Burt C. Buffum, Part Two

Posted on October 12, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by AHC Archives Aide Patty Kessler

Buffum’s Second Term at the University of Wyoming

Buffum left Wyoming in 1900 to serve as the director of the Colorado Agricultural College’s experiment station in Fort Collins. Prior to his departure, the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees adopted a Resolution acknowledging his contributions to the University, particularly noting that “as the result of his efforts” during the nine years he was in residence, “this station [Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station] has reached its national prominence.”1 His time leading the Colorado Experiment Station was short but productive. While there, he worked with the newly established veterinary department to clean “up the college herd of tuberculosis . . . [conducted] farmers’ institute tours  . . . added new breeds of stock . . . judged agricultural exhibits at the State fair in Pueblo . . . grain breeding was begun . . . [and he] started a magazine under the title of Agricuola Aridu . . . [about which he noted that] when I resigned and its was discontinued it had a circulation of about seventeen hundred.”2 In addition: “A considerable additional area of the College Farm was brought under cultivation and golf course established in the back pasture where I spent a delightful month while quarateened [sic] for small-pox, working up a fairly good amateur game.”3

Buffum returned to Wyoming in 1903 to work as the director of the University’s experiment farms.  From 1903 to 1907 he served as “Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Stations (WAES) director . . . Wyoming range researcher, UW classroom professor, student and faculty mentor, and outreach agent.”4

Black-and-white historical photograph of an exhibit showcasing various kinds of wheat. The display contains shelves filled with bundles of dried grasses, grains, and other plants, many arranged in glass containers and labeled. A large central sign reads “Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station. Altitude 7200 Feet."
University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, B. C. Buffum Papers, Accession Number 400055, Box 25, Item 25, Blabny County Fair, Wyoming, Exhibit at Fair. Negative #1510.

One of his many accomplishments with the Wyoming Agricultural Extension Service as WAES director was to develop a wool department. Buffum mentored and later hired one of his student protégés, John Arthur Hill, as “a professor of wool—the first in the history of WAES.”5 He also designed and implemented an educational program for ranching and farming communities through “farmers’ institutes” that were conducted in towns throughout Wyoming.  He was frequently accompanied by Professors Aven Nelson and George Morton. Buffum’s institutes were so popular “that one man living seven miles out of town walked all the way into Sheridan just to catch Buffum’s evening session.”6 Buffum and his contemporaries’ dedication to outreach was unparalleled at the time. They traveled:

…more than four hundred miles by stage and wagon, and a thousand miles by rail in bad weather conditions to conduct a number of institutes requested by various groups. . . enduring four-horse runaways, narrow escapes from wrecks and tipover [sic], occasional but real hostile people, travel through a vast unsettled territory in an unusual blizzard, mountain passes filled snow drifts, frozen faces and chilled feet, forty mile rides with the temperature below zero in wind and snow and of some meals absent and other grateful one of Indian cookery and horse meat.7

In addition to the farmers’ institutes, Buffum and his colleagues established a series of short courses.8 They were billed to be “a meeting in which practical men will lecture and discuss topics of interest and value to every man interested in Wyoming land, water or livestock.”9 The meetings were held during the off-season in March in the Science Hall on the University of Wyoming’s campus and highlighted lectures by professionals on a variety of topics including irrigation, stock judging, stock feeding, and management. The presenters in 1904 included Professor Elwood Mead, who was then employed by the United States Department of Agriculture as Chief of Irrigation Investigations. Other notable presenters were Wyoming Supreme Court Justice C. N. Potter, who lectured on “The Sources of the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation and Some of Its Consequences as Applied by Judicial Decision in Wyoming.”10 The final attendance tally was 131.  It was noted that in addition to students, “seventy-three . . . were ranchmen . . . who represented eight of the thirteen counties and two ranchmen from Northern Colorado.”11

Buffum was also instrumental in putting in motion the transfer of the UW Stock Farm to the former territorial penitentiary. The area where the original stock farm had been located became “increasingly residential” since the founding of the University and there were no opportunities to expand its operation at the initial site. By 1907, the Stock Farm began transitioning to its new home. However, Buffum left his post to manage the “Wyoming Plant and Seed  Breeding Company” in Worland before the final relocation was finished.12 His connection with Wyoming and high plains agriculture did not end there. He went on to publish two books. The first, circulated in 1909, Arid Agriculture: A Hand-Book for the Western Farmer and Stockman, was a compilation of the research that he was doing at the Worland Plant and was disseminated for use by statewide producers.13 Alan Beetle claimed that it was “one of the first books to deal with the western type of agriculture. . . [H]e treated nearly all phases of the early dryland and irrigated farming, as well as ranching [and] objected to the term ‘dry farming’ because ‘no crop can be produced without moisture.”14 He continued to research and publish his findings to the benefit of Wyoming farmers and ranchers. 

He maintained his relationships with his colleagues. Most notable is his friendship with Aven Nelson.15 On the event of Nelson’s 83rd birthday, Buffum wrote: 

It seems that you and I walked along a pathway of rather close association.  Remember the whiskers we wore in 1891-93, the luxuriance of which demonstrated the salubrious Wyoming climate? . . .

As a further evidence of close association in our work, do you remember that you, Senator Joseph M. Carey, Ed. Young and I were the Wyoming State Horticultural Society, which met each year at the State Fair at Douglas?  Some years a quorum consisting of you and me made up the entire attendance.

I must here express my deep appreciation of your monumental work on the flora of the Rocky Mountain region.  None can more thoroughly understand it than I.  My command of language is insufficient to express my feeling in the matter.16

Buffum in Private Industry

After working for the majority of his career in academia, Buffum moved his family to Worland in 1907 to pursue a career in the private sector. Buffum founded the “Wyoming Plant and Seed Breeding Company” at Worland, where after having “made several trips into the Big Horn Basin . . .  I was convinced that wonderful things came out of the Basin Country. For example, I had seen alfalfa with stems eleven feet long, and crab apples which had hung under a pollenization [sic] branch grow as large as standard fruits. I had seen a whole bushel of ripe tomatoes on one plant.17

Photograph of Buffum’s plant in Worland, Wyoming, nd. Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
A vintage flyer advertising the Emmer Products Company. A small illustration of a box of wheat labelled "Buffum's Emmer Breakfast Food" appears in the top left corner.
Description of Buffum’s produce, nd. Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Buffum noted in an interview with the Historical Review of Worland that he believed the Worland area would produce the results that he wanted in breeding exceptional grains for use in cereals. He was proud of the results that he achieved while there, “which drew attention to the Worland Valley from all over the World.”18 Buffum was well established as a noted breeder of grains. By 1904, the Experiment Stations in Wyoming had produced “three varieties of the heaviest wheat in the world, weighing 66 pounds per bushel.19 These grains won gold medals at the St. Louis Exhibition (Louisiana Purchase Exposition) in 1904 and “took 80 medals in Portland” in 1905 (Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition).20

Buffum started his company with seed that had been given to him by “professors and farmers who were interested in the work he was doing. Mark Carlton, the Cerealist of the United States Department of Agriculture gave him “two small bags of black winter emmer.”21 Buffum saw a great deal of possibility for this Middle Eastern grain and set about finding ways to improve upon it. His efforts led to the founding of his seed company and, eventually, transitioned into a breakfast food company. The demand for his products grew and he moved his family and business to Denver. World War I resulted in an exhaustion of the company’s supply which led to Buffum’s retirement. Eduma Buffum Boyne noted that “frustration, worry and disappointment gradually wore my father down. He was compelled to retire not only from the business but from the experimental work.” After Buffum’s retirement the company gradually went into bankruptcy and emmer faded into “oblivion.”22

Black and white photograph of a man in a wheat field. He stands behind a row of wheat stalks, which are so tall they obscure his legs and most of his torso.
University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, B. C. Buffum Papers, Accession Number 400055, Box 27, Item 110, Buffum’s Grain, neg. #A2-1000.

Buffum as a Photographer

Early in his career, Buffum’s interest in technology and the arts also led him to master the art of photography. Kruger referred to him as “an unusual early adapter of instructional technology—and clearly ahead of his time and peers when it came to presenting research in multimedia formats.”23 He projected images of his photographs during his traveling institutes and published them in research bulletins and the Ranchman’s Reminder. The University of Wyoming American Heritage Center maintains a digital collection of over 2000 images taken by Buffum throughout his career. However, it isn’t just the photos directly related to his profession as an agriculturist that have gained him notoriety.  In 1903 he attended the Albany County Fair in Laramie.  It was here that he captured “Guy Holt Pulling Leather on Steamboat.  It continues to be widely viewed and was used “in various publications of the University.24

A black and white photo of a man riding a bucking horse. The man has a smile on his face and is raising his hat off his head. In the background, three individuals in cowboy hats watch.
University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, B. C. Buffum Papers, Accession Number 400055, Box 37, Item 23, Rodeo–bronc riding, negative #B3-1229.

Another of his widely known photographs is of Theodore Roosevelt on the campaign trail in 1903. Roosevelt had visited Laramie on his campaign tour. He was to travel from Laramie to Cheyenne on horseback up the canyon accompanied by individuals from Laramie. Buffum was asked to photograph the party as they emerged from the canyon.  Enduma Buffum Boyne describes the event:

[M]y tall Papa, with Mother, my little brother and me in the buggy, drove old Puss to a point on the road where the party of horseback riders would emerge from the canyon.  It worked out perfectly, and Daddy, with camera on tripod, the dark cloth around his neck, some extra plates under his arm, strode off into the low sage to get several pictures of this historic occasion.25

Boyne had written in another article that her father had attended a convention in Washington D. C. sometime later and had an opportunity to meet and shake hands with the President. To Buffum’s “delight,” Roosevelt “recognized him instantly, called him by name, and said, ‘You are the culprit who took my picture in Cheyenne Canyon.’”26

Black and white historic photograph of a group of men on horses posing for a photo on a mountainside.
Photograph of Teddy Roosevelt and others riding from Laramie to Cheyenne, Wyoming, May 30, 1903. University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Photofile: Roosevelt, Teddy, Negative Number 3113.

