Erwin N. Thompson Research Collection, 1776-1995

GOGA 35360

Golden Gate National Recreation Area
ATTN: Park Archives and Records Center
Building 201, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
[Mailing Address]	Park Archives and Records Center
Presidio of San Francisco
Building 667 McDowell Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94129
[Physical Address]	

go.nps.gov/gogacollections

Phone: 415-561-2807
Fax: 415-441-1618

Table of Contents

Introduction	3
Acknowledgements	3
Golden Gate National Recreation Area	3
Park Description	3
Park Archives and Records Center	3
Historical Note	3
Scope of Collections	3
Visiting the PARC for Research	4
Copy Services	4
Rights and Publications	4
Legal Status of Holdings	4
Donations to the Collections	4
How to Use This Finding Aid	5
How to Use the Collections	5
Contacts	5
Scope and Content	6
Title	6
Dates	6
Collection Number	6
Creator	6
Volume	6
Provenance	6
Scope and Content Note	6
Index	7
Formats	8
Preferred Citation	8
Processing Information	8
History	8
Series Description	11
Box and Folder List	15
Appendices	24
1. List of Correspondents	24
2. Abbreviations	24
3. Biography	24
4. Alcatraz Maps and Architectural Drawings	30
5. PHRS Maps, Architectural Drawings, and Clippings	35
Index to Finding Aid	38

Introduction

Acknowledgements
PARC gratefully acknowledges Jerry Greene, retired NPS historian, friend of “T” Thompson and executor of his estate, for providing the biographical section of this finding aid.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Park Description

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), a unit of the National Park Service, was established by an Act of Congress on October 27, 1972. The 80,000-acre park encompasses a great diversity of cultural and natural resources in and around the Bay Area of San Francisco, California. It includes Muir Woods National Monument and Fort Point National Historic Site.

The park holds almost five million three-dimensional and documentary artifacts dating from the time before European contact to the present. They are preserved and maintained for the public by the Division of Cultural Resources and Museum Management, which includes the Park Archives and Records Center (PARC). 

Park Archives and Records Center

Historical Note

GGNRA and the sites within it have been collecting records since their inception. The PARC was established in 1994 to receive records and archival collections from the U.S. Army and the Presidio Army Museum after the closure of the Presidio of San Francisco as an Army base. The collections continue to grow through the donation of materials by private individuals, transfer of inactive park records by staff, and acquisition of relevant documentary materials.

Scope of Collections

The archival collections in the custody of the GGNRA document the history and activity of the various sites and groups associated with the park, described in the park’s Scope of Collection Statement (2009). 

The PARC contains U.S. Army and National Park Service facility records for the Presidio of San Francisco, forts and coast defense sites in the area, and various GGNRA sites. Subjects and sites documented include the United States Army (Bear Flag Revolt, Civil War, Spanish-American War, Mexican War, World War I, Army Air Service, Coast Artillery, Army medical facilities and issues, World War II, Army support during natural disasters, Viet Nam War, and Operation Desert Storm); Alcatraz Island (Army fortress, Army Disciplinary Barracks, U.S. Penitentiary, and Indian Occupation); the natural resources conservation movement resulting in the establishment of Muir Woods National Monument; agriculture in the Marin Headlands; Point Reyes Peninsula and Bolinas Lagoon areas; U.S. Lifesaving/Coast Guard Services; San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906; Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915; natural resources and environmental issues; and preservation of open space in the Bay Area. Also included in the PARC are many of the GGNRA administrative records that document the development and expansion of this park.

Visiting the PARC for Research

The PARC is located in an historic brick building, formerly a cavalry stable, on the Presidio of San Francisco. Collections and archives support services are available for walk-in research during open hours or by appointment. Please contact the PARC (see below) for the current schedule of reference hours.

Copy Services 

Black and white photocopy services for standard and oversize materials are available on-site. Color photocopying, photographic duplication, and duplication of other media are available by special arrangement. Researchers are charged for all duplicates on a cost-recovery basis.

Rights and Publications

Copies are provided under the Fair Use provisions of the Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Researchers must complete a Permission to Publish Contract form with the Park Archivist for any other intended use of these materials (such as publication or exhibit). Researchers should consult with staff regarding their needs for commercial or public use of materials. 

Legal Status of Holdings

Many holdings of the PARC were acquired/transferred prior to the establishment of the archives program, and have little documentation on their provenance (source/chain of custody). All materials received after 1994 have been accessioned and documented. If provenance cannot be determined, the PARC assumes that it owns the property rights, but does not own the copyright. Staff will provide assistance, but it is the responsibility of the researcher to acquire permission from the copyright holder to cite, quote, or reproduce collection materials.

Collections developed by or for government organizations or operations are in the public domain and may be used, cited, and quoted without restriction, provided they are properly credited to the PARC. The archives contain no national security classified materials.

Donations to the Collections

The PARC welcomes donations of a variety of historic materials that meet the criteria in the Scope of Collections Statement and do not duplicate existing holdings. Collections are maintained for research use in perpetuity; there is no guarantee that items will be exhibited. If you own materials that may be relevant to the themes of GGNRA and would like to deposit them in the PARC, please consult with an archivist.

How to Use This Finding Aid

This document contains information on the contents and significance of an archival collection. It includes descriptive information; repository information; collection history; biographical or historical information on creators of the collection; and a container or folder list of everything in the collection. After reviewing the finding aid, please discuss your specific needs with the archivist who will locate and retrieve the relevant materials. 

How to Use the Collections

Please follow all rules and regulations regarding research, the use of the research facility, and the handling of collection materials. This will protect the collections so they continue to be available for generations to come. If anything appears to be out of order or damaged, please notify a staff member.

Contacts

For additional information on the use of archival collections at GGNRA, please contact the Park Archives and Records Center: 

	Mailing Address: 
	National Park Service					
	Golden Gate National Recreation Area
	Attn:  Park Archives and Records Center		
	Fort Mason, Bldg. 201
	San Francisco, CA  94123

	Physical Address:
		Park Archives and Records Center
		Presidio of San Francisco
Building 667 McDowell Avenue
		San Francisco, CA 94129
		Phone:	(415) 561-2807
		Fax: (415) 441-1618

Erwin N. Thompson Research Collection, 1776-1995

Scope and Content

Title 
Erwin N. Thompson Research Collection, 1776-1995

Dates
Inclusive: 	1776-1995
Bulk:		1850-1910

Collection Number 
Catalog number GOGA 35360 (Accession numbers GOGA-1984, -1531, -1765, -2479, -2974, -2990, -2991) (Former catalog numbers 18360, 35182, 40044, 40109)

Creator 
Erwin N. “T” Thompson, on behalf of the National Park Service

Volume
31.2 lf in record boxes, card boxes, and map files

Provenance 
The collection is compiled from several accessions donated to PARC by Thompson or his estate between 1990 and 1999. Thompson created most items himself (such as the research notes, correspondence, and slides). He copied or acquired other items from sources which are carefully cited throughout the collection.

Scope and Content Note
This is the combined collection of research materials created and amassed by NPS historian Erwin N. “T” Thompson, used for multiple historic resource studies (HRS) on GGNRA properties from the 1970s through the 1990s. The bulk of the collection is Thompson’s handwritten and indexed notes, arranged by the specific topics of each study. The largest series, for his Presidio of San Francisco (PSF) HRS, includes copies of primary sources, maps, and post returns. His studies of Alcatraz and PSF are among the most thorough historic studies of those sites.
  
Organization and Arrangement
The collection has six series, arranged chronologically by the date of creation. Detailed series descriptions appear on page 14.

I.	Fortifications, 1846-1975 -- arranged by subject
II.	Historic Resource Studies, 1828-1960 -- arranged by subject then chronologically
III.	Alcatraz Historic Resource Study, 1847-1974 – arranged by subject then chronologically
IV.	Presidio Historic Resource Study, 1776-1997 – arranged by subject
V.	Estate Research, 1791-1996 – arranged by subject
VI.	NPS Publications Camera-ready Texts, 1977-1980 -- arranged alphabetically by title

Significance 
Thompson’s studies for NPS represent some of the most thorough research conducted on GGNRA’s military history. This collection includes primary sources such as military publications, historic records, newspaper clippings, post returns and maps. Included also are several boxes of Thompson’s hand-written research notes, carefully cited and indexed.

Related Collections and Sources  
Please note that this list is not comprehensive. It is intended as an aid to researchers. For more complete information, contact the reference archivist. 
GOGA 40091 Excerpt from “A Report on Barracks and Hospitals with Descriptions of Military Posts,” 1870
GOGA-2422 Alcatraz Lighthouse Records, 1854-1986
GOGA 35263 Crissy Field History Study Collection
GOGA 35245 Fort Scott Building Book, 1912-1950
GOGA 35228 Thomas Sakamoto Army Papers (Military Intelligence School), 1941-1945
GOGA 35306 Presidio Cultural Landscape Study, 1994
GOGA-2181 “From Post to Park” Information Packet
GOGA-1766 – Grace Hartley Collection, contains related Crissy Field image (specific item is noted inside box)
Shallow Grave at Waiilatpu Research Collection, Whitman College and Northwest Archives, Walla Walla, WA

Condition
The collection is in good condition overall, showing normal edge wear and some dog-earing.	

