Overview of the Collection
Biographical NoteEdward Boos was born in Kentucky on April 1, 1877. His family moved to Helena, Montana, while he was in grade school. He attended the University of Montana at Missoula in 1896 but did not complete a degree. In that same year Boos began working as a freelance correspondent for several newspapers in the Missoula area. During the summer of 1897 Boos accompanied the U.S. Army 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps on its experimental overland trip from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, Missouri. The company traversed 1,900 miles over difficult terrain and through taxing weather conditions in an attempt prove bicycles could replace horses for troop transport and reconnaissance. Boos submitted accounts of the expedition as they traveled. His accounts were prepared for the Daily Missoulian, but some were also published by newspapers along the route and a few were subsequently reprinted by national and international newspapers. After the Bicycle Corps expedition Boos continued to produce photographs for western Montana newspapers. Sometime around 1900 he purchased his own camera and began photographing people and landscapes in the Missoula and Flathead valleys. Boos was particularly interested in recording life among the Kootenai, Salish and Pend'Oreille families of the Flathead Reservation as the 20th century began. He conducted a series of photographic portrait sessions at various sites across the reservation, mostly completed between spring and fall of 1905. According to a 1935 newspaper story, many of these portraits were developed at night under a canvas cover so the photographer could share the portraits directly with his subjects. Throughout the time period Boos continued to photograph landscapes and events in the Missoula and Flathead Lake areas. In 1906 Boos accepted an advertising manager position with the Missoula Mercantile Company and married Annie Hammond, cousin of MMC co-owner Andrew Hammond. Edward Boos ended his newspaper work but continued to periodically take photographs. Boos remained with the Missoula Mercantile Company for the next thirty-one years. In September 1935 an "Indian Jubilee" celebration was held in St. Ignatius, Montana. This event was the first public exhibition and print sale of Boos' Flathead Reservation portraits. Edward H. Boos died of a heart attack on September 26, 1937. Content DescriptionThis collection includes 305 glass plate and modern film negatives and prints created by Edward H. Boos between 1900 and 1908. This photographic collection constitutes one of the most extensive and detailed visual records of the Missoula, Mission, and Flathead valleys at the beginning of the 20th Century. Boos' Flathead Reservation portraits document particularly insightful details regarding the lifestyle, possessions, and landscapes of tribal members just prior to the 1910 Allotment Act--an action that opened vast portions of the reservation to non-tribal settlement. Some photographs were not inscribed with captions prior to donation to the K. Ross Toole Archives and several others were inscribed with only cursory identifiers. However, most photographs were inscribed with various combinations of the subjects' tribal name (in phonetic transcription), loose English translation, and Flathead Agency register names. In several instances Boos photographed the same individuals over a number of years. Among these individuals, mostly young males, several were given new tribal names within the span of Boos' portrait series (evidenced by changes in the captions attached to each photograph). In contrast to the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend'Oreille photographs, Boos' Flathead, Mission, and Missoula valleys series is a mix of broad landscape images, community events, and portraits. This series primarily contains photographs of the Flathead and Missoula valleys; however, it also includes a few photographs from the Mission valley as well as one from near Frenchtown, MT, looking east towards Missoula. The landscape photographs in this series offer a significant record of topography and general vegetative matrices during the early stages of community expansion into the foothills of the Missoula and Flathead valleys. The series also records some common leisure activities among western Montanans at the turn of the 20th Century, as well as glimpses of Missoula community events. The Victoria, B.C. series contains photographs from an undated vacation. Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula. Restrictions on Use :Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana. Preferred Citation :[Photograph number], Edward H. Boos Photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula. Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection is arranged in three series: Series I: Flathead Indian Pictures, 1900-1907 Series II: Flathead, Mission, and Missoula Valleys, 1900-1908 Series III: Victoria, British Columbia, undated
Location of Originals :