Conclusion

B.C. Buffum’s life is testament to the “initiative, enthusiasm, and imagination” that he brought to it—striving to bring order out of the chaos of the times. This is evident, from his commitment to documenting each day of his family’s travels to Yellowstone Park in 1885 to his continuing desire that his business endeavors benefit not only his investors and his family, but hardworking farmers and ranchers as well. His publication of his first book in 1809, Arid Agriculture: A Hand-Book for the Western Farmer and Stockman, which was a compilation of the research he was doing at his plant in Worland, stood in testament of that. Buffum’s initiative earned him a supervisory position at the 1893 World’s Fair and praise from the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees for the role he played in putting the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Stations on the World map. In concert with the times in which he lived and in the spirit of the Populists and the Farmer’s Alliances, Buffum committed himself to educating farmers and ranchers about cutting edge practices and technology in agriculture believing that education was the key to bringing about a more equitable distribution of wealth. As Alan Beetle had mentioned in his posthumous tribute to Buffum, his initiative, enthusiasm and imagination were central to drawing the world’s attention to agriculture on the high plains and to the eventual development of the discipline of range management. But what stands out most of all is his commitment to the industrious agriculturalists on the high plains and to his family. His daughter, Eduma, spoke often of the times that the family accompanied Buffum on trips related to his work and how each Christmas he would write a poem. These phrases from a poem he wrote in 1911 in which he refers to his travels around the world, summarizes where his heart lay most of all:

. . . It’s me back to the sagebrush where there’s friendship, love, and truth,
And breadth of mental vision with no sordidness or uncouth,
Where nature puts new life in air that quicks the human clod,
Where man reflects his Maker and can reach the hand of God.
Back to old Wyoming where in the shack upon the farm
I feel that wife and babies are all safe from worldly harm,
Where in home reunion with our Christmas joys unfurled
I know I am the richest man since Adam owned the world.27

Finally, on the Yellowstone trip, Buffum wrote about a stay on the Newcomer’s ranch outside of Buffalo. After almost a month on the trail, the Newcomer’s hospitality was most welcome. Buffum wrote, “What a bonanaza that was! And a “hogkilling time”! What fun! I believe that this sentiment exemplified his entire life and career. He had a “hogkilling time.”28

  1. Resolution Board of Trustees University of Wyoming, May 10, 1900, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  2. Summary of Buffum’s accomplishments while director of Colorado Agricultural College’s experiment stations, nd., Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  3. Ibid. ↩︎
  4. Kruger, 22. ↩︎
  5. Ibid. ↩︎
  6. Ibid., 23. ↩︎
  7. Johanna Nel and Johannes E. Nel, “University of Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station: 100 Years of Service to the State”, Annals of Wyoming, Winter, Vol. 64, No. 1 (1992), 14. ↩︎
  8. Farmer’s Alliances. ↩︎
  9. The Ranchman’s Reminder, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January, 1904), 3. ↩︎
  10. Ibid. ↩︎
  11. The Ranchman’s Reminder, Vol. 1, No. 3 (March, 1904), 23. ↩︎
  12. Kruger, 24. ↩︎
  13. Ibid. ↩︎
  14. Beetle, 82-83. ↩︎
  15. Aven Nelson was universally known as an expert on the botany of the Rocky Mountain Region. He wrote and published extensively about native plant life and was responsible for the growth and ascendency of the Rocky Mountain Herbarium located at the University of Wyoming. It is the “largest facility of its kind between Saint Louis and the West Coast . . . [and] the largest collection of Wyoming and Rocky Mountain plants in the world (University of Wyoming, Rocky Mountain Herbarium, “Welcome to the Rocky Mountain Herbarium,” rockymountainherbarium.org, accessed 7/4/26). The data acquired in the study of these plants are critical in helping individuals from a broad spectrum of professions understand our natural environment (Lyn Loveless, The University of Arizona, “Why Herbaria?”, herbarium.arizona.edu/why-herbaria). In Wyoming, in the late 1800s and turn of the 20th century, they proved valuable in helping to educate farmers and ranchers about best practices in managing the rangelands of the high plains and Rocky Mountain Region. ↩︎
  16. Summary of documents donated to the American Heritage Center by Eduma Buffum Boyne, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.  ↩︎
  17. Interview with Buffum, Historical Review, Development of the Worland Valley, Washakie County, Wyoming, by C. F. Robertson, nd, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  18. Ibid., 53. ↩︎
  19. The College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University reported that today one bushel of wheat weighs in at 60 pounds. Ohio State University, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, “Bushels, Test Weights, and Calculations, https://cfaes.osu.edu/fact-sheet/bushels-test-weights-and-calculations, accessed, July 2, 2026. ↩︎
  20. Interview with Buffum, Historical Review, Development of the Worland Valley, Washakie County, Wyoming, by C. F. Robertson, nd, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  21. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 35. ↩︎
  22. Ibid. ↩︎
  23. Kruger, 23. ↩︎
  24. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 34. ↩︎
  25. Ibid. 35. ↩︎
  26. “The Day Papa Took the President’s Picture,” Family Features, Science Monitor, Boston, February 28, 1958, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  27. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 29-30. ↩︎
  28. Ibid., 12. ↩︎
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Burt C. Buffum, Part One

Posted on October 5, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by AHC Archives Aide Patty Kessler

“Agriculture is the foundation of civilization, and the commercial, educational and ethical advancement of the people rests primarily on the creation and increase of new wealth from the soil.” –Burt C. Buffum, American Thresherman and Farm Power, September, 1916.

Burt C. Buffum1 was raised in Colorado in the midst of the Second Industrial Revolution (1870-1914).2  Significant changes and developments were happening in the field of agriculture—economically, geographically, technologically, and politically. From 1870 to 1920, farmlands in the United States increased from 2.7 million acres to 6.4 million acres. However, that did not mean that individuals were reaping the benefits of this expansion. By 1880 the Census Bureau found that a majority of the workforce engaged in non-farming jobs. By 1890, two-thirds of Americans worked for wages rather than owning a farm, business, or craft. From 1870 to 1920, almost 11 million Americans moved from farm to city and another 25 million arrived from overseas.3 The Pacific and Mountain West contained the highest percentage of immigrants of any region in 1880 and 1890. With new technologies in hand, farmers moved out onto the prairies and high plains of the Rocky Mountain region. While improved “plows, reapers, and threshers” could assist a single family in planning “increased acreage,” without “adequate rainfall to produce crops,” many homesteads failed.4

A black and white headshot of a man. He is wearing oval glasses and a black suit with a white bowtie
From Bert [sic] C. Buffum—Pioneer Range Manager. Beetle Alan A., Journal of Range Management, Society for Range Management, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Mar., 1952), 81-83, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3894690, accessed 6/28/26.

By the 1890s, an anti-monopolist third-party known as the People’s or Populist Party grew into prominence as the result of an agrarian-based political movement known as Populism, “whose members “believed that education was the most effective means for closing the gap between poverty in the rural districts and middle-class prosperity in the towns.” Needless to say, a large number of farmers who owned small or middle-sized operations supported the Populists. These individuals “eked out a living by the sweat of their own brow and that of their family . . .”  The overall dilemma for farmers was that the prices of their crops progressively fell as their costs grew. This was especially true regarding the “price of credit to pay for land, machinery, and supplies.” The Populist’s presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryant, lost his multiple bids for the presidency; however, many of the reforms that were part of their platform were adopted by the majority Republican and Democratic parties. These included the establishment of the “National Weather Service . . . the extension of agricultural education and research services . . . [and] new federal agencies to regulate and subsidize farm credit and marketing.”5

Having grown up in an agricultural community, Buffum understood the challenges that individuals faced in light of an ever-evolving agricultural industry and rose to the challenge to better people’s lives in the midst of a politically, economically, and culturally complex and volatile world. He was among those who carved out a career dedicated to the management of high-altitude grasslands and the education of those who became and continue to be stewards of those lands.6 Buffum and his colleagues built a significant legacy as they sought to address these trials for farmers and ranchers living in the Rocky Mountain Region. Alan A. Beetle, Professor of Range Management at the University of Wyoming, noted that while Buffum was not a specialist in range management, “he made many notable contributions toward it,” entering “into every task with zest, all of his work was characterized by initiative, enthusiasm and imagination.”7 Buffum’s daughter, Eduma, further noted that “[h]e was convinced that the mountain states . . . were a promised land for agricultural pursuits . . . his boundless energies were directed toward definite goals of bettering irrigation methods, soil and seed improvement, heavier yields, and a more equitable distribution of wealth.8

Buffum’s character and convictions were shaped early in his life. His father, George, had moved the family from South Bend, Indiana, hoping that the move would help his ailing wife, Harriet.  Unfortunately, Buffum’s mother passed away shortly after they arrived, and in 1875, George Washington Buffum moved his family to a sheep ranch west of Fort Collins, Colorado. Burt was seven years old at the time. He and his brothers, Gene and Harry, were raised by their father on the Buckhorn River. The ranch was far from any local schools. Buffum’s father was determined that his sons should have the best education possible. When Buffum spoke about their time on the ranch he credited his father with instilling a thirst for learning and furthering his education:

[It was] father who brought me to the Mountain Region at a tender age—who was father and mother to his boys, cook, discoverer, philosopher—who developed an irrigated stock ranch from the native wild—who fought and conquered all the hardships of the pioneer—who though an invalid, gave no thought for himself, but put forth untold effort to supply me with every education advantage the West afforded at the time.9

A black and white family portrait of four men, each dressed in formal attire.
George Washington Buffum and sons. Gene left, Harry, standing, and Burt, nd. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 29, B. C. Buffum Biographical File, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

George Buffum hired a tutor to teach his sons. They were joined by other children living in the region and, eventually, a new school district was formed to accommodate the growing community. An article in the Loveland Round-Up documented George Buffum’s contribution to the continuing education of children in the region. Journalist Eugene Smith credits George with the eventual establishment of School District 51 and the Buffum Canyon School.10

George sold the ranch in 1885 and moved his family to Greeley, Colorado, where his two youngest sons completed high school. Prior to Burt entering the Colorado Agricultural College, a land-grant university (now Colorado State University), at the age of 17, his father loaded up his two youngest sons and a family friend, Ed Weller, in “a lumber wagon [along with] two teams, one of horses and one of mules, a water barrel, bed rolls, tents, guns, fishing tackle, sugar, flour and canned goods, etc. and headed north along the old Overland Trail through Laramie to Yellowstone National Park.11 The trip took two days shy of three months to complete. Each day, young Burt kept a journal of their expedition, noting significant landmarks along the way, including a stop at Rock Creek, passing through Fort Fetterman “where we stoped [sic] and mailed some cards” on their way to follow the old Bozeman Trail north, past Fort Phil Kearney on to the site of “Custer’s Monument.12 In his journal, Buffum oftentimes mentioned finding specimens.13 Buffum’s interest in geology and the natural environment and his thirst for knowledge were nurtured early in his life and eventually led him to pursue his education in agriculture in the midst of revolutionary change.