Index
Alcatraz Island (Calif.)--History.
Coast defenses
Crissy Field (San Francisco, Calif.) 
Fort Mason (Calif.)
Golden Gate National Recreation Area (Calif.)
Harts, W. W. (William Wright), 1866-1961
Military architecture--United States
Military life
Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.) 
Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.)--History.
Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.)--Maps.
Presidio of San Francisco (Calif.)--Planning.
Thompson, Erwin N., 1926- 1998
United States. Army. Army, 6th 
United States. National Park Service

Formats 
Blueprints	
Card index
Correspondence
Maps
Newspapers
Research documents
Research notes
Returns (military reports)
Slides

Preferred Citation 
“Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, Erwin N. Thompson Research Collection, GOGA 35360”

Processing Information 
Processed by Allyson Eddy Bravmann
Completed in August 2011 

History

Excerpted from A Historian’s History: Erwin N. Thompson, 1926-1998
By Jerome A. Greene

Erwin N. “T” Thompson was born on August 18, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of a Canadian army veteran of World War I. He grew up in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and served in the Royal Canadian Navy for the duration of World War II. In 1947, drawn by an interest in military life he moved to Boston and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Early in 1949, following basic training, he was bound for Okinawa, Japan, as part of the postwar occupation forces.

Erwin returned from overseas and attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he majored in history (military, American, and Far East) and minored in political science. Following graduation in 1960, he was hired as park historian at Whitman Mission National Monument near Walla Walla, Washington. He served at Whitman Mission and Fort Davis, Texas until 1965, when he joined the Division of History Studies in the Washington, D.C., Planning and Service Center. 

During his first years with the group, he completed a number of resource studies for parks in Washington, Wyoming, California, Kansas, North Dakota, and Idaho. In 1969 the Oregon Historical Society published his book, Shallow Grave at Waiilatpu: The Sagers’ West. Two years later, a Sacramento firm published his Lava Beds Modoc War study in book form.

In the late 1970s, Thompson launched into a series of projects for Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, and produced massive documents detailing the histories of Alcatraz Island (titled, The Rock), Fort Mason, and the seacoast fortifications in and around San Francisco Harbor.

After 20 years as a historian in the National Park Service, Thompson retired in 1980 to his home in Golden, Colorado. He remained active providing histories and appraisals for the park service and other agencies. In 1992, he joined the planning team for the Presidio of San Francisco after the National Park Service had taken over the post. His final work was a two volume history of the post entitled, Defender at the Gate: The Presidio of San Francisco, published in 1997.

Erwin Thompson died on June 15, 1998 at age 73.

Extended biography in Appendices

GGNRA Timeline, as related to this collection

1847 – Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco by Lt. Washington Bartlett, US Navy. Americans (7th New York Volunteers) took over Presidio from Mexico.
1850 – President Fillmore reserved Alcatraz Island and Angel Island for military purposes. Later that year, he proclaimed those, Presidio, and Point San Jose as military reservations.
1853 – Civilians move onto Black Point at Point San Jose since the military did not use the reservation immediately. Residents included Gen. John C. Frémont and his wife Jessie Benton.
1875 – Marine Hospital opened to care for merchant seamen landing at American ports.
1854 – Lighthouse on Alcatraz Island began operating; first lighthouse on Pacific coast.
1861 – Fort Point completed and Army orders troops to garrison fort. Construction costs about $2.8 million.
1863 – Fort Point and Alcatraz armed for Civil War. Commanders thought harbor attack might come from British, Confederate, or from Southern sympathizers within San Francisco. 
1864 – Temporary batteries were built at Angel Island and Point San Jose. Civilian squatters were evicted from Black Point, including Jessie Benton Frémont and her family. Frémont mounted a legal challenge continued by her heirs for over a century.
1883 – Maj. William Albert Jones, an engineer at Army department headquarters, develops comprehensive plan for forestation of Presidio reservation. Within a decade 350,000 trees of seven varietals had been planted.
1884 – War Department designated former post cemetery and surrounding land as the first National Cemetery on the West Coast.
1890 – Treasury Department established Fort Point Life Saving Station in Lower Presidio.
1892 –United States Quarantine Station opened on Angel Island.
1892 – Army acquired 200-acre land area through condemnation proceedings, called site Fort Miley.
1895 – Army designated Alcatraz Island as United States Disciplinary Barracks.
1898 – San Francisco receives new seacoast fortifications as defense in the Spanish-American War. These include minefields at Fort Mason and Point Cavallo.
1899 – US Army General Hospital is established. It is later renamed Letterman General Hospital after Major Jonathan Letterman, an Army surgeon and prominent San Francisco doctor.
1902 – Marine Hospital is renamed the US Public Health Service Hospital.
1905 – Secretary of War allots land on Angel Island to departments of Commerce and Labor for Immigration Detention Station.
1906 – Earthquake hits San Francisco. Four refugee camps were established on Presidio on order of Gen. Frederick Funston, housing 16,000 refugees. Fort Mason also housed refugees and was the site for the Army Relief Headquarters for the entire city.
1907 – Maj. William W. Harts compiled, “Report Upon the Expansion and Development of the Presidio of San Francisco, California” with 14 accompanying plates.
1910 – Presidio Golf Club expands existing 9-hole course on Presidio’s southern boundary to 18 holes.
1912 – Operations began at the San Francisco Intermediate Depot, later termed San Francisco Port of Embarkation (SFPE). The warehouses and piers served America’s garrisons in Alaska and throughout the Pacific.
1917 – U.S. government bought ocean frontage portion of Fort Funston property from Spring Valley Water Company. The fort is named in honor of Maj. Gen. Frederick Funston.
1918 – During WWI, Letterman adds a nursing school, prison ward, and departments of orthopedics, neurology, psychiatry, and venereal diseases.
1921 – Army designated Crissy Field as military airfield. It is the first Army coastal defense airfield on the Pacific coast. The field is named after Maj. Dana Crissy, who was killed in 1919 in a transcontinental air race that started in San Francisco.
1921 – Design work started on Julius Kahn Public Playground, a 7.294-acre site on the Presidio's south boundary.
1933 – Act of Congress transferred Alcatraz Island from Department of War to Department of Justice for a prison. In 1934, the first 50 federal prisoners arrived via rail cars ferried across Bay to avoid risking a transfer.
1933 – Golden Gate Bridge designer Joseph Strauss designed a steel arch for the approach over Fort Point, making it unnecessary to remove the fort.
1937 – Army bought about 800 acres in Marin County and created Fort Cronkhite.
1941 – SFPE was the military’s leading Pacific coast port throughout World War II. By 1945, 1.6 million military personnel passed through the port on their way to and from the Pacific war zones. Over 22 million tons of cargo were handled at the port.
1954 – Nike Ajax missiles began to be sited around San Francisco. Five missile sites and four radar sites were located in land currently within GGNRA.
1961 – Undeveloped areas of Fort Baker turned over to California for park purposes.
1962 – The Department of Defense declares Fort Mason "surplus military property," and transfers the remaining military functions to the Oakland Army Base.
1963 – Alcatraz closed as prison and last prisoners transferred off island.
1966 – Western Medical Research Laboratory established at Letterman (later Letterman Army Institute of Research).
1969 – Department of the Interior, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation recommended transfer of Alcatraz to National Park Service and inclusion of other surplus federal property as a Park for the People. Committee recommended that the lands be pulled together to form an 8,000-acre park.
1969 – Beginning of Indian Occupation of Alcatraz Island, which lasted 19 months.
1972 – President Nixon signed "An Act to Establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area," (Public Law 92-589), which established Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
1972 – National Park Service acquired Fort Mason, which had been used strictly for storage by the Army since 1962.
1973 – Alcatraz opened to the public under Park Service management.
1974 – Army closed Crissy Field to fixed-wing aircraft, restricting its use to helicopters.
1985 – GGNRA announced plans to restore Crissy Field.
1989 – Congress approved "Base Closure and Realignment Act" (Public Law 100-526), with Presidio closure no later than September 1995.
1993 – NPS released Creating a Park for the 21st Century: From Military Post to National Park: Draft General Management Plan amendment, Presidio of San Francisco.
1993 –Update of Presidio National Historic Landmark is approved.
1994 – The U.S. Sixth Army departs and the Presidio officially transfers to the National Park Service (NPS).

Timeline Bibliography
Historic Resource Study: Seacoast Fortifications, San Francisco Harbor (NPS, 1979)
The Park That Makes its Own Weather (NPS, 1991)
What We Have, We Shall Defend (NPS, 1991)
Defender of the Gate (NPS, 1997)

Series Description

This is a compilation of research collections created for Thompson’s multiple historic resource studies (HRS) on GGNRA properties from the 1970s through the 1990s. The bulk of the collection is Thompson’s handwritten and indexed notes on 5x8-inch note paper. Series III from Thompson’s Alcatraz study includes 197 maps and architectural drawings copied from the National Archives. Although these are not originals, they are significant as part of his study and this overall collection. In addition they aid researchers who may be unable to access originals at NARA itself. The largest collection, for the Presidio HRS, includes copies of primary sources, post returns, and historic maps. More details can be found in the series descriptions.

I.	Seacoast Fortifications, 1846-1975

Volume: 2 lf		 
Arrangement: Subject
Formats:	Research notes
Condition: Good
Gaps/overlaps: Camera-ready text for this publication is in box 37

Description: Boxes 1-2. These are two (2) card boxes of half-sheets containing Thompson’s research notes from his 1979 HRS on San Francisco Bay fortifications. The first box covers PSF and Fort Scott. The second box covers several fortifications. Sections are separated by card stock dividers. Some items in box 2 have been sleeved.

II.	Historic Resource Studies, 1828-1960

Volume:	1 lf	 
Arrangement: Chronological and subject
Formats: 	Research notes
Condition: Good
Gaps/overlaps: Camera-ready text for this publication is in box 37

Description: Box 3. This is one (1) card box of half-sheets containing Thompson’s notes from Historic Resource Studies of GGNRA properties conducted in the 1970s. Sections are separated by card stock dividers. 

III.	Alcatraz Historic Resource Study, 1847-1974

Volume:	3 lf	 
Arrangement: Subject and type
Formats:	Card index, maps, architectural drawings
Condition: Good
Gaps/overlaps: Camera-ready text and photos for this publication are in box 37. 

