One of the most underused collections at the American Heritage Center has a gold mine of information (some on an actual gold mine) spread across dozens of boxes and hundreds of folders.  Titans of industry in the waning Gilded Age are highlighted in correspondence and business contracts, deeds, and minutes.  Such men could be staying at a swanky hotel in our nation’s capital while sending and receiving letters from venture capitalists in London, cattle foremen in New Mexico, estate lawyers in Iowa, and desperate hucksters, inventors, and panhandlers from areas in between.  Such was the lot of James and Helen Bosler of Carlisle Pennsylvania, and their heir apparent, Frank Bosler.

Frank Bosler, along with a few other notables such as Edward Ivinson, would become the closest thing Wyoming had to a Rockefeller or a J.P. Morgan.  A level-headed businessman who made decisions by the numbers rather than by personal feelings, ran what amounted to a minor business empire that comprised large tracts of Southeast Wyoming, land and cattle in Iowa and New Mexico, and mine deeds in Colorado.  His holdings included a dizzying array of companies that included the Iron Mountain Ranch, the Iron Mountain Alloy Company, and the Ashland Mining Company.  Frank Bosler could be found sending letters and contracts that exchanged tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars, and later, he could send a letter to his bank enquiring about a discrepancy of one dollar and seventy-two cents, making him meticulous, miserly, or both.

Photograph of John Coble. Photofile: Coble, John. UW American Heritage Center.

Juxtaposed with this gentleman from back East, a tenderfoot some might have called him in his younger years, was the rough and tumble John C. Coble.  Coble was the owner of the world famous bucking bronco Steamboat, the horse immortalized as Wyoming’s unofficial symbol.  Coble, an undisputed leader of cowpokes and survivor of a grisly knife attack by the father of the boy allegedly murdered by Tom Horn, was Bosler’s business partner and primary operator of the Iron Mountain Company.  Bosler, cultured and unemotional, and Coble, hardened cowboy and hothead, made for quite the odd couple.  It is no wonder that their business partnership dissolved with Coble allegedly misallocating company funds in order to pay for Horn’s defense, Horn being a close, personal friend.  Coble eventually won a civil case Bosler that went all the way to the Wyoming Supreme Court, which held that Bosler owed Coble over twenty thousand dollars in damages!

All these events represent a fraction of the interactions found in the Bosler Family Collection that bring to life the changing Wyoming landscape at the turn of the last century.  Dig in, and enjoy this precious stone at the AHC in the Gem City of the Plains.

–Oscar Lilley,  HIST 4055  Student

[Author's note regarding sources consulted:  Frank Bosler Papers, 1864-1930. Collection Number 5850.  American Heritage Center.  University of Wyoming.  Boxes 61-63, and 115 were highlighted in this blog post.]

Not a sports fan? You still may find some items of interest, such as this 1977 football season highlight video showing the campus and students:

Getting the Ball Rolling to Improve Access

Previously, accessing the UW Intercollegiate Athletics material was like catching a Hail Mary in a Wyoming blizzard–very difficult! All that existed was a 35-page paper inventory created by a student in 2002 for 228 boxes of film. Neither the collection nor inventory was organized in any way. Although the inventory was originally created electronically in Microsoft Word, the electronic version was not readily available and paper copies were used for search and retrieval. It’s not the 1980s. We live in a world where keyword searches and 24/7 access of information is the norm. It was time to bring the Intercollegiate Athletics collection to the 21st century.

Old inventory for the UW Athletics Collection.

The bulky inventory was not available to patrons but rather used by AHC archivists when a patron requested a film.  Because there are approximately 25 requests a year for films and other materials, our A/V archivist used it often and had it practically memorized.  While this is one way to find what you’re looking for in an unorganized collection, those unfamiliar with the collections’ contents would have to scan dozens of pages to find what they needed, and there was no guarantee that we even had what they were looking for (more on this later).

The Intercollegiate Athletics collection totals over 200 cubic feet.  If you laid each box from end to end it would span the entire War Memorial football field, plus another thirty yards.  Not only was it a large, unorganized collection, but there were inaccuracies in the titles and dates, and many of the films were unidentified.  Needless to say, organizing and identifying the thousands of films and other materials was a lot of work.

New and Improved: The Collection

The new, accurate online inventory (a.k.a. finding aid) can be found here: http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=wyu-ah515001.xml.  The collection is divided into three series: films, sports records, and athletic director’s email.  Most films are organized by sport, and then chronologically.  There are various types of films and videos including 16 millimeter reel-to-reel tape, Beta, VHS and even DVDs.  The new finding aid identifies each film and video by type.

