The Montana State University Archives and Special Collections, also known as the Merrill G. Burlingame Archives and Special Collections, is located in Bozeman, Montana. The archives is on the second floor of the Renne Library on the

Montana State University-Bozeman Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

campus and consists of materials relating to the history of the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

and

salmonids Salmonidae (, ) is a family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon (both Atlantic a ...

, the

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of Earth. It is located within the northern Rocky Mountains, in areas of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern Monta ...

and other topics.

About

The

Merrill G. Burlingame Merrill G. Burlingame (March 13, 1901 – November 14, 1994) was a history professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana who specialized in Montana history and the history of the American West. He was instrumental in the founding of ...

Special Collections is located in the

Montana State University Library The Montana State University Library (MSU Library) is the academic library of Montana State University, Montana's land-grant university, in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It is the flagship library for all of the Montana University System, Mont ...

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

. Merrill G. Burlingame and Minnie Paugh were instrumental to the creation and development of the archive, establishing a solid foundation of research and collection of regionally important materials. Minnie Paugh (1919–2003) was a reference librarian and instructor at Montana State College (now

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

), where she helped establish the university's Archives and Special Collections. She was a prolific researcher and writer, contributing to several Montana history books. Paugh also generated a collection of oral histories, consisting of notes, tapes, interviews, photographs, and historical

ephemera Ephemera are items which were not originally designed to be retained or preserved, but have been collected or retained. The word is etymologically derived from the Greek ephēmeros 'lasting only a day'. The word is both plural and singular. On ...

. Her interests included indigenous tribes of the North American West, particularly those in Montana,

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

, and the agricultural and ranching history of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. Paugh made significant contributions to the area of Montana history, the development of Montana State University's Archives and Special Collections, and the creation of an extensive Montana oral history collection held at Montana State University. Paugh's work is housed at the Montana State University Archives and Special Collections, including books, unpublished materials, and family histories. In addition to her own materials, the

Archives and Special Collections contains many collections that Paugh personally worked on and contributed to. Similarly, Merrill G. Burlingame (1901–1994) was a prolific researcher and historian who published numerous works essential to the development of the archive. Burlingame was a history professor at Montana State College and an active member in the creation of the

Museum of the Rockies Museum of the Rockies is a museum in Bozeman, Montana. Originally affiliated with Montana State University - Bozeman, Montana State University in Bozeman, and now also, the Smithsonian Institution. The museum is largely known for its Paleontology, ...

. These included journal publications and books on topics such as politics in Montana, the military in Montana, and general history of the American West. The areas of collection at the MSU Archives and Special Collections include eleven broad areas of collection. * Agriculture * Architecture and Engineering * Montana and the American West * Native Americans * Montana State University History * People of Montana * Trout, Salmonids, and Angling * Politics and Government * The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem * Women's and Gender Histories * Regional Writers and Narratives In addition to physical holdings, the MSU Library also produces and manages digital collections, which include the complete digitization of the Ivan Doig Archive, the Montanan Yearbooks collection, and the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention Oral History collection.

Notable collections

There are numerous collections of note held at the Montana State Archives and Special Collections, including collections on

environmental history Environmental history is the study of Human impact on the environment, human interaction with the natural world over time, emphasising the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs and vice versa. Environmental history first emerged ...

and ecology of the North American West, Native Americans, Western writers, and more. * Trout and Salmonid Collection * Jack Ellis Haynes and Haynes Inc. Records *

F. Jay Haynes Frank Jay Haynes (October 28, 1853 – March 10, 1921), known as F. Jay or "the Professor" to almost all who knew him, was a professional photographer, publisher, and entrepreneur from Minnesota who played a major role in documenting through phot ...

Papers *

Ivan Doig Ivan Doig (; June 27, 1939 – April 9, 2015) was an American author and novelist, widely known for his sixteen fiction and non-fiction books set mostly in his native Montana, celebrating the landscape and people of the post-war American West. W ...

Archive *

Burton K. Wheeler Burton Kendall Wheeler (February 27, 1882January 6, 1975) was an attorney and an American politician of the Democratic Party in Montana, which he represented as a United States senator from 1923 until 1947. Born in Massachusetts, Wheeler bega ...

Papers *

Fort Ellis Fort Ellis was a United States Army fort established August 27, 1867, east of present-day Bozeman, Montana. Troops from the fort participated in many major campaigns of the Indian Wars. The fort was closed on August 2, 1886. History The fort wa ...

and Gustavus C. Doane Collection * Yellowstone Park Company Records * Mildred J. Leigh Papers * Marian T. Place Papers *

James Willard Schultz James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, (August 26, 1859 – June 11, 1947) was an American writer, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfeet Indians. He operated a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana and li ...

Papers *

Thomas Mcguane Thomas Francis McGuane III (born December 11, 1939) is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American A ...

Papers

References

External links

* Digital Collections are available at Montana State Universit
Archives and Special Collections

Guide
on how to use/visit MSU Archives and Special Collections
1972 Constitutional Convention Oral Histories

Norma Ashby interview with Dr. Burlingame, circa 1980s

{{coord, 45.66662, -111.04866, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-MT, display=title Montana State University Archives in the United States History of Montana Yellowstone National Park Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Science and technology in Montana Research institutes in Montana Historians of Montana History of Montana by period Pre-statehood history of Montana Historic sites in Montana History of women in Montana Native American history of Montana Montana culture

About

Notable collections

Further reading

References

External links