Carl Parcher Russell '
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CARL PARCHER RUSSELL ' An Indexed Register of His Scholarly and Professional Papers 1920 - 1967 in the WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Pullman 1970 GREEN RIVER AND THE TRAPPERS' RENDEZVOUS 1824-1840 ,1'_ MILES 0 10 20 30 Drawn under the supervision of CARL P. Russell Reproduced with the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons from Atlas of American History by James Truslow Adams. Copyright 1943 Charles Scribner's Sons. l ! CARL PARCHER RUSSELL An Indexed Register of His Scholarly and Professional Papers 1920 - 1967 in the WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Pullman 1970 Copyright 1970 by Washington State University All rights are reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical essays or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photo copying, recording, or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, Washington State University Library. Other published finding aids available from the Washington State University Library William Compton Brown: a calendar of his papers in the Washington State University Library. Pullman, 1966. William Edward Carty: an indexed register of his papers, 1898-1963, in the Washington State University Library. Pullman, 1967. Knute Hill: a register of his papers, 1909-1963, in the Washington State University Library. Pullman, 1966. Walt Horan: A register of his papers, 1943-1965, in the Washington State University Library. Pullman, 1965, Lon Johnson: a register of his papers, 1912-1966, in the Washington State University Library .. Pullman, 1966. The papers of Lucullus Virgil McWhorter. Pullman, 1959. (Reprinted f/ from Research Studies of the Washington State University, Vol. 26, Nos. 2, 3, 4; Vol. 27, Nos, 1, 2) Austin Mires: an indexed register of his papers, 1872-1936, in the Washington State University Library. Pullman, 1968. Three centuries of Mexican documents: a partial calendar of the Regla papers. Pullman, 1963, (Reprinted from Research Studies of the rvashington State University, Vol. 30, Nos. 3, 4; Vol. 31, Nos. 1, 2, 3) V. Camp 2. Winter.FeedingCottonwoodk<:i bark to horses ( 3) CONTENTS Preface 5 Vita 7 Description and Arrangement 10 Container List Series I 14 Series II 26 Index 34 ( 4) PREFACE Full credit must go to the three professional librarians and their assistants for the work required to prepare this indexed register. Each found the collection an exciting one and hold marked admiration for the meticulous scholarship and fine professional judgments of Carl Parcher Russell. Of special note was the work of Mrs. Audrey Turner and Mr, Ben E. Johnson, collaborators in the arrangement of the collection and the initial indexers, establishing entries and procedures. The Carl Parcher Russell Papers in g_uality ranks with the great L. V. McWhorter collection on the Nez Perce Indians and I regard it as a prestige holding along with the Conde de Regla and Pierre-Jean De Smet collections. There are no items in the collection that are unrelated to the scholarly work of Car-1 Pa_rcher Russell, who seemingly spent most of his waking hours in the study of trapping, trading, and transportation of the pelts of wild fur-bearing animals, - everything prior to sale to the fur industry. He was unrelenting in his search for the facts con cerning trapping material and procedures. This collection is of value to historians, anthropologists, and historical archeologists. Whomever may wish to have unvarnished facts of the close-in actualities of the fur trade will find here almost everything that is presently known. ' The University appreciates the kindness of Charles Scribner's Sons 1.1 for permission to use Map No. 102 in Atlas of American History, prepared under the supervision of Dr. Russell, that appears on the inside front cover, and the cooperation of the National Park Service for permission to reproduce the sketches in the collection by William Macy and James Mulcahy. I shall ever be personally grateful to Mrs. Audrey Turner, Mr. Ben E. Johnson, Mrs. Josephine Manning, Mr. William C. Overton, Mr. Thomas Riddle, and to Mrs. Linda Scott, my secretary, who provided the clerical work in a project whose end seemed to be at infinity. Earle Connette Librarian and Chief Manuscripts-Archives Division ( 5) 225 225 225 225 ,CARL P. RUSSELL CARL P. RUSSELL CARL P. RUSSEl.l PAPERS PAPERS PAPERS 1920-1967 1920-1967 1920-1967 f!I~ J, f,,_ l ff,,'i,lll CARL P. RUSSELL PAPERS 1920-1967 fUFi Tl'/_,I_ /,',l, Ff1,•'i1 llii 61 171 My study has involved thousands of investigations, each to the fifth decimal point. My facts will stand hard scrutiny. I have dealt with the written word, records, documents, artifacts, and all forms of source information with hardly an hour when not actually at grips with a source item