Description: This series contains three subseries of research notes, maps, and blueprints. An item list for the maps and drawings in this series is available; please ask the reference archivist.
		Subseries A:	Research Documents, Boxes 4-5 are two (2) card boxes of half-sheets containing Thompson’s notes from the 1979 Alcatraz Historic Resource Study. Sections are separated by card stock dividers. 
		Subseries B:	Maps, folders 1-5. Arranged alphabetically by type of view, thereunder chronological. Various duplication processes. These are duplicates of maps from NARA.
		Subseries C:	Architectural drawings, folders 6-12. Arranged alphabetically by type of structure, thereunder chronological. Various duplication processes. These are duplicates of drawings from NARA.

IV.	Presidio Historic Resource Study, 1776-1997

Volume: 21.2 lf		 
Arrangement: Subject
Formats:	Research notes, research documents, returns (military reports), maps, blueprints, newspaper, photos, illustrations
Condition: Fair to Good (maps and blueprints show wear)
Gaps/overlaps: Images from this study are located in GOGA-2991. 

Description: The largest series in the collection, this covers Thompson’s research for his HRS on the military history of the Presidio of San Francisco.
		Subseries A:	Research Documents, Boxes 6-15. These contain primary sources (original and photocopies) such as historical documents and reports, clippings, and publications.
		Subseries B:	Card File Boxes 16-24. These are 5”x8” note cards and sheets taken by Thompson during his research and contain notes and source citations. Box 29 is an index for the study on 3”x5” cards.
		Subseries C:	Oversize Boxes 25-30. These boxes contain microfilm print-outs of PSF post returns.
		Subseries D:	Photos and illustrations Boxes 31-32. These boxes contain hundreds of images, published and unpublished, from the HRS. The folders are divided by the chapter in which each was included, with a final folder of unpublished images from the Presidio’s base closure.
		Subseries E:	Oversize Maps, blueprints, and clippings M13-M14. Two oversize folders of base maps and blueprints. Folder 1 contains documents copied from the National Archives. Folder 2 contains maps prepared for publication (diazo and xerographic copies of each), and oversize newspaper clippings separated from Box 19. An item list is available for this subseries; please ask the reference archivist.

V.	Estate Research, 1791-1996

Volume:	4.5 lf	 
Arrangement: Subject
Formats:	Research notes, research documents, correspondence, microfilm, slides
Condition: Good
Gaps/overlaps: Contains additional information about the Presidio HRS

Description: These items were sent to PARC by Thompson’s estate after he passed away. They cover a number of projects.
		Subseries A:	 Card Boxes 33-35. These boxes contain 5x8” note cards with Thompson’s research notes from GGNRA-related projects. The bulk relate to Fort Mason. The boxes were arranged by Thompson using his own subject headings. Some have been clarified in this list. Within the boxes, subjects are separated by card stock dividers.
		Subseries B:	Microfilm Box 36. This contains seven rolls of 35mm microfilm copied from the National Archives.
		Subseries C:	Correspondence Box 37. These documents pertain primarily to the publication of the Presidio Historic Resource Study. There is also a file of correspondence from Thompson’s unpublished 1980 Ft. Mason HRS.
		Subseries D:	Slides Box 38. This box contains slides from Thompson’s trips to San Francisco. The earliest are his return from Korea as a US Army captain in 1953. Other photos are from GGNRA research locations, 1971-1992.
VI.	 NPS Publications Camera-ready Texts, 1977-1980

Volume: 1 lf
Arrangement: Alphabetical
Formats:	Mechanicals (camera-ready copy), photographs, illustrations 
Condition: Fair. Page numbers are glued on and some are beginning to fall off.

Description: Box 39. This collection is 1 lf of camera-ready text, photographs, and illustrations of Thompson’s publications. There is also a text of Anna Coxe Toogood’s A Civil History of Golden Gate National Recreation Center and Point Reyes National Seashore, for which Thompson was a contributor.