The UW Intercollegiate Athletics collection is mostly comprised of game films, and most are of UW football and men’s basketball games. There is a fairly complete run of football games dating from 1938 to 2004 and a fairly complete run of men’s basketball games dating from 1978-2003.  The BYU vs. Wyoming game of the October 1981 blizzard, when the Cowboys came back from a 14-point deficit to beat Jim McMahon and the Cougars; the 1987 men’s basketball team’s run in the NCAA tournament, when the cowboys were led by Fennis Dembo and Eric Leckner; and the March 2, 2002 game against Utah to win the regular season Mountain West Conference title and host the biggest crowd to see a game in the UW Arena are just some of the historical highlights included this collection.

Game films of women’s basketball are also included with a fairly complete run from 2003 to 2008. The collection also includes films documenting baseball, cross country, golf, skiing, hockey, rodeo, soccer, swimming/diving, tennis, track, and volleyball from the 1980s-2000s. Wrestling is also represented and there is footage dating back to 1949. Additionally, it includes films of coaches’ shows, senior banquets, and season highlight tapes.

The collection also contains physical and electronic records about UW sports, such as several scrapbooks of newspaper clippings dating 1920-1948 about UW football and basketball. A small portion of football and men’s basketball schedules, game brochures, and narrator information sheets for games are in this collection. There are also audio cassette tapes of interviews with coaches and players.

2006-2007 University of Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team. University of Wyoming Intercollegiate Athletics Records, Collection No. 515001.

Why Does the AHC Have This Stuff?

The American Heritage Center houses the university’s archives- permanent records documenting university history.  Sports are a fundamental part of most universities, and the University of Wyoming is no exception.  In fact, it could be argued that, because Wyoming has no professional NFL or NBA teams, the Wyoming Cowboys are even more essential to document.

Unfortunately, acquisition of game tapes and records has been inconsistent and unstructured.  We are very fortunate to have what we have, and hope to acquire both films and records documenting games and the administration for years to come.  Like most sporting events, it just takes teamwork and a game plan!

Score Sports Memories and Memorabilia for Yourself

Whether you want to reminisce with friends over a favorite Cowboys memory or see what the fashions of the 1970s were, the Intercollegiate Athletics Collection is a slam dunk for interesting (and sometimes amusing) content.  Contact our friendly reference archivists for more information on how to access and even get copies of specific films and other materials.  In the meantime, here’s a major moment in Cowboys’ basketball history that, although young Cowboys fans may not have known of it, will forever be remembered within the UW Archives:

~ Laura Uglean Jackson, University Archivist (with help from John Waggener, Photo Archivist, and Aaron Kruger and friends, UW Cowboy fans)

For many years I have been doing family history and from the beginning used the American Heritage Center (AHC) as a resource.  About 10 years ago I began working on ranch histories for Albany County, Wyoming, and have found AHC to be a great place for me to do research for this project too. It is amazing what you can find in the collections at AHC.  Every time I go to AHC or to their website I always find something that either relates to my family and/or to the Albany County Ranch Histories I am presently working on.

The photo collections have been a great place for me to find family and ranch pictures.  Recently I came upon a picture titled “German Picnic” at AHC and in it I found my grandparents, great grandmother, a great aunt and uncle and other relatives.  What a find that was because my grandparents were both very young in the picture and seeing them was such a thrill.  Therefore I ordered a copy on a CD and now I have that picture in my family history collection.  I  have enjoyed sharing it with others in the family.

German Picnic, possibly 1890s, Ludwig Svenson Collection. UW American Heritage Center.

Some of the resources I have used for family and ranch histories are the digitized photo collection, especially the Ludwig-Svenson Studio collection and the pictures in the Fee and Murphy Family papers.  Other valuable collections for ranch histories in Albany County, WY, are the following collections:  the Wyoming Stock Growers Association records; Swan Land and Cattle Company records; the Robert H. Burns papers, the Francis E. Warren papers; and many, many more.

When you do a search online using the words “Albany County Wyoming” or “Wyoming History” it is amazing how much information is at AHC.  For instance I found one of my relatives in that search: Edward H. Borgeman.  His papers are located at the AHC! Another search for ranchers connected to Albany County turned up the papers of Oda Mason, Andrew Spring Gillespie, King Brothers Company, Ted Olson, Alvy Dixon, Bosler Family, Harry Richardson, Robert H. Homer, and Hans Olson.

I highly recommend the American Heritage Center for historical research of family, ranches, and many other subjects.  Happy hunting!

