Walter Mason Camp notes, between 1905 and 1923
Scope and Contents
Contains notes prepared by Camp in the course of his research. Includes all general field notes and research notes, which is defined for filing purposes as all non-interview compilations in Camp's hand except maps and accompanying notes and drafts well-developed enough to be distinguished as writings. Most of Camp's general notes consist of questions either to ask of a future interviewee or to answer through research, along with reminders about people to see, where to find them and related "to do" notes. Many of his notes were prompted by books read (included, of course, are some actual notes on the books he read), interviews, and visits to historical sites, where he noted his observations about such things as the lay of the land and occasionally copied the inscription from the historical marker or monument. Occasionally, a note consists of a single question followed by a terse comment. Such comments may have been the result of an interview but were more likely his recording of the memory of one and may have been the result of reading a written account. Since it was not clear that such brief notes were the direct, immediate result of an interview, all such notes not an obvious part of a larger set of interview notes were filed with general notes rather than "Interview Notes." Many notes were complete enough that they could have constituted an early draft for a part of the history. They were written either in the field, while traveling on a train, or in his Chicago office.
Dates
- Other: between 1905 and 1923
Creator
- Camp, Walter Mason, 1867-1925 (creator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Condition restricted; permission to use materials must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services. Patrons should use typescripts or microfilm copy.
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from the Walter Mason Camp papers must be obtained from the Supervior of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Coordinating Committee.
Biographical History
Walter Mason Camp (1867-1925) was a railroad engineer and writer, in the midwestern United States. Camp also performed research on the history of the India Wars of the Plains, in particular the Battle of the Little Big Horn of 1876.
Walter Camp was born on April 21, 1867 to Treat Bosworth Camp and Hannah A. Brown in Camptown, Pennsylvania. In 1883, he began his railroad service on the Lehigh Valley Railroad as a trackman, which would lead to his forty-two year railroad career. He entered Pennsylvania State College in the fall of 1887, and graduated as a civil engineer in 1891. In 1895 Camp resumed post graduate studies in electrical and steam engineering at the University of Wisconsin. In 1898 Walter married Emeline L.F. Sayles in Blue Island, Illinois. Walter Camp became the engineering editor of the "Railway and Engineering Review" in 1897 and served faithfull and well as a railway editor for the following twenty-eight years.
Walter Camp's interest in documenting the Indian Wars began in 1903, after which his vacations for the following twenty summers were spent in research among the Indians and in talking with people who had survived the Little Bighorn River fight and other battles. He personally visited over forty battlefields and interviewed almost 200 survivors of western battles. Walter Camp died on August 3, 1925 in Kankakee, Illinois having published very little of his Indian wars research, but
having collected an amount of original source material during his lifetime.
Extent
1 box
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Arranged numerically. Notes are also sorted into three sizes for filing and retrieval convenience. Each envelope carries a randomly assigned number.
Other Finding Aids
Folder-level inventory available online. http://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS57.xml
General
Camp consistently used the following abbreviations in his interview and general notes: "Inq," "Inv," and "Ing." His "g's" are not always distinguishable from his "q's," but we have surmised that the "Inq" has reference to "Matters of Inquiry" or "Inquire," and that "Inv" and "Ing" mean "Interviewing or Interview." Finally, some of the brief note fragments that consisted only of a questions or a "to do" reminder in reference to a locality, such as research to do in St. Louis or people to interview in St. Louis, were grouped together by that locality.
Repository Details
Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States