Overview of the Collection
Access
Administrative Information
Separated Material
Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Overview of the Collection
Title: William Gillet Ritch Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1539-1901
Bulk dates: 1845-1882
Collection Number: mssRI 1-2270
Creator:
Ritch, W. G. (William Gillet),
1830-1904.
Extent:
Approximately 2,390 pieces in 41 boxes and 24 volumes (29.97 linear feet)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the personal and professional papers of
historian and New Mexico territorial governor William G. Ritch (1830-1904) and his
collection of historical manuscripts, documents, and maps related to the history of New
Mexico.
Language: English and Spanish.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
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]. William Gillet Ritch Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Provenance
Acquired from Watson L. Ritch, May 1923.
Processing Information
Collection was cataloged by Huntington staff after May 1923. In July 1998, Jennifer L. Martinez and Peter Blodgett created
a finding aid. Xiuzhi Zhou encoded the finding aid in 2004 and Brooke M. Black edited the encoding in 2017. In June 2019,
Gina C Giang added clippings, scrapbooks, and printed matter (Boxes 35-41) to the collection and finding aid, which had previously
been separated and handled as ephemera.
Separated Material
Biographical Note
William Gillet Ritch (1830-1904) was territorial secretary of New Mexico from 1873 to 1885
and authored several books about New Mexico history. He was a native of New York who moved
to Michigan in 1855 and later settled in Wisconsin. After serving in the 46th Wisconsin
Cavalry in the Civil War, Ritch returned to Wisconsin and was elected state senator. He was
later proprietor and editor of the Winnebago County Press. Failing health forced Ritch to
seek a better climate, and in 1873 he was appointed secretary of the Territory of New
Mexico. He served in this capacity until 1885, with the added responsibility of serving as
acting territorial governor in 1875. He was active in the establishment of a public school
system in the Territory and became a regent of the State Normal School. He developed an
interest in the history of New Mexico and began collecting historical documents in hopes of
circumventing their destruction or dispersal. He was elected as the first president of the
New Mexico Historical Society in 1880.
Scope and Content
The collection contains clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, documents, maps, and scrapbooks in both English
and Spanish related to the history of early and territorial New Mexico collected by William
G. Ritch. The very early portion of the collection (1539-1700) contains original
manuscripts, contemporary copies, and later translations of official documents and journals
of explorers, correspondence, papers of various governors, court records, church
inventories, and passport lists of American traders. The papers for the years 1846-1873
cover the American military occupation, New Mexico politics and government, New Mexico
during the US Civil War, and Indian affairs relating to the Navajo, Apache, Comanche, and
Pecos tribes. Items after 1873 tend to be the personal papers of William G. Ritch, including
biographical sketches of significant New Mexicans, drafts of articles, and notebooks of
research materials (including the biography of Father Antonio Jose Martinez by Santiago
Valdez).
Correspondents include Manuel Armijo, William Frederick Milton Arny, James Henry Carleton, Miguel Antonio Otero, Donaciano
Vigil, and others.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series: Bound Volumes and Boxes. Boxed materials are chiefly arranged chronologically in Boxes 1-31, followed
by newspaper clippings (Boxes 32-33), oversize materials (Box 34), and additional clippings and scrapbooks (Boxes 35-41).
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Abert, J. W. (James William),
1820-1897
Abbreu, Santiago
Allen, William S. (William
Stickney), 1805-1868
Alvarez, Manuel, 1794-1856
Armijo, Manuel
Arny, W. F. M. (William
Frederick Milton), 1813-1881
Axtell, Samuel B. (Samuel
Beach), 1819-1891
Baca, Ramon
Baird, Spruce M. (Spruce McCoy),
1814-1872
Baker, Grafton
Bandelier, Adolph Francis
Alphonse, 1840-1914
Beall, Benjamin Lloyd
Beaubien, Carlos
Beck, Preston
Becknell, William, 1787 or
1788-1856
Benedict, Kirby, 1810-1874
Blumner, Charles
Buell, Salmon A.
Burnside, Ambrose Everett,
1824-1881
Bustamante, Anastasio, 1780-1853
Calhoun, James S., 1803?-1852
Carleton, James Henry, 1814-1873
Carson, Kit, 1809-1868
Chandler, Zachariah,
1813-1879
Clark, William,
1770-1838
Clever, Charles P., 1830-1874
Concha, Fernando de
la
Cooke, Philip St. George,
1809-1895
Ewell, Richard Stoddert,
1817-1872
Fernandez de la Cueva Enriquez,
Francisco, duque de Alburquerque, 1666-1733
Gregg, Josiah,
1806-1850
Houston, Sam,
1793-1863
Howe, Timothy O. (Timothy Otis),
1816-1883
Houghton, Joab,
1810-1876
Jones, Anson,
1798-1858
Kearny, Steven Watts,
1794-1848
Kennedy, John Pendleton,
1795-1870
Lamy, John Baptist, 1814-1888
Lane, William Carr, 1789-1863
Leavenworth, Henry,
1783-1834
Mackenzie, Ranald Slidell,
1840-1889
Martínez, Antonio José,
1793-1867.
McMullen, William, 1824-1901
Magoffin, James Wiley, 1799-1868
Maxwell, Lucien Bonaparte,
1818-1875
Meriwether, D. (David),
1800-1893
Messervy, William S.
Otermin, Antonio de, active
1678-1682
Otero, Antonio Jose
Otero, Miguel A. (Miguel
Antonio), 1829-1882
Paredes y Arrillaga, Mariano,
1797-1849
Philip III, King of Spain,
1578-1621
Prince, L. Bradford (Le Baron
Bradford), 1840-1922
Rencher, Abraham, 1798-1883
Riley, Bennett,
1787-1853
Ritch, W. G. (William Gillet),
1830-1904.
Robidoux, Antoine, 1794-1860
Rynerson, William Logan
Salcedo y Salcedo, Nemesio,
1754-1814?
Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de,
1794?-1876
St. Vrain, Ceran, 1802-1870
Sturgis, Samuel Davis, 1822-1889
Sumner, Edwin V. (Edwin Vose),
1797-1863
Vargas, Diego de, 1643-1704
Vigil, Donaciano, 1802-1877
Vigil y Alarid, Juan
Bautista
Waldo, Jose David
Wallace, Lew, 1827-1905
Washington, John Macrae,
1797-1853
Watts, John S. (John Sebrie),
1816-1876
West, J. R. (Joseph Rodman),
1822-1898
Corporate Names
New Mexico. Secretary of the Territory --
Archives
Subjects
Apache Indians -- History -- Sources
Comanche Indians -- History --
Sources
Indians of North America -- New Mexico --
History -- Sources
Manuscripts -- Collectors and collecting -- New
Mexico.
Mexican War, 1846-1848 -- New Mexico --
Sources
Navajo Indians -- History -- Sources
Geographic Areas
New Mexico -- History -- 19th
century -- Sources
New Mexico -- History -- Civil
War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
New Mexico -- Politics and
government -- 19th century -- Sources
Genre
Clippings (information artifacts) -- United States --
19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States --
19th century
Maps -- New Mexico -- 19th century
Journals (accounts) -- Kansas-- 20th
century
Personal papers -- New Mexico -- 19th
century
Professional papers -- New Mexico -- 19th
century
Scrapbooks -- New Mexico -- 19th
century