Herbert Myrick Collection mssHM 49754-49909

Brooke M. Black
The Huntington Library
January 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org


Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
Title: Herbert Myrick collection
Creator: Myrick, Herbert, 1860-1927
Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 49754-49909
Physical Description: 2.75 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1860-1926
Abstract: Collection of Western Americana material collected by American editor and publisher Herbert Myrick.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Herbert Myrick collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Christine Myrick, April 1950.

Biographical / Historical

Herbert Myrick (1860-1927) was president and editor of Phelps Publishing Company and publisher of Good Housekeeping magazine, and the Orange Judd Company, publisher of books and articles on agricultural subjects. Myrick was educated at Massachusetts Agricultural College, spent several years in Colorado, and returned to Massachusetts in 1877. Myrick had a special interest in western American history and General George Custer and collected historical material, some of which he incorporated into a novel, Cache la poudre : the romance of a tenderfoot in the days of Custer.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of letters, manuscripts, photographs, one cloth map, and a few artifacts collected by Herbert Myrick related to western history, mainly the Battle at Little Bighorn. Subjects include Dakota Native Americans, Fort Abraham Lincoln, Fort Yates, and Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The collection contains 125 photographs, from approximately 1860 to approximately 1910, of Northern Plains Native Americans, U.S. 7th Cavalry members, and the Little Bighorn battlefield. It includes photographs of the following individuals: Frederick William Benteen, Bullhead, Crow Foot, George Armstrong Custer, Myles Walter Keogh, James McLaughlin, Rain in the Face, Sitting Bull, Standing Holy, Tiburcio Vasquez, George Daniel Wallace, and Young Man Afraid of His Horse. There are also 41 photographs of cowboys and ranch life. Additional persons represented in the collection include David F. Barry, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, and Herbert Myrick. Artifacts in the collection include a lock of Custer's hair, a cartridge from Custer's pistol, and a cloth map of the Custer battlefield drawn by T.B. Whitmore (who claimed to have witnessed the battle).

Processing Information

Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2022, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.

Arrangement

Arranged in the following series: 1. Manuscripts, correspondence, cloth map; 2. Photographs, clippings, ephemera.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Cowboys -- West (U.S.) -- Photographs
Dakota Indians
Indians of North America -- Great Plains -- Portraits
Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1866-1895
Little Bighorn, Battle of the, Mont., 1876
Fort Abraham Lincoln (N.D.)
Fort Yates (S.D.)
Montana -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Standing Rock Indian Reservation (N.D. and S.D.)
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Manuscripts -- Great Plains
Maps -- Montana
Photographs -- Great Plains
Barry, D. F. (David Francis), 1854-1934
Benteen, Frederick William, 1834-1898
Bullhead, active 1880s-1890s
Crowfoot, 1830?-1890
Custer, Elizabeth Bacon, 1842-1933
Custer, George A. (George Armstrong), 1839-1876
Keogh, Myles Walter, 1840-1876
McLaughlin, James, 1842-1923
Rain in the Face, approximately 1835-1905
Sitting Bull, 1831-1890
Standing Holy, 1878-
Vasquez, Tiburcio, 1835-1875
Wallace, George D., 1849-1890
Young Man Afraid of His Horse, approximately 1830-1900
United States. Army. Cavalry Regiment, 7th

Box 1

Manuscripts, correspondence, cloth map HM 49754-49860 1876-1918

Box 2

Photographs, clippings, ephemera HM 49861-49909 approximately 1860-approximately 1910