Box and Folder List

Box #	Folder #	Description/Folder Title	
 	 	SERIES I: SEACOAST FORTIFICATIONS, 1846-1975	
1	1	San Francisco harbor defenses, 1849-1865	
1	2	San Francisco harbor defenses, 1866-1876	
1	3	San Francisco harbor defenses, 1877-1898	
1	4	San Francisco harbor defenses, 1898-1906	
1	5	Fortifications: Presidio, 1849-1919	
1	6	Fortifications: Presidio, 1937-1975	
1	7	Fortifications: Winfield Scott, 1854-1975	
1	8	Fortifications: Miscellaneous, 1862-1943	
2	1	Fort Miley, 1854-1903	
2	2	Fort Funston, 1917-1945	
2	3	Alcatraz, 1864-1898	
2	4	Angel Island, 1853-1945	
2	5	Fort Baker, 1869-1945	
2	6	Fort Barry, 1902-1944	
2	7	Fort Mason, 1870-1908	
2	8	Yerba Buena Island, 1868-1915	
2	9	Fort Cronkhite, 1935-1942	
2	10	Mare Island, 1850-1917	
2	11	Official designations, posts, batteries, etc.	
2	12	Engineer officers and organizations	
 	 	SERIES II: HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDIES, 1828-1960	
3	1	Angel Island: General, 1850-1975	
3	2	Angel Island: POW Camp, 1941-1946	
3	3	Angel Island: Post returns, 1863-1916	
3	4	Yerba Buena Island: General, 1850-1873	
3	5	Yerba Buena Island: Post returns, 1871-1878	
3	6	Fort Funston, 1917-1949	
3	7	Fort Miley: General, 1849-1950	
3	8	Fort Miley: Post returns, 1902-1913	
3	9	Lime Point, 1835-1896	
3	10	Fort Baker: General, 1897-1976	
3	11	Fort Baker: Post returns, 1897-1913	
3	12	Fort Barry: General, 1916-1975	
3	13	Fort Barry: Post returns, 1908-1913	
3	14	Point Bonita post returns , 1903-1909	
3	15	Fort Cronkhite, 1880-1944	
 	 	SERIES III: ALCATRAZ HISTORIC, 1847-1974	
4	1	Alcatraz Federal Prison, 1933-1937	
4	2	Alcatraz Federal Prison, 1938-1975	
4	3	Alcatraz Lighthouse, 1847-1920	
4	4	Post returns, 1859-1916	
4	5	Alcatraz Island, 1854-1924	
4	6	Alcatraz Military Prison, 1863-1887	
4	7	Alcatraz Military Prison, 1887-1933	
5	1	Alcatraz Military Prison: Operations, 1853-1901	
Map	1	Maps: Aerials Views, 1847-1867	
Map	2	Maps: Aerials Views, 1869-1899	
Map	3	Maps: Aerials Views, 1900-1934	
Map	4	Maps: Aerials Views, 1961-1979	
Map	5	Maps: Profile View, 1908	
Map	6	Architectural Drawings: Buildings, 1852-1865	
Map	7	Architectural Drawings: Buildings, 1866-1907	
Map	8	Architectural Drawings: Buildings, 1908-1978	
Map	9	Architectural Drawings: Structural Details, 1859-1909	
Map	10	Architectural Drawings: Batteries, 1854-1862	
Map	11	Architectural Drawings: Batteries, 1863- March, 1865	
Map	12	Architectural Drawings: Batteries, March 1865- 1965	
 	 	SERIES IV: PRESIDIO HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY, 1776-1997	
6	1	Newspaper clippings: Army and Presidio/NPS assimilation, 1994-1996	
6	2	Newspaper clippings: Army and Presidio, 1994-1995	
6	3	PSF Diary, 1946-1953	
6	4	Aquatic Park Historic Structures Report	
6	5	“Siberian,” from Coast Artillery Journal, 1925	
6	6	Ninth Calvary at PSF, essay, 1903	
6	7	Julius Kahn Playground, National Register of Historic Places form	
6	8	6th US Army clippings 	
6	9	National Parks documents	
6	10	Royal Navy pamphlet and Northwest Coast of North America: a Study of British Maritime Ascendancy	
6	11	Officers documents	
6	12	“1st and 7th New York Regiment, 1846-1848,” from Military Collector and Historian	
6	13	GGNRA literature	
6	14	California land history	
6	15	San Francisco’s water system	
6	16	Alcatraz microfilm maps	
6	17	Fort Winfield Scott photos, maps	
6	18	Railroads at PSF, 1800s	
6	19	Shipwreck at Golden Gate, US Coast Guard, 1891	
6	20	Golden Gate Bridge PPIE program, 1933	
6	21	Forest at PSF  report, 1902	
6	22	PSF  documents	
6	23	PSF  history	
7	1	PSF  documents	
7	2	San Francisco Presidio: a Living Historic Monument, ch. 9, photocopy	
7	3	San Francisco National Cemetery	
7	4	Public Health Service Hospital	
7	5	PSF Planning	
7	6	PSF Golf course	
7	7	PSF National Register of Historic Places list of properties form	
7	8	DEH (Directorate of Engineering to Housing), Presidio	
7	9	Building Books, WASO, NA	
7	10	Commanding Officers	
7	11	Spanish-American War	
7	12	US Army	
8	1	Coast Artillery	
8	2	Fortifications	
8	3	Letterman folder 1/2	
8	4	Letterman folder 2/2	
8	5	NPS	
8	6	Crissy Field	
8	7	Military Intelligence Services Language School (MISLS)	
8	8	Japanese Americans	
9	 	Presidio Physical History Report – Building Inventory, DRAFT	
9	1	Volumes 1 and 2: Buildings 1-50	
9	2	Volume 3: Buildings 51-104	
9	3	Volume 4: Buildings 105-227	
9	4	Volume 5: Buildings 228-559	
10	 	Presidio Physical History Report – Building Inventory, DRAFT	
10	1	Volume 6: Buildings 603-908	
10	2	Volume 7: Buildings 909-1059	
10	3	Volume 8: Buildings 1060-1208	
10	4	Volume 9: Buildings 1213-1299	
10	5	Volume 10: Buildings 1300-1907	
11	1	History of the US Army General Hospital, part 1	
11	2	History of the US Army General Hospital, part 2	
11	3	A Collection of Historical Source Materials, 1776-1976	
11	4	Crissy Field Cultural Landscape Report	
11	5	El Presidio de San Francisco Under Spain and Mexico, 1776-1846	
12	1	Railroad	
12	2	Summary of responses to the Presidio Call for Interest, GGNRA/NPS, 1992	
12	3	The Presidio Forum Displays	
12	4	Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Rural Historic Landscapes	
12	5	America: History and Life	
12	6	The Stained Glass Art of Willemina Ogterop	
12	7	The Presidio Concepts Workbook, 1991	
12	8	Airway Bulletin, 1928	
12	9	Call for Interest, 1992	
12	10	Nike stories from the San Francisco Chronicle  archives	
12	11	Reveille, newsletter of NPS Presidio planning 1991	
12	12	From Post to Park, a Profile of the National Park Service, Draft General Management Plan Amendment for the Presidio of San Francisco, 1993	
12	13	Presidio Update newsletter, 1990-1992	
12	14	Star Presidian  newspaper	
12	15	Presidio Buildings, a Glossary of Architectural Style	
12	16	The Centennial Tree, n.d. 	
12	17	History: Presidio Woman’s Club, 1919-1954	
12	18	Presidio personal history report and building inventory	
12	19	“SALVO, California and the Civil War,” from Journal of the Fort Point and Army Museum Association, 1990	
12	20	She Went to War: the Rhonda Cornum Story	
12	21	Ft. Winfield Scott photos	
12	22	Japanese Americans Play Vital Role in United States Intelligence Service in World War II, booklet, 1946	
12	23	MIS (Military Intelligence Service), panel discussion program, 1991	
13	1	The Pacific War and Peace: Americans of Japanese  Ancestry in Military Intelligence Service, 1941-1952	
13	2	Defense of San Francisco Bay, Presidio, finding aid	
13	3	Quartermaster Corps Form 117, PSF building records 	
13	4	The Last Word in Airfields, a Cultural Landscape Report for Crissy Field, 1993	
13	5	National Historic Landmark WRO, draft 1991	
14	1	Letter to Ft. Mason Officers Club member, 1996	
14	2	Ft. Cronkhite maps and illustrations	
14	3	SF National Cemetery  brochure	
14	4	San Francisco Chronicle  clippings 1996-1997	
14	5	Report Upon the Expansion and Development of the Presidio of San Francisco, California, Maj. William W. Harts,1907	
14	6	PSF Significant Events and Persons, 1991 	
14	7	Historic Events Map, 1991 	
14	8	PSF Histories , 1899-1980	
14	9	1906 Earthquake, PSF Army involvement	
14	10	Strategic Significance of Presidio, by G.  Chappell, 1989	
14	11	PSF Railroads, 1871-1971	
14	12	PSF Fires, 1899-1918, 1965	
15	1	PSF Boundary, 1845-1925	
15	2	6th US Army-Presidio Regulations, 1989	
15	3	Fort Point Life Saving Station (USCG), 1890-1899, f 1/2	
15	4	Fort Point Life Saving Station (USCG), 1890-1899, f 2/2	
15	5	PSC Language School (MISLS)	
15	6	Presidio Building Inventory and Preliminary Assessment, 1992	
15	7	Defense Secretary Commission on Base Realignment and Closure Report, 1992	
15	8	PSF Forest Management Plan, 1990-2010	
15	8	PSF  Street Names, 1990	
15	10	PSF  Water Supply, 1862-1933	
15	11	PHRS Bibliography	
16	1	Presidio of San Francisco, general, to 1887	
17	1	Presidio of San Francisco, general, to 1900	
18	1	Presidio of San Francisco, general, to 1910  	
19	1	Presidio of San Francisco, general, to 1995	
20	1	Presidio of San Francisco: Golf Course	
20	2	Presidio of San Francisco: Fort Point	
20	3	Presidio of San Francisco: Letterman	
20	4	Presidio of San Francisco: Crissy Field	
20	5	Presidio of San Francisco: National Cemetery 	
20	6	Presidio of San Francisco: Water	
20	7	Presidio of San Francisco: Marine Hospital	
20	8	Presidio of San Francisco: LSS/USCG 	
20	9	Presidio of San Francisco: Julius Kahn  Playground	
20	10	Presidio of San Francisco: Maps	
21	1	Presidio of San Francisco: Post Returns – PSF	
21	2	Presidio of San Francisco: Post Returns – Fort Point	
21	3	Presidio of San Francisco: Military Intelligence Services Language School (MISLS)	
21	4	Presidio of San Francisco: Personnel	
21	5	Presidio of San Francisco: Army Sociology	
21	6	Presidio of San Francisco: Units	
21	7	Presidio of San Francisco: PEH+PAM, 1991	
22	1	Presidio of San Francisco: Spanish/Mexican Presidio	
22	2	Presidio of San Francisco: Presidio Forest	
22	3	Presidio of San Francisco: Fortifications – Ft. W. Scott	
22	4	Presidio of San Francisco: AAA – Missiles	
22	5	Presidio of San Francisco: Cavalry and National Parks	
23	1	Presidio of San Francisco: Buildings	
24	1	Presidio of San Francisco: Subject index	
24	2	Presidio of San Francisco: Buildings index	
24	3	Presidio of San Francisco: Names index	
25	1	PSF  post returns, March 1847- June 1850	
25	2	PSF post returns  , July 1850- August 1856	
25	3	PSF post returns, September 1856- June 1861	
25	4	PSF post returns, June 1861- October 1864	
26	1	PSF post returns, November 1864- August 1871	
26	2	PSF post returns, August 1871- August 1874	
26	3	PSF post returns, March 1876- December 1884	
27	1	PSF post returns, January 1885- November 1889	
27	2	PSF post returns, December 1889- December 1893	
27	3	PSF post returns, December 1893- September 1898	
27	4	PSF post returns, October 1898- January 1902	
28	1	PSF post returns, February 1902- November 1903	
28	2	PSF post returns, November 1903- January 1905	
28	3	PSF post returns, January 1905- September 1906	
28	4	PSF post returns, September 1906- March 1908	
29	1	PSF post returns, March 1908- October 1909	
29	2	PSF post returns, October 1909- February 1911	
29	3	PSF post returns  , February 1911- November 1912	
30	1	PSF post returns, November 1912- December 1913	
30	2	PSF post returns, January 1914- January 1916	
30	3	PSF post returns, February 1916- July 1903	
31	1	Photos and Illustrations: Cover and map negatives, 4 items	
31	2	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 1-3, 30 items	
31	3	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 4-6, 63 items	
31	4	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 7-9, 26 items	
31	5	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 10-12, 61 items	
31	6	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 13-15, 77 items	
31	7	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 16-17, 82 items 	
32	1	Photos and Illustrations: Chapter 18	
32	2	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 19-20	
32	3	Photos and Illustrations: Chapters 21-26	
32	4	Photos and Illustrations: Additional base closure photos and captions (unused)	
Map	13	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1916, 14 items	
Map	13	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907, 16 items	
Map	14	Historic Landmark Maps, 3 items	
Map	14	Letterman Hospital Area, 2 items	
Map	14	Building Plans , 8 items	
Map	14	Gates/Walls, 2 items	
Map	14	Clippings, 1994-1995, on PSF transition	
 	 	SERIES V: ESTATE RESEARCH, 1791-1996	
33	1	GGNRA Bibliography: Erwin “T” Thompson bibliography	
33	2	GGNRA Bibliography: Libraries	
33	3	GGNRA Bibliography: Newspapers (1/2)	
33	4	GGNRA Bibliography: National Archives	
33	5	GGNRA Bibliography: US government and military	
33	6	GGNRA Bibliography: Other	
33	7	GGNRA Bibliography: Persons	
33	8	GGNRA Bibliography: Photos	
33	9	GGNRA Bibliography: Bibliography 1995	
33	10	GGNRA Bibliography: Manuscripts	
33	11	GGNRA Bibliography: Periodicals	
33	12	GGNRA Bibliography: Books	
33	13	GGNRA Bibliography: Newspapers (2/2)	
33	14	GGNRA Bibliography: Other materials	
33	15	GGNRA Bibliography: Not studied 1995	
33	16	GGNRA Bibliography: Interviews	
33	17	GGNRA Bibliography: Bibliography Done, All Bay Area	
33	18	GGNRA Bibliography: Bibliography To Do, San Francisco	
33	19	GGNRA Bibliography: Maps – Presidio	
33	20	GGNRA Bibliography: Maps – Oversize PSF	
33	21	GGNRA Bibliography: Maps – National Archives San Francisco Harbor Defense (NA SFHD)	
33	22	GGNRA Bibliography: Maps – Batteries PSF and Ft. Winfield Scott	
34	1	Fort Mason: Bibliography To Do	
34	2	Fort Mason, 1775-1967	
34	3	Fort Mason Post Returns  , 1868-1915	
34	4	Fort Mason Maps	
34	5	Fort Mason: Bibliography Done	
34	6	Fort Mason: Division and Department Returns	
35	1	Generals and Officers: The Generals	
35	2	Generals and Officers: Bibliography To Do	
35	3	Generals and Officers: Bibliography To Do, The Generals	
35	4	Generals and Officers: Bibliography Done	
35	5	Generals and Officers: The Officers, A to Z	
35	6	Generals and Officers: General PSF/Army organization	
35	7	Generals and Officers: Commanding Generals Before 1865	
35	8	Generals and Officers: Commanding Generals Since 1943	
36	1	Microfilm: Presidio of San Francisco Post Returns January 1898- December 1907, #617 971 (2 copies)	
36	2	Microfilm: Presidio of San Francisco Post Returns January 1908- December 1916, #617 972 (2 copies)	
36	3	Microfilm: US Army Western Historical Record Northern California 1945?, #51391 (2 copies)	
36	4	Microfilm: San Francisco Sea Coast Fortifications	
37	1	Correspondence: Fort Mason, 1975-1980	
37	2	Correspondence: PHRS, 1994	
37	3	Correspondence: PHRS, 1995	
37	4	Correspondence: PHRS, 1996	
37	5	Correspondence: PHRS, 1997	
37	6	Presidio – list of newspaper articles	
37	7	Fort Mason	
37	8	PHRS Index	
37	9	Editing PSF	
37	10	PHRS Illustration/ Permissions	
37	11	Monthly reports, 1993-1996	
37	12	US Regular Army and Others chronology (removed from card file)	
38	1	Slides: Thompson’s Return from Korea, 1953	
38	2	Slides: Alcatraz, (by Thompson and M. Mattes), 1971-77, 1990	
38	3	Slides: Forts Barry, Baker, Cronkhite and Funston, 1976	
38	4	Slides: Presidio, Fort Scott and Fort Mason, 1975-78, 1991-92	
38	5	Slides: San Francisco, Angel Island, Frank Valley, GGNRA, Fort Miley, Crissy Field, 1976-78, 1990	
 	 	SERIES VI: NPS PUBLICATIONS CAMERA-READY TEXTS, 1977-1980	
39	1	The Rock (HRS Alcatraz), f 1/3	
39	2	The Rock (HRS Alcatraz), f 2/3	
39	3	The Rock (HRS Alcatraz), f 3/3	
39	4	The Rock (HRS Alcatraz), photos	
39	5	HRS Forts Barry, Baker, Cronkhite , camera-ready text	
39	6	HRS Forts Barry, Baker, Cronkhite , final copy	
 	 	A Civil History of Golden Gate National Recreation Center  and Point Reyes National Seashore	
39	7	Vol. 1, f 1/2	
39	8	Vol. 1, f 2/2	
39	9	Vol. 2, f 1/2	
39	10	Vol. 2, f 2/2	
39	11	Photos	
39	12	HRS Seacoast Fortifications, f 1/4	
39	13	HRS Seacoast Fortifications, f 2/4	
39	14	HRS Seacoast Fortifications, f 3/4	
39	15	HRS Seacoast Fortifications, f 4/4	

