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This digital collection consists of firearms related periodicals from various manuscript collections, as well as the Harold McCracken Research Library's periodicals collection. These publications range in date from 1918 to 1927. Supported by funding from the American Society of Arms Collectors.

Firearms
Publications

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. The letters have been flattened, separated by acid-free, lignin-free paper in archival folders and housed in Box 1, organized as Series 1. Included in Series 2 are excerpts of essays that have resulted from research with this collection.

MS 002
Victor Arland

A selection of letters, correspondence, published material, ephemera, objects and photographs surrounding the life of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Supported by OCLC, Mrs. Lynne Cheney, and a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. Thank you! This project is also made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. http://imls.gov

MS 003
Charles Belden

Cody, Wyoming was founded in 1895. Long associated with William F. Cody and the East Entrance to YellowstonePark, Cody has had a rich and varied past. Series within the collection have been set up on the history of the City of Cody and Park County, which include Cody Rod and Gun Club papers; W. F. Cody; Wyoming and Western U.S. history; local persons and families such as Elmore Jones and the Hargreave family; general city of Cody and local scenery and wildlife photographs (many photos still unidentified); and Cody newspapers that include the Heart Mountain Sentinelof the World War II Japanese-American internment camp. Total volume of the collection is 7 c.f. of papers and photographs plus the newspapers.

MS 005 Cody Local History Collection

A selection of letters, correspondence, published material, ephemera, objects and photographs surrounding the life of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Supported by OCLC, Mrs. Lynne Cheney, and a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. Thank you! This project is also made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. http://imls.gov

MS 006
William F. Cody

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. Other documents in the collection include reminiscences of Wilmot Sanford on the battle, a letter from General E. S. Godfrey to E.S. Paxson about the battle, as well as a letter from William F. Cody to Elizabeth Custer regarding a statue of her husband.

MS 007 George
Armstrong Custer

Collection consists of four journals by Count Otto Franc von Liechtenstein relating daily activities as he ran the Pitchfork Ranch on the upper Greybull River west of present day Meeteetse, Wyoming. Typed transcripts are present for the first two journals.

MS 010 Count Otto
Franc Von Lichtenstein

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.Charles Rapp was a New Yorker who came to Wyoming during the short-lived gold rush period. The collection contains 15 letters, written to a friend back home, that describe life in early Wyoming and in the mining camps. Among the topics discussed are relations with the Indians, the Battle of Little Big Horn, and his feelings of home sickness.

MS 017
Charles Rapp

The Yellowstone National Park Collection consists of publications, memorabilia, souvenirs, academic publications, correspondence, photographic media, illustrations, postcards, and correspondence related to the park and its inception, existence, and development.

MS 021 Yellowstone
National Park

MS 032 Edward Becker

MS 032 Edward Becker

Among the items in the collection are letters and shipping orders from Schuyler, Hartley and Graham to H. K. White, correspondence from H. K. White Military Goods to customers, correspondence from individuals and companies seeking to purchase goods from Schuyler, Hartley and Graham and H. K. White Military Goods, 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, etc., and a large collection of advertisement materials. Supported by funding from the American Society of Arms Collectors.

MS 034 Schuyler, Hartley & Graham

This collection consists of images of North American Native American Indians by various photographers, with images arranged by photographer.

MS 035 North American
Indian Photographs

Images of Northern Cheyenne Indians, early 20th century. Black and white prints, photographed by Mrs. George Bird Grinnell.

MS 037 Elizabeth Grinnell Indian Photographs

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.

MS 047
David R. Phillips

MS 056 Rinehart Indian Photograph Collection - 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 056 Rinehart Indian Photograph Collection

A compilation of items from several Winchester Repeating Arms Company (WRAC) related collections, which include firearms engineering drawings, corporate documents and records, photographs, and logs from multiple points along the assembly chain. Project funded by the Olin Corporation Charitable Trust.

MS 063 Winchester
Repeating Arms

A compilation of images, correspondence, and ephemera related to the survey, settlement, development, evolution and interpretation of the West. This project was made possible in part by a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

MS 071
Vincent Mercaldo

A selection from the more than 300,000 images found in the McCracken Archives. Jack Richard was a journalist and professional photographer in Cody, Wyoming. Subjects include Yellowstone National Park, industries, portraits, ranching, and aerial photography. This project was made possible in part by a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The project was also funded in part by a generous grant from the Carol McMurry Library Donor Advised Endowment Fund, through the Wyoming Community Foundation. Thank you!