Buffum’s Education at Colorado Agricultural College in Fort Collins

After returning from the Yellowstone Park trek in 1885, Buffum prepared to enroll at the Colorado Agricultural College. He completed his bachelor’s degree in agriculture in June, 1890. While there, he studied with Professor A. E. Blount. Blount was a pioneer in propagating seed for use on the high plains. His breeding of Defiance wheat “defied Colorado’s harsh growing conditions and flourished so well that it nabbed newspaper headlines.” Defiance wheat was referred to as “[Blount’s] gift to the Irrigated West.”14  He was also a strong supporter of the establishment of agricultural research centers which became a reality after the passage of the Hatch Act of 1887. At this time, Elwood Mead, who was the future territorial and state engineer of Wyoming, assisted Blount in the development of Colorado’s first agricultural research center. As Blount’s protégé, Buffum’s and Mead’s paths would have crossed, and within a few short years they would meet again, only this time further north. Influenced by Blount and his contemporaries, Buffum accepted a position as a Professor of Agriculture and Horticulture at the University of Wyoming. He moved his young bride, Maude Southworth, north along the same trail that he and his family had followed six years earlier, to start a family and build a career at 7,200 feet.15

Buffum at the University of Wyoming

The University of Wyoming, also a land-grant institution focused on agriculture and the mechanical arts, was in the process of establishing its first agricultural experiment station when Buffum arrived.16 As Professor of Agriculture and Horticulture, he served as the fledgling station’s first horticulturist and, later, its entomologist. Through his work there, “he became an indelible pioneer in the study of range management across Wyoming.”17 While Buffum may not have started out as a specialist in any one field, his ability to excel across disciplines was widely respected, and “he worked in nearly every important phase during his tenure.”18 Buffum and his contemporaries were among those in the later part of the 1800s who Beetle described as non-specialized agriculturalists. They were the individuals “who worked on its [range management] problems before the science was known by its present name.”19 Kruger emphasized Buffum’s many talents and his enthusiasm and passion in the research and development of scientifically sound solutions to the problems that pioneering farmers and ranchers faced on the high plains.

During his first tenure at the University, Buffum worked alongside botanist Aven Nelson. Together they “laid out the grounds, worked up a greenhouse, and stocked the Experiment Station with grains and animals.”20 In 1892, while Nelson studied for his M.A. at Harvard, “Buffum amassed a collection of over 500 grass specimens for exhibit at the upcoming World’s Fair which Nelson later expanded into the present well known Rocky Mountain Herbarium.”21

1893 World’s Fair

A typewritten letter addressed to Professor B.C. Buffum from Elwood Mead. The letter contains a print of a victorian style building in the upper left corner. The text reads "Dear sir, I take pleaseure in notifying you that the Board of World's Fair managers has unanimously authorized me to ask you to take charge of the agricultural exhibit at the World's Fair, the compensation therefor to be $100 per month. In taking this action the Board also desires to express their appreciation of your very efficient labors during the past year in assisting in the preparing of this exhibit and to express the hope that you could continue your connection with it until the close of the Exposition. Very Sincerely yours, Elwood Mead, Secretary."
Letter from Elwood Mead to Burt C. Buffum, March 9th, 1893, Box 1, Folder 1, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, also known as the Columbian Exposition, was a pivotal moment in United States history and in the life of Burt Buffum. The grounds were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in partnership with architect Daniel Burnham. Olmsted is also widely known for his influence in the design of New York’s Central Park. It was there in the “White City” that historian Frederick Jackson Turner delivered his Frontier Thesis, which declared that the American frontier was closed, and served to launch the discipline of the History of the American West. His thesis also opened the door to “a new kind of American foreign policy . . . [suggesting that] American energy,” Turner maintained, “will continually demand a wider field for its exercise.”22 Most importantly, for Buffum, it suggested a shift in how Americans would view the availability of public lands and the means by which to develop them in a way that may extend the life of the frontier. According to the 1890 census, the process of expanding the American frontier was no longer viable as a means to meet the needs of an ever-growing populace. Stephen L. Danver suggests that Turner’s thesis forewarned Americans of the need to reimagine their communities, their institutions, and their governments.23  Buffum may have seen this as a challenge and incorporated what he had learned at the World’s Fair in the practice of his vocation. It was also here that he and his wife would have witnessed the unveiling of the electric light bulb, movable sidewalks, Cracker Jacks, Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix, Cream of Wheat, the zipper, the Ferris Wheel, and chewing gum, to name just a handful of innovations that starred on the Midway in the White City—Wyoming was well represented in the midst of one of the greatest shows on earth at the time.24

A drawing of a building. The Building features several turrets with pointed conical roofs. Etched into the building is the word "Wyoming." Outside stands two couples. Text below the drawing reads "Wyoming State Building—World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago."
Drawing of the Wyoming exhibit hall at the World’s Fair in Chicago 1893, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Buffum had been working earlier to develop the University of Wyoming’s exhibit on agriculture, specifically the display of grasses. He traveled around Wyoming in 1892 collecting specimens and prepared over 500 species to be shown in Chicago’s White City at Wyoming’s exhibit hall.25 This event brought Buffum and Elwood Mead together once again. In March of 1893, Mead notified Buffum of his appointment as the supervisor of Wyoming’s agricultural exhibit at the World’s Fair.26 After receiving notice of his assignment, Buffum wrote to University President A. A. Johnson requesting a leave of absence. In this correspondence he noted that “[t]his is without compensation, but $100 per month which will be paid for expenses.”27 He also agreed to continue his duties as supervisor of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Stations and “[i]f necessary . . . I will return from Chicago some time [sic] during the summer for a sufficient time to attend to these duties (Ibid).” While at the World’s Fair he was notified of his appointment as “Professor of Horticulture, Irrigation Engineering, and Meteorology for one year at a salary of $1600 per annum ‘except the first four months when you are to receive half salary while on your leave of absence.28

Buffum and his wife left for Chicago in the spring of 1893. They stayed at a boarding house and rode “their bicycles from boarding house to Fair grounds for several months.”29

Part two in this series will appear on the AHC Blog next week.

  1. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 29, B. C. Buffum Biographical File, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. Buffum’s daughter noted that the C. in her father’s name was just that.  When he went to enroll in the ROTC they asked him what his middle name was and he replied that he did not have one. They informed him that he needed at least a middle initial so he chose “C.” ↩︎
  2. Joel Mokyr, The Second Revolution, 1870-1914, Northwestern University, August 1998, faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/jmokyr/castronovo.pdf, accessed 7/4/26. Mokyr acknowledges that some scholars date the beginning of this era to the 1850s; however, the bulk of the innovations coming out of this era were realized in the last third of the 1800s. He states that these were aided significantly by changes that occurred at the grassroots level which “had . . . a huge impact on production [and] increased the effectiveness of research and development. Buffum was among those who significantly helped to drive new innovations in agriculture. ↩︎
  3. Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty: An American History, Seagull 5th edition, Volume 2, 605-606. ↩︎
  4. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, The Rise of Industrial America, 1877-1900, by Richard White. ↩︎
  5. Charles Postel, American Populism 1876-1896, Northern Illinois University Digital Library, nd, https://digital.lib.niu.edu/illinois/gildedage/populism, accessed 7/5/26. ↩︎
  6. Congress had passed the Morrill Act in 1862 which established colleges devoted to “agriculture and mechanical arts and opened up opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education (Morrill Act (1862), National Archives, archives.gov/milestone-documents/morrill-act, accessed 6/28/26).” However, they did not anticipate the rapid industrialization of the nation and the overwhelming influx of immigrants in the later part of the century. They sought to address the quickly changing economic and cultural landscape of the nation, and most particularly the West, with the passage of the Hatch Act in 1887, which provided funding “for the establishment of agricultural stations to conduct agricultural research and the diffusion of agricultural information to the public (ERIC, To Tell the Truth: The Impact of the Hatch Act of Secondary Agricultural Education, Moore, Gary E., eric.ed.gov/?id=ED290030, accessed 6/28/26).” These two acts helped to pave the way for the emergence of a new and innovative discipline known today as range management. ↩︎
  7. Alan A. Beetle, Bert C. Buffum—Pioneer Range Manager, Journal of Range Management, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Mar., 1952), 83. ↩︎
  8. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 33. ↩︎
  9. Ibid, 37. ↩︎
  10. “Smith Writes,” newspaper article, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  11. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 3. ↩︎
  12. Ibid., 7. ↩︎
  13. Ibid., 2.  Eduma Buffum Boyne wrote that “[w]herever he [George] or his sons went, they watched for minerals—agates, Indianheads [sic], quartzite crystals, garnets buried in their limestone beds, moss agates, and endless other minerals, some polished and shaped, others in their native state. The collection had been started with rocks picked up along the rocky ridge of the sheep ranch on the Buckhorn River west of Fort Collins.”  ↩︎
  14. Anthony Lane, “Sprouting Success,” Colorado State University Source, https://source.colostate.edu/sprouting-success/, accessed 6/29/26. ↩︎
  15. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 33. ↩︎
  16. When Buffum arrived at the University, Wyoming was in the midst of recovering from the winter of 1886–1887 and the “great die-up” of the cattle industry on the high plains. Two decades prior to that, public lands were wide open ranges where grass and water were plentiful. In the summer of 1886 there was a long drought followed by a blizzard that winter. Smithsonian Magazine reported that approximately 90% of cattle on the high plains perished either from cold or starvation (“The 1887 Blizzard that Changed the American Frontier Forever,” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1887-blizzard-changed-american-frontier-forever-1-180953852/, accessed 7/5/26). In addition, homesteaders were beginning to file claims on land that large cattle ranchers once grazed their livestock on. These conditions eventually culminated in the event of the Johnson County War in 1892. ↩︎
  17. David Delbert Kruger, 125 Years of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station 1891-2016, University of Wyoming, Agricultural Experiment Station, Laramie (2016), 21. ↩︎
  18. Beetle, 82. ↩︎
  19. Ibid., 81. ↩︎
  20. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 33. ↩︎
  21. Beetle, 82. ↩︎
  22. Timeline: 1893—Turner’s Thesis, PBS, https://www.pbs.org/crucible/tl2.html, accessed 6/29/26. ↩︎
  23. Stephen L. Danver, PhD., Analysis:  The Significance of the Frontier in American History, 2019, EBSCO, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/analysis-significance-frontier-american-history ↩︎
  24. National Park Service, “Inventions from the Columbia World’s Fair Exposition,” nd., https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/inventions-from-the-world-s-columbian-exposition.htm, accessed 6/29/26. ↩︎
  25. These varieties of grasses would later make up the core of Aven Nelson’s collection of specimens at the University of Wyoming herbarium. His wife accompanied him that summer and his daughter, Eduma, noted that “a lumber wagon and team of horses was used for this purposes, too” in reference to the trip to Yellowstone in 1885, The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 30. ↩︎
  26. Letter from Elwood Mead to Burt C. Buffum, March 9, 1893, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  27. Letter to A. A Johnson from Burt C. Buffum, March 9, 1893, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  28. Letter from Grace Raymond Hebard to Burt C. Buffum, July 1, 1893, Box 1, Folder 2, B. C. Buffum, 400055, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. ↩︎
  29. The Long Way to Yellowstone Park in 1885, 30. ↩︎
Posted in 19th century, 20th century, Academia, Agriculture, Biographies, University of Wyoming, Western history, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Just In Time for America250, a New Book About Wyoming’s History

