Research

[Delmonico]

How does one do research on a Historic subject.  Well often the first thing one does is buy a couple of books or go to the library.  Of course in our modern world often it is Google or a similar seach of the Web.  But what happens in you find nothing out?  Then what do you do?  As most know my favorite subject in the "Old West" is food, not only documentable recipes, but what one could expect to find in stores when one went to town to shop. 

Well when I started this some what insane journey in earnest  about ten years ago I found few books that had much and the Internet was beyond my reach and I doubt that there was much then anyway.  So I had to dive in and do some very serious research.

One of my first good sources was cheap and easy, but time consuming.  Cost was simply parking downtown for a few hours at a time, $5 bought a lot of time, add some note books and some pens and I was set. 

I simply went down to the Nebraska State Historical Society Arcives building and checked in at the desk and was assigned a micro film viewer.  Along the walls were large drawers with Nebraska towns marked on them.  Most every Newspaper printed in the state in the 19th and early 20th century. 

Well I started with the Omaha Bee, Omaha being the wholesale grocery outlet for much of the middle Great Plains.  I then started looking at grocery ads, both wholesale and retail.  After a while I had moved from the 1860's to 1900 and had lots of notes.  Next my mother's home town and more bits and pieces, but I still wanted more, I knew there had to be more by far, the problem was which paper out of many towns would be the most useful.  I had several afternoons in it by now and had covered two towns.

Taking the files back of the Tecumseh Chieften I glanced at the names as I went by, there was one, Sidney.  Today known as the home offices of Cabela's, in the 1870's it was the nearest rail point to the Black Hills and the south end of the Sidney Black Hills Road, much money was coming south into town. 

That afternoon I learned more about groceries in the "Old West" in about 3 hours than in any other research period.  I have learned much more since, but noticing Sidney and thinking sure struck gold for me.

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Agreed, Del. I finally stopped by my local historical society looking for information for Buck. They couldn't help me with that, but I lingered a bit, looking around.

Folks who read these boards know I live in the middle of the woods. I found out that day that at the end of the Civil War, not a tree was standing in my county, as it was occupied by over 100,000 Union soldiers. Every tree was gone. Most of the houses were burned down. Families who had fled came back and didn't recognize the landscape, and some had trouble finding their own land.

There's a wealth of information out there and not all of it can be found in books or on the 'net.

AnnieLee

[Stoney Pete]

Families who had fled came back and didn't recognize the landscape, and some had trouble finding their own land.

That makes total sense.  Never gave it a thought till you said it, but it makes sense.

[St. George]

I spend a certain amount of time researching - as you might imagine.

One of the peripheral benefits of doing primary work - is the 'secondary' and 'tertiary' information you sometimes notice that pushes you in a different direction.

Focusing isn't a problem - but knowing that there are more paths to follow will not only make your initial work better - it'll add to your Impression by filling out grey areas, trivia and the 'tone' of the period.

Being sort of 'tactile' - I'll always prefer books - I like the feel of them and the sense of both time and scholarship that isn't present on the Internet, and I like owning them and being able to see them arrayed in my library.
'Lending' them is another matter entirely - and a sad lesson learned long ago that won't be repeated.

But - you just can't beat the 'net for true ease of research - with its speed and multiple options available literally at your fingertips - it's one helluva tool.

Just remember - not 'everything' is on the Internet - so don't throw away your Library Card.


Scouts Out!

[Warthog Zeke]

When I was in college, I used to love heading to the stacks.. the musty smell of leather and paper.  While the web is a good tool, it lacks some of the tactile sensations.
And folks, just cause it's on the internet, don't mean it's true... or does it? 

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Nope, it doesn't mean it's true, Zeke, but the same could be said of articles in newspapers or books.
There's the difficulty and the challenge: digging deeper. Several times I've seen different sources on the 'net claim something as fact, but when I dug deeper I found that both places used the same source material... which had been discredited. ( In this particular case, the sources had Thomas Jefferson making the statement about freedom vs. security, when the actual source was Franklin.)

Although we *want* to believe, we have to read with a critical eye. Just today I saw a reference that had the Kellogg brothers creating their cereals in the 1850's AND in 1890, in the same piece!

So, what's true? Pick up today's newspaper and read the front page. Do you honestly believe that everything on that page is true? I know I don't.

Three people witness the same event and write about it. The result is three different perspectives of the truth.

So, what do we do? The best we can, fully knowing that some questions will never be answered.

AnnieLee

[Delmonico]

Typo's can get past the proofer, using more than one source can help elliminate the errors.   but then I have done some study on the Kellogg Brothers. 

William G. was sensable and marketed the product, John G. was more than a bit strange and also a Medical Doctor that belived Yogurt enamas  were good for what ailed you and wrote a sex manual for married folks yet a proclaimed celebate even though he was married.  Of course he and his wife had no children. 

Yes serious research can lead you down some strange paths if you follow all trails.

A companies web site that gives the history of the company is a very god reliable research source.  The Internet can be good or bad, but one needs to learn to sift the data.

[Delmonico]

One good source for information most folks have or should have.  A good dictionary is invaluable, but few folks seem to know how to use them, but they are one of the best quick referances around, one can often determine if it is worth digging deeper.

