ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(Excerpted from the book, with updates)
The writer thanks the River and Plains Society of Fort Benton, Montana, for its support in behalf of this publication.
Special thanks are due to participating institutions and people who were instrumental to the project’s success: The Smithsonian Institution; the Library of Congress; the University of Montana; Montana State University; Montana Historical Society; and the River and Plains Society all deserve praise for their unstinting support and cooperation. Operatives of these institutions provided valuable
encouragement, and supplied many of the historical links in the Bison Group story.
In Washington, D.C., I thank the late Dr. Francis M. Greenwell, former Chief Taxidermist of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, for facilitating access to Smithsonian personnel, collections and documents. At Smithsonian Archives, I am grateful to Archivist William Deiss; to Assistant Archivists Susan Glenn, Tracy Robinson, and James Steed; and to Associate Archivist William Cox, for their patient assistance in documents searches of September, 1992 and June, 2002.
In this time frame, I also thank Archivists Fred Baughman and Jeffrey Flannery of the Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division; Jeremy Adamson, Chief of the Prints & Photographs Division; and Curatorial Assistant Emily MacKinnon-Dittman, also of the P&P Division.
In Montana, I extend special thanks to the late John G. and Susan Lepley of Fort Benton; to members of the Hornaday Committee, including the late Gail Stensland and wife Ellie, David and Patti Parchen, and the late Loran Perry and wife DeLores; and to the fifty Conservators who purchased bronze editions of the Bison Group. Without the Lepleys’ foresight, ingenuity, and sustained commitment to the recovery project -- and without the active support of their Committee and Conservators -- a successful outcome would not have been possible.
Also in Fort Benton, I give special thanks for the generous efforts of the late Robert Kenneth Doerk, Jr. Through the early phases of the book's conceptualization and production, Bob's constant moral support and personal encouragement kept me going through uncertain times.
I am also particularly grateful for the contributions of the late Robert MacFie Scriver, of Browning, Montana, and Tom Hardesty, of Atcheson Taxidermy, in Butte, whose artistic efforts were critical to
funding and executing the physical restoration of the bison specimens in a fashion worthy of their storied past.
At Montana Historical Society I thank Sue Near, Museum Manager; the late Dave Walter, Research Historian; and Kirby Lambert, Curator for Collections, for their valuable assistance in uncovering the story of the Bison Group in Montana. I am particularly indebted to the late Dr. Robert S. Hoffmann, former faculty in Zoology at the University of Montana, Missoula, and, later, Secretary for Science Research at the Smithsonian Institution. At Museum of the Rockies, I thank Judy Weaver, former Acting Director, and Patti Bell, former Registrar, for their efforts to learn the status of specimens in their care; and to former Education Director Dave Swingle -- thanks for assistance in locating the final specimen from the old Bison Group.
For their roles in the project to document the Hornaday Campsite, and to secure its listing in the National Register of Historic Places, I thank Marcella Sherfy, State Historic Preservation Officer; Patricia Bick, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer; Chere Jiusto, Nominations Coordinator; and Dr. Mark Baumler, S.H.P.O. archaeologist-- all of the Montana Historical Society. I also thank the late Dr. John Taylor, former archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management, in Billings. Historian James A. Dolph, formerly of Ogden, Utah, merits special thanks for vital input in the project to gain official listing for the Hornaday Campsite in the National Register of Historic Places.
My personal thanks go to the late Jack Drew, former Big Dry rancher, for his instrumental role in discovering the historic Hornaday Camp -- site of the 1886 base camp of the Smithsonian Expedition for Buffalo.
For recent archival assistance, in August of 2018, I thank Patrick Kerwin, Archivist; Edith Sandler, Reference Librarian; and Jeffrey M. Flannery, Head of Reference and Reader Services, all of the Library of Congress. My special thanks to Archivist Patrick Kerwin, of the Manuscripts Division, for invaluable help in locating and providing recently-accessioned records contained in the Hornaday Papers collection.
Most recently, I give special and continuing thanks to Pamela M. Henson, Director of the Smithsonian Archives Institutional History Division, for her decades of advice and technical support in assisting the project to research and revitalize Hornaday’s bison, and in disseminating their broader story to the general public. In the early-2020s, Archivists Heidi Stover, Marguerite Roby and William Bennett -- all of Smithsonian Archives -- were particularly helpful in ferreting out and providing valuable historical images, several of which are published here for the first time.
Personal thanks are due to cultural historian Paul Semonin, of Eugene, Oregon, for initial assistance in producing the book manuscript, including development of the cover design, and for his continued collaboration in the production of this Web site.
Personal thanks as well to computer consultant Aaron Madzik, with Partners in Computing in Eugene, Oregon, for professional set-up of this Web site and its current extension.
