BIG HOLE Commemoration and Preservation: An Administrative History of Big Hole National Battlefield

I. Unpublished Documents

Big Hole National Battlefield Administrative Files.

The collection contains approximately 15 linear feet of records consisting of correspondence and reports from the 1890s through the present. It was compiled and organized by Maines and Associates. It includes War Department records, Beaverhead County land and water rights records, and Forest Service records. Also includes Big Hole records generated at Yellowstone National Park.

National Archives, College Park, Maryland.

Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. Administrative records concerning Big Hole National Monument, 1933-1957, will be found in the main series arranged by operating units of the NPS either under Big Hole or Yellowstone. In addition, Records of the War Department relating to military parks, cemeteries, monuments, and other areas transferred to the Office of National Parks, Buildings, and Reservations in 1933 may contain material on Big Hole.

National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Record Group 393, Records of the United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920. Department of the Missouri, Special Files. There is a file on the Nez Perce War of 1877. In addition, records of the Quartermaster may contain information on the post-1877 administration of the U.S. soldiers' remains.

National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General's office, 1780-1917. General Correspondence, 1890-1917. These records contain correspondence on a bill, H.R. 12699, "Creating to the Big Hole Battle Ground National Park."

National Archives, Denver, Colorado.

Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. These include records of the Rocky Mountain Region Office and the Denver Service Center pertaining to Big Hole.

National Archives, Kansas City, Missouri.

Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service. These include records of the Midwest Region Office pertaining to Big Hole.

Ravalli County Museum, Hamilton, Montana.

Vertical Files contain several newspaper articles relating to the Battle of the Big Hole in Western News, Bitterroot Times, Stevensville Register, and Bitterroot Journal. Most of these articles recount anniversary events held over the years between 1897 and 1968.

Yellowstone National Park Archives.

Accessioned records are well-indexed and contain limited material on Big Hole National Monument. Unaccessioned records include 300 boxes of Yellowstone National Park administrative records transferred from the National Archives in Denver. These records presumably contain limited material on Big Hole National Monument too, probably largely duplicative of material gathered by Maines and Associates for Big Hole National Battlefield Administrative Files.

II. Congressional Documents

Congressional Record.

U.S. Congress. House. Amending the National Trails System Act by Designating the Nez Perce (Nee-Me-Poo) Trails [sic] as a component of the national trails system. 99th Cong., 2d sess., Report 99-873, 1986.

_______. Designating the Nez Perce National Historical Park in the State of Idaho. 102nd Cong., 1st sess., Report 102-258, 1991.

_______. House. Fence Around Monument on the Big Hole Battle Ground, Montana. 56th Cong., 1st sess., Document 188, 1902.

_______. Marking the Site of the Battle between Nez Perce Indians under command of Chief Joseph and the command of Gen. Nelson A. Miles. 71st Cong., 2nd sess., Report 190, 1930.

_______. Monument on Site of the Battle Between Nez Perce Indians under command of Chief Joseph and the Command of Nelson A. Miles. 70th Cong., 1st sess., Report 1799, 1928.

_______. Redesignating the Big Hole Battlefield National Monument, Revising the Boundaries thereof, and for other purposes. 88th Cong., 1st sess., Report 248, 1963.

U.S. Congress. Senate. Commemoration of Battle of Bear's Paw. 70th Cong., 1st sess., Report 544, 1928.

_______. Marking the Site of the Battle between Nez Perce Indians under command of Chief Joseph and the command of Nelson A. Miles. 71st Cong., 2nd sess., Report 190, 1930.

_______. Redesignating the Big Hole Battlefield National Monument, to revise the boundaries thereof, and for other purposes. 87th Cong., 2nd sess., Report 2024, 1962.

_______. Redesignating the Big Hole Battlefield National Monument, to revise the boundaries thereof, and for other purposes. 88th Cong., 1^st sess., Report 116, 1963.

_______. Subdivisions of certain land in Montana. 56th Cong., 1st sess., Document 224, 1900.

III. Books and Articles

Beal, Merrill D. "I Will Fight No More Forever," Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War. Seattle: University of Washington, 1963. This work was commissioned by the NPS and was intended to lay the groundwork for an expanded interpretive effort under Mission 66.

Berthold, Mary Paddock. Big Hole Journal. Detroit: Harlo Press, 1973. Anecdotal history by a local resident.

Brown, Mark H. The Flight of the Nez Perce. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1967. One of the better histories of the War of 1877.

Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Montana State University. "Vacation Travel–Big Business in Montana." Montana Business. 6:1 (January 1954).

Cave, Will. Nez Perce Indian War of 1877 and Battle of the Big Hole. Printed by The Missoulian, n.d.

Clark, Helen. "The Ghosted Silences of the Big Hole Battleground." Playgrounds of the Rockies, 5:4 (November 1962).

Devine, Paul E. "Tourist Surveys in Montana." Montana Business Review. 12: 7 (July 1960).

Evans, Steven Ross. Voice of the Old Wolf: Lucullus Virgil McWhorter and the Nez Perce Indians. Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1996. Details the ethnographer's relationship to the Nez Perce, including his role in preserving the history of the Battle of the Big Hole.

Everhart, William C. The National Park Service. Boulder: Westview Press, 1983. Good introduction to the mission and organizational culture of the NPS.

Ferris, Robert G., ed. Soldier and Brave: Historic Places Associated with Indian Affairs and the Indian Wars in the Trans-Mississippi West. The National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings, Vol. XII. Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1971. A survey made for purposes of preservation and development, places Big Hole in context with other battlefields of the Indian Wars.