Example, did folks in the "Old West' drink soda pop, well lets look it up.  The one in my hand says the word became comon usage in 1905-1910, so pre-1900 is about shot for soda pop.  But it says Soada water became a popular word about 1795-1805 and it is a drink containing carbonated water and soda fountain came into usage about 1815-1825.  It also says soft drink came into usage about 1875 to 1880.

So what kind, well Cream soda came into use as a word about 1850-1855, root beer about 1835-1840.  Sasparilla is not so definate, it is a root and the word came into use about 1570, but the root is also used in medicine as well as a soft drink.  Cola became in common usage in the 1920's but it was from the trade Mark of Coca-cola and Pepsi-cola and those came from the kola nut, a word from around 1780. 

so we can conclude that carbonated soft drinks were around before the Civil war but they were not called soda pop till later and it is a subject worthy of futher research if we really want to know more about the drink we often call soda pop.  It was definatly around in some form or another. 

That famous symbol of the West, the tumble weed we find out is ussually another name for the Russian Thistle, a non-native plant that came over with the Germans from Russia with their wheat seed and the word tumble weed did not come into common useage till about 1890.

Dictionaries by differnt companies will vary some as well as different editions by the same company as their research chages as more is learned or as different folks research is not always the same.  this is not always a definate sourch, but it can give one an idea as to whether it is worth persuing more or not.  If folks were talking about something it most likely existed. 

[Silver Creek Slim]

In my short time of researching this time period, I have noticed that authors tend to have a certain "bent"/agenda. One needs to see through that agenda to discern what the facts are. One example of this is the book I am currently reading: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Slim

[Delmonico]

When you get a chance Slim, read "The Cattleman" and "Old Jules" by Mari Sandoz, you might come away with the feeling anyone who was involved with the cattle business, was a low down skunk.

The funny thing is one of her brothers became a very sucessful rancher and became most likey the weathiest member of the family.  But she never meantions him in her books, other than in Old Jules when they were kids.

Yes treat all information like flour that may contain weevils, sift it well before using.

[Will Ketchum]

The Wisconsin State Historical Society is one of the best.  I use to love just walking throught the stacks until something jumped out at me.  that is how I did my research papers in college.   My friends thought I was crazy when I got excited about doing a term paper.

I really need to take the time to start visiting the Historical Society again.  I reallly should be a member 

Will Ketchum

[Delmonico]

Another wonderful source for me has been the 1-800- ask about our product numbers on foods.  Most of the products are in the hands of large companies, but they often have lots of records and information.  When the operator answers and says "Customer Service" I ask for the company historian.  Most have one and they are glad to talk to you for hours answering questions about the history of the products.

And since they are using company records for the information it is not as opinionated as a lot of the information.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Nolan,
I think that picture is from the two years he spent on his ranch in the Dakotas after his mother and wife died. Not sure of the dates but definately before 1910.

Slim

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

I agree with Slim. President Roosevelt went to the Bad Lands in 1884. In 1910, wasn't he hunting in Africa?




AnnieLee

[Warthog Zeke]

The horse is really an elephant?  An alpaca?  A camel?

[Delmonico]

No the date on the picture is wrong.  I need to check some material at home, but I think the Dakota location is wrong, just not sure.  But the real location will surprise you if I'm right.

[Delmonico]

Ok "The West" by Geoffrey Ward has T.R. in the same shirt, hat and gun rig.  It is a studio photo they give as 1885.  I think it is in 1883 just before his first trip.  Yep New York City, that is a studio with a backdrop, like many photos.  If I rember right he had several taken the same day, I've seen several of the series, just can't lay my hands on any more know. 

I talked to a couple of folks at work that have been around horses and horse shows, we think the tail may be tied down to keep it from messin' up the studio.  Not a 100%, but better odds it won't happen. 

The 1910 is the copyright date, someone got smart and did it much later, not uncommon.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Studio! Dems look like real weeds and grass ta me. The tale does seem to look a bit pulled down ta me.

Slim

[Delmonico]

Sorry friend I'm gonna still have to hold out for a studio, partly based on the one with the same gear that is definatly studio.  I'm goona do some more research but I'm sure I've seen that documented (for whats thats really worth) as a studio photo.  Carbide and some electrical lighting was taking place by then as well as flash.  There were some really good backdrop painters.  Got a photogapher I want to show it to.

And Slim why can't you drag weed into a studio, was done many a time. 

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

I dunno about that second picture, Nolan. Is the background washed out? I'm posting two parts of it, below. In the first one, down below the horse's belly and between his legs, the background is white, then not white, almost scalloped but not regular enough to be scalloped. The second part is the far right side of the pic. I zoomed in on that and it is almost uniformly white. I looked at the negative image of it, and the uniformity was still there.  That's really unusual for an old photograph, usually there's all kinds of gray scaling and shades of "white." The uniformity is shows clearly from his holster, up around the fringe of his jacket and even around his elbow to his shoulder.

The studio shot you just posted shows the wide variety of "gray" in the background.

Is it possible for someone to take an old negative and white out the background? That's the impression I am getting: that someone along the line messed with that photo.

But I'd still bet it was taken at the same time as the first one.

AnnieLee