Posted on September 28, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by Paul Flesher, Director of the American Heritage Center

Did you ever want to know more about the history of Wyoming—the state we all know and love—in an accessible way? If so, then Wyoming’s History in 76 Objects and Places: Taking Stock at America’s 250th Anniversary is the book for you. The volume dives into the state’s history and brings the best moments and accomplishments to light—by connecting them to 76 historic objects and places. Turning its pages, you will discover obvious choices—with new insights—and hidden historical gems.

A.J. Miller attended the 1837 rendezvous at Green River and later created this large oil painting to depict the camp and the activities that took place there. Photo Credit: American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

This is a different kind of history book. Rather than provide an ongoing narrative about people and events, it ignores the historical sequence and gives readers an opportunity to dip into key aspects of Wyoming’s past. By focusing on objects and places that were important to Wyoming’s people, it provides a look at the visual past. Some objects are small and personal, such as hats or skis, others are larger, like sheep wagons or flags. Some places are buildings, such as Wyoming’s state capital or Fort Laramie’s “Old Bedlam,” others are natural sites, such as Heart Mountain or Crowheart Butte. Every object and place was chosen because it was given importance by Wyoming’s people.

The volume’s objects range in time from when only indigenous peoples lived in Wyoming to the twenty-first century and come from across the state. They include Devils Tower and Chief Washakie’s peace pipe, the Cheyenne-Deadwood stage and the Dale Creek bridge on the transcontinental railroad, the cowboy hat and the saddle, Lincoln’s statue on the Lincoln Highway, the Green River Rendezvous, and even jackalopes. Written by more than 50 experts from around Wyoming, these pieces provide reliable insights to their subjects.

A reproduction of the Pony Express mochila—essentially a sheet of leather with four locked pockets—displayed on a saddle. The horn and cantle stick through the mochila’s slits. Photo courtesy of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming.

The book’s lack of explicit connections among the objects enables readers to seek out and identify links themselves. This makes it a fun read for students and teachers, for book clubs, for people who are passionate about Wyoming’s past, and for any Wyoming resident who wants to know more about Wyoming’s history—all of whom can enjoy working out historic connections among many of the objects.

For example, in the days before wrist watches and mobile phones, Wyomingites used steam whistles in coal mines and cavalry bugles to communicate over small distances. But Wyoming also engaged in long-range communication by helping connect the eastern and western halves of the nation. It helped stage the Pony Express (represented in the book by its mochila mailbag) and the airmail of the transcontinental airway (represented by the concrete arrows across southern Wyoming).

A side-view of the 12.5 ft. tall bronze bust of President Lincoln created by sculptor Robert Russin to commemorate President Lincoln and the Lincoln Highway. Photo credit: Gregg Blikre.

There are many other topics where several of the book’s objects connect. Let me suggest just a few: Wyoming’s ranching and agriculture industry, recreation and entertainment, the changes in transportation, and Wyoming’s place at the forefront of women’s rights.

Wyoming’s History in 76 Objects and Places is part of Wyoming’s celebration of America’s milestone: 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, the document that called America’s people to independence, liberty, and equality. Seventy-six objects were chosen for this book to celebrate that year 250 years ago—1776.

This photo shows Old Bedlam—one of the original structures built at Ft. Laramie in 1849—after its modern renovation. The name comes from the raucous parties held there when the building served as the quarters for the single officers.
Photo credit: Gregg Blikre.

Look for Wyoming’s History in 76 Objects and Places in your county library, your local bookstore or museum shop, at Wordsworth Publishing’s website, or online at Amazon (print and Kindle) and read your copy today. (The book also makes a great Christmas gift!)

Wyoming’s History in 76 Objects and Places: Taking Stock at America’s 250th Anniversary. Paul V. M. Flesher, editor. (Cody, WY: Wordsworth Publishing, 2026)

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Plumbing the Depths of Adventure in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Posted on September 21, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by AHC Reference Archivist Rob Kelly

On September 14th, 1964, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea premiered on television. Created by Irwin Allen as a spinoff of his movie of the same name that had been released in 1961, Voyage presented a depiction of the far-off future of the 1970s and 80s. Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, the series ran for four seasons with 110 episodes. This would be the first and longest running science fiction series of Allen’s big four: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, and Lost in Space. The fantastical nuclear submarine, S.S.R.N. Seaview, would take its viewers to the depths of adventure every week, originally airing on Monday nights.

A diagram showing the layout of a film set. The diagram shows various areas including a galley and med lab, admiral's lab, missile room, control room, and flying submarine.
Set Design from box 18 of the Jerry Sohl papers (Coll. 7763)

Much of the cast would go on to have long careers in film and television, though for many of them, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would remain their best-known project. Richard Basehart performed the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson. With his deep and resonant voice, he worked as a narrator for films and television including the show Knight Rider. I was quick to recognize Captain Lee B. Crane, played by David Hedison, as he would later in his career play Felix Leiter in my favorite Bond film, License to Kill. Like many adventure series, there’s a treasure trove of guest appearances, like in the episode “The Invaders,” in which Robert Duvall plays the villainous Zar. Audiences were presented with a buffet of recognizable faces as guest stars like Barry Atwater, Henry Silva, and Tom Skerritt.

Black and white photo of a man in costume makeup. He wears a mask that includes a pig snout, shaggy hair, eyebrows, and a beard.
Photograph from box 108 of the Forrest Ackerman papers (Coll. 2358

After building his repertoire of science fiction in the 60s, Irwin Allen would work on some of the big disaster movies of the 70s, producing such films as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno and producing and directing The Swarm. Though he was a big name in show business in the 70s, it could be argued that his science fiction work of the 60s has had a larger impact. The camera technique of rocking the camera while the cast runs from side to side on the set would become known as the “Irwin Allen rock-and-roll,” heavily utilized in Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Beyond quirky camera tropes, Allen’s collection of sci-fi adventure series have likely sparked the imaginations of many fans. This post was actually inspired by the excitement of an American Heritage Center patron upon learning of the collections we have with materials connected to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Cover of a script from a television show. The text reads "Day of Evil, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Series, June 10, 1966."
“Day of Evil” Script from box 80 of the Forrest Ackerman papers (Coll. 2358)

There are several collections with materials connected to the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea series. The Forrest Ackerman papers (Coll. 2358), Adolph Schaumer papers (Coll. 6081), and Jerry Sohl papers (Coll. 7763) all have episode scripts from the show. Materials connected to the Movie that spawned the series can also be found in the Forrest Ackerman papers and the Adolph Schaumer papers. There are music notes and music breakdown sheets for several episodes of season four in the Harry Geller papers (Coll. 10883). To learn more about sci-fi adventures from yesteryear visit the collections of the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming.

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A History of Peru & Tourism

Posted on September 14, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by Photo and A/V Archives Aid Tom Hillhouse

When most people think of Peru, they think of the Incan civilization. Which is fair, the Incan Civilization was super cool! However the Incas tend to be a catch-all for Peru’s history and culture. There is a tendency to glorify the past and ignore the recent history of conflict in  order to sell an idea of culture or exoticism to tourists. Peruvian culture is so much more than the Inca or Machu Picchu, it is a tapestry of traditions and beliefs weaved together by the Indigenous people who have lived there for centuries.

I am writing this as a tourist and student who went to Peru to study abroad. I saw the most gorgeous landscapes and buildings, met amazing people, and witnessed some truly awful tourists. While I was in Peru I finally got to see the places that I saw in my history book, engage with the people who lived there, and see what history was preserved. In this blog I will be giving a history of Peru and discussing tourism’s impact on Peru.

Gallery: Author photos of Peru. Left side, top to bottom: a hike in Andahuaylillas, Chinchero terraces, and the Sacred Valley. Right side, clockwise: steps in Ollantaytambo, Inca Ruins in Ollantaytambo, and Inca doorway architecture.

Pre-Columbian Era (9000 B.C.E. – 1532 C.E.)

The History of Peru can be broadly put into 3 eras: the Pre-Columbian era, the Colonial era, and the Republican era. In the Pre-Columbian Era, the first evidence we have of people is in 9,000 B.C.E. We know that they were a small group of hunters and gatherers and are given credit for the cave paintings at Lauricocha and Toquepala. However, the oldest civilization goes back to 3,000 B.C.E. and is known today as Caral. The city of Caral in its prime was home to about 3,000 people. Surrounding Caral are 19 different sites that housed a total of 20,000 people.

1000–300 B.C.E. was the Chavín’s time to shine; they developed beautiful pottery and artwork. Even as the Chavín faded, their influence on religion and culture was preserved, as well as their artwork and pottery techniques. From 300 B.C.E.–1400 C.E. the Paracas were creating beautiful textiles, and the Moche were making buildings that have stood the test of time. The Moche are credited with building the Temple of the Sun and Moon, while the Nazca experimented with creating artwork you could see from the sky (Nazca Lines)!