MS 089 Jack Richard Photograph Collection

Reverend William Augustus Petzoldt (1872-1960); Petzoldt worked as a Baptist minister and missionary in Sheridan, Wyoming prior to moving to Lodge Grass in 1903. In Lodge Grass Rev. Petzoldt and his wife Anna established a mission and day school for native children to attend, thereby allowing them to live with their families while also receiving an ‘white’ education. Petzoldt photographed many of the residents of the area as part of his efforts to educate the public about the American Indian in the United States of America. These images comprise a collection of lantern-slides created between 1903 and 1925 by the Rev. William A. Petzoldt. The Rev. Petzoldt and his wife Anna lived among the Crow people at Lodge Grass, Montana in order to run a Baptist Mission and a day school for the children.

MS 095 William A. Petzoldt Lantern Slides

American firearm manufacturers began producing widespread advertising campaigns in the early 1800’s. Many commercial arms and ammunition companies found they could greatly increase their profits by placing pictorial ads in newspapers, catalogs, and magazines. Increased technology, such as the rotary press and the use of flexography, helped to spread advertisements to previously untouched markets. These advertisements often promoted firearms for specific demographics and functions. Recurring themes included protection, sport, hunting, and military purposes. During the late 19th century, firearm advertisements were largely focused on hunters. At the onset of the Second World War, advertisements for military grade firearms were predominant. At the conclusion of the war, firearm advertisements returned to sport and hunting themes. Material in this collection provides a wide range of advertisements targeted to individual demographics, as well as the average firearm consumer. Roy Marcot currently living in Tucson, Arizona with wife Cary, was raised in North-Central New Jersey. He graduated from Pratt Institute in Humanities and was a U. S. Army officer with active duty in the California Army National Guard for almost a decade. He is the author of several books and has been the head of the Remington Research Team and editor of the Remington Society Journal since 1991.

MS 111 Marcot Firearms Advertisements

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. The collection was divided into three sets prior to the purchase of the original negatives by the Buffalo Bill Memorial Association in 1999. The numbering system has been retained, based on image numbers within each of the three sets. The negatives were purchased from the Council for Indian Education. The collection consists of 462 nitrate negatives 2 ½ x 4 ¼ inches in size. Two (2) sets of prints have been furnished to the Council for Indian Education with permission for use in their publications.

MS 165 Marquis Native American Negatives

MS 166 William F. Cody Divorce Proceedings

MS 166 William F. Cody
Divorce Proceedings

MS 184 Early Cody Bands

MS 184 Early
Cody Bands

MS 197 Cody Road Postcards

MS 197 Cody Road
Postcards

This collection consists of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody (BB) and others correspondence with John Tait (1912-16), one of the Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War. Included are pictures and postcards of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (BBWW) show, pictures of the Barnum sideshow members, a volume of the original Rough Riders, a Route Book of the 1899 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and a letter from Mrs. Cody after Irma’s death.

MS 231
John H. Tait

MS 243 James Bama Collection - James Bama is a prominent illustrator and artist of the American West. He was one of the best known magazine and book illustrators in the country, with many Doc Savage book covers as examples of his work. After nearly 22 years as an illustrator in New York City, Bama moved to Wyoming in 1968. This collection comes from his studio and includes correspondence, research articles, photographs, negatives, gallery catalogs, magazines and books containing Bama’s illustrations.

MS 243 James Bama Collection

46 black & white photographic prints of Blackfeet, Cree, Crow, and Sioux peoples taken 1902-1904 by Fred R. Meyer, a photographer from Buffalo, NY. Includes scenes of the burial of Chief Plenty Coups and of Crow tribal member Pretty Horse Right Hand; a 1902 Blackfeet medicine lodge at Browning, Montana with Chiefs Three Bears, Rocky Boy, Wolf Eagle, Old Mountain Chief, Many Guns, Little Dog and Many Tail Feathers; and images of the Pine Ridge Sioux including Chief Red Cloud, Two Moons, Crazy Horse, Chief Calico and his wife Good Dog, and Black Horn. Also includes a few photographs of the Little Big Horn battlefield memorial. All caption quotations are from text written by Fred Meyer on the back of the photographic prints as sent to his friend William P. Sargent.

MS 247 Fred R. Meyer Photograph Collection

Mrs. Julia Ethel Tuell (1886-1960) lived on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana from 1906 to 1912; Stroud, Oklahoma with the Sac and Fox Indians in 1913; and on the Sioux Indian Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota from 1913-1929. A photographer, her images were used by George Bird Grinnell to illustrate his books “The Cheyenne Indians” v. I & II, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1923. Included in this collection are three photo albums dated from 1908-1918. The first two albums described are of Northern Cheyenne reservation life, and third begins on the Northern Cheyenne but ends on the Rosebud. Descriptive text for most of the photographs are under the photo in white pen or written on the back of the photo. Some photos in this collection can also be found in her biography “Women and Warriors of the Plains: The Pioneer Photography of Julia E. Tuell” by Dan Aadland, MacMillan, NY: 1996. The final photographs in album, (after c. #106?) are dated to when Mrs. Tuell would have been living on the Rosebud Reservation.

