Homestake Timber Contracts Paperwork
Scope and Contents
The materials consist of one box of paper documents, the majority of which are legal contracts between the Federal Government and the Homestake Mining Company. Additionally, there is correspondence and other related materials.
Dates
- 1899 - 1999
Creator
- Golden Gate Timber Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions governing access for this collection. It can be viewed at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center, M-F, 10-4pm, or by appointment.
Biographical / Historical
The Homestake Mining Claim was founded on April 9, 1876 by Fred and Moses Manuel and Hank Harney. They soon sold their interests to a group of men, led by George Hearst. Under Hearst’s direction, the Homestake Mining Company was incorporated in November 1877 and grew into the major economic driving force of the Black Hills area.
Timber production was a vital component for the success of the mine as well as the lasting endurance of the National Forest in the area. In 1897, a plan for timber harvest was created and presented to the Homestake Mining Company by Gifford Pinchot, an agent of the Department of the Interior. Two years later, in 1899, the plan was approved by both parties, creating Timber Case No. 1, which constituted the first regulated timber harvest and sale from federal forest reserves. The plan includes harvesting sections of the forest in order to thin the congested area in which the timber grew, thereby encouraging healthy growth within the forest as well as providing a beneficial amount of timber for the operation of the mine. The success of the first timber sale encouraged a mutually beneficial relationship between the Homestake Mining Company and the Federal Government, which lasted for many subsequent decades.
Information provided above taken from materials in the collection as well as from the book, Nuggets to Neutrinos by Steven T. Mitchell.
Extent
1.25 Linear Feet (3 Boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Homestake Timber Contracts Paperwork collection includes documents regarding the sale of timber from National Forest Service land to the Homestake Mining Company from the late 1890s through the 1960s. The material also includes reasearch and correspondence from as late as the 1990s. The documents list the amount of timber sold and from which locations. The collection has a particular historical significance in the documents relating to 'Case 1.' Case 1 is the first time timber was sold from the National Forest Service to a commercial operation, the Homestake Mining Company.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically by contract, with exception to the related materials.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were transferred as one donation from the Homestake Mining Company on May 26, 2005.
Processing Information
This collection was processed in 2006/2007 by Carolyn Weber and Virginia James. Finding aid completed from initial inventory in December 2013 by Jessica Michak. In 2023, Tia Stenson-Stenson Cunningham updated the finding aid while reformating it to fit Archives Space.
- Aronson, James
- Averill, C.C.
- Barnett, Irene A.
- Beardshear, Fred
- Beardshear, W.D.
- Beetles
- Bentz, Carlos
- Bjorge, Guy Norman
- Black Hills National Forest (S.D. and Wyo.)
- Bliss, Cornelius N.
- Burnett, W.H.
- Cheyenne (Wyo.)
- Clark, Donald E.
- Clark, R.A.
- Coburn, Bill
- Coleman, B.
- Correspondence
- Crook County (Wyo.)
- Dodson, Glen
- Dodson, Harold
- Driscoll, Robert E.
- Duthie, George A.
- Ericson, Earle E.
- Estes, James W.
- Evergreen Foundation (United States)
- Fires
- Fleeger, Robert
- Forest fires
- Forests and forestry
- Frackelton, William
- Golden Gate Mine and Timber Company (South Dakota)
- Gould, Carl A.
- Grier, Thomas Johnston
- Harmon, Wendell H.
- Hickel, M.R.
- Hitchcock, E.A.
- Hoffman, A.F.
- Homestake Mining Company (Collaborator (clb))
- Hunter, H.C.
- Insects
- Jackson, Orle M.
- Johnson, Carl
- Kellog, Gerald J.
- Kimble, John T.
- Korb, H.E.
- Krueger, Theodore
- Lead (S.D.)
- Lee, Howard C.
- Lerchen, Robert A.
- Marr, James
- McDowall, Dave
- McLaughlin, Donald H.
- Mitchell, Steven
- Morgan, R.E.
- Murrin, T.D.
- Nelson, Arthur L.
- Nemo (S.D.)
- Peck, Allen S.
- Periodicals
- Pinchot, Gifford
- Rayburn, W.S.
- Reed, Stewart
- Ryan, Thomas
- Schlesinger, Charles
- Shaw, Donald N.
- Society of American Foresters
- Spearfish (S.D.)
- Spencer, John W.
- Stevens, I.M.
- Thompson, W.W.
- Timber
- Trees
- United States. Department of Agriculture
- United States. Department of the Interior
- United States. Forest Service
- Walker, Harlan A.
- Wyoming
- Yates, Bruce Clinton
Creator
- Golden Gate Timber Company (Organization)
- Polley, C.A. (Person)
- Title
- Homestake Timber Contracts Paperwork, 1899-1999
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Jessica Michak and updated by Tia Stenson-Cunningham in 2023.
- Date
- February 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- February 2023: On February 24 and 27, Tia Stenson-Cunningham made minor edits to the finding aid while formatting it to fit ArchivesSpace. Actions included renaming folder (physically and in the finding aid) to make folder contents more understandable, updated creation dates to reflect the documents in the folders, added agent links and subjects, and reboxed the folder in better fitting boxes.
Repository Details
Part of the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center Repository
PO Box 252
150 Sherman St
Deadwood South Dakota 57732
605-722-4800