Those not mentioned here, who have also assisted this project in past years, are thanked individually in Endnotes contained in the book.
Special thanks are due to participating institutions and people who were instrumental to the project’s success: The Smithsonian Institution; the Library of Congress; the University of Montana; Montana State University; Montana Historical Society; and the River and Plains Society all deserve praise for their unstinting support and cooperation. Operatives of these institutions provided valuable
encouragement, and supplied many of the historical links in the Bison Group story.
In Washington, D.C., I thank the late Dr. Francis M. Greenwell, former Chief Taxidermist of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, for facilitating access to Smithsonian personnel, collections and documents. At Smithsonian Archives, I am grateful to Archivist William Deiss; to Assistant Archivists Susan Glenn, Tracy Robinson, and James Steed; and to Associate Archivist William Cox, for their patient assistance in documents searches of September, 1992 and June, 2002.
In this time frame, I also thank Archivists Fred Baughman and Jeffrey Flannery of the Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division; Jeremy Adamson, Chief of the Prints & Photographs Division; and Curatorial Assistant Emily MacKinnon-Dittman, also of the P&P Division.
In Montana, I extend special thanks to the late John G. and Susan Lepley of Fort Benton; to members of the Hornaday Committee, including the late Gail Stensland and wife Ellie, David and Patti Parchen, and the late Loran Perry and wife DeLores; and to the fifty Conservators who purchased bronze editions of the Bison Group. Without the Lepleys’ foresight, ingenuity, and sustained commitment to the recovery project -- and without the active support of their Committee and Conservators -- a successful outcome would not have been possible.
Also in Fort Benton, I give special thanks for the generous efforts of the late Robert Kenneth Doerk, Jr. Through the early phases of the book's conceptualization and production, Bob's constant moral support and personal encouragement kept me going through uncertain times.
I am also particularly grateful for the contributions of the late Robert MacFie Scriver, of Browning, Montana, and Tom Hardesty, of Atcheson Taxidermy, in Butte, whose artistic efforts were critical to
funding and executing the physical restoration of the bison specimens in a fashion worthy of their storied past.
At Montana Historical Society I thank Sue Near, Museum Manager; the late Dave Walter, Research Historian; and Kirby Lambert, Curator for Collections, for their valuable assistance in uncovering the story of the Bison Group in Montana. I am particularly indebted to the late Dr. Robert S. Hoffmann, former faculty in Zoology at the University of Montana, Missoula, and, later, Secretary for Science Research at the Smithsonian Institution. At Museum of the Rockies, I thank Judy Weaver, former Acting Director, and Patti Bell, former Registrar, for their efforts to learn the status of specimens in their care; and to former Education Director Dave Swingle -- thanks for assistance in locating the final specimen from the old Bison Group.
For their roles in the project to document the Hornaday Campsite, and to secure its listing in the National Register of Historic Places, I thank Marcella Sherfy, State Historic Preservation Officer; Patricia Bick, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer; Chere Jiusto, Nominations Coordinator; and Dr. Mark Baumler, S.H.P.O. archaeologist-- all of the Montana Historical Society. I also thank the late Dr. John Taylor, former archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management, in Billings. Historian James A. Dolph, formerly of Ogden, Utah, merits special thanks for vital input in the project to gain official listing for the Hornaday Campsite in the National Register of Historic Places.
My personal thanks go to the late Jack Drew, former Big Dry rancher, for his instrumental role in discovering the historic Hornaday Camp -- site of the 1886 base camp of the Smithsonian Expedition for Buffalo.
For recent archival assistance, in August of 2018, I thank Patrick Kerwin, Archivist; Edith Sandler, Reference Librarian; and Jeffrey M. Flannery, Head of Reference and Reader Services, all of the Library of Congress. My special thanks to Archivist Patrick Kerwin, of the Manuscripts Division, for invaluable help in locating and providing recently-accessioned records contained in the Hornaday Papers collection.
Most recently, I give special and continuing thanks to Pamela M. Henson, Director of the Smithsonian Archives Institutional History Division, for her decades of advice and technical support in assisting the project to research and revitalize Hornaday’s bison, and in disseminating their broader story to the general public. In the early-2020s, Archivists Heidi Stover, Marguerite Roby and William Bennett -- all of Smithsonian Archives -- were particularly helpful in ferreting out and providing valuable historical images, several of which are published here for the first time.
Personal thanks are due to cultural historian Paul Semonin, of Eugene, Oregon, for initial assistance in producing the book manuscript, including development of the cover design, and for his continued collaboration in the production of this Web site.
Personal thanks as well to computer consultant Aaron Madzik, with Partners in Computing in Eugene, Oregon, for professional set-up of this Web site and its current extension.
Those not mentioned here, who have also assisted this project in past years, are thanked individually in Endnotes contained in the book.