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Stephen Aron
Associate Professor and Vice Chair
Department of History
University of California, Los Angeles
The fellowship from the Friends of Princeton University
Library offered me an opportunity to mine the McCarter and English Papers
at the Mudd Library. "Mine" is the appropriate word, for the collection
proved to be a bonanza to my research on the Missouri Valley frontier.
Within the forty-three boxes of materials, I unearthed scores of valuable
historical documents that gave me a new understanding of the complexities
of intercultural and international relations in the Missouri Valley.
As I hoped, the Papers contained a comprehensive record of the land
dealings and treaty councils involving Iowa, Sauk and Fox, Missouri,
and Osage Indians and French, Spanish, British and American officials.
Also extremely useful were the ethnographic accounts included in the
McCarter and English Papers.
To be sure, most of these documents are not original to
the collection; almost all of the papers could have been accessed elsewhere.
But the staff of McCarter and English did an exceptional job bringing
the materials together. This saved me (and other researchers) the trouble
and expense of visiting numerous archives. As important, the transcriptions
and translations made by McCarter and English made reading through the
materials a much more pleasant exercise (and made it possible as well
for me to work my way through forty-three boxes in a limited time).
Kudos, too, to Alfred Bush, whose calendar made digging through this
treasure of a collection much easier.
Valuable as the historical documents proved, I found myself
unexpectedly drawn to the legal drama that unfolded within the collection.
I say unexpectedly, because I had not even intended to look at the legal
documentation that the attorneys of McCarter and English meticulously
assembled to buttress the case of the Indian clients. And yet, as I
worked my way through the boxes, I grew increasingly fascinated by the
legal maneuverings. To be honest, I don't yet know what, if anything,
I will do with this material. Certainly, it will not be a part of the
book I am now writing on the Missouri Valley frontier. Still, it will
keep me thinking--and that is, perhaps, the most rewarding result of
my fellowship.
libraryf@princeton.edu
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