Unfortunately, the Moche were wiped out by an ongoing drought. This is when the Wari emerged. They fought, conquered, and subdued the culture of those they conquered. Because of this we know little about other cultures between 700 C.E. and 1100 C.E. besides what archaeologists have excavated. Wari influence faded around 1000 C.E., but the Chimú of Trujillo, Chachapoyas, and Sican states would thrive for the next 400 years. The Inca empire only lasted for a century, but because it was the most recent and we have the most information on it, itc became the most popular. The Inca conquered a lot of the central Andes, but no one was prepared for the weapons and diseases of the Spanish.

Terraces in Urubamba. H.W. Straley papers, Box 11, Folder “South America”.

Colonial Era (1532–1824)

In 1524, smallpox was introduced from conquistadors in Panama. It swept through the Incan empire at a terrifying rate. It killed the Incan ruler Huayna Capac and most of his family. This led to political unrest and a civil war between two half-brothers competing for the crown, Atahualpa and Huáscar. Eventually Huáscar was named the Inca king, but his success didn’t last long. He was captured by conquistador Francisco Pizarro and ransomed. After the ransom was paid, the Spaniards killed Huáscar, tried Atahualpa for murder, and had Atahualpa publicly executed.

In 1534, Pizarro and his soldiers refounded the Incan city of Cuzco into a new Spanish settlement. In 1571, Cuzco became a pillaging state—the Spaniards were stealing as much silver and gold as they could and were giving it to Spain or fighting over it themselves. Francisco de Toledo, Viceroy of Peru, established order with the Spaniards and the Peruvians by forcing Indigenous people into areas controlled by the Spanish, building cathedrals, and converting as many people as they could to Catholicism.

Republican Era (1824–Present)

The Republican Era starts with Peru’s fight for independence, led by José de San Martín of Argentina and Simón Bolívar of Venezuela. San Martín proclaimed Peruvian independence from Spain on July 28, 1821. Spain was unwilling to recognize Peru as independent until December 1824, when General Antonio José de Sucre defeated Spanish troops at Ayacucho. With this freedom the new republican government attempted to get rid of colonial elements and instead highlight Incan culture. By 1894, the government declared that all pre-colonial structures in Peru would be turned into national monuments.

Newspaper page showing municipal building attacked by guerrillas. George C. and Nena O’Neill papers, Box 48, Folder “Peru 1”.

Recent History

In 1960, philosophy professor Abimael Guzmán founded the Shining Path. Its goal was to overthrow the government through guerrilla warfare and replace it with a dictatorship, sparking a cultural revolution that would eventually grow into worldwide communism.

From 1968 through 1980, Peru was ruled by the military. General Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew President Fernando Belaúnde Terry because of abuse of power claims. However, in 1975, because of Velasco’s economic mismanagement and deteriorating health he was replaced by General Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti, who tried to restore the country’s economy.

In 1980, it did not matter who Peruvian civilians aligned with, they were being killed and abused by the police and the Shining Path alike. Both groups were trying to gain support through terror and were not concerned who got hurt in the process. The government ordered massacres of villages and encouraged torture and sexual violence to its citizens. “The CVR’s final report, published in August 2003, found that the combined insurgent and counterinsurgent violence had caused an estimated 69,000 deaths and disappearances” (Peru CJA). The Center for Justice and Accountability goes on to say from “1980 to 2000, some 70,000 Peruvians, the majority of them indigenous, died in fighting between government forces and guerillas. Both sides of the civil war committed systematic human rights atrocities.”

The transfer of power from Belaúnde to Alan García Perez on July 28, 1985 was Peru’s first exchange of power from one democratically elected leader to another in 40 years. But the economic mismanagement by García led to hyperinflation and the people voted for Alberto Fujimori in the next election. In 1992, Fujimori did a self-coup, dissolving congress and regional governments, and assuming control over the judiciary. The people supported the coup because they were frustrated with politicians inefficiency and corruption. “After the coup, Fujimori implemented a clandestine, parallel strategy of counter-subversion that included widespread domestic surveillance against political rivals, ‘hooded’ unconstitutional tribunals, and a campaign of extrajudicial killing and torture that targeted suspected leftists” (Peru CJA).

Newspaper page showing terrorism and police attacks. George C. and Nena O’Neill papers, Box 48, Folder “Peru 2”.

The 1980s and 90s included surprise attacks from the Shining Path, cocaine trafficking, and street crime. Peruvians fled the cities to the countryside. While Peru is rich in culture and history, it remains poor, and dominated by elites. In 2001, under President Alejandro Toledo, the economy grew, but Peru continued to have abuse of power, instability and poor management. Former president Alberto Fujimori fled the country to live in Japan and was arrested in 2005. He was convicted for ordering murders of suspected Shining Path members by death squads, abuse of power, bribery, and illegal tapping of phones. 

“The extremes of violence and reason, male and female, the Andean and the Western, the primitive and the modern converge in a public spectacle of national unity, staged by the government as part of the cultural politics of state-building in the wake of harsh years of political violence and economic crisis that have torn so deeply at the fiction of the imagined community of a united nation” (To Revolt Against the Revolution pp. 555).

Interior of a cathedral in Calca. Author photo.

Tourism

Now with our brief history lesson out of the way, we can discuss tourism in Peru. Peru has had a lot of political unrest in recent history due to corrupt politicians, natural disasters, and economic instability. With travel being accessible to more people and the fear of the Shining Path fading, Peru has become a place that tourists flock to. In 1995, the number of tourists that spent at least one night in Peru was 479,000. In 2024, that number was a startling 3,200,000 tourists visiting Peru, overwhelming the country, historic sites, and architecture.

Tourism has helped build Peru’s economy, but the question we should ask is what are they selling? “In each of the last three years, the army has trucked thousands of ronderos into Lima to march on July 28, Peru’s Independence Day. Newspaper photos and TV news footage overflow with the “exotic” imagery of ponchoed peasants along with a sprinkling of Amazonian militiamen in jaguar-tooth necklaces and war paint” (To Revolt Against the Revolution pp. 555). The local culture is adjusted in order to satisfy tourists and boost the economy.

This isn’t just a story about Peru, but of many countries using culture as a commodity, and unaware tourists. I am not trying to convince you to never travel and see the world. I am pushing for you to be aware of the place you are going to, the history and culture behind it, the narrative being pushed, authentic experiences vs tourist traps, and to be mindful of the people living there.

References:

Physical Sources:

George C. and Nena O’Neill papers, Collection Number: 7995, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Dave Houser, Collection Number: 12564, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

H.W. Straley, Collection Number: 3396, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Online Sources:

Alexandrino Ocaña, G. “Reclaiming heritage and citizenship: urban pre-colonial cultural heritage management and heritage grassroots organizations in Lima, Peru”. Journal of Social Archaeology, 23(3), 303-325. (2023). 

EDODYSSEY. “Peru’s Recent History: A Story of Struggles and Growth”. Accessed August 3, 2026. https://www.edodyssey.com/blog/2018/12/13/perus-recent-history-a-story-of-struggles-and-growth 

Frommer’s. “Today in Peru”. Accessed August 3, 2026. https://www.frommers.com/destinations/peru/in-depth/today/ 

Gasparovic, Mike. Horizon Guides. “A Brief History of Pre-Columbian Peru.” May 19, 2025. https://horizonguides.com/guides/peru-ruins/timeline-of-pre-colombian-peru 

“Peru.” The Center For Justice and Accountability. Accessed August 3, 2026. https://cja.org/where-we-work/peru/ 

Quilter, Jeffery. “From Conquest to Colony: The Early Colonial Period in Peru.” February 4, 2021. Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 1:14:53.17. https://peabody.harvard.edu/video-conquest-colony-early-colonial-period-peru 

Starn, Orin. “To Revolt against the Revolution: War and Resistance in Peru’s Andes.” Cultural Anthropology 10, no. 4 (1995): 547–80. http://www.jstor.org/stable/656257.

“Tourism in Peru.” World Data Info. Updated July, 2026. https://www.worlddata.info/america/peru/tourism.php 

U.S. Department of State Archive. “Background Notes: Peru”. January 20, 2001. 

Posted in Latin American history, Tourism, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Blood-Stained Book”: Murder Ballads of the Johnson County War

Posted on September 7, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by AHC Audiovisual Archivist Jessica LaBozetta. In Jessica’s free time, she enjoys playing traditional folk music and bluegrass in her community.

The author would like to extend a special thanks to the wonderful librarians at the Johnson County Public Library and the archivists at the Wyoming State Archive for their assistance in locating and stewarding Lonnie’s audiotapes

Folk music has a strong tradition of oral storytelling, allowing communities to preserve and pass on stories through song. Folk songs can be educational, humorous, or entertaining, but they can also pass on darker aspects of a community’s history. The Johnson County War of 1892 is one of these tragedies, in which powerful elite cattle barons killed homesteaders in a bitter dispute. This event left its mark on the history of the American West for generations and inspired a number of folk songs under the coined term “murder ballads.”

The Johnson County War

The Johnson County War is one of the most significant range wars in the history of the American West. Following years of conflict between homesteaders and wealthy cattle barons in the Powder River Basin over land use, water rights, and livestock, the violence steadily escalated over years. On April 5, 1892, a group of 52 men rode an unmarked train to pursue, shoot, and hang settlers who were deemed to be “rustlers.” Among the men, who are often referred to as the “invaders” of the conflict, were affluent members of the exceptionally powerful Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Contracted by the cattlemen, hired arms from Texas also joined the force.

An old west group photo of 42 men. They are dressed in cowboy hats, suits, and ties. A caption written onto the photo reads "The Invaders, Johnson County Cattle War. Taken at Ft. D.A. Russell (Francis E. Warren) May 4th, 1892. Below the caption are the names of the men in the photo.
The “Invaders.’ From American Heritage Center Photographic File “Johnson County War,” American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

One of the leaders of the invasion, former Johnson County sheriff Frank Canton, named 70 alleged rustlers for the invaders to eliminate. Among the men named by Frank Canton and the invaders was rancher Nathan D. Champion, who was falsely accused by the members of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association of being a rustler. Having gained a reputation for advocating for the grazing rights of homesteaders, Champion was the first settler targeted by the invaders. In fact, in November of 1891, there was a failed attempt to assassinate Champion, leading to additional tension and bloodshed between the wealthy cattlemen and small-time ranchers.

