Smithsonian Institution Archives

Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution

Record Unit 561
Assistant Secretary in charge of the
United States National Museum,
Correspondence and Memoranda, 1858-1869 and undated

Introduction

Historical Note

Descriptive Entry


INTRODUCTION

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.


HISTORICAL NOTE

In the late 1850s, the Smithsonian Institution began receiving large collections of ethnographic and natural history material from arctic America, gathered by officers of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The Smithsonian's relationship with HBC was primarily a result of Robert Kennicott's explorations on behalf of the Institution during the 1850s.


DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY

These records consist of correspondence written to Smithsonian Assistant Secretary Spencer F. Baird by officers of the HBC documenting their collecting activities on behalf of the Institution. Principal correspondents include George Barnston, Laurence Clarke, Jr., Charles P. Gaudet, Donald Gunn, William L. Hardisty, Strachan Jones, James Lockhart, Roderick Ross MacFarlane, W. Mactavish, and Bernard Rogan Ross. Also included is correspondence from Elliott Coues to Baird concerning an expedition to Labrador, 1860; and miscellaneous notes and lists concerning natural history specimens.

This correspondence was apparently pulled from Baird's official files. Researchers interested in the HBC should also consult record units 26, 33, 52, 53, 305, 7002, 7215, and 7221.

Box 1 of 1
Folder1   Hudson's Bay Correspondence
Folder2   H. Balderston, 1860
Folder3   George Barnston, 1859-1862
Folder4   George Barnston, fragments and undated
Folder5   Bowen & Co., 1866
Folder6   J.C. Burbank & Co., 1862-1863
Folder7   Robert Campbell, 1861
Folder8   James R. Clare, 1866
Folder9   Laurence Clarke, Jr., 1861-1867
Folder10   James S. Clouston, 1860-1861, 1863
Folder11   Elliott Coues, 1860
Folder12   Henry Connolly, 1860-1865
Folder13   William Cowan, 1868-1869
Folder14   William J. Christie, 1863, 1865
Folder15   A.G. Dallas, 1863
Folder16   John W. Dodge, 1860
Folder17   C. Drexler, 1860
Folder18   James Flett, 1862
Folder19   Charles P. Gaudet, 1862, 1864-1865, 1868
Folder20   James A. Grahame, 1863, 1865
Folder21   Gun Catalogs
Folder22   Donald Gunn, 1860-1868
Folder23   Thomas Hardisty, 1867-1868
Folder24   William L. Hardisty, 1864-1865, 1867, 1869
Folder25   Edward M. Hopkins, 1860-1868
Folder26   Strachan Jones, 1863-1867
Folder27   W.W. Kirby, 1864-1866
Folder28   James Lockhart, 1861-1868
Folder29   R. McDonald, 1864
Folder30   J.M. McDougall, 1867
Folder31   W. Mactavish, 1860-1868
Folder32   William P. McFarland, 1866
Folder33   Roderick Ross MacFarlane, 1863
Folder34   J. MacKenzie, 1860-1864
Folder35   William J. McLean, 1864, 1867-1868
Folder36   J.S. Onion, 1862, 1864, 1867
Folder37   John Reid, 1863-1864
Folder38   Bernard Rogan Ross, 1858-1869
Folder39   Bernard Rogan Ross, fragments and undated
Folder40   George Simpson, 1859-1860
Folder41   Donald A. Smith, 1864, 1866
Folder42   W. Thomson Smith, 1864
Folder43   Unidentified Correspondence


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