Appendices

1. List of Correspondents

Last name	First name	Series	Box	Folder	
Baron	Kristin	IV	35	3-5	
Chappell	Gordon	IV	35	1-4	
Cloyd	Paul	IV	35	3	
Ewing Haley	Susan	IV	35	2	
Haller	Steve	IV	35	2, 4	
Heath	Steve	IV	35	1	
Hourihan	William	IV	35	2	
Huppert	Ann	IV	35	5	
Kilgore	Bruce	IV	35	3	
Malmstrom	Cathleen	IV	35	2-5	
Martini	John	IV	35	1	
Nadeau	Doug	IV	35	1	
Nicholson	Diane	IV	35	5	
Rawlinson	John Rev.	IV	35	2	
Treabess	Ron	IV	35	1	
Wait	Girvin B	IV	35	1	

2. Abbreviations

GGNRA: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
HRS: Historic resource study
LSS/USCG: Life Saving Service/ US Coast Guard
MISLS: Military Intelligence Language School
NARA: National Archives & Records Administration
NPS: National Parks Service
PPIE: Pan Pacific International Exposition
PSF: Presidio of San Francisco
SF: San Francisco
WASO: Washington Service Office

3. Biography: A Historian’s History: Erwin N. Thompson, 1926-1998

By Jerome A. Greene
July 27, 2001

Erwin Thompson’s life exemplified a man’s determination to find and succeed at a discipline he loved and in which he excelled, and with which he could make lasting contributions. He identified his own interests and abilities and pursued his dreams accordingly, and for that the National Park Service and millions of park visitors who continue to benefit from his labors will forever be indebted. He personified the devoted public servant who strives to make life better for his fellow man. America and the world are significantly better for his presence.

Erwin Normore Thompson was born on August 18, 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Byron and Anne (Bernard) Thompson. His father was a Canadian army veteran of World War I. Both parents were natives of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and they soon returned to their land of origin, and that is where young Erwin grew up and attended school. He graduated from Summerside Academy in June 1943, and that fall entered Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, intent upon a degree in Engineering. Erwin suspended his education the following year to join the Royal Canadian Navy for the duration of World War II, serving at Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mustered out in September 1945, he resumed his studies for another year before leaving Mount Allison and returning home. In 1947, he attended Prince of Wales College on Prince Edward Island and taught elementary school in the town of Kensington. But within a year he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where, drawn by an interest in military life he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Early in 1949, following basic training, he was bound for Okinawa, Japan, as part of the postwar occupation forces.

Thompson’s military stint was of major influence on his later career as a historian with the National Park Service. He had a natural proficiency for writing, and as a twenty-three-year­ old private first class, he drafted a detailed letter to his parents providing a history of Okinawa, comparing its land mass and population ratio to that of Prince Edward Island and explaining the American army’s role on the island—all in a diligent and mature manner that portended his extraordinary skill in synthesizing and writing historical data. In August 1950, he left Okinawa and returned to the United States, serving in Georgia and South Carolina until June 1951, when he entered Officer Candidate School in Fort Riley, Kansas, from which he graduated after six months commissioned second lieutenant of infantry. Soon he was assigned to the Seventh Infantry Division stationed in Korea at the height of the Korean War.

He arrived overseas in December 1951, serving as a company executive officer (Quartermaster) of an independent command of 700 U.S. soldiers and Korean civilians. He saw combat as a platoon leader, and participated in ambush patrol actions, including one firefight in February 1952, in which he was wounded (for which he received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star). The experience heightened Thompson’s consciousness of, and empathy for, soldiers in the past and the firsthand knowledge he gained proved a compelling element in his later writings in military history. But it also decided him against an army career and, after nearly two years in Korea, instead promoted his desire for resuming his college education.

Erwin returned from overseas and settled in Los Angeles, determined to complete his education with a degree in history. Although the G.I. Bill helped satisfy his financial needs, he still needed work, and in the summer of 1954 he took a job with the Yosemite Park and Curry Company in Yosemite National Park, California. His arrival there marked an auspicious beginning for Thompson’s association with national parks that would span the next quarter century. From 1954 to 1959, he worked summers in the park, serving variously as a camp helper, wine steward, reservation taker, mule packer, and overall factotum for the Curry Company. While at Yosemite he met and became fast friends with a young ranger, Gerald E. Mernin, who encouraged Thompson to one day, consider pursuing a professional career with the National Park Service. It was largely Mernin’s example and inspiration, together with Thompson’s own scholarly inclination, that would culminate in his becoming a park service historian.

Meantime, between summer stints at Yosemite, Thompson worked part time administering civil service examinations for the city of Los Angeles to help fund his attendance at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he majored in history (military, American, and Far East) and minored in political science. After four years, from 1955 to 1959, while intermittently working part time jobs, he graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Following graduation, Erwin took a Civil Service examination before signing on again for seasonal work at Yosemite. Within months he received notification that he had been selected as park historian at Whitman Mission National Monument near Walla Walla, Washington.

He joined his new station in late April, 1960, as Park Superintendent W.J. (“Joe”) Kennedy was inaugurating a major cultural resources program that stressed archeology and research to guide future park development. Thompson was also charged with creating an interpretive program at the park. His penchant for hard work soon became evident, and as park historian he quickly gained the notice of colleagues, park and regional supervisors, and area academics at nearby Whitman College. Beyond his professional capabilities, Thompson (his friends called him “T”) exhibited a warm disposition and good humor that captivated those who came to know him, and he related well with people from diverse backgrounds. All of these traits complimented his industry and commitment as he fulfilled the Whitman Mission assignment. Solid research marked his performance and contributed to his other duties, which included planning and developing interpretive trails, audio-visual devices, and exhibits; delivering interpretive talks and slide programs for park visitors and off-site groups; and supervising seasonal staff. At Whitman Mission, Erwin became deeply interested in the story of Marcus Whitman and his family, and especially in the record of the Sager family and the massacre at Whitman Mission in 1847. Throughout his tenure at the park, he made careful notes and began gathering information from manuscripts and other sources, resolved to one day write a comprehensive history recounting this family’s experiences in the West.

Thompson’s performance at Whitman Mission soon drew attention in other areas. He had gained the respect of the National Park Service’s Western Region Historian John A. Hussey, and the word spread. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, Robert M. Utley, then Historian in the Southwest Region needed a man with Thompson’s credentials for the historian position at the fledgling Fort Davis National Historic Site in west Texas. Early in 1963, he offered the job and Erwin accepted. At Fort Davis, Thompson continued in an exemplary manner, his self-discipline permitting him to finish authorship of the National Park Service handbook for Whitman Mission, which he had started in Washington, and which saw publication in 1964. Erwin’s assignment was in many ways like the previous one as he labored to increase the information base of this recent addition to the national park system, planning for trails and exhibits and for the preservation of the many historic structures there. At Fort Davis, Thompson’s proclivity for research into site history, already soundly established, took new direction. He became fascinated with the history of the “Buffalo Soldiers”—the four regiments of all-black troops that had been raised by the army in the 1860s. During the post-Civil War period, members of these units saw active service at Fort Davis, and Thompson became consumed by their history and contributions to the country.