MS 283 Julia E. Tuell Photographs

William A. Bell was the professional printer for W. F. Cody & Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, Capt. Jack Crawford, Texas Jack & Capt. Chas. L.Von Berg. Through this relationship William A. Bell developed friendships with these men. This collection includes information of the Bell family and their relationships to these men through books, correspondence, poetry, news clippings, ephemera, and personal photographs.

MS 294 William A. Bell Family Collection

A selection of images by photographer Gabby Barrus related to the plant and animal inhabitants, geography, geology, ecology and exploration of the Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area. This project was made possible in part by a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

MS 301 Gabby
Barrus Slides

A collection of 8 glass plate negatives focusing on the Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Pawnee Bill's Great Far East.

MS 312 Buffalo Bill & Pawnee Bill Negatives

Collection consists of one tintype and 499 black and white and color photographs, postcards, and cartes de visites. Items mainly include Plains Indian subjects, Indian encampments, and Plains Indians involved in rites, ceremonies, rodeos, and fairs. Tribes included are Arapaho, Assiniboine, Blackfoot (Siksika, Piegan, and Kainah), Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Kiowa, Nez Percé, and Sioux.

MS 320 Paul Dyck
Collection

A collection of images, correspondence, and ephemera related to the life and times of John Wallace "Captain Jack" Crawford, his family and descendants.

MS 322 John Wallace
Crawford Collection

MS 327 James Wojtowitcz

MS 327 James
Wojtowitcz Collection

MS 331 consists of a legal transcript from a court case involving property loss in 1817 Territorial Missouri.

MS 331 William Clark
Collection, 1817

Herbert Homer Hewes travel with his father Julius from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Rapid City, South Dakota (Dakota Territory) in search of gold in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory during 1876. The diary and accompany documents further record their experiences during the journey, as well as their recollections of these events in 1927.

MS 413 Hewes Black Hills Gold Rush Diary

This collection consists of the correspondence of railroad surveyor Samuel B. Reed between himself and his wife, family, acquaintances and business associates. Reed also kept some financial records which are included in the collection.

MS 414 Samuel B. Reed Collection

MS 421 Walter M. Banko Collection

MS 421 Walter M. Banko Collection

Native photographer Ken Blackbird observes that photographers are “the image keepers of history.” Ken Blackbird’s lineage is Gros Ventre/Assiniboine, and he is an enrolled member of the Fort Belknap Indian Community of Montana. A photojournalist and freelance photographer in a career that spans more than 30 years, his work on modern life in Cuba was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001. To date, he remains the only American Indian photographer nominated for this prestigious award. A graduate of the University of Montana’s School of Journalism, he has lived in the Cody, Wyoming, area for many years. Out of many thousand images, Blackbird has chosen a select few for the exhibition, representing the richness of Indian culture, the drama and timing of rodeo, and the unique qualities of western landscapes. Though his photographs recall a rich tradition, the vitality of Native American life today is his subject, conveyed poignantly and passionately through his lens.

MS 426 Ken Blackbird Photograph Collection

This collection is primarily wildlife video footage from Yellowstone National Park, including footage collected by Penny Preston for television broadcast. The Greater Yellowstone Sights and Sounds Archive is spearheaded by Dr. Charles Preston Curator of the Draper Museum of Natural History. This online collection is an joint endeavor between the Draper Museum of Natural History and the McCracken Research Library both of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This effort is financially supported by the R. K. Mellon Family Foundation.

MS 430 Greater Yellowstone Sights and Sounds

MS 438 Forrest Fenn Indian Photographs - The Forrest Fenn Indian Photographs Collection consists of 2,200 photographs of various Native American Indian subjects acquired by collector, historian, and author Forrest Fenn. The photographs date primarily from 1880 to 1920 and were obtained from various repositories.

MS 438 Forrest Fenn
Indian Photographs

MS 441 Caroline S. Schimmel Collection

MS 441 Caroline S. Schimmel Collection

Man standing next to longhorn cattle. L-Pohrt.54

Pohrt Buffalo Bill’s and Pawnee Bill’s Show Photos

Digital Collections are works in progress. Please see the appropriate finding guides for more complete collection content.