Archives West Finding Aid

The Newell Hart collection represents the most comprehensive collection of secondary and primary source materials available about Franklin County, Idaho. Hart, born in Preston Idaho, February 21, 1913, had a lifelong interest in the history and in the people of Cache Valley. During his lifetime he authored three major books on Franklin County history - - Hometown Sketchbook, Hometown Album, and the Bear River Massacre; three essays - - Refuge Rock, Cache Valley Dance Halls, and the Summer of 1937; reissued an expanded of the DUP's Trailblazer; and edited the Cache Valley Newsletter from 1968-1983.

Of Hart's many interests on Cache Valley history, one of his most fervent pursuits was the history of the Battle of Bear River. Hart spent over 25 years compiling the details of that battle. Nearly 25% of the collection relates to this topic in one way or another. Hart collected first hand accounts from published sources and descendants of battle participants, as well as collecting the stories and legends that exist about the famous battle. Another major topic that is found in the collection is historical material on the Oneida Stake Academy. When Hart discovered plans to tear down the historic Preston building he started an organized movement to preserve and restore the school. In doing so he also compiled many items of historical interest from the days when the Academy was a going concern. Included here are letters and stories from former O.S.A. students.

The remainder of the collection is split between many different subjects. As editor of the Cache Valley Newsletter Hart corresponded with many former and present Franklin County residents. This contact brought many stories, historical items and photographs to his attention and many have ended up in his personal papers. In addition to the Franklin County material, a small amount of Bear Lake, Idaho history is found in the papers as well as some Cache County, Utah material. The collection has been organized into three major series. First are Hart's subject files. These cover a broad spectrum of topics. Each file can include correspondence, interviews, published articles and documents about the particular subject. These files have been arranged alphabetically.

The next series contains the files from the Cache Valley Newsletter. Included here are letters, published articles, obituaries, and submissions to the Newsletter. These files have been arranged chronologically by publication date.

The final series are the research files for his book The Bear River Massacre. Included here are first hand accounts that Hart collected about the battle, his correspondence to battle descendants and other materials pertaining to the battle. One of Hart's major contributions in his book, is the section about the battle from the viewpoint of the Shoshoni Indians. This material is contained in this section. The last two boxes contain miscellaneous publications and family histories concerning the same subject area.

The photographs found in the collection have been removed and added to the Special Collections photograph collection. A note has been placed into the file where the item was removed. Correspondents are listed in the register by name and date. Outgoing correspondence from Hart is listed by Newell Hart to the persons name. An index to the collection accompanies the register. The index includes the names of all of the correspondents as well as the names found in the obituary files from the Cache Valley Newsletter. Obituaries are indicated by an asterisk next to the box and folder where they can be found.