The original negatives for 73 items in this collection are located with the Denver Public Library Western History/Genealogy Department (DPL). The photographs at DPL are listed in the "Flathead Indian Pictures" series within this collection. The following list provides a cross-reference to DPL possessions. Items are organized according to their K. Ross Toole Archives photograph number with cross-reference to the corresponding DPL photo number. For both repositories most caption information was inscribed prior to donation. In nearly every instance, caption information is significantly different on the K. Ross Toole Archives' photograph than on the originals at the Denver Public Library. 75-6082: DPL BS-121 77-45: DPL BS-49 78-109: DPL BS-87 78-114: DPL BS-36 78-116: DPL BS-44 78-117: DPL BS-90 78-120: DPL BS-74 78-121: DPL BS-76 78-123: DPL BS-108 78-125: DPL BS-107 78-126: DPL BS-26 78-127: DPL BS-25 78-129: DPL BS-20 78-130: DPL BS-19 78-134: DPL BS-27 78-136: DPL BS-17 78-137: DPL BS-64 78-139: DPL BS-100 78-140: DPL BS-41 78-141: DPL BS-40 78-143: DPL BS-67 78-147: DPL BS-116 78-148: DPL BS-31 78-149: DPL BS-42 78-150: DPL BS-29 78-152: DPL BS-32 78-153: DPL BS-71 78-155: DPL BS-72 78-156: DPL BS-101 78-157: DPL BS-14 78-163: DPL BS-113 78-164: DPL BS-110 78-165: DPL BS-112 78-168: DPL BS-15 78-170: DPL BS-92 78-172: DPL BS-94 78-173: DPL BS-81 78-174: DPL BS-13 78-175: DPL BS-84 78-178: DPL BS-79 78-181: DPL BS-83 78-183: DPL BS-104 78-184: DPL BS-11 78-185: DPL BS-126 78-189: DPL BS-10 78-190: DPL BS-12 78-191: DPL BS-9 78-198: DPL BS-129 78-202: DPL BS-93 78-203: DPL BS-122 78-205: DPL BS-37 78-206: DPL BS-35 78-209: DPL BS-33 78-211: DPL BS-8 78-213: DPL BS-68 78-227: DPL BS-119 78-228: DPL BS-120 78-229: DPL BS-124 78-230: DPL BS-59 78-235: DPL BS-5 78-237: DPL BS-2 78-238: DPL BS-58 78-239: DPL BS-60 78-241: DPL BS-55 78-243: DPL BS-53 78-244: DPL BS-56 78-245: DPL BS-123 78-253: DPL BS-91 78-254: DPL BS-125 78-255: DPL BS-109 78-256: DPL BS-6 78-257: DPL BS-88 78-258: DPL BS-96 Custodial History :The full collection remained in the possession of the Missoula Mercantile Company following Mr. Boos' death. Records provide contradictory information regarding the exact disposition of the collection. Denver Public Library records indicate the 126 negatives and four prints they own were purchased directly from Annie Boos, his widow, in 1938. Much later correspondence with Mr. Boos' niece indicate that Walter McLeod, President of the Missoula Mercantile Company at the time of Boos' death, managed disposition of the collection - selling 129 prints and glass plate negatives to the Denver Public Library in the early 1940s and donating the remaining glass plate negatives to the University of Montana. Acquisition Information :Gift of Walter McLeod, 1972. Processing Note :Walter McLeod created the original arrangement structure, applying a simple consecutive number system regardless of the year the photograph was created or the image subject. Archives staff processed the negatives and prints between 1972 and 1978. During archives processing a new photograph numbering system was assigned. The collection was re-processed in 2003. In reprocessing, both Mr. McLeod's and Archives numbering systems were retained, but the collection was separated into three series based upon subject matter. Original negatives were identified and labeled separately from copies. All negatives and prints were cataloged and extensively re-described. Related Materials :The Denver Public Library Western History/Genealogy Department retains a collection of 126 glass plate negatives and four additional prints. Scanned images of all prints are available on-line from the Denver Public Library web site (http://gowest.coalliance.org/). The Montana Historical Society and the Smithsonian Institution retain prints, eleven and seven respectively, from negatives in both the Denver Public Library Western History/Genealogy Department and K. Ross Toole Archives collections. K. Ross Toole Archives also holds two photos titled "Indian Dancing Men" and "Pielle-A Kootenai" in mats that are signed by Boos and include small pencil drawings. Detailed Description of the CollectionMost photographs in this series were inscribed with various combinations of the subjects' tribal name (in phonetic transcription), loose English translation, and Flathead Agency register names. In several instances Boos photographed the same individuals over a number of years. Among these individuals, mostly young males, several were given new tribal names within the span of Boos' portrait series (evidenced by changes in the captions attached to each photograph). Text between quotation marks is Edward Boos' original description of the photographs. Text in parentheses is subsequent description from original photograph envelopes that may have been recorded by Boos, Walter McLeod, or early archives staff. The original glass plate negative for 78-214 is broken, inhibiting reproduction quality. This series primarily contains photographs of the Flathead and Missoula valleys; however, it also includes a few photographs from the Mission valley as well as one from the Clark Fork valley near Frenchtown, Montana. The landscape photographs in this series offer a significant record of topography and general vegetative matrices during the early stages of community expansion into the foothills of the Missoula and Flathead valleys. The series also records some common leisure activities among western Montanans at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as glimpses of Missoula community events. Text between quotation marks is Edward Boos' original description of the photographs. Text in parentheses is subsequent description from original photograph envelopes that may have been recorded by Boos, Walter McLeod, or early archives staff. The original glass plate negative for 78-415 is broken, inhibiting reproduction quality. No specific place identification information was provided with the original photographs in this series and no date could be determined. All negatives in this series are modern film negatives and are in good condition. SubjectsThis collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Finding aid prepared by Jack Rowan and
Aron Langley
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