Popular Research Topics: Native American History

Collection contains materials mainly relating to Throssel's photographic work of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indians from 1902-1933. Collection includes 2,481 photographs, glass plate negatives and lantern slides of daily life, ceremonies, portraits and village scenes of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne; what is now the Little Bighorn National Monument; daily life of Billings; Throssel and his family; ranching; and scenery of southern Montana and northern Wyoming (1902-ca. 1920s).

John Roberts was an Episcopalian missionary who worked among the Arapaho and Shoshone peoples on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. The collection contains numerous notes and drafts as well as printed versions of Robert’s translations of church literature into the Arapaho and Shoshone languages. Other material includes history of the region and biographical information about Roberts and his family, friends and prominent citizens of the area including Sacagawea.

Farny was born in France in 1847 and as a child moved with his family to Cincinnati, Ohio. Farny took several trips to the American West in the 1880s. During his travels, Farny collected numerous Indian artifacts and photographs, while producing several sketches of his own. Returning to his Cincinnati studio, Farny worked from his own illustrations and memory, relied on his collection of artifacts, and occasionally employed live models to create his unique style of Western art. While his paintings of Native Americans were highly sought after during Farny’s lifetime, his work disappeared into near obscurity in the years following his death. Collectors rediscovered Farny in the 1960s because of increasing interest in the "true West."