forest Ranger of Gallatin Forest; Early Bozeman businesses	[November 13, 1970]
1	23-29	Malcolm Story Bozeman's early business men; Bozeman history; Nelson Story	[January 8, 1971]
2	30-33	Malcolm Story Bozeman's early business men; Bozeman history; Nelson Story	[January 8, 1971]
2	34-35	Edward J. Bell Beginning of Montana Extension Service; Farmer's Institute; Montana State College founder of Extension	[February 12, 1971]
1	36-37	Harvey Griffin Early day Bozeman; Sweet Pea Carnival; Location of State Legislature	[March 12, 1971]
2	38	Olaf Fjare Reminiscences of Big Timber; Travel from 1899 Norway; Ranching and raising sheep	[August 10, 1971]
2	39-40	Grace Miller Beginning of Elkhorn Dude Ranch; Gallatin Canyon; Staff member at Montana State College in 1922	[October 8, 1971]
2	41-42	Chris Schlechten Commentary on a set of slides prepared from work of Albert and Alfred Schlechten to show the progress of photography. Schlechten family and community of Bozeman.	[December 10, 1971]
2	43	Dewey Street History of Bozeman Deaconess Hospital and present status	[February 11, 1972]
2	44	John Paugh History of Montana Agriculture; Gallatin Valley	[March 1972]
2	45	Mrs. Jack Lovelace History of private aviation in Montana	[April 1972]
2	46	Francis Niven Winter Fair in Bozeman	[January 1973]
2	47	George Stubler Chestnut people; Gallatin County	[March 1973]
2	48-49	Dorothy Vick and Ora Lemon Memories of Gallatin Canyon, Dude ranching; Thomas Michener	[October 12, 1973]
2	50	Dorothy Aasheim, Mildred Boylan, Dorothy Dudley Ladies division of Bozeman Winter Fair	[January 1974]
2	51	Dr. Ralph Zimmer Collecting Railroad memorabilia	[March 21, 1975]
2	52-53	Lawrence Christie Growing up in Bridger Canyon	[April 18, 1975]
2	54-55	Lawrence Christie Early days of Bridger Canyon Forest Service, roads, sawmills, schools, household chores	[September 26, 1975]
2	56	Aubrey Haines History of the Missouri Breaks; Trips in 1961 and 1966; Historic preservation	[October 19, 1975]
3	57-58	Marlyn Hauseman Jones and Christine Kundert History of Bear Canyon Ski Area; Gallatin Valley	[November 14, 1975]
3	59-60	W.W. Lessley Adjudication of water rights in Gallatin Valley	[February 20, 1976]
3	61-62	Garrett Cole Holland Settlement; Gallatin Valley	[March 19, 1976]
3	63	E.E. "Boo" McGilvra Lewis and Clark Expedition	[October 22, 1976]
3	64	Roy Keister Practicing law in Bozeman during and since 1911	[November 19, 1976]
3	65	J. Bruce Putnam History of Bozeman based on Master's thesis	[April 15, 1977]
3	66-67	Amelia Brown Demarest Early Days at Whitlash in Liberty County	[March 23, 1970]
3	68	Red Bluff Meeting Joint meeting with the Montana Ghost Town Preservation Society	[July 8, 1973]
3	69	Robert A. Chadwick Coal, Montana's Prosaic Treasure	[November 15, 1974]
3	70	Paul Grider History of the Montana Institute of the Arts	[November 6, 1972]
3	71	The Big Horn Gun Radio drama by Verne Dusenberry and class	undated
3	72	Only the Dead Ride Proudly Radio drama by Norman Fox, performed by Verne Dusenberry and class	undated
3	73	Mary Hunter Doane Interviewed by Merrill G. Burlingame	[circa 1950]
3	74	Lester Piersdoff Oral interview by Robert Dunbar	[November 19, 1955]
3	75	Harold C. Young Reminiscence of Three Forks	[circa 1961]

2: Meeting Notes and Transcripts, 1950-1977Return to Top

This series contains the materials directly related to the meetings recorded on the CDs, including publicity announcements, photographs, and occasionally transcripts or summaries of the meeting's presentation. The CD number in brackets [ ] indicates the recorded meeting to which the materials refer. Not all meetings have supporting documentation. These files are arranged in the same order as the CDs to which they relate.