Francis, Bertha Agnes. The Land of the Big Snows. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1955. Good on Big Hole ranching community.

Garcia, Andrew. Tough Trip through Paradise. Edited by Bennett H. Stein. Sausalito, California: Comstock edition, 1979.

Greeley, William B., "Recreation in the National Forests." American Monthly Review of Reviews, (July 1924).

Haines, Aubrey L. An Elusive Victory: The Battle of the Big Hole. West Glacier: Glacier Natural History Association, 1991. The most exhaustive history of one of the best documented battles of the Indian Wars.

Hampton, Bruce. Children of Grace: The Nez Perce War of 1877. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994.

Johnson, Maxine C. "The Tourist Industry: Some Second Thoughts." Montana Business Quarterly. 6: 1 (Winter 1968).

Linenthal, Edward Tabor. Sacred Ground: Americans and their Battlefields. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991. Case studies of battles from America's major wars. A chapter on the Battle of the Little Big Horn provides useful contrasts and comparisons with Big Hole.

Lewis, Ralph H. Museum Curatorship in the National Park Service, 1904-1982. Washington: Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Curatorial Services Division, 1993.

Lowenthal, David. "Past Time, Present Place: Landscape and Memory." Geographic Review. 65: 1 (1976). Offers perspective on issues of cultural and natural resource management as they relate to historic sites.

Mackintosh, Barry. Shaping the System. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1991.

Mayo, James M. War Memorials as Political Landscape: The American Experience and Beyond. New York: Praeger, 1988.

McCool, Steve. "Montana's Tourism and Recreation Industry." Montana Business Quarterly. 31: 2 (Summer 1993).

McWhorter, Lucullus V. Hear Me My Chiefs! Nez Perce History and Legend. Caldwell: Caxton Printers, 1952. McWhorter was a rancher and amateur ethnographer who collected materials and interviewed Nez Perce in the 1920s and 1930s.

_______. Yellow Wolf: His Own Story. Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1940. An account by a veteran of the War of 1877.

Pacini, Paul R. "Recent Montana Recreation and Tourism Studies." Montana Business Quarterly. 19: 2 (Summer 1981).

Rainey, Reuben M. "The Memory of War: Reflections on Battlefield Preservation," in Yearbook of Landscape Architecture, edited by Richard L. Austin. New York: Van Nostrand, 1983.

Righter, Robert. Crucible of Conservation: The Creation of Grand Teton National Park. Boulder, Colorado: Associated University Press, 1983.

Rothermich, A. E., ed. "Early days at Fort Missoula," in Historical Reprints. Paul C. Phillips, ed. Missoula, Montana: Montana State University, 1939.

Rothman, Hal K. America's National Monuments: The Politics of Preservation. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1994.

Runte, Alfred. National Parks: The American Experience. Rev. 2nd ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987.

Sellars, Richard West. Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.

Sherfy, Marcella. "Honesty in Interpreting the Cultural Past." Parks. 3: 4 (Jan-Feb-Mar 1979).

Shields, G. O. The Battle of the Big Hole. Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., Publishers, 1889.

"The U.S. is Outgrowing Its Parks." U.S. News and World Report, June 10, 1955, p. 79.

Tilden, Freeman. Interpreting Our Heritage. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1957.

Wirth, Conrad. Parks, Politics, and the People. Norman: University of Nebraska Press, 1962.

World Conference on National Parks. Morges, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 1974.

IV. Selected Technical Reports

Appleman, Roy E. "Report on Visit to Big Hole Battlefield, Montana, 7 July 1956." September 1956.

Baker, Howard W. "Report to the Chief Architect on Big Hole National Monument." June 17, 1937.

Beal, Merrill D. "A Summary of Big Hole National Battlefield Boundary Proposals." No date.

Edmonds, Kermit. "Field Research Project Report, Big Hole National Battlefield." September 1964.

Haines, Aubrey L. "Historic Research Management Plan for Big Hole National Battlefield & Bibliography of the Nez Perce War, 1877." 1967.

Hummel, Edward A. "Field Report, Big Hole Battlefield National Monument." July 1938.

National Park Service. Report of the Director, National Park Service, to Secretary of the Interior, 1954. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1954. Reprinted from the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior.

Maines, Rachel P., and Laura Joss Griffin. "Big Hole National Battlefield Collection Management Plan." 1990.

Maxey, Clyde A. "Interpretive Prospectus for Big Hole National Battlefield." 1964. (Revised periodically.)

Rickey, Don, Jr. "Field Research, Big Hole Battlefield National Monument." July 1959.

Schulmeyer, Alfred W. "Land Protection Plan: Big Hole National Battlefield." 1985.

_______. "Statement for Management: Big Hole National Battlefield." 1986. (Revised semi-annually.)

Toll, Roger W. "Report on Big Hole Battlefield National Monument." August 1935.

Whitworth, Jock. "Fire Management Plan: Big Hole National Battlefield, Wisdom, Montana." 1991.

Williams, Jack R. "Big Hole National Monument: Report on Metal Detector Location, Nez Perce Campsite." October 1961.

V. Interviews

Elroy Bohlin

Robert Burns, July 22, 1995.

Kermit Edmunds, February 26, 1998.

Aubrey Haines, June 24, 1998.

Otis Halfmoon, May 22, 1998.

Jon G. James, November 12, 1997, May 26, 1998, and September 1, 1998.

Al Maxey

Chuck Pettie, April 16, 1998.

Al Schulmeyer, November 12, 1997.

Jock Whitworth, April 30, 1998.

Jack R. Williams, June 22, 1998.