It was in pursuit of this interest in the fall of 1963 that Erwin became injured during an attack by a ranch foreman who objected to the historian’s presence trying to locate a site involving the black soldiers. The individual, who was armed, struck Thompson and inflicted severe damage to his neck, then took him at gunpoint to the local sheriff. The incident well reflected the anti-government sentiment existing in west Texas at the time, and it continued to affect Erwin over the remainder of his tenure at Fort Davis. Nonetheless, he earned plaudits and a superior performance award from the regional director, both for his efforts at Fort Davis and for his work on a special detail for a new area in the Northwest destined to acknowledge and commemorate the history of the Nez Perce Indians. His work on the latter project was of major consequence in the establishment of Nez Perce National Historical Park in 1965.

Despite these successes, Erwin remained troubled following his encounter with the ranch foreman. Although he worked tirelessly on behalf of the resources at Fort Davis, the bureaucracy, coupled with the local attitude had soured him and he entertained ideas of transferring yet again, or even of leaving the National Park Service altogether. Then, on June 3, 1965, Thompson suddenly quit without explanation. Friends in the regional office attempted to block his resignation so that he might reconsider, but Erwin was adamant. Two weeks after his departure from Fort Davis, he wrote Superintendent Franklin G. Smith of his reasons: “I did not resign just to get out of Texas, although my stay in that area was less than pleasant (outside [of] my duties, that is). The basic cause for this most difficult decision was my conclusion that the NPS does not need people in the field of historical research and my major interests, abilities, and ambitions lie in precisely that field.” Regional officials hurriedly tendered him other positions, including that as superintendent at the new Nez Perce park, but he turned them down. “While I appreciate the wonderful offers that were made… I know that as an administrator it would end up unsatisfactory to both sides.” At the news of Thompson’s resignation, Western Regional Historian Hussey wrote him: “You have made in a few short years a highly respected reputation as a historian skilled in both research and writing… [and] your work has not gone unnoticed in circles that count. ...” “It is my firm faith [that]... the Service will realize that it has an urgent need for more high level research historians who are not primarily administrators or interpreters.”

Erwin decided to return to graduate school, and he chose the University of California at Davis, which offered an emphasis in military history and featured as guest lecturer the British historian, Sir Basil Liddell Hart. Meantime, forces were at work to return him to the National Park Service. Robert M. Utley, new chief historian in Washington, D.C., sought to organize a historical research unit there. He urged Thompson to consider returning as a military historian with the unit, and Erwin tentatively agreed, contingent upon his completion of his master’s degree in the summer of 1966. As he started the program, he continued working on his book about the Sagers, occasional weekends at Yosemite National Park where he wrote the history from information compiled during his years at Whitman Mission. When finished, Erwin submitted it to several publishers. Despite initial rejections of the manuscript, he was never discouraged. He kept busy on his master’s program and started his thesis, entitled, “The Negro Regiments of the United States Army, 1866-1900,” meantime preparing and grading exams and teaching history survey courses to undergraduates.

Upon graduation, Thompson was reinstated in the National Park Service and joined the Division of History Studies in the Washington, D.C., Planning and Service Center. Under the leadership of Utley, the unit undertook the first ever concentrated history data research activity in support of the parks. Erwin joined the office on September 25, 1965, one of fourteen historians selected on the basis of their research aptitude and performance skills. Among his associates were Edwin C. Bearss, Don Rickey, Jr., John Luzader, John D. McDermott, and Anna Coxe Toogood, all of whom attained wide recognition for their site-related park service scholarship. Eventually, the research unit comprised part of the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, headed by Ernest A. Connally.

It was within Utley’s team, and under the direction of branch chief Roy E. Appleman, that Thompson’s career in historical research and writing flourished, and for the next fifteen years he became one of the nation’s most prolific public historians, his extraordinary output exceeded only by the quality of his product. Erwin’s hallmark became straightforward narrative history bolstered by strong evidence, unencumbered by ideology, steadfast in a philosophy of purpose and mission, and with clarity of presentation. During his first years with the group, he completed a remarkable number of important resource studies for North Cascades National Park, Washington; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; San Juan Island National Historical Park, Washington; Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; Lava Beds National Monument, California; Fort Scott National Historic Site, Kansas; Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, North Dakota; and Nez Perce National Historical Park, Idaho. In addition, Erwin’s professional stature rose with numerous publications in historical journals, and in 1969 the Oregon Historical Society published his book, Shallow Grave at Waiilatpu: The Sagers’ West (it went through three printings). Two years later, a Sacramento firm published his Lava Beds Modoc War study in book form.

The existence of the National Park Service history research unit corresponded with what is viewed today as the golden years of historic preservation within that agency. The unit functioned under various titles and organizations between 1966 and 1978; in 1972 some of its members, including Thompson, transferred to Lakewood, Colorado, where the Denver Service Center had been established as the agency’s central office for planning, design, and construction. Among his products for the Denver office were studies for Mount Rainier National Park, Washington; Whitman Mission National Historic Site, Washington; Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California; Fort McHenry National Monument, Maryland; and Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota. Erwin’s work on Grand Portage, stated a 1973 citation, “enabled architects to design reconstructions of 1790 vintage which are considered models of authenticity.”

During the period anticipating the nation’s Bicentennial, the service center’s Historic Preservation Team produced hundreds of archeology, architectural, and history studies relating to the many parks in the system that addressed the Colonial and Revolutionary War themes of American history. These documents guided planning, restoration, and interpretation of some of the country’s premier landmarks leading up to the Bicentennial observance. Quite naturally, as a senior historian Thompson’s contributions were varied, complex, extensive, and profound. His works included an impressive study of the British defenses of Yorktown, Virginia, completed for Colonial National Historical Park, besides a study of the colonial pottery-making economy of Yorktown for that same park. Following the Bicentennial, Thompson launched into a series of projects for Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, and produced massive documents detailing the histories of Alcatraz Island (titled, The Rock), Fort Mason, and the seacoast fortifications in and around San Francisco Harbor.

After twenty years as a historian in the National Park Service, Thompson retired in 1980 to his home in Golden, Colorado. He had planned to return to his beloved Pacific Northwest, but he never did. He remained constantly in demand by the park service and other agencies who needed the straight history and forthright appraisals of historic properties that he offered, and he remained busy producing studies of historic harbor defenses at San Diego and of the Corps of Engineers in the Pacific area, plus a several-years-long evaluation of World War II sites in the Pacific and Alaska (involving months of travel) for a National Historic Landmark theme study. Under contract, he joined the planning team for the Presidio of San Francisco after the National Park Service had taken over the post. Perhaps Erwin’s magnum opus was his last work, a two volume history entitled, Defender at the Gate: The Presidio of San Francisco, published in 1997.

In retirement, between contract assignments, Thompson enjoyed traveling to historic sites in Canada and the United States, and to points around the world. An excellent photographer, he dutifully recorded all the places he visited. An animal lover, he took his dog with him when he journeyed by automobile and stayed in campgrounds, and he enjoyed visits with his Canadian relatives at sites of his youth in Prince Edward Island. His sojourns abroad included England, Scotland, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea. An extremely personable man, Erwin liked people, was even gregarious, but did not wish to impose himself on others. He enjoyed the company of friends. He had a strong, positive personality, and saw humor in almost every situation. He never married and lived alone, and, consequently, was very independent in his ways.

When he died from cancer at age seventy-three on June 15, 1998, Erwin Thompson left a legacy of commitment to history in the body of works that he had produced during his career. They will long be consulted for the information they contain. Through Erwin’s clear yet comprehensive writings, readers will easily perceive the content, be it a description of some aspect of the fur trade of the Pacific Northwest, an account of the Indian wars of the Southwest, or discussion of the intricacies of coastal defense systems on the Atlantic or Pacific seaboard. For him, history became a passion, and his technique was to present evidence in a clearly informative, uncomplicated manner, with every statement authoritatively documented. During his last days, he received a heartening message from the entire National Park Service interpretive staff of Alcatraz Island. “While none of the current island staff has ever met you, you are daily part of life here on the Rock. We wanted to let you know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. We also wanted to let you know how much your work means to us, and what an important part you are to us here on Alcatraz today. Rare is a day when we don’t go scrambling to a copy of ‘The Rock’ to settle a disagreement or clarify a fine point of some aspect of Alcatraz’s history. Without your ‘bible’ ... we would be lost.” The sentiment might well be echoed for all the work Erwin accomplished for all the parks throughout his career. His credo, simply put, was excellence, and for that, through his histories, he will always be honored.

Note on Sources:

This essay has been prepared from materials in the Erwin N. Thompson Collection, Northwest and Whitman College Archives, Penrose Memorial Library, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington, where the bulk of Thompson’s papers and studies were deposited. It has also benefited from materials in the U.S. Army Military History Institute, Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, from interviews with Thompson ‘s associates, and from the author’s long friendship with “T” that spanned twenty-five years.