or thinking about it. I have thrived upon that which others have over looked or regarded as unimportant scraps. There have been no minor matters [to meJ - draft of letter to LeRoy Hafen, November 1, 1963 CARL PARCHER RUSSELL PAPERS Accession Number 225 The collection was arranged by Mrs. Audrey Turner and Mr. Ben E. Johnson, librarians, who then began the indexing that was completed by Mrs. Josephine Manning, librarian, assisted by Mr. William C. Overton and Mr. Thomas Riddle, doctoral candidates in American Studies and United States History, and clerically by other members of the Manuscripts Archives Division staff. The papers and library of Carl Parcher Russell were purchased by the Washington State University Library in October, 1967, from Mrs. Elizabeth M. Westphal Russell, after probate of the Russell estate. Number of containers: 96 Linear feet of shelf space occupied: 45 Number of items: 24,916 The literary rights in the unpublished writings and other properties (photographs, sketches, graphic illustrations, etc.) in this collection are reserved by the Washington State University Library. VITA Carl Parcher Russell, historian, ecologist, and administrator, was an officer of the National Park Service for 34 years, 1923 to his retirement in 1957. He was dedicated to the study of the frontier. His concern for the minute, everyday facets of frontier life was expanded and intensified with a passion to such depths during these years and afterwards to his death in 1967, that he was regarded by his peers as the authority in his fields of specialization: the fur trade, and documentation for historical interpretation of frontier and pioneer life for the National Park Service and other agencies. Carl Parcher Russell worked selflessly with untiring energy in his never-ending search for unembellished facts. Dr. Russell was devoted to the development and stimulation of interest in and encouragement of a more complete understanding of life on the western frontier from exploration through early national expansion. This near-definitive collection, the product of his scholarship and technical knowledge, may now be drawn upon by qualified scholars for research and (7) interpretation of this significant and romantic period in Western United States history, In the ten years remaining after his retirement, Russell gave most of his time and energy to pursuit of knowledge in his fields of interest and he was noticeably active as a published author, lecturer, and planner and consultant for historical museums and facilities. His Firearms, Traps and Tools of the Mountain Men, published posthumously by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. , in 1967, is a capstone to his life I s work. Unfortunately, this title is but the second of an incomplete trilogy; in the collection are hundreds of items he was unable to exploit in his plan to write more concerning the methods and details in the lives of the explorers, trappers, traders, frontiersmen, soldiers, and pioneer migrants. Born, January 18, Fall River, Wisconsin 1915 A.B. (Biology), Ripon College 1917 M.A. (Cytology), University of Michigan 1922 Married Elizabeth M. Westphal 1923-1929 Entered the National Park Service; Park Naturalist, Yosemite National Park 1929-1934 Field Naturalist and Museum Specialist 1931 Ph.D. (Ecology), University of Michigan One Hundred Years in Yosemite, Stanford University Press and Oxford University Press 1935-1936 Chief, Museum Division, National Park Service 1936 Oberlander Fellowship; Tour of European museums (Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation) 1936-1937 Chief, Wildlife Division, National Park Service 1937-1939 Director, Region One, National Park Service 1939-1947 Chief Naturalist, National Park Service 1947-1952 Superintendent, Yosemite National Park 1951 LL.D., Ripon College 1952 Guggenheim Fellowships ( 8) 1954-1957 Coordinator of Research and Interpretation, Western Office, National Park Service 1957 Retired Guns on the Early Frontiers, University of California Press Death, June 19 Firearms, Traps and Tools of the Mountain Men, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (9) DESCRIPTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAPERS The Carl Parcher Russell papers include personal, professional, and office correspondence that pertain to his scholarly interests. The bulk of the coll_ection is his assembled western frontier materials for the period 1804-1843. All are the working· papers of an acclaimed scholar in the fields of western overland fur trade, firearms, frontier artifacts, and frontiersmen. Public relations were continuously a part of Russell's employment in the National Park Service. The preparation of publishable essays and presentation of public lectures were always an important part of his life. These activities required work in many libraries