–Dicksie Knight May, Family and Ranch Historian

Everyone has a personal archive; a collection of records that they choose to maintain because they feel that the records have historical significance to them as an individual. They may document family history, work, a personal event, or the personal effects of a national or worldwide event. However, many people do not realize that what they are creating and maintaining are essentially archival collections. They have subconsciously developed a “collection policy” in their mind of what has significance to them and have made a conscious effort to save, maintain, store, and access these materials for long-term personal use. This is essentially what an archival institution tries to do for a community and many times these personal collections may end up at an archival institution for research use.

I am part of this everyone; my personal archive contains numerous family collections of photographs, correspondence, and memorabilia covering at least four generations of family history (including my own). One of my most prized collections is my great-grandmother’s (Shirley Campbell Riedesel) photo albums and diary. She created three photo albums that span her teenage years until her death in 1944 and a diary that recalls her life raising a family on a ranch north of Laramie, Wyoming in the mid 1930s.

Ranch scenes and picture postcard.

Unfortunately, she died of cancer at the age of 44 when my grandmother was only 10 years old, making her collection our families’ only known personal record of her life and my grandmothers life as a little girl. Not only does this collection provide a pictorial history with personal anecdotes about my family history, it also provides historical documentation about everyday life in Albany County, Wyoming from 1920-1940. One great example is in a photo album labeled “Ranch – Laramie, Wyoming 1936.” On the last page of this album are two photographs of sheep hung up by their hind legs with the caption “Uncle Sam Killing Sheep, 1934”. This is a great representation of local ranches dealing with New Deal Federal Government directives to slaughter sheep as a way to reduce surplus and raise livestock prices during the Great Depression. I get the sense my great-grandmother was not overly happy about it based on the photos and the caption she wrote.

Caption from photo: “Uncle Sam Killing Sheep, 1934.”

The diary only covers a few years of her life living on the family ranch and raising her children. My great-grandmother was rather lonely and sad during this time. She complains of her husband, my great-grandfather, always being gone and expresses grief over the loss of a child. The photo albums, on the other hand, tend to show only the joyous moments in the family; family outings and gatherings, family photos, ranch work, animals, and the ranch house and buildings. We can gather a lot of historical data from both the albums and the diary regarding my great-grandmother’s life as a young women, wife, and mother. Her story can also add details about the overall experience of many women that moved to Wyoming and lived during the Great Depression. I find that many personal archive collections contain such stories that may seem only significant to the individual but can also have significance to a broader scope of research and knowledge.

–Jamie Greene, Processing Archivist

I never met my grandmother, Florence Hicks Hecox.  She died in 1932 leaving a husband and six children on the family homestead in the Upper Green River Valley above Pinedale, Wyoming.  I am lucky to own two of the few items that once belonged to her.  I have a crazy quilt that was made in the early 1900s while Florence was a young woman living in Lyman, Wyoming.  There are pieces of lace added to the basic quilt pieces of silk, taffeta, velvet and satin.  Notes and dates have been embroidered on some pieces.  Unfortunately, the quilt was not always given good care and has damage from mice.  The silk pieces are nearly all gone due to deterioration.  Family tradition says that the quilt was made from ties but the documentation done by the Wyoming Quilt Project last spring does not support story.  The fabric is very fragile and I need to find a way to clean and support the quilt so it will remain a part of the family for a few more generations.

Hecox family crazy quilt and wooden rocking chair, sized for a child.

The second item I have is a child’s rocking chair that was given to Florence at some time in the late 1890s or early 1900s.  It is made from soft pine with a cane seat.  My father was not certain how it came to their family but that it had always been in their house when they were growing up.  The chair was used by my Uncle Richard’s family and then my father fixed it up for our family.  A few years ago I brought it to Laramie and had it restored by a company in Fort Collins.  They replaced the plywood seat with a new cane seat, cleaned off the years of dirt and polished the hardware.  I was told that these little rockers are rather rare since most were broken and thrown away.  I feel very lucky to have this little chair and will use it when I have grandchildren of my own.

Most of the Hecox family stories and the few pictures that remain of my grandmother are published in a book that was written by my uncle Richard Hecox and edited by his granddaughter Disney Burnett.  The book is titled Memories of Kendall Valley and was originally published in 1978 with a second edition in 2005.  I keep the quilt documentation and the information about the little rocking chair with this book so my family will be able to read about these two treasures in the future.

 –Janet Hecox Woods,  Library Technical Services Supervisor

When: 10am-12pm — Wednesday, April 24th

Where: American Heritage Center, 4th Floor Miller Classroom

What to bring: A curious mind and any questions that you might have about tracking down Laramie and Albany County ancestors!

