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CLEMENT YORE PAPERS

 Collection
Identifier: WH1417

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Clement Yore Papers contain both published and unpublished manuscripts of novels, short stories, poetry, newspaper and magazine articles written by Clem Yore. He wrote primarily westerns, mysteries and poems. The material includes correspondence, a scrapbook containing clippings of stories and articles written by or about Clem Yore and sheet music for songs written by Yore and his wife, Alberta. The material spans 1875-1971.

SERIES 1 MANUSCRIPTS 1893-1965 BOX 1-2

The series contains both published and unpublished manuscripts of novels, short stories, poetry, newspaper and magazine articles written by Clem Yore. The bulk of the stories and novels are westerns. The remainder of the work includes mysteries and poems. The series also contains correspondence regarding the copyright status of Yore's writings.

SERIES 2 PERSONAL 1893-1943 BOX 2 (FF12-20)

Material includes correspondence sent to Barbara Yore (sister) and Juanita Yore Kelsey (daughter) and a leather apron presented to Brother Clement Yore by Loveland Lodge, No. 53, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. The series also contains a scrapbook compiled of stories and articles written by or about Clem Yore and newspaper clippings regarding Yore's death.

SERIES 3 OVERSIZE 1896-1971 OV BOX 1

The series consists of sheet music for songs written by Clem and Alberta Yore and magazine articles by and about Clem Yore. Also included is Yore's license to practice law in the State of Missouri, a certificate admitting Yore into The Society of the Sons of the Revolution and Treasure Trail, a newspaper serial.

SERIES 4 1875-1936 PHOTOBOX 1

Photographs of Clem Yore's friends, his wife, brother, niece, his home and his gravesite in Estes Park, Colorado comprise this series.

Dates

  • 1893-1971

ACCESS:

The collection is open for research.

OWNERSHIP:

Unpublished manuscripts copyright retained by estate until January 1, 2006.

PUBLICATION RIGHTS:

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Clement Yore was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1875. At the age of twelve, he ran away from home and traveled as far west as Kansas. By age fourteen, he had relocated to western Nebraska. In 1890, at age fifteen, he joined the Texas Rangers in El Paso. Later he worked as a cowpuncher, packer and stage driver. In the early 1890s, Yore prospected for gold in Creede, Colorado. He journeyed to Cripple Creek, Colorado where he stayed for over a year, saving his money to return home.

Yore attended Augusta Military Academy in Virginia. He studied law at Washington University in St. Louis. Yore passed the bar examination and practiced law for a year. In 1896, he abandoned the practice of law to join the Klondike Gold Rush. Yore traveled through Seattle to Alaska and the Yukon Territory where he covered the gold rush as a journalist. He was a soldier in the Spanish-American War. When the war ended, he went to work for Randolph Hearst in San Francisco. Afterward, he moved to Chicago where he worked as the city editor of the Chicago American for seven years. In 1912, he left the newspaper business.

In 1914, Yore compiled a selection of his poems into the book, Songs of the Underworld. In addition to writing mystery and detective stories, he worked as a commercial copywriter. In 1915, he married his second wife, Alberta McAuley Plonke. They visited Estes Park, Colorado for their honeymoon and stayed.

The May 1918 edition of National Magazine states: “Since his sojourn in Colorado, mountains have found place in his soul, his verse teems with the bigness and freshness of the West, and has earned for him the laurels of Colorado’s State Poet. In his poem Colorado is evidenced the versatility of his pen and the lessons the vasts have taught him.”

Clem Yore wrote twenty novels, two books of verse, more than 600 short stories and 300 poems. He died at the age of sixty-one of a heart attack in his home in Estes Park, Colorado on October 24, 1936.

Extent

2 Boxes (1.5 linear feet)

1 oversize box

1 Photobox

Language of Materials

English

PROVENANCE:

Collection was acquired as a gift from Barbara Cole (granddaughter of Clement Yore) in December 2000.

SEPARATED MATERIAL

The bound copies of Clem Yore's published short stories and serialized novels were transferred to the Western History/Genealogy Department.

SIZE:

Number of Boxes: 2 (1.5 linear feet)

Oversize: 1 box

Photographs: 1 Photobox

LOCATION:

WH1417

PROCESSED BY:

Jo Anne Lee

November 2001

REVISED AND ENCODED BY:

Ann Brown

2009

Merrie Jo Schroeder

October 2005

PROJECT MANAGER:

Ellen Zazzarino

Title
CLEMENT YORE PAPERS
Date
2009
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository

Contact:
10 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy
Denver CO 80204 United States