The pursuit of Champion led to a bloody showdown at the KC Ranch in 1892, where Champion was hiding alongside three other cowboys, including Nick Ray. During the siege, Champion kept a journal, in which he detailed the ensuing shootout. By 9:00 a.m., Ray had been killed by the invaders. Champion successfully held off the invasion for several hours, but was gunned down by the invaders before nightfall.

In Champion’s final journal entries, he says, “Well, they have just gotten through shelling the house like hail. I heard them splitting wood. I guess they are going to fire the house to-night. I think I will make a break when Night comes, if alive. Shooting again. I think they will fire the house this time. It’s not night yet. The house is all fired. Goodbye, boys, if I never see you again.” After fleeing the house, which had been set aflame by the invaders, Champion was shot. Some accounts say he fled the burning house barefoot, attempting to defend himself from the gunfire.

Four men pose for an old timey sepia photo. Three wear cowboy hats and are on horseback. The fourth stands at a wagon full of supplies.
Nathan Champion, center left. From American Heritage Center Photographic File “Nathan D. Champion,” American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Following Champion’s death, the invaders moved northward to the town of Buffalo, and the invaders reconvened at the TA Ranch to hide from authorities. Meanwhile, Sheriff William “Red” Angus assembled a posse of over 200 men to apprehend the invaders at the TA Ranch, resulting in another standoff. This standoff lasted for days, leading Governor Amos W. Barber to send a telegraph to President Benjamin Harrison, reading “An insurrection exists in Johnson County, in the state of Wyoming… I apply to you on behalf of the state of Wyoming to direct the United States troops at Fort McKinney to assist in suppressing the insurrection.” It was not until the president called the U.S. Cavalry to the TA Ranch that the standoff ended.

Ultimately, the members of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association were never convicted for the murder of Nate Champion, but the event left Champion immortalized as a hero who represented the rights of the working class against adversity.

A small wooden cross wreathed in floers is set in the middle of a hillside. Around the marker the ground is rocky and has short, scrubby bushes.
“The Gulch where Nathan Champion was Killed.” From American Heritage Center Photographic File “Johnson County War,” American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Folk Music as Storytelling

Definitions for folk music in the traditional sense of the term vary widely, but generally, folk music is music that is passed down through generations through oral storytelling tradition. In traditional folk music, a song is a structured piece of music with lyrics that are set to a melody, whereas a tune is the melody around which a song is structured. 

It is commonplace in folk music that new words be set to a traditional tune that would be familiar to many audiences, which is a longstanding, global tradition not isolated to American folk music. Many traditional tunes found in American folk music are borrowed from Irish and Scottish folk music. Employing familiar tunes for new songs facilitated the oral history tradition of folk music, as setting lyrics to a melody recognized by one’s audience allowed songs to spread throughout communities with greater ease for their performers. An excellent example of this is the tune of the traditional Irish ballad titled “The Bard of Armagh,” which was later adapted with new lyrics to the cowboy ballad “The Streets of Laredo.”

Most folk music was not recorded in fixed formats like sheet music until the advent of audio recordings. Instead, folk music was often shared in communal gathering spaces, and musicians often learned this music entirely by ear. Common ways that folk music was shared across communities were through labor, celebrations, and community forums. Because of the nature of folk music being largely passed through oral storytelling, regional variants of folk music were commonplace in the lyrics and in some cases, aspects of the tune. In fact, it is not uncommon for traditional folk music to have multiple entirely differing sets of lyrics depending on the regional variant most dominant within a community. It was not until audio recordings and personal radios became more accessible to the average consumer that lyrics to traditional folk music became more fixed.

Murder Ballads

Murder ballads comprise an important but oft-underrepresented subgenre of traditional folk music for modern folkway recordings and picking circles. Murder ballads are characterized by their narrative structure that details the events of a murder and its immediate aftermath. Murder ballads originated in in traditional folk music in Europe, with notable examples being the Irish ballad titled “The Wexford Girl” and the Scottish children’s ballad “Edward.”

With vivid, sometime gruesome, descriptions, murder ballads are occasionally written from the perspective of the murderer, as is the case with the Appalachian ballad “Down in the Willow Garden.” However, far more commonplace is the murder ballad written from the third-person perspective of an unnamed narrator. This perspective allowed working class communities with strong folk music traditions to utilize the device of the murder ballad not only as a storytelling tool, but also as a way to provide a voice for marginalized communities, allowing them to critique corruption and injustice.

While murder ballads were popular storytelling devices of Appalachian folk music, folk traditions in the American West frequently adapted the murder ballad as an opportunity to spread news of current events in the region. As folk music was typically passed to listeners amongst poor and working-class communities, the mythologization of folk heroes is commonplace, seen in ballads like those written to commemorate outlaw Jesse James. Because of this, American murder ballads have not only become ubiquitous with the American West, but have served as a constantly evolving primary source that preserves the memory of those revered by the working class.

“The Blood-Stained Book”

While the U.S. Army was able to end the standoff at the TA Ranch, the conflict in Johnson County between the cattlemen and the homesteaders was far from over. Homesteaders were outraged by the killing of Nate Champion, Nick Ray, and other small ranchers by the invaders and called for justice. One newspaper clipping in the scrapbooks of Joseph M. Carey reports that “The feeling stirred up by the killing of Champion and Ray is exceedingly bitter, and as soon as the soldiers are taken away hostilities will likely be resumed.”

A clipping of a newspaper column. The text reads "Make Bad Threats. Rustlers will skin and burn the prisoners alive. Rallying small ranchers. Now mustering to seize the invading cattlement. Fears that Fort McKinney will be attacked—a clergyman leads the band. After the prisoners. CHeyenne, Wyo., April 19. Special Telegram. A special messenger from Johnson County to Douglass says the rustlers are emboldened by their recent victory in the fight at the T.A. ranch and are trying to muster a sufficient force to get possession of the forty invading cattlemen, now prisoners at Fort McKinney. More than a thousand rustlers are encamped about the post. This includes the deputies of Sheriff Angus, who are rustler sympathizers.
Newspaper clipping regarding Johnson County War, April 20, 1892. Box #17. Carey Family papers, Coll. 1212, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Prior to the conflict, public sentiment tended to favor the cattlemen over the so-called rustlers, but following the murder of Champion, sympathy shifted to the settlers instead. A letter to the editor of the Christian Union reads “The Wyoming Affair is no longer an affair of simply local importance. It is only another form of the great question now asked by all thinking people in Europe and America: ‘Is money the greatest power in the world?’’ Another letter to the editor of a Wyoming newspaper begs the question about the treatment of the working class, arguing that the wealthy cattle barons had “exhausted all legal measures to crush poor farmers and small stock men of Johnson County, and having done them all the injury that unlimited money could procure, have now added assassinations to their previous crimes.”

What may have assisted in turning the tide of public opinion was the widespread publication of Champion’s journal in newspapers across the country, sensationalizing the event further. One article reads that on Champion’s person “was a diary soaked with his heart’s blood, through the center of which a bullet had torn its resistless way.”

Several murder ballads originated in Wyoming regarding the Johnson County War. In line with the tradition of other murder ballads, the words of “The Blood-Stained Book,” which also goes by the titles “The Ballad of Nate Champion” and “The Blood-Stained Diary,” are sympathetic to the plight of members of the working class perceived as being mistreated by those in positions of power. What sets “The Blood-Stained Book” apart from its contemporaries in the sub-genre of murder ballads, however, is that it is written from the perspective of Nate Champion himself. While murder ballads are at times written from a first-person perspective, this perspective is typically either from that of the murderer or an unnamed, first-person narrator who serves as a witness to the events. Borrowing quotes from his journal of the events in its narrative structure, the ballad recounts a vivid description of the conflict through the eyes of the victim, which is an uncommon practice in traditional murder ballads.

It’s just a little blood-stained book, which a bullet had torn in two;
It tells the fate of Nick and Nate, which is known to all of you;
He had the nerve to write it down, while the bullets fell like rain,
At your request, I’ll do my best to repeat those lines again.

“Two men stayed with us here last night, Bill Jones and another man,
They went to the river and took a pail, and will come back if they can;
I told old Nick not to look out, there may be someone near,
He opened the door, was shot to the floor, he’ll never live, I fear.

Two hours since the shots began, the bullets fly thick as hail,
Must wait on Nick, he’s awful sick, he’s still alive, but pale;
At stable, river, and back of me, the men are sending lead,
I cannot get a shot to hit, it’s nine and Nick is dead.

Down at the stable, I see a smoke, I guess they’ll burn the hay,
From what I’ve seen they do not mean for me to get away;
It’s nearly noon, I see a rope thrown in and out the door,
I wish that duck would show his pluck, he’d use his gun no more.

I don’t know what has become of the boys that stayed with us last night,
If I had just two boys with me, we’d guard the cabin right;
I’m lonesome, boys, it’s two o’clock, two men just came in view,
And riding fast as they went past were shot at by the crew.

I shot a man down in the barn, don’t know if I hit him or not,
Must look again, I see someone, it looks like there’s a blot;
I hope they did not get those men that across the bridge did run,
If I had a pair of glasses here, I think I’d know someone.

They’re just through shelling the house, I hear the splintering wood,
I guess they’ll light the house tonight, and burn me up for good;
I’ll have to leave when night comes on, they’ll burn me if I stay,
I guess I’ll make a running break and try to get away.

They shot another volley in, to burn me is their game,
And as I write, it’s not yet night, and the house is all aflame;
So goodbye boys, if I get shot, I’ve got to make a run,
So on this leaf, I’ll sign my name: Nathan D. Champion.”

The light is out, the curtain drawn, the last sad act is played,
You know the fate that met poor Nate, and of the run he made;
And now across the big divide, and at the home ranch door,
I know he’ll meet and warmly greet the boys who went before.

Transcribed from the audiotapes of Daniel L. “Lonnie” Devoe, 1985. Johnson County Public Library. Digitized recordings courtesy of the Wyoming State Archives, Wyoming Oral History collection, oral history 1164.

In Olive Woolley Burt’s 1965 book, American Murder Ballads and Their Stories, Burt recounts that during her years teaching high school in Star Valley, Wyoming, “The Blood-Stained Book” was a song relayed to her by a student named Leland White. “The Blood-Stained Book” is also analyzed in the Maragaret S. Plumb papers as part of her 1968 dissertation, Folksongs of Wyoming. In her dissertation, Plumb credits her source of the lyrics for “The Blood-Stained Book” to Buffalo, Wyoming resident Burton S. Hill. In a letter dated January 26, 1965, Burton S. Hill states that “The Blood-Stained Book” was popular folk song throughout Johnson County, but only for those “who considered themselves far removed from anything which pertained to the Cattle Baron.” Interestingly, Plumb notes that the lyrics were submitted by other contributors in Goshen County, Platte County, Laramie County, and Uinta County with “practically no variation in words.”

