ROBERT S. ELLISON, WALTER M. CAMP PAPERS

The collection spans 1864 to 1944 with Walter Mason Camp's research notes and correspondence comprising the bulk of the material. Records include interview notes, field notes, research correspondence and Camp's hand-written transcriptions of original source documents. Additional records include Robert S. Ellison’s personal and research-related correspondence, reference materials and manuscripts.

Three libraries contributed material for the field note transcripts. Robert S. Ellison purchased the bulk of Camp’s notes following Camp’s death. Ellison, in turn, stipulated that, upon his demise, a substantial portion of his collection, including numerous Camp notes, be donated to Indiana University’s Lilly Library. Fred Rosenstock, noted Denver book dealer, purchased much of Ellison's remaining material, including additional Camp notes. Rosenstock sold these records in several installments to the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. Professor Kenneth Hammer prepared transcripts of the Camp notes housed at the Denver Public Library, the Lee Library and the Lilly Library between April and August 1974 during preparation of his book Custer in '76: Walter Camp's Notes on the Custer Fight. The bulk of this material relates to the Battle of Little Bighorn. However, numerous other battles and topics are also included. Finding aids for the Harold B. Lee Library and Lilly Library transcripts are available from the respective institutions.

Robert S. Ellison's personal and research-related correspondence comprises the bulk of the series. Ellison maintained personal correspondence with Horace M. Albright, director of the National Park Service and William H. Jackson, one of the West's premier photographers. Other personal correspondents include anthropologist George Bird Grinnell and Luther H. North, one of the famed leaders of the Pawnee Scouts.

Ellison had a deep interest in the Red Buttes Indian fight and the Battle of Platte River Bridge, both of which occurred near Casper, Wyoming. Research correspondents include Charles Bates, William Devine and J.W. Shrader who participated in the Platte River Bridge Fight. Captain Henry C. Bretney was stationed briefly at Fort Casper. Alson B. Ostrander served at Fort Phil Kearny where he obtained first-hand knowledge of the Fetterman Massacre and the Wagon Box fight. William E. Morris fought in Major Marcus Reno's battalion during the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Other correspondents include Lieutenant John Furay, who served in the frontier Army with the 11th Ohio Cavalry, Agnes Wright Spring, noted Western historian and author, Finn Burnett, a civilian contractor at Fort Phil Kearny at the time of the Fetterman Massacre and Clarence Reckmeyer, a Nebraska historian who worked with Luther North to mark the Summit Springs battlefield. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent, then chronologically.

Copies of orders, maps and drawings of Camp Collins, Colorado Territory comprise the bulk of the series. A newspaper article about Marshall Thomas Wilkinson is also included

Manuscripts of two papers that Ellison presented to meetings of the Casper, Wyoming Literary Club comprise the series.

Interview notes, research correspondence, field notes and field note transcripts comprise the series. Fourteen documents contained within the interview notes also include correspondence and hand-written document transcriptions. Interview notes were microfilmed in their original order on microfilm (C MSS Mflm 35) under Papers, Diaries, Interviews and Comments. These fourteen documents also comprise the Denver Public Library portion of Professor Kenneth Hammer's transcripts. The series is arranged in its original order. Researchers must use microfilm (C MSS Mflm 35) or the Hammer transcripts to view these records.

Camp's inquiries and the responses comprise the bulk of Camp's research correspondence. Records were originally filed as letters in one hundred twenty-four folders arranged approximately in chronological order and were microfilmed in this sequence. The correspondence appears on microfilm (C MSS Mflm 35) as W.M. Camp, Letters 1910-1920, 7th Cavalry. The series maintains this original order. Also included is correspondence between Camp and Herman P. Ashkey, participant in the Sibley scout of July, 1876. This correspondence appears on microfilm (C MSS Mflm 35) under Letters by Herman P. Ashkey. Correspondence is numbered F1-F5 and includes one letter from Camp to Ashkey. Researchers must use microfilm (C MSS Mflm 35) to view these records.

Field notes include material Camp originally filed in thirty-three labeled envelopes. The contents of each envelope have been retained in a single file folder. Therefore, some folders contain multiple subjects. The folders comprising this series are arranged alphabetically by the principal subject contained in each folder. The bulk of these field notes are hand-written on small scraps of paper. Numerous notes describe inquiries to which Camp sought answers. Additional material includes correspondence, interview notes and bibliographic references. These field notes have not been microfilmed.

Two township maps showing the area around Sitting Bull's Standing Rock Reservation cabin and a hand-drawn map of Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming Territory, comprises the series. Township maps accompanied correspondence in Box 2, Folder 16. The Fort Phil Kearny map accompanied correspondence in Box 1, Folder 134

One original, one backup copy and one negative copy comprise the series. Reel 1 includes 936 pages of Walter Camp's interview notes and research correspondence as identified in Series 4. The title W.M. Camp, Letters 1910-1920, 7th Cavalry on Mflm 35 is incorrect. Documents span 1865-1920. Not all of these documents are letters, and not all relate to the Seventh Cavalry. Additional material includes reports and interview notes related to numerous other battles. Also included is a portion of George Bird Grinnell's correspondence with Ellison from Series 1, Box 1, File Folder 11; and Herman Ashkey' s correspondence as described in Series 4.