New collections from Buffalo Bill Center of the West

We are pleased to announce the addition of a number of new collections from Buffalo Bill Center of the West – McCracken Research Library! Here are a few highlights:

MS 294 William Bell – Collection of correspondence and poems between William F. Cody, John Wallace “Captain Jack” Crawford, William Bell, and Leonard Cody Bell ranging from 1873 to 1908. Leonard Cody Bell was named for William F. Cody and was the son of William Bell, Cody's friend and printer.

MS 166 - William F. Cody Divorce Proceedings -- Legal documents from 1904-05 regarding the divorce of William F. Cody.

MS 006 - William F. Cody Scrapbooks MS6.0455 - Partial 1887 Diary/Scrapbook. Collection of correspondence from others to William F. Cody.

MS 32 - Edward Becker Collection of Indian Photographs - Black-and-white photograph album of Edward Becker of American Indians living in Crow Agency, MT in 1898. Becker received a Presidential appointment to serve as Crow Indian Agent in 1898, and his appointment document is included.

MS 002 - Victor Arland -- This collection consists of a series of original letters written by Victor Arland (c. 1848- 1890) of Arland, Wyoming to Mr. C.P. Dadant of Hamilton, IL, a beekeeper and manufacturer of bee supplies and distributor of honey. The letters are handwritten in French, dated between 1872 and 1889, and for the most part are in good to excellent condition.

Thanks to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West for sharing these collections! 

Welcome Buffalo Bill Center of the West - McCracken Research Library

MWDL recently harvested several collections from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, McCracken Research Library. With the addition of the McCracken Research Library, MWDL has added a repository located in Wyoming!

The digitized collections cover a variety of topics for researchers interested in the history of the western united states, with collections covering a variety of topics such as Buffalo Bill and his Wild West show, records of guns and ammunition companies, historical Native American photographs, works of Wyoming photographers, and much more.

MWDL will continue to add more collections over the coming weeks, but collections from the McCracken Research Library currently available via MWDL are:

• MS 007 George Armstrong Custer Collection  - This collection contains various documents concerning the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Most prominent are two original reports of General Alfred H. Terry to General George Crook, the first official reports of the defeat of Custer at the Little Big Horn battlefield.
• MS 010 Count Otto Franc Von Lichtenstein Collection  - Collection consists of four journals by Count Otto Franc von  Lichtenstein relating daily activities as he ran the Pitchfork Ranch on the upper Greybull River west of present day Meeteetse, Wyoming. 
• MS 017 Charles Rapp Collection  - This collection consists of the 15 letters from Charles Rapp to Eva Shepard written from various locations in Wyoming Territory. Mr. Rapp, of New York, discusses gold mining, women homesteaders on the frontier, Mormon immigration, Shoshone and Sioux Indians, and a description of a visit to the Little Big Horn battlefield three days after the battle.
• MS 034 Schuyler, Hartley, and Graham  - Among the items in the collection are letters and shipping orders from Schuyler, Hartley and Graham to H. K. White, correspondence from individuals and companies offering goods and services, business records such as bills, receipts, calling cards, etc., bound memo books, ledger books, inventory books, and a large collection of advertisement materials.
• MS 037 Mrs. George Bird Grinnell Indian Photographs  - Images of Northern Cheyenne Indians, early 20th century. Black and white prints, photographed by Mrs. George Bird Grinnell.
• MS 047 David R. Phillips  - A group of glass plate negatives from the collection of David R. Phillips focusing on William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.
  

  

  William F. Cody with lariat, saddle, and rifle
• MS 056 Frank A. Rinehart - The F.A. Rinehart Indian Photographic collection consists of 33 standard size images, and 118 oversize images of Native American Indians in a photographic studio setting, with approximately 10 images taken outside of a studio setting.
• MS 165 Thomas Marquis Native American Nitrate Negatives  - These photographs were created by photographer Dr. Thomas Marquis, a physician and author, who lived on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in the early 20th century.
  

  

  Richard Wooden Leg sitting with boy

• MS 247 Fred R. Meyer Photographs- 46 black and white photographic prints of Blackfeet, Cree, Crow, and Sioux peoples taken 1902-1904 by Fred R. Meyer, a photographer from Buffalo, NY.

For more resources, visit the Digital Collections of the McCracken Research Library.