To give examples about what a personal archives is or what it can mean to you or your family, this week AHC staff and members from the community will share stories about their personal archives; what it means to have personal items preserved; as well as an experience of trying to find family history here at the AHC when information isn’t always available at home.  I will start the week with my own stories.

My grandmother (left) with a colleague during WWII.

Both my grandmothers saved family records and some of the records they kept were passed on to me.  I could tell multiple stories about the records they kept but I will only share a few.  My grandmothers saved items from World War II: one grandmother experienced the home front while the other was a nurse in North Africa.  I have written accounts and photos from my grandmother who was in North Africa and ration points from my other grandmother who stayed stateside.  The contrast of place and experience of World War II between family members is fascinating to me.  My maternal grandmother also gave me multiple photographs from different generations of the family.  A couple of my favorite photographs are of relations sitting on the porch eating watermelon as children.  One photograph is my grandfather with his siblings and the second photograph is my mom with her siblings.  I also appreciate the photo with my mom and her siblings because I know it was one of my grandmother’s favorites.

Gasoline rations points saved by my grandmother who stayed stateside.

My grandmothers weren’t the only ones who saved records.  For a year my grandfather attended my alma mater.  He and I are the only two people in my family to attend this university.  I have his yearbook and I feel a special connection to him when I think about attending the same university, even if it isn’t where he ended up graduating.

My great-grandparents’ wedding invitation.

The wedding invitation I have from brother’s wedding a few years ago is also a special item in my personal archives.  Many people think that in order for an item to be archival it has to be “old.”  The records we create today can be passed on for generations.  In fact items can never become old if they aren’t saved.  My brother’s invitation is the fourth generation of wedding invitations in my possession.  Something “new” continues our family legacy.

My grandparent’s wedding invitation.

My family records mean a lot to me.  With the few stories I have shared already I hope to convey the importance I feel to keep and maintain personal family records.  When I look at these records I learn more about where my family came from and how I came to be who I am.

Frederick A. Gutheim, circa 1930. Frederick Albert Gutheim papers, #7470, Box G142, Folder 25. UW American Heritage Center.

Frederick Gutheim was born on March 3, 1908, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was raised in Washington, D.C., where he attended Sidwell Friends School and later Dr. Devitt’s Preparatory School. He earned a degree from the Experimental College of the University of Wisconsin in 1931 and pursued graduate study at the University of Chicago. His early association with mentors like John Gaus and Lewis Mumford lead him to the study of urban and regional planning. Gutheim pursued this interest as a bureaucrat, a writer and academic, a practitioner, and as an activist.  The American Heritage Center is pleased to announce that the Frederick Albert Gutheim papers have been recently processed and a new online inventory is available.

Gutheim became professionally acquainted with housing and planning policy while a staff member at the Brookings Institution. Between 1933 and 1947, he worked for federal agencies involved with housing and planning, serving the U.S. Army in the National Housing Agency during World War II. During this period, he also married Mary “Polly” Purdon, in 1935. He worked closely with Catherine Bauer at the U.S. Housing Authority as the assistant director of the Division of Research and Information. In 1933, he wrote portions of the TVA Act concerning planning.

Sketch on a postcard, Frederick Albert Gutheim papers, #07470, Box G142, Folder 25. UW American Heritage Center.

Gutheim may be best known as a writer and a teacher. He was a staff writer on architecture and planning for the New York Herald Tribune between 1947 and 1949. He published The Potomac in 1949, a classic example of regionally-focused environmental history. Over the course of his career, Gutheim wrote and edited for numerous magazines and journals including the Magazine of Art and the journal of the American Institute of Architects. He founded the Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies as well as the historic preservation program at George Washington University. He advised and taught at the university from 1975, when he established the program, up to the time of his death.

Gutheim, circa 1962, with a ‘portable’ bicycle. Box G142, Folder 27,

Gutheim used his knowledge of bureaucracy and his academic prowess in a series of private consulting businesses, among them Galaxy, Inc., and Gutheim, Seelig, Erickson. Under the auspices of these firms, he advised organizations like the United Nations, the Canadian government, and the city of Newport, Rhode Island.

As an activist, Gutheim sought to protect the integrity of the landscape surrounding his home in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 1974, he established Sugarloaf Regional Trails, a non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation and land conservation. He served as a trustee of the Accokeek foundation and was instrumental in the opening of the National Colonial Farm, which was active in preserving native agricultural practices. He served on an array of historic preservation and planning boards from 1950 until his death in 1993. Gutheim perceived himself to be a catalyst for change, whose work in the background made the more apparent success of others possible.

