Little Bighorn, Battle of the, Mont., 1876

U.S. Marshal. Enlistment papers (1872-1886) from Madsen's service with the 5th Cavalry, and two letters (1926-1937) of Madsen's. Also includes a letter (1967) to Jack D. Haley from John A. Minion, who claims that Madsen was with the 7th Cavalry at the time of the Custer Massacre.

Black and white copy prints from the original nitrate negatives of early Texas history, Texas Rangers, lawmen, outlaws, gunfighters, and wild west shows. Also included are photographs of ranchers, cattlemen and cowboys of the Southwest, the U.S. Army during the Apache campaigns, the Little Big Horn battlefield and the Indian Wars of 1876 and 1890-1891, along with churches, cathedrals, and missions of Texas, California and Arizona. The collection also contains images of Comanche, Sioux, Shoshoni, Pueblo, Creek, Chippewa, Maricopa, Arapaho, Papago, Kickapoo, Yuma, Modoc, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Kiowa, Navajo, Apache, and Crow Indians. Prominent western personalities include Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill, Geronimo, Quanah Parker, Sitting Bull, Frank and Jesse James, Heck Thomas, Bill Tilghman, Chris Madsen, Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, the Daltons and Youngers, Judge Roy Bean, George A. Custer, California Joe, the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy, and the Earp brothers.

Collector. Newspaper clippings on forts, battles, monuments and trails (1960-1974) with an emphasis on George Armstrong Custer. Three items concern the dedication ceremonies at Fort Washita, Oklahoma (1965).

Historian and author. Correspondence (1945-2008), journals (1973-1984), calendars (1970-2006) and research files from the life and career of western historian Robert Marshall Utley. The materials document Utley's lengthy service as an historian and administrator for the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, his extensive research and writing on the American West, and his role in the development of the Western History Association and the Potomac Corral of the Westerners. His publications focused on a variety of western subjects, including George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn; Texas Rangers and law enforcement in the West; Sitting Bull and the Sioux Nation; mountain men and westward expansion; the Indian Wars; and Billy the Kid.

Professor. Personal correspondence (1897–1957); correspondence with Campbell’s relatives (1822–1896); correspondence with publishers and literary agents (1920–1958); literary manuscripts (circa 1914–1957); diaries, notebooks, and journals (1901–1926); and business papers (circa 1925–1959) regarding Campbell’s writings on the West, Indians, and Oklahoma, with emphasis on transportation, fortifications, cowboys, wars and battles, criminals and outlaws, and American Indian chiefs, along with original Indian art by Carl Sweezy. [Boxes 104 through 121 of this collection are available online at the OU Libraries website.]FULL FINDING AID (PDF)

Black and white original and copy prints of Comanche, Cheyenne, Cheyenne-Arapaho, Arapaho, Sac and Fox, Sioux, Blackfoot, Kiowa, Crow, Ute, Shawnee, Omaha, Pueblo, Shoshoni, Pawnee, Ponca, Assinibone, Apache, Yakima Nez Perce, Umatilla, Wichita, Osage, Potawatomi and Flathead Indians. Also included are photographs of the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars (1865-1891), Western forts and posts, the Little Big Horn battlefield, trails and settlements of the Southwest, soil conservation and dust storms, Oklahoma towns, mountain ranges and National Parks.