Mss 51 Archer Gilfillan Papers Barbara Bezat University of Minnesota Libraries 2004
University of Minnesota Libraries Minneapolis, MN 55455
EAD encoding by Barbara Bezat May 2004 English Gilfillan, Archer Archer Gilfillan Papers 1904-1970 University of Minnesota Libraries. Literary Manuscripts Collection, Manuscripts Division [mss] 15 boxes (14 linear feet) Personal papers of Archer Gilfillan, a writer, consisting primarily of coded diaries maintained during his time as a sheepherder in South Dakota, from 1924 to 1933, along with correspondence and publications. Mss 51 English Mezzanine Administrative Information Restrictions on Access

There are no restriction on access to the Papers

 Preferred Citation

Archer Gilfillan Papers, Literary Manuscripts Collection, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.

 Acquisition

Gift of Emily Gilfillan Dean Heilman, sister, 1966

 Processing Information

The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Barbara Bezat.

 Arrangement

The collection is organized into the following series:

Diaries Clippings Personal Papers Correspondence Manuscripts Reviews Publications Photographs Biographical Note

Archer Gilfillan was born February 2, 1886 on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota, where his father served as the Episcopal minister. Gilfillan and his siblings were sent to Minneapolis for schooling but spent summers on the Reservation until 1898, when the family moved to Washington, D.C. following his father's nervous breakdown. Gilfillan was graduated from high school in Washington, D.C. and attended Amherst before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania and graduating from that institution in 1910.

Having always wanted to live in the outdoors, he travelled west immediately after graduation, taking up a homestead claim in South Dakota, buying sheep, and working them for a year with Almon Dean, a nearby ranch owner. In 1913 Gilfillan returned east to attend the Western Theololgical Seminary in Chicago, graduating in 1916. After graduation he returned to South Dakota and spent the next 17 years herding sheep, his own and others'. It was during this time that he began his coded diary, and wrote many articles and columns about his sheepherding experiences. The book Sheep is a product of this time, as are the essays that form the foundation of the small book A Goats' Eye View of the Black Hills.

Sheepherding and owning the land on which they grazed was, for Gilfillan, a financial disaster and in 1936 he was assigned to the Federal Writers Project as Assistant State Director for South Dakota. He held the job until 1942 when the project was abolished. In August, 1942 he was hired by the Black Hills Ordnance Departmart outpost at Igloo, South Dakota (first called Provo) as librarian and newsletter editor, a job he held for seven years. The balance of his life was spent primarily in Deadwood, South Dakota. He wrote weekly columns for a host of local journals, was invited to speak at woolgrowers' and others' conventions, and continued to write articles and essays about South Dakota history and about his experiences as a shepherd. In 1950 he won the University of Minnesota Regional Writing Fellowship.

Gilfillan died in Deadwood, S.D. on December 16, 1955.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists primarily of coded diaries maintained during his time as a sheepherder in South Dakota, from 1924 to 1933, and include transcripts of this diary by his sister, Emily, and the former Special Collections Curator in the Univeresity of Minnesota Libraries, John Jensen. In addition, the collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, publications, clippings, reviews and personal papers.

 Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Gilfillan, Archer B., b. 1886 Shepherds --South Dakota --Harding County. Harding County (S.D.) --History. </controlaccess> <dsc type="combined"> <head>Detailed Contents </head> <p>The following section contains a detailed list of the materials in the collection.</p> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Diaries - coded volumes (some bound)</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 1 - Volume 8</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Includes 1 folder transcript, vol.1; volumes 1 - 6 bound</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 9 - Volume 18</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>All unbound</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 19 - 25 (1931-1933)</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>All unbound</p> </scopecontent> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Diaries - transcripts</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 1 - Volume 6, </unittitle> <unitdate>1924-1927</unitdate> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Correspondence and notes</unittitle> </did> <scopecontent> <p>From transcription project, by Austin McLean, John Jensen and Emily Gilfillan Dean Heilman</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 17, excerpt</unittitle> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Includes draft of article by Austin McLean</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 1, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">December 2, 1924 - May 10, 1945</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Transcribed by Emily Gilfillan Dean Heilman</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 2, </unittitle> <unitdate>May 11 - August 28, 1925</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 3, </unittitle> <unitdate>August 29 - December 25, 1925</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 4, </unittitle> <unitdate>December 26, 1925 - June 30, 1926</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 5, <unitdate>July 1 - September 26, 1926</unitdate></unittitle> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 6, </unittitle> <unitdate>September 21, 1926 - January 2, 1927</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 7 - Volume 14, </unittitle> <unitdate>1927-1929</unitdate> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 7, </unittitle> <unitdate>January 3 - April 30, 1927</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 8, </unittitle> <unitdate>May 1 - July 27, 1927</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 9, </unittitle> <unitdate>July 28 - October 31, 1927</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 10, </unittitle> <unitdate>November 1, 1927 - February 29, 1928</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 11, </unittitle> <unitdate>March 1 - June 18, 1928</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 12, </unittitle> <unitdate>June 19 - September 30, 1928</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 13, </unittitle> <unitdate>October 1, 1928 - January 16, 1929</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 14, </unittitle> <unitdate>January 17 - May 17, 1929</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 15 - Volume 20, </unittitle> <unitdate>1929-1931</unitdate> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 15, </unittitle> <unitdate>May 18 - August 5, 1929</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 16, </unittitle> <unitdate>August 6 - December 1, 1929</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 17, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">December 2, 1929 - February 17, 1930</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 18, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">February 18 - June 23, 1930</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 19, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">June 23 0 November 23, 1930</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 20, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">November 23, 1930 - April 27, 1931</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 21 - Volume 25, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1931-1933</unitdate> <container type="box">Box 4</container> </did> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 21, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">April 27 - August 21, 1931</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 22, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">August 22, 1931 - January 16, 1932</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 23, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">January 17 - July 16, 1932</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 24, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">July 16 - October 28, 1932</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Volume 25, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">November 7, 1932 - April 5, 1933</unitdate> </did> <scopecontent> <p>John Jensen, transcriber</p> </scopecontent> </c03> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Clippings</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Re: Archer Gilfillan</unittitle> </did> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle> Family</unittitle> </did> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle> Other</unittitle> </did> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Personal Papers</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Biographical material</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Obituaries, related articles</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Letters of condolence</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Legal</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Family material</unittitle> </did> <c03 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Emily Gilfillan Dean Heilman (sister)</unittitle> </did> <c04 level="file"> <did> <unittitle> China memorabilia</unittitle> <unitdate>1917-1948</unitdate> <container