–Shaun Hayes, Processing Archivist

Join us for the Kick-Off event on April 20th at the Horse Barn Theater on the campus of the Territorial Prison Museum!

“Git ‘em up, podner!” Photo included in William Boyd scrapbook, Box 173, William Boyd Papers, #8038. UW American Heritage Center.

One the most popular collections at the American Heritage Center is the papers of William Boyd, who played cowboy Hopalong Cassidy for many years on radio, television, and film. Hopalong Cassidy was originally created by author Clarence E. Mulford in 1904 in a series of short stories and novels. William Boyd first brought Hoppy to life in a 1934 film adaptation of Mulford’s story. He portrayed Hoppy in many more films, on a television series beginning in 1949, and voiced Hoppy in a radio show. The character became enormously popular and Boyd acquired all rights to the Hopalong character in 1948. He consolidated all Hopalong enterprises and began a highly profitable business through promotion of the character. Boyd donated some of his profits to children’s hospitals and homes. Boyd married actress Grace Bradley in 1937. He retired in 1953, and died in 1972.

Hopalong Cassidy with children in Hoppy costumes and his horse,Topper. Photofile: William L. Boyd. UW American Heritage Center.

The William Boyd collection contains a wide variety of materials; everyone is sure to find something in the collection that would pique their interest. The collection has materials concerning Boyd’s portrayal of Hopalong Cassidy and his many related promotional and business ventures. It contains correspondence, legal files, financial files, newspaper clippings, promotional and publicity materials, and other business records. In the collection, you can also find Hopalong Cassidy scripts and comics, sheet music, phonograph records, and photographs of William Boyd. There are also a large number of artifacts, including Hopalong Cassidy costume items, toys, and other merchandise. A small amount of William Boyd’s personal files are also present.

Example of a Hoppy Birthday card, Box 112, Folder – “Birthday cards, undated.” William Boyd Papers, #8038. UW American Heritage Center.

Hopalong Cassidy on parade, Box 115, Negative Number 27916. William Boyd Papers, #8038. UW American Heritage Center.

Due to Hopalong Cassidy’s immense popularity, he had merchandising and tie-in deals with a wide range of brands and products. Interestingly, three products he most heavily seemed to promote were bread, tuna, and dairy products (especially ice cream). This is due, in part, to his popularity with children. Of course little Timmy wants his sandwiches to be made with Hoppy’s favorite bread and tuna! Not only does the collection contain correspondence and other business files pertaining to his merchandising and promotional deals, but you can also find examples of the original packaging used for various products. Hopalong Cassidy games, toys, and children’s cowboy clothes (sanctioned by Hopalong Cassidy, of course!) are also contained in the collection.

Hoppy’s branding efforts even reached Chicken of the Sea! Box 113, Folder – “Packaging with Hopalong Cassidy, undated.” Tuna label has a date of 1952 stamped on the back. William Boyd Papers, #8038. UW American Heritage Center.

There are numerous scripts in the collection for his radio, television, and film productions, as well as contracts and copyright agreements for the stories. In the 1950s, a Hopalong Cassidy comic strip was produced by King Features Syndicate. The collection contains a nearly complete run of these comics, which are a blast to read though. Would you like to see Hopalong Cassidy’s saddle, boots, hats, and other apparel? The collection has these, too! How about his holster and six-shooters? Yep, these can also be found at the AHC! Do you want to learn how to play all the old Hopalong Cassidy songs? Well, we’ve got the sheet music just for you! Did you write a fan letter to Hoppy as a child? Maybe you can find it in the fan mail folder!

One of the strips distributed by King Features Syndicate. Box 156, Folder – “Knockout Comics – entire magazine, 1957-1959.” William Boyd Papers, #8038. UW American Heritage Center.

There are also a large number of scrapbooks filled with newspaper and magazine clippings detailing William Boyd’s activities as Hopalong Cassidy, as well as a large number of photographs. The photographs include movie stills from his various productions, publicity photographs of William Boyd at various events, and a number of photographs with him and his wife, Grace Bradley Boyd. Whether you’re looking to do serious research or just experience a blast from the past by looking at old toys, games, and original Hoppy apparel, this collection has it all.

Letter from Mulford to Boyd discussing film options for a story by Mulford. Box 150, folder – “Correspondence – letter (copy) from Clarence E. Mulford to Boyd re: making Hopalong Cassidy film, 1948.” William Boyd Papers, #8038. UW American Heritage Center.

–Emily Christopherson, Processing Archivist