A sheet of paper containing typewritten writing and sheet music. The text reads "The Blood-Stained Diary (The Invaders), collected by Mrs. Olive Woolley Burt while teaching school at Afton, Wyoming, before 1927. Reprinted with permission of author and publishers from Burt's American Murder Balads and Their Stories, pp. 175–177. The song has reference to the so-called Johnson County War. Practically the same version was submitted by Mrs. Mabel Gurney, Newcastle, Wyoming.
Musical annotation for “The Blood-Stained Diary.” Box #1. Margaret L. Plumb papers, Coll. 400143, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

At the time that Plumb’s dissertation was published, the original tune that the “The Blood-Stained Book” was sung to was largely considered to be lost to time. In the same letter referenced above, Hill remarked to Margaret Plumb that he believed that the song “has no particular music, but any tune that fits the words.” The same musical annotation for the tune used in Plumb’s thesis was reproduced for the first time in print in Burt’s volume, but it was noted that the tune was unlikely to be the original sung by settlers in the 1890’s. However, in Ariel Downing’s 1997 dissertation Let ‘Er Buck: Music in Cowboy Culture of the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Downing credits a folkway recording by Daniel L. “Lonnie” Devoe of Johnson County, Wyoming for her research.

The recording, now present in the Wyoming State Archive’s Oral History Collection, is a mournful ballad with a remarkably different melody than that sung to Burt during her days as a schoolteacher and later reproduced by Plumb. This demonstrates the ever-changing quality and exceptional adaptability of folk music as a historical record.  

Conclusion

The funeral of Nicholas Ray and Nathan Champion was so filled with mourners that men stood in the streets as ladies in mourning garb gathered inside. The reverend presiding the funeral delivered in his address, “These men have been sent to eternity. We know not why. They were not criminals.” Because the telegraph lines were cut by the cattlemen in preparation for the invasion, Ray’s family was unable to be informed of his death in time to attend his service. Undoubtedly a tragedy that deeply affected the community of Johnson County for generations, the death of Nick and Nate is immortalized in ballad through “The Blood-Stained Book.”

Sources:

Burt, O. W. (1958). American murder ballads and their stories. Oxford University Press.

Downing, A. A. (1997). Let ’er buck!: Music in cowboy culture of the Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Dissertation (Ph.D.) –University of Colorado, 1997.

Downing, A. A. (1998). Music as Artifact: The Johnson County War Ballads. The American Music Research Center Journal, 8, 35.

Plumb, M. L. (1965). Folksongs in Wyoming. Dissertation (Ph.D)–University of Wyoming, 1965.

Posted in 19th century, American West, Johnson County, Livestock industry, Local Folklore, Music History, outlaws, Uncategorized, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dolly Parton in the Movies: Behind the Scenes with 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias

Posted on August 31, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by AHC Marketing Coordinator Miles Amende

Dolly Parton passed away last week after a lifelong career of singing, songwriting, acting, and philanthropy. Parton looms large in popular culture, and it’s unsurprising that she makes an appearance in the American Heritage Center’s collections. In her honor, we’re taking a look at the Herbert G. Luft Papers, which offer a small glimpse into an important part of the Queen of Country’s career.

Collection Background

Herbert George Luft was a journalist, film historian, and motion picture executive with a fascinating history of his own. Luft was interned at the Dachau concentration camp for six months in 1938, covered the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem, wrote a syndicated cinema column, and served as an officer of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Luft collected press kits—packets of promotional materials used by production companies to advertise upcoming movies to the news media. Among these are kits for 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, which include unique commentary from Parton on her life and foray into the movies.

A black document folder with the following text: Twentieth Century Fox film corporation presents special press material for use by the international press in the united states, 9 to 5
9 to 5 press kit folder. Herbert G. Luft Papers, Box 27, Folder 18.

9 to 5

Parton’s film debut, 9 to 5, is a comedy about three office workers who dream of getting even with their boss. Parton plays Doralee Rhodes, an executive secretary dedicated to her job and husband who finds herself the target of a rumor that she’s been sleeping with the boss.

By this point in her career, Parton was already a country music darling. She had released a series of hit records, toured across the world, and appeared in television specials with Cher and Carol Burnett. Parton herself wrote the title tune for 9 to 5, which eventually won a Grammy and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The film, however, propelled her to movie stardom and into the wider public consciousness.

The 9 to 5 press kit features a packet containing production information, cast biographies, and a 7-inch vinyl record pressed with four and a half minutes of interviews from Parton and co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

A 7-inch vinyl record. The label contains a logo for the Twentieth Century Fox company and the text Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation presents special material for use by the international press in the united states, 33 1/3 mono with full transcript, 9 to 5, featuring dollly parton (with theme song), prepared by Backstage Productions, Inc.
7-inch vinyl record containing interviews with Parton, Fonda, and Tomlin. Note the 33 rpm as opposed to
the more common 45 rpm for the 7-inch format. Herbert G. Luft Papers, Box 27, Folder 18.

The production book includes a segment where Parton explains her first experience making a movie:

“I’d never seen a movie being made before,” she says with a laugh. “I was so silly. I thought that movies were just done as the script goes. So I memorized the whole thing, my part and everyone else’s. I knew the whole movie word for word before I ever came out here, which I found hilarious once I saw how movies were made—out of sequence and everything. You open a door one week, and you walk through the door three weeks later.”

In her recorded interview, Parton displays her quick wit and easy charm:

Announcer: Dolly Parton, you are considered the musical “Sweetheart of America.” Does that justify the fact that you carry a gun in your purse?

Parton: [laugh]…Well, I consider it a compliment to be called the “Sweetheart of America.” I made a statement once years ago that I carried a gun in my purse, and you have to understand that I live way out in the country and I work a lot when I’m in Nashville, at TV stations late at night, and I have to drive home; so, I used to carry a gun, if for no other reason than to make a lot of noise to scare somebody off if I got blocked in the road, but I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody. I have no intentions of doing that. So, now I carry a gun, but it’s got water in it.

Parton also muses on the roles she is considering at the time:

Announcer: This picture, “9 to 5,” is a comedy. Is this the kind of role you wanted, or would you have preferred to do a drama?

Parton: No, I wanted to do a comedy. That would have been the only kind of role that I actually would have played for the first time out, because I’m sure, if I could just get my own personality and the playful side of me, it would have been good. But, I will eventually, if I decide I like the movies, get into more dramatic roles. I think I could do that as well.

In Fonda’s portion of the interview, the announcer asks if she thinks Parton has a future in the movies, to which Fonda responds, “I think Dolly Parton has a future in anything she sets her mind to. I think that she could be a great movie star.”

Six women pose for a photo in a publicity shot for a movie
Steel Magnolias press kit folder, which features a publicity photo of the main cast. Herbert G. Luft Papers, Box 38, Folder 3.

Steel Magnolias

Parton would, of course, go on to bring both warmth and levity to Steel Magnolias as beauty salon owner Truvy Jones. Between the two films, she had also starred with Burt Reynolds in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Sylvester Stallone in Rhinestone, writing and performing songs for both films.

The Steel Magnolias press kit includes production notes, cast biographies, production stills, and prints of frames from the movie.

Two women holding cocktails gossip in a wedding scene from a frame lifted from a movie. The caption under the photo reads "Beauty shop owner Truvy Jones (Dolly Parton, l.) and Clairee Belcher (Olympia Dukakis), the former mayor's wife, trade observations about the goings-on at their friend's wedding in "Steel Magnolias," a Rastar Production of a Herbert Ross Film released by Tri-star Pictures. Ray Stark Produced and Herbert Ross directed the film from a screenplay by Robert Harling based on his award-winning play. The executive producer is Victoria White."
Promotional image from Steel Magnolias included in the press kit introducing Parton’s and Olympia Dukakis’ characters. This still is printed on heavy, glossy photo paper. Herbert G. Luft Papers, Box 38, Folder 3.

The production book explains that writer Robert Harling suggested his own hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana be used as the filming location for the fictional Chinquapin Parish. The cast and crew were readily welcomed into the community. Parton dropped by the local beauty parlor (which served as inspiration for Truvy’s Beauty Spot in the Film) on a surprise visit and, after initially leaving everyone speechless, made fast friends with the local patrons, saying “They were happy to see I was a real Southern girl like them.” She also trained with local beauticians for her role, musing:

“If I had not gone into the music business, I probably would have been a beautician. So Truvy was a bit like me—a big-hearted country girl trying to keep peace in the neighborhood and stirring up just as much trouble with everyone else with gossip and all.”


Reference
Herbert G. Luft Papers. Coll. 9033. American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.


Author’s Note: There are a lot of Dolly Parton albums. Don’t sleep on New Harvest…First Gathering, the A side of which feels incredibly fresh, even today.

Posted in 20th century, Advertising, Film History, Film Music, Women in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Morality of A.C. Ivy

Posted on August 24, 2026 by ahcadmin

Post contributed by Ansley (Crow) Smoll, winner of the AHC’s 2026 Undergraduate Research Award for her project “The Morality of A.C. Ivy: How One Man’s Stance on Medicine Explains the Largest Scam in Cancer History.”

History often asks for a clear distinction between heroes and villains. Doctor Andrew Conway Ivy makes that distinction difficult.

When I first encountered the story of A.C. Ivy in my History of Cancer course with Dr. Hosanna Krienke, he seemed like a walking contradiction. He was a respected physician, a leading medical researcher, and even one of the doctors associated with the development of the Nuremberg Code following WWII. Yet only a few years later, he became one of the most vocal supporters of Krebiozen, an unproven cancer “treatment” that was later revealed to be fraudulent.

A scan of a document with the headline "The Nuremberg Code — An Ivy Contribution
An archival document outlining Ivy’s contribution to the Nuremberg Code

In only a few years, Ivy went from being a man who (quite literally) wrote the book on medical ethics to a spokesperson for a snake-oil cancer drug. His outspoken defense of Krebiozen cost him his reputation, and even those who knew Ivy during his lifetime struggled to understand his actions.