4.  Alcatraz Maps and Architectural Drawings

Formats	XE = Xerox
		PS = Silver positive
		DZ = Diazo

Map Fldr. 	Date	Folder Title	Item Description	NARA #	Format	
01	1867	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, 108 Heavy Weapons		XE	
01	1867	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island w/out Notations	95-92	XE	
01	1867	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island w/Handwritten Notations	95-90	XE	
01	1867	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	North End of Island	95-92	PS	
01	1867?	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, Structures	103	PS	
01	1865/03	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Fields of Fire, 15" Guns	95-71	XE	
01	1865/07	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island Fortifications	95-79	XE	
01	1864/02	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	North-Eastern Face of Island	95-56	XE	
01	1863/02	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island Fortifications	95-43	XE	
01	1863/02	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island Fortifications	95-43	DZ	
01	1853/05	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, w/Elevations	95-2	XE	
01	1867	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island Fortifications	95-89	PS	
01	1863/02	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, Fortifications	95-43	PS	
01	1847/05	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, w/Elevations	95-107	PS	
01	1847/05	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, w/Elevations	95-107	XE	
01	1852/05	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	North & South Ends of Island	95-3	XE	
01	1853/09	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	South-East Portion	95-7	XE	
01	1853/09	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island	95-5	XE	
01	1853/09	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	North-West End of Island	95-6	XE	
01	1854/01	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island Elevations	95-8	XE	
01	1855/03	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Batteries	95-12	XE	
01	1858	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, Plan and Section, 30 June 1858	77-95-26	XE	
01	1863	"Aerial Views, 1847-1867"	Entire Island, “system for naming batteries”, 13 June 1863	77-95-4	XE	
02	1894/05	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island		PS	
02	1869/02	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island Fortifications	95-91	XE	
02	1879	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island	95-109	PS	
02	1890/11	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Endicott Batteries	93-69-12	PS	
02	1890/11	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island and Golden Gate	93-120-4	PS	
02	1880/12	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island		DZ	
02	1892/04	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Plans of Magazines	256-16-7	PS	
02	1875/07	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island	95-108	DZ	
02	1872/02	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Batteries	259-125	XE	
02	1871/08	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Proposed Modifications	95-100	XE	
02	1870CA	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Surgeons Report (Quartermaster General)	154-44-2	XE	
02	1869/11	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island Fortifications	95-95	XE	
02	1898/01	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Sketch of Cement Walkways		XE	
02	1898	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Fortifications	256-1613	XE	
02	1869/11	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Fields of Fire	95-96	XE	
02	1890c	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	SF Bay forts, fields of fire, undated	77-misc-109	XE	
02	1873	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire island, batteries and guns mounted, 1 Dec 1873	256-16-3 1/2	XE	
02	1897	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire island, batteries and guns mounted, 1897	256-16-11	XE	
02	1899	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire island, batteries and guns mounted, 1897	256-11-16	XE	
02	1894/01	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island		XE	
02	1875/07	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island	95-108	DZ	
02	1890/11	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Endicott Batteries	93-69-12	PS	
02	1899	"Aerial Views, 1869-1899"	Entire Island, Fortifications, 7 15" Rodmans		XE	
03	1912	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	92	PS	
03	1905/01	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	92	PS	
03	1910/11	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island		DZ	
03	1933/10	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	129	PS	
03	1934/09	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island, With Buoys		DZ	
03	1933/10	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	129	DZ	
03	1933/10	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	129	PS	
03	1900	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island, Armament Sketches	256-2228	PS	
03	1920/06	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Aerial Photo of Entire Island	95-112	P	
03	1910/11	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island		DZ	
03	1910/02	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	92	PS	
03	1909/12	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	92	PS	
03	1909/02	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island		PS	
03	1907/03	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	95-111	XE	
03	1903	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island, Armament Sketches	256-2239	PS	
03	1907/08	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Upper Plateau		DZ	
03	1904/09	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	92	PS	
03	1904/09	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island	92	DZ	
03	1925/11	"Aerial Views, 1900-1934"	Entire Island		DZ	
04	1961/05	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island		DZ	
04	1971/12	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Light & Fog Signals, Power Cables		DZ	
04	1977	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island, Recom. Archaeology Research		XE	
04	1971/12	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Light & Fog Signals, Power Cables		DZ	
04	1977	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island		DZ	
04	1963/05	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island, Plot Plan		DZ	
04	1961/05	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island		DZ	
04	1961/05	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island		XE	
04	1979/07	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island, Structures & Site Hazards		DZ	
04	1978/12	"Aerial Views, 1961-1979"	Entire Island, Classified Structures		DZ	
05	1908/05	"Profile View, 1908"	Proposed Prison Stockade Wall & Lighthouse from NW		XE	
05	1908/05	"Profile View, 1908"	Proposed Prison Stockade Wall & Lighthouse [in 3 parts]		PS	
05	1908/05	"Profile View, 1908"	Proposed Prison Stockade Wall & Lighthouse from NW		XE	
05	1908/05	"Profile View, 1908"	Proposed Prison Stockade Wall & Lighthouse from NW		DZ	
05	1908/05	"Profile View, 1908"	Proposed Prison Stockade Wall & Lighthouse [in 3 parts]		XE	
05	1908	“Profile View, 1908”	Proposed Prison Stockade Wall & Lighthouse from SE	92-18-8	DZ	
06	1856/05	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Guardhouse Sections	95-15	DZ	
06	1857/03	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Room Layout	95-21	XE	
06	1865/04	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barrack, New, w/Elevations	95-75	XE	
06	1864/08	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Shot Trap	95-60	XE	
06	1865/02	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof, Battery Prime	95-67	XE	
06	1859/10	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Defensive, Citadel	95-29	PS	
06	1859/10	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Defensive, Citadel, first floor, plan & section	95-29	XE	
06	1859	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Defensive, Citadel, basement & third floor,  plan & section	95-30	XE	
06	1857/06	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Elevation and Cross Sections	95-22	XE	
06	1857/02	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Defensive	95-20	XE	
06	1852/08	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Defensive Barracks	95-4	XE	
06	1856/11	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	North Caponier	95-18	PS	
06	1856/05	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Guardhouse Sections	95-15	DZ	
06	1856/09	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	North Caponier	95-18	XE	
06	1859/10	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Defensive, Citadel	95-29	XE	
06	1857/06	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, Defensive	95-24	XE	
06	1856/10	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	South Caponier	95-19	XE	
06	1856/05	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Guardhouse Sections	95-15	PS	
06	1857/05	"Buildings, 1852-1865"	Barracks, "Main Story"	95-23	XE	
07	1890c	“Buildings, 1866-1870”	Stables		PS	
07	1907/09	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Prison Building, 1st Floor	92	PS	
07	1871/04	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, For Two Companies		XE	
07	1907/09	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Prison Building, Basement, Suggested Plan	92	PS	
07	1907/09	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Prison Building, 2nd Floor	92	PS	
07	1892/04	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Casemated		XE	
07	1883/12	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Plan of Cisterns		XE	
07	1881/01	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Defensive, Basement		XE	
07	1883/04	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Plan of Stable		XE	
07	1890?	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Proposed Addition To	95-110	XE	
07	1866/12	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof, Building 64	95-87	DZ	
07	1872/09	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Over Casemates	95-101	XE	
07	1866/12	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof, Building 64	95-87	PS	
07	1866/12	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barrack, Bomb-Proof	95-88	XE	
07	1866/12	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof	95-86	XE	
07	1872/07	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Modification	95-102	XE	
07	1866/12	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof, Building 64	95-87	DZ	
07	1872/07	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barracks, Modification	95-103	XE	
07	1867/04	"Buildings, 1866-1907"	Barrack, Section of New		XE	
08	1909	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Elevation of lighthouse, southeast side. Plate I	26-18-2A-2	XE	
08	1909	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Section of lighthouse tower and keepers quarters. Plate V	26-18-2A-16	XE	
08	1946	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Cutaway of prison “Alcatraz Revolt” illustration		PS	
08	1936	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Proposed tower for prison roof, 12 October 1934	129-4-49-2-0	XE	
08	1909/12	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Power Plant, Addition	92	PS	
08	1909/12	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, 2nd Floor Admin. Wing	92	PS	
08	1909/12	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Power Plant	92	PS	
08	1909/12	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Power Plant, Profile	92	PS	
08	1911	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Light Station, Main Entrance Gate 1		DZ	
08	1910/05	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building		DZ	
08	1908/02	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Basement	92	PS	
08	1909/09	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Power Plant, Pump and Arrangement	92	PS	
08	1978/07	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Administration and Entry Areas		DZ	
08	1909/11	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Ventilation System	92	PS	
08	1908/05	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, South 1/2 of Western Elev	92	PS	
08	1908/04	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Second Floor	92	PS	
08	1908/04	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Buildings, First Floor	92	PS	
08	1909/02	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Ground Floor	92	PS	
08	1908-09	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Rear Wing Basement	92	PS	
08	1909/02	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Ground Floor	92	PS	
08	1908/08	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, First Floor	92	PS	
08	1908/05	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Building, Main Entrance	92	PS	
08	1908/08	"Buildings, 1908-1978"	Prison Buildings, 2nd Floor of Rear Wing	92	PS	
09	1863	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Iron Plate Details	95-48	XE	
09	1890/09	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Prison Building, Ventilation System		XE	
09	1890/09	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Prison Building, Iron Grill Doors		XE	
09	1909/09	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Sea Water Pump	92	PS	
09	1909/05	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Prison Building, Water Seal Connections	92	PS	
09	1859/10	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Barracks, Doors	95-31	XE	
09	1859/10	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Barracks, Windows	95-32	XE	
09	1899/05	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Barracks, Casemated, Windows		XE	
09	1859/10	"Structural Details, 1859-1909"	Barracks, Cast Iron Work	95-33	XE	
10	1862/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Battery McPherson	95-40	XE	
10	1858/11	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Wharf and Storehouse	95-28	XE	
10	1854/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South Batteries	95-11	XE	
10	1862/07	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Battery Stevens	95-38	XE	
10	1862/08	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Cisterns	95-39	XE	
10	1862/11	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Battery, ?	95-42	XE	
10	1862/04	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Battery Stevens	95-37	XE	
10	1862/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Gun Platforms	95-41	XE	
10	1860/08	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	West Battery, Projected Extension	95-35	XE	
10	1859/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Barracks, Defensive	95-29	XE	
10	1854/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South Batteries	95-11	XE	
10	1858/08	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South & West Batteries	95-27	XE	
10	1857/07	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	North End of Island	95-25	XE	
10	1856/11	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South Caponier	95-18	DZ	
10	1856/11	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	North Battery & Caponier	95-17	XE	
10	1855/04	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South Battery	95-13	XE	
10	1854/04	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	Caponier Embrasure	95-9	XE	
10	1854/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South Batteries	95-11	PS	
10	1854/09	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	South Batteries	95-11	XE	
10	1860/07	"Batteries, 1854-1862"	West Battery and Magazine	95-34	XE	
11	1865/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Bomb-Proof Shelters	95-72	XE	
11	1865/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Three 15" Guns (never completed)	95-68	XE	
11	1865/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Prime and McClellan (never completed.)	95-73	XE	
11	1863/11	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Gun Embrasure	95-51	XE	
11	1865/04	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Halleck	95-74	XE	
11	1865/04	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof, Building 64	95-76	XE	
11	1865/02	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Mansfield, (plan never completed)	95-70	XE	
11	1865/01	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Three 15" Guns	95-65	XE	
11	1864/02	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Tower and Stevens	95-53	XE	
11	1864/02	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Tower	95-55	XE	
11	1864/08	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Proposed Battery (never completed)	95-59	XE	
11	1863/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	South Battery	95-46	XE	
11	1865/04	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Halleck	95-74	PS	
11	1864/06	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Halleck	95-58	XE	
11	1863/06	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery Stevens, McClellan, & Tower	95-50	XE	
11	1863/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	West Battery	95-47	XE	
11	1863/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery South East (McClellan)	95-44	XE	
11	1863/03	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	West Battery	95-45	XE	
11	1864/05	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Slopes in Rear of Batteries	95-57	XE	
11	1864/01	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Unknown Battery Detail	95-64	XE	
11	1865	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Modified Bombproof Barracks & Extension of Btry Prime	95-67	XE	
11	1864/02	"Batteries, 1863 - March 1865"	Battery McClellan	95-54	XE	
12	1874/11	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Batteries at South-West End of Island	95-105	XE	
12	1865/01	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery McClellan	95-66	XE	
12	1868	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Barracks, Casemated, Bomb-Proof	95-93	XE	
12	1876/07	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Batteries at South-East End of Island	95-106	XE	
12	1871/06	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Batteries at North End	95-99	XE	
12	1871/06	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Batteries at West End	95-98	XE	
12	1870/09	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Batteries at North West End of Island	95-70	XE	
12	1868	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Barrack, Casemated	95-94	XE	
12	1875/07	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Batteries at South-East End of Island		XE	
12	1965/08	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Bomb-Proof Shelters	95-80	XE	
12	1865/10	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery Prime (never completed)	95-81	XE	
12	1865/06	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery Mansfield	95-77	XE	
12	1865/01	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Barracks, Bomb-Proof, Building 64	95-63	XE	
12	1865/07	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery Halleck and McClellan	95-78	XE	
12	1865/11	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery Tower	95-84	XE	
12	1865/10	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery Halleck (never completed)	95-82	XE	
12	1865/10	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Bomb-Proof Shelters (never completed)	95-83	XE	
12	1865/02	"Batteries,  March 1865 - 1965"	Battery Halleck	95-69	XE	

