Montana: a Paper Trail

Helena MT: Montana Historical Society Press, 2023. First Edition. Large 4to (10" x 12"). 440 pp. Bibliography; Index. Many color and black & white illustrations, color frontispiece of Heavy Shield by Winold Reiss. A fine copy, as new. This heavy oversized book will require extra shipping. "Collector and historian Thomas Minckler spent a half century gathering 19th and early 20th century letters and documents, vintage photographs, rare books, and paintings...Veteran Western Americana specialist Nathaniel Des Marais wrote of the 10,000-plus items: "Make no mistake, this is the finest gathering of Montana source material ever brought together."

Minckler's decades of researching and contextualizing items in his collection uncovered innumerable valuable insights on Montana history. Each artifact's unique paper trail reveals a journey that contributes to the fascinating story of Montana.

The wide-ranging collection includes the sole image of James Kipp (1788-1880), the iconic builder of Upper Missouri River fur trading posts. It also includes photos of the legendary Ferdinand Hayden's Yellowstone Expedition in 1871 taken by Bozeman photographer Joshua Crissman, who produced the first images of Yellowstone Park and the only known photo of the Expedition's wagon train. In addition, the collection includes outstanding unpublished material by Granville Stuart, Teddy Blue Abbott, C.M. Russell, Thomas Meagher, Father Pierre DeSmet, and George Armstrong Custer." - MTHS website

"Make no mistake, this is the finest gathering of Montana source material ever brought together." (Western Americana specialist Nathaniel Des Marais wrote of the 10,000-plus items).