That contradiction was what caught my attention. As someone majoring in psychology, I’m fascinated by human behavior—particularly how people justify their actions. It’s easy to dismiss historical figures as irrational or unethical when we already know how the story ends, but I found myself disbelieving that narrative. As I learned more and more about Ivy, it seemed unlikely to me that the man was a scammer or a fraud.

A collection of papers with transcription notes. The papers are old and are bent and torn at the bottom right corner.
Archival documents transcribing the Nuremberg Medical Trials

With this question in mind, I was led to explore A.C. Ivy’s collection in the American Heritage Center. Like many students, I had never really done research with primary sources before. The historical research I was most familiar with was that of books and journal articles. While those sources provided valuable context, the materials in the AHC’s library showed me a whole other side of the story.

Reading Ivy’s papers felt very different from reading about him in a textbook. Within boxes of files, I found everything from his books and unpublished papers to letters and thank-you notes. As I worked through the collection, I expected to find the moment where Ivy apparently abandoned the ethical principles that had defined his career. However, that moment never came. Instead, I found remarkable consistency within the man’s writings.

The more I read, the more I realized that Ivy’s support of Krebiozen was not a sudden departure from his beliefs but an extension of them. At the core of his beliefs as a Researcher and physician, Ivy held several principles. He believed doctors had a moral obligation to do whatever they could to help their patients. He argued that every treatment carried some degree of experimentation due to the fact that no physician could ever promise a cure. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, he thought that if a doctor sincerely believed a treatment might help, then withholding it from the patient would be unethical.

Although nobody can claim definitively to know Ivy’s reasoning, it seems likely that it was these ethical stances that led him to defend the sale of Krebiozen. He staunchly believed that there was a possibility Krebiozen could help these people, and therefore withholding the drug from them (even if only for modern clinical trials and testing) would be unethical and ultimately useless.

A box with a label that contains the text "American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, A.C. Ivy Papers, Acc. #8768 Box 11.
A box containing archival materials from the A.C. Ivy collection

That doesn’t mean Ivy was right. History has shown that Krebiozen was not the breakthrough its advocates hoped it would be, and Ivy’s reputation never fully recovered from his involvement. But understanding why he defended it transformed the way I viewed the story. Through researching Ivy, the disgraced scam-backing doctor, I found Ivy, the strictly principled man who was blinded by his own moral code.

That shift in perspective became the central argument of my research project. Instead of asking whether Ivy was a hero or a villain, I argued that his role in the Krebiozen controversy is best understood through the moral framework he had spent decades developing. His story illustrates that good intentions, even when deeply sincere, are not always enough. Ethical convictions can still lead people astray if they are not balanced by evidence, accountability, and a willingness to question one’s own assumptions. I am deeply grateful to the AHC for giving me the resources to conduct my research. Thanks to them, I was able to use Ivy’s story as a lens for larger questions about ethics, psychology, and medicine—questions that remain just as relevant today as they were in Ivy’s lifetime.

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The First Face of “Today” — Dave Garroway

Posted on August 17, 2026 by ahcadmin

In the early 1950s, morning television consisted of a test pattern broadcast to screens across the nation. So, when NBC launched Today at 7am on January 14, 1952, it was a TV first. The show’s host was bespectacled, bow-tied, six-foot-two-inch Dave Garroway. He was both affable and authoritative.

Caricature of Dave Garroway from The New Yorker, September 5, 1959. Box 1, Dave Garroway papers, Collection No. 10344, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

In Today’s early days, the show delivered news reports based on newsreels, wire photos and news telephoned in from overseas. It was broadcast from a specially designed studio, which was built into the ground floor of the glass-fronted R.C.A. Exhibition Hall in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. The public could watch the operation of the show as they stood on the sidewalk outside the studio. With a set full of monitoring screens, teletype machines and bulletin boards displaying newspapers from around the world, NBC’s press department declared that the Today studio would become the “nerve center of the planet.”

Photograph of Dave Garroway on the set of the first Today broadcast on January 14, 1952, from The Miami Herald, January 13, 1982. Box 2, Dave Garroway papers, Collection No. 10344, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

From the beginning, the production of Today involved as many as forty people. Jack Lescoulie served as the show’s sports announcer. James Fleming was the newscaster. The program was not immediately a success. Critics complained that the communications center “looked like a command post for an invasion.” There were technical problems with some of the equipment. Garroway calmly coped with the early chaos of the show. Eventually, it became a grab bag of news, interviews & reviews. Interspersed between it all were weather forecasts and advertisements. Garroway was the commentator, interviewer, reader of news headlines and master of ceremonies, all rolled into one. Viewership of Today gradually increased and companies ultimately signed up to have Garroway pitch their products on the air. Sponsors of the show were varied – so Garroway voiced ads for Jell-O, Bayer aspirin, Puss ‘n Boots cat food, and Rock of Ages tombstones.

Garroway’s skill at segueing from selling consumer products to serious subjects like Apartheid in South Africa or military preparedness in the United States and Russia was legendary. His wide-ranging interest in everything from astronomy to jazz was reflected in topics covered by the show. On Today he could speak knowledgeably to almost anyone about anything. Garroway did not take himself too seriously, though. He was not afraid to indulge in some clowning around with the show’s chimpanzee mascot, J. Fred Muggs. The chimp was an instant hit on Today from his first appearance in 1953.

Photograph of the early Today cast, including host Dave Garroway, J. Fred Muggs, Helen O’Connell, Frank Blair and Jack Lescoulie, from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, January 13, 1982. Box 2, Dave Garroway papers, Collection No. 10344, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

People who had never before watched television in the mornings became avid viewers. Garroway received fan mail and complaints. One woman wrote in that her “husband is forever popping out of the bathroom while shaving and going into the living room, leaving a trail of lather and drippings on the carpet, to take in bits of your program. It’s a wonder he doesn’t slash his throat.”

New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors to Rockefeller Center occupied the sidewalk when Today went on the air, angling for a view of the show in production and any celebrity guests. Bystanders held up homemade signs sending greetings to those they hoped may be watching at home. The camera operators of Today obliged by panning the streetside audience periodically, giving those on the sidewalk their own sliver of TV fame. Sometimes Garroway himself joined the crowds outside for special demonstrations or commercials that needed more space than the studio would allow.

Today’s three hour, Monday through Friday, broadcast schedule gave ample time for Garroway to cover a multitude of topics beyond the news. He interviewed entertainers, authors and politicians.

List of some of the entertainers appearing on Today in 1959. Box 2, Dave Garroway papers, Collection No. 10344, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

The range of guests was vast. Frank Lloyd Wright appeared on Today and so did beauty pageant winners. It was with Garroway on Today that President John F. Kennedy introduced his entire Cabinet to the American people.

Garroway was a fervent advocate of free speech as a pillar of democracy. His felt his own obligation was to present all sorts of ideas – the popular and the unpopular – with the goal of encouraging critical thought and discussion. In an article for Look magazine in June of 1960, he warned Americans that freedom, “like a muscle, must be exercised, lest it atrophy.” He asserted, “it’s the habit of not exercising freedom that makes a people easy prey for dictators.”

By 1960, Garroway’s Today salary exceeeded $300,000 a year. In an interview for Ladies Home Journal he said, “I inform, I exhort, I sell … I amuse – sometimes. I philosophize. A potpourri of talent, if you like, for which, I nevertheless maintain, I am terribly overpaid.” Garroway’s Today signature sign-off was a single word – “peace,” voiced as he held out his right hand, opened like a benediction.

Photograph of Dave Garroway, host of NBC’s Today, posing for his signature sign-off, “peace.” Box 2, Dave Garroway papers, Collection No. 10344, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Garroway left Today in 1961 to spend more time with his children after the death of his wife, but the show lives on. Today’s legacy is the inspiration it provided for every morning news and talk show on television in the modern era. The Dave Garroway papers at the American Heritage Center consist of eleven boxes, and include scripts & scrapbooks from Today, articles about Garroway, and press covering the 25th and 30thanniversaries of Today. There are also photographs, audio and visual materials, and information related to Garroway’s career before and after Today.

Post contributed by AHC Writer Kathryn Billington.

Posted in 20th Century Broadcasting, Advertising, Journalism, television history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gene Gressley, Former AHC Director, Passes

Posted on August 10, 2026 by ahcadmin
Gressley at the former home of the AHC in Coe Library. AHC Photo Files.

Dr. Gene M. Gressley (1931-2026)

It is with sorrow and respect for his achievements that the American Heritage Center (AHC) announces the death of its long-serving and influential director, Gene Maurice Gressley. He passed away on May 13, 2026, just shy of his 95th birthday. Dr. Gressley led the Center from 1956 to 1988, during which time it grew from a small regional entity to a respected national archive.

Gene was born on June 20, 1931, in Frankfort, Indiana. He was educated at Manchester College (B.S. 1952), Indiana University (M.A. 1956), and the University of Oregon (Ph.D. 1964). He married Joyce Elinor Burrous in 1952 and they had two children. Joyce Gressley passed away in 2000. After moving to Oregon, he met Mae Wygant and they became life partners.

When Dr. Gressley arrived at the University of Wyoming in 1956, the archive contained only 284 collections. When he left more than 30 years later, the Center counted over 10,000 collections consisting of more than 80,000 cubic feet. The holdings had broadened from their primary emphasis on Wyoming and the West to a national focus that includes American entertainment and popular culture, economic geology, journalism, transportation, the agricultural industry, and conservation and natural resources. Notable collections came from Jack Benny, Barbara Stanwyck, and Stan Lee as well as from William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the Anaconda Copper Company, the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association and the American Sheep Industry. In 1976 – the bicentennial year – the archive was renamed the “American Heritage Center” to reflect this new, broader collecting approach.

During his career, Dr. Gressley published six books—the most notable being Bankers and Cattlemen (1966)—and numerous articles.  He was active in the Western History Association, serving as its president in 1984-1985, and served on the board of its journal, Western History Quarterly. At UW, Dr. Gressley held the position of the head of American Studies from 1969 to the early 1980s. When he stepped down from the AHC’s directorship in 1988, he served as special assistant to the UW president for five years before entering retirement and relocating to Oregon where he continued to write historical articles and provide book reviews. When his health began to decline, he and Mae relocated to Chicago in 2013 where he passed away.

By Paul V. M. Flesher Director, American Heritage Center

Posted in Obituaries | Tagged , | 1 Comment