Kinzie Bates Papers: Finding Aid mssBates
Processed by Brooke M. Black.
The Huntington Library
2000
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on May 29, 2024 by Mari Khasmanyan.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Kinzie Bates papers
Creator:
Bates, Kinzie, -1884.
Identifier/Call Number: mssBates
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1863-1929, bulk 1874-1877
Abstract: The collection contains 32 items by or
related to United States army office Kinzie Bates (died 1884), including his 1877 diary
written during his field assignments to various Dakota Territory camps near the Black Hills
during army campaigns against the Sioux and their search for Sitting Bull and Lame
Deer.
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]. Kinzie Bates papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from L & T Respess Books, August 18, 1998.
Biographical / Historical
United States Army Officer Kinzie Bates joined the 1st Michigan Infantry as a private in
1861 and saw battle during the United States Civil War at Corinth and Vicksburg,
Mississippi. After the war he was promoted to Captain and stationed at Jackson Barracks in
New Orleans, Louisiana. He was transferred to the frontier in 1869 and married Elizabeth
Chumley Bates in 1873. Bates participated in the final months of Colonel Nelson A. Miles'
"Yellowstone Campaign" as a battalion commander in the US 1st Infantry. Bates died in
1884.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains 32 items by or related to United States army office Kinzie Bates
(died 1884), including his 1877 diary written during his field assignments to various Dakota
Territory camps near the Black Hills during army campaigns against the Sioux. The collection
contains typed transcripts of all the correspondence by Kinzie Bates and his diary.
Elizabeth Chumley Bates' 134 page diary, which contains mostly blank pages, includes a
three-page chronology of Kinzie Bates' life.
The majority of correspondence in the collection was written by Bates to his wife,
Elizabeth Chumley Bates, in 1874 and 1875, during three thirty-day field assignments to
various Dakota Territory camps along the Niobrara River south of the Black Hills. His diary,
made up of 48 letters written to his wife, was written in 1877 during the army's search for
Sitting Bull and Lame Deer. The letters and journal entries record the U. S. Army campaigns
during the war with the Sioux. Bates' letters tell in great detail the everyday hardships of
military life including the separation from his wife. He also gives opinions regarding
fellow officers, including Colonel Nelson A. Miles, General William Hazen, and his
commanding officer Major Henry Lazelle. Bates gives detailed descriptions of the scenery,
game and people he encountered on his marches, as well as his experience with several groups
of Indians including the Yankton Sioux and the Brul Indians. Bates often mentions Sitting
Bull's current location and the army's newest strategy to catch him.
The collection also contains a photograph of Kinzie Bates from late in his military career,
and his obituary from the Detroit Free Press.
Related Materials
-
Kinzie Bates
letters,
mssBatesk.
General
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssHM 60325-60354
Processing Information
Processed by Brooke Black in 2000. In May 2024, Mari Khasmanyan added formerly loose
materials into box 2 and updated the finding aid.
Arrangement
The collection is broadly arranged chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Brulé Indians.
Black Hills War, 1876-1877.
Indians of North America -- North Dakota.
Indians of North America -- South Dakota
Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1866-1895.
Indians of North America -- Wyoming.
Indians of North America -- Montana.
Black Hills (S.D. and Wyo.)
Fort Buford (N.D.)
Fort Peck (Mont.)
Fort Randall (S.D.)
Niobrara River (Wyo. and Neb.)
Powder River (Wyo. and Mont.)
Tongue River Cantonment (Mont.)
Yellowstone River Valley.
Diaries -- West (U.S.)
Letters (correspondence) -- West (U.S.)
Bates, Elizabeth Chumley, correspondent.
Bates, Kinzie, -1884
Hazen, William Babcock, 1830-1887
Lazelle, H. M. (Henry Martyn), 1832-1917
Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839-1925
Sitting Bull, 1831-1890
United States. Army. Infantry -- History.
United States. Army -- Military life.
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie -1884. Letter to Elizabeth Chumley Bates HM 60324
1874, June 9
Box 1
Unknown author. Letter to Kinzie Bates HM 60326
1874, June 15
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. 16 letters to Elizabeth Chumley Bates HM 60327-60342
1874-1875
Box 1
Bates, Winnie. Letter to Elizabeth Chumley Bates HM 60343
1875, Sep. 14
Scope and Contents
Last page of letter has a note written to Elizabeth Chumley Bates by Kinzie Bates, d.
1884.
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. 4 letters to Elizabeth Chumley Bates HM 60344-60347
1875
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (1)
1877, May 5
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (2)
1877, May 7-10
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (3)
1877, May 10-11
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (4)
1877, May 13-18
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (5)
1877, May 19-22
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (6)
1877, May 23-28
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (7)
1877, June 2
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (8)
1877, June 5
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (9)
1877, June 9-26
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Diary HM 60348 (10)
1877, June 29-July 9
Box 1
Bates, Kinzie, -1884. Fragment of letter to Elizabeth Chumley
Bates
HM 60349
1877
Box 1
Bates, Clara. 2 letters to Elizabeth Chumley Bates HM 60350-60351
1906-1912
Box 1
Photograph of Sarah Flint HM 60352
1863
Box 1
Photograph of Kinzie Bates HM 60353
Approximately 1880
Box 1
Ephemera
1874-1884
Scope and Contents
Includes: Fragment of letter and obituary for Kinzie Bates.
Box 2, Volume 1
Bates, Elizabeth Chumley. Diary. HM 60354.
1912-1929