5. PHRS Maps, Architectural Drawings, and Clippings

Map Fldr. 	Date	Folder Title	Item Description	
13	1859	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Plan of the Presidio Showing the Proposed Buildings and their Sites (12.5x16.5)	
13	1871	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Map of the Military Reservation at the Presidio of San Francisco, Lt. George Wheeler (24x43)	
13	1871	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Plan showing proposed water supply for Post in San Francisco Harbor, (24x28)	
13	1880	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Plan of Post of Presidio, Capt. William A. Jones (24x36)	
13	1880	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Main Post, Capt. William A. Jones, (24x36)	
13	1880	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Map of the Military Reservation at the Presidio of San Francisco, Capt. William A. Jones (24x44)	
13	1882	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Plat of the Military Reservations of the Presidio and Point San Jose, 1882 (24x30)	
13	1896	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Map of the Military Reservation at the Presidio of San Francisco, 1896 (24x30)	
13	1896	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Presidio of San Francisco, Cal. from map surveyed by Jas. H. Humphreys, 1896 (24x36)	
13	1900	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Map of the Military Reservation, 1900 (22x34)	
13	1906	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Presidio of San Francisco, California – utilities, 1906 (24x36)	
13	1909	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Presidio of San Francisco, CA, 1909 (24x36)	
13	1909	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Ft. Winfield Scott, 1909 (24x34)	
13	1916	Military Maps, Presidio of San Francisco, 1859-1909	Military Reservation of the Presidio of San Francisco, CA, 1916 (24x31)	
13	1906	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Cover – Plans for the Re-arrangement and Development of US Military Reservation, 1906 (24x31)	
13	1906	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 1 – Map of Presidio, showing its present condition, 1906 (24x30, negative and positive copies)	
13	1906	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 1 – Annotated, Map of Presidio, showing its present condition and earthquake refugee camps  , 1906 (20x27)	
13	1905	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 2 – Plan of the Presidio, Treatment suggested, 1905 (20x27)	
13	1907	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 3 – Map of the Presidio showing the proposed New Arrangement, 1907 (20x27)	
13	1906	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 4 – Design for a sea wall for the north water front of the Presidio, 1906 (20x27)	
13	1907	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plates 5-11 Map of the Presidio in seven sheets, 1907 (7 items, 24x30)	
13	1907	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 12 – Skeleton map of the Presidio, showing the location and sizes of water main and sewer trunks, 1907 (24x30)	
13	1907	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 13 – Proposed plan with bill of material, for use in case of sudden mobilization of troops (24x30)	
13	1907	Major Harts’ Report, complete set of plates, 1907	Plate 14 – Details and estimates of cost of the proposed iron fence to be placed on the top of the boundary wall, 1907 (24x30)	
14	1943	Historic Landmark Maps, 1928-1991	Cultural Landscape, 1943 (8.5x11 reduction)	
14	1928	Historic Landmark Maps, 1928-1991	Cultural Landscape, 1928 (8.5x11 reduction)	
14	1991	Historic Landmark Maps, 1928-1991	PSF National Historic Landmark District, sheet 2 of 2, Predicted Archeological Features and Historic Forest Plantation, 1991 (32x40)	
14	1903	Letterman Hospital Area, 1903-1910	Ground Plan, US General Hospital, 1903 (20x24)	
14	1910	Letterman Hospital Area, 1903-1910	Map of the US General Hospital, Showing Proposed Fire Protection System, 1910 (24x38, negative, 2 copies)	
14	1871	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Plans of Buildings, No. 45-5(c), 1871 (11x17)	
14	1874	Building Plans, 1871-1884	California near Fort Point, Soldiers’ Quarters, 1874 (21x24)	
14	n.d.	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Officers’ Quarters, No. 42-51 (11x17, 2 copies)	
14	1878	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Plan for altering 2 barracks, kitchens, and mess rooms into offices for the Maj. Gen., Division of the Pacific, 1878 (24x37 and 11x17)	
14	1881	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Remodeled Adobe Post Headquarters, 1881 (21x24)	
14	1884	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Building for Military Headquarters, 1884 (11x17, 2 sheets)	
14	1884	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Captain’s Quarters, 1884 (11x17)	
14	1884	Building Plans, 1871-1884	Field Officer’s Quarters, 1884 (11x17)	
14	1894	Gates/Walls, 1894-1895	Proposed Plans for Gateways and Fence Enclosing the Presidio, 1894 (24x42, negative)	
14	1895	Gates/Walls, 1894-1895	Wing walls to gates of Presidio Reservation at 1st Ave. & Lombard St., 1895 (19x24)	
14	1994-95	Clippings, 1994-1995	Clippings, 1994-1995, on PSF transition	

Index to Finding Aid

1
1906 Earthquake	19, 20
A
Alcatraz	15, 16, 17, 23, 24
Angel Island	15, 23
Aquatic Park	16
Army	16, 17, 19, 20, 23
Officers	17, 19, 23
C
Correspondence	23
Crissy Field	18, 19, 20, 23
F
Fort Mason	15, 19, 22, 23
Fort Scott	15, 17, 19, 22
Fortifications	15, 17, 20, 23, 24
Fort Baker	15, 16
Fort Barry	15, 16
Fort Cronkhite	15, 16
Fort Funston	15
Fort Miley	15, 23
Fort Point	19, 20
Lime Point	15
G
Golden Gate Bridge	17
Golden Gate National Recreation Area	17, 18, 22, 23, 24
H
Harbor defenses	15
Harts, Maj. William W.	19, 21
Historic Resource Studies
Alcatraz	23
GGNRA	24
Presidio	23
Seacoast Fortifications	24
J
Japanese Americans	18, 19
Jones, Capt. William A.	36
Julius Kahn Playground	17, 20
L
Letterman Army Medical Center	17, 20, 22
Life Saving Station	See United States Coast Guard
M
Maps	17, 19, 21, 36
Marine Hospital	20
Microfilm	23
Military Intelligence Services	18, 19, 20
N
National Park Service	16, 17, 18, 23
National Register of Historic Places	17, 19
Newspapers	16, 17, 18, 23
San Francisco Chronicle	18, 19
Star Presidian	18
P
Photos	17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24
Post returns	15, 16, 20, 21, 22
Presidio of San Francisco	15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 36
Buildings	18, 19, 20, 22, 36
Closure	16, 18, 20, 21
Forest	17, 20
Golf course	17, 20
History	17, 18, 19, 20
Planning	10, 17, 18, 19
PSF	See Presidio of San Francisco
Public Health Service Hospital	17
R
Railroads	17, 18, 19
S
San Francisco National Cemetery	17, 19, 20
Spanish-American War	17
T
Thompson, Erwin	22, 23
U
United States Army General Hospital	18
United States Coast Guard	17, 19, 20
Y
Yerba Buena	15