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
4	1	Oscar Mueller and Mary Stuart Abbott [CD 1]
4	2	Marie Flaherty [CD 3]
4	3	Mrs. James Hamilton [CD 4]
4	4	Wiley Davis [CD 5]
4	5	John Fabrick [CD 6]
4	5	Harriet Cushman [CD 7]
4	7	E. Paul Orcutt [CD 8]
4	8	Edward J. Bell [CD 9-10]
4	9	Fred J. Martin [CD 11]
4	10	E. Paul Orcutt [CD12]
4	11	Aubrey Haines [CD 14]
4	12	Art Watson [CD 15]
4	13	Penwell Ranch [CD 18]
4	14	H.G. Darlington [CD 19]
4	15	Pony Residents [CD 20]
4	16	Don Langohr Sr. [CD 22]
4	17	Malcom Story [CD 23-33]
4	18	Edward J. Bell [CD 34-35]
4	19	Harvey Griffin [CD 36-37]
4	20	Dewey Street [CD 43]
4	21	Dorothy Vick and Ora Lemon [CD 48-49]
4	22	Dorothy Aasheim, Mildred Boylan, Dorothy Dudley [CD 50]
4	23	Aubrey Haines [CD 56]
4	24	W.W. Lessley [CD 59-60]
4	25	J. Bruce Putnam [CD 65]
4	26	Amelia Brown Demarest [CD 66]
4	27	Red Bluff Meeting [CD 68]
4	28	George W. Flanders meeting of August 21, 1966 [no corresponding CD]

3: Other Montana Institute of the Arts Records, 1948-circa 1960sReturn to Top

Organizational papers from the Montana Institute of the Arts parent group; report on a proposed dam and National Park for the Missouri Breaks region by Larry Gill; Radio Drama script "Treasure Trails" by the Montana Institute of the Arts Butte group; historical sketch of Havre by the Montana Institute of the Arts Havre group; material pertaining to the publication of a historical map of Gallatin County; miscellaneous Montana Institute of the Arts correspondence.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	Folder
5	1	Montana Institute of the Arts Organizational papers	1948-1949
5	2	Missouri Breaks report	undated
5	3	Havre historical sketch	undated
5	4	Treasure Trail drama
5	5	Gallatin County Historical Map project
5	6	Other Bozeman Group documents	1966-1971
5	7	Other Bozeman Group documents	1972-1973
5	8	Other Bozeman Group documents	1974-1975
5	9	Other Bozeman Group documents	1976-1977

4: Reel to Reel and Cassette Audio TapesReturn to Top

This series consists of the original recorded material collected during the course of Montana Institute of the Arts, Bozeman History Group meetings. The various reels and cassette tapes bear the same numbers as their corresponding compact disc copies, and as a result some reels have more than one number assigned because more than one interview or meeting is recorded on that particular reel. The number in brackets [ ] following the title indicates the original accession number(s) that were assigned to the recordings prior to their incorporation into this collection. All reel to reel and cassette tape use has been restricted and researchers should use the compact disc recordings in series one. Any use of these materials in this series must be approved by the Special Collections Librarian.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box	tape-reels
6	298	Oscar Mueller and Mary Stuart Abbott [298]
6	454.1, 454.2	Montana Institute of the Arts Gallatin Gateway [454] (2 reels)
6	482	Marie Flaherty [482]
6	475	Mrs. James Hamilton/Wiley Davis [475]
6	597	John Fabrick [597]
6	576.1, 576.2	Harriette E. Cushman [576] (2 reels)
6	581.1, 581.2	E. Paul Orcutt and Edward J. Bell [581] (2 reels)
6	584	Fred J. Martin [584]
6	575	E. Paul Orcutt [575]
6	640	Marjorie Leigh [640]
6	870	Aubrey Haines [870]
6	299	Art Watson [299]
6	383, 630, 867	Lucien Benepe [383/630/867] (2 reels)
6	647	Mrs. Delmar and Mrs. White [647]
6	660, 871	Penwell Ranch/H.G. Darlington [660/871]
6	742	Pony Residents [742]
6	872	George Sinton/Don Langohr, Sr. [872]
6	894, 894A-849D	Malcom Story/Edward J. Bell [894] (4 reels)
7	905	Harvey Griffin/Olaf Fjare [905]
7	978, 875	Grace Miller/ Chris Schlecten [978]
7	2367	Dewey Street [876/2357]
7	1009	John Paugh/Dorothy Aashiem, Mildred Boylan, Dorothy Dudley [1009]
7	1010, 1010A	Mrs. Jack Lovelace/ Dorothy Vick and Ora Lemon [1010] (one reel and one cassette)
7	1063	Francis Niven /George Stubler/W.W. Lesley [1063]
7	920, 2358	Ralph Zimmer/Lawrence Christie [920/2358]
7	1122	Lawrence Christie/Aubrey Haines [1122]
7	1128	Bear Canyon Ski Area/Garrett Cole [1128]
7	1157	E.E. McGilvra/ Roy Keister [1157]
7	1255, 2360, 2361	J. Bruce Putnam [1255]
	Cassette
8	1123, 2005	Amelia Bean Demarest [1123]
8	1123	Red Bluff Meeting [2005]
8	2048	Robert A. Chadwick [2048]
8	1051	Paul Grieder [1051]
8	xx	Dorothy Vick and Mrs. Stanley	1975 October 5
	tape-reels
8	849C	"The Big Horn Gun" [849C]
8	849D	"Only the Dead Ride Proudly" [849D]
8	847D	Mary Hunter Doane [847D]
8	847F	Lester Piersdoff [847f]
8	847I	Harold C. Young [847I]

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Agriculture
Agriculture--Montana--Gallatin County
Aviation--Montana--Gallatin County
Banks and banking--Montana--Manhattan (Mont.)
Canyons--Montana--Gallatin Canyon
Cattle trade--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Caves--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Chinese--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Droughts--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Electric power--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Farmers' institutes-Montana-Gallatin County
Frontier and pioneer life
Frontier and pioneer life--Montana--Gallatin County
Hospitals--Montana--Bozeman (Mont.)
Insurance-Montana-Gallatin County
Livestock
Logging-Montana-Gallatin County
Mortgage banks-Montana-Gallatin County
Norwegians-Montana-Gallatin County
Oral history
Photography-Montana-Gallatin County
Ranches--Montana--Gallatin County
Ranching--Montana--Gallatin County
Sheep-Montana-Gallatin County
Siksika Indians-Montana-Gallatin County
Skis and skiing
Skis and skiing-Montana-Gallatin County
Tourism--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Vigilantes
Vigilantes-Montana-Gallatin County
Water rights
Water rights--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)

Corporate Names

Bear Canyon (Bozeman, Mont.)
Montana Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics
Montana Institute of the Arts
Montana Institute of the Arts-Bozeman History Group-Archives--Archives
Montana State College

Geographical Names

Big Timber (Mont.)--History
Bozeman (Mont.)
Bozeman (Mont.)--History
Bridger Canyon (Mont.)
Chestnut (Mont.)-History
Diamond City (Mont.)
Fergus County (Mont.)--History
Gallatin Canyon (Mont.)
Gallatin County (Mont.)--Historical geography--Maps
Gallatin County (Mont.)--History
Gallatin County (Mont.)-History-Societies, etc
Gallatin County (Mont.)-Newspapers
Gallatin Gateway (Mont.)-History
Gallatin National Forest (Mont.)
Melville (Mont.)-History
Missouri Breaks (Mont.)-History
Montana
Pony (Mont.)-History
Red Bluff (Mont.)-History
Salesville (Mont.)
Three Forks (Mont.)-History
Virginia City (Mont.)--History
Wibaux County (Mont.)-History
Willow Creek (Mont.)-History
Yellowstone National Park

Form or Genre Terms

Audiocassettes
Compact discs
Interviews--Montana--Gallatin County (Mont.)
Oral histories
Oral histories--Montana--Gallatin County

Archives West Finding Aid

Table of Contents