Source Documents, 1876-1884

File — Box: 82, Folder: 1-5

Identifier: XIII

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Series: As the leader of a small band of Indians who aggressively resisted the cultural changes brought about by white contact, Chief Pocatello appeared time and again in accounts of white settlement of the culture area of the Northwestern Shoshone, yet never in enough detail to figure prominently in earlier Madsen works. Some time in the early 1980s Madsen recognized that his research files on Pocatello contained enough information to warrant a biography, and he began work on Chief Pocatello: The "White Plume" (University of Utah Press, 1986). This volume developed over an academic lifetime, and reflects earlier Madsen themes--the effects of white settlement on food sources that supported the nomadic, hunter-gatherer Shoshone bands, the deadly effect that Mormon-Gentile conflict had on white perceptions of Indian culture, and the consequences to the Shoshone of the carving out of successive transportation frontier across Shoshone lands. The core of Madsen's research files are probably located in box 80, which contains documents which specifically mention Pocatello. Other source documents, arranged chronologically, follow in boxes 81 and 82. Typically, these boxes contain photocopies of letters, newspaper stories, published debates, official reports, and traveler's tales. Information on Fort Hall Indian Reservation and the associated Indian Agency can be found in box 82. Manuscripts in this section have been labeled numerically according to the order in which they appear to have been written. The rough draft for this manuscript is located in Box 83, followed by manuscript draft no.1, which is the closest to Madsen's original. There is no prologue and the introduction is substantially different from the published version. This draft was circulated among several readers, most notably Merle Wells and Charles S. Peterson. In draft no. 2, a prologue appears containing Pocatello's mother's story, moved forward from chapter one. Material describing Pocatello's emergence from obscurity and the effects of white emigration on the Shoshone are moved from page 59 of the first draft to the introduction. Draft no.3 is a photocopy of draft no. 2 with extensive reader's notes, probably penned by Peterson. Draft 3B consists of excerpts from another photocopy of draft no. 2 with a different reader's notes. These comments focus generally on spelling and word usage. This draft is incomplete. Manuscript pages without notation were discarded. Documents associated with the publication of this book, including reviews and correspondence, are located in box 84, folders 18-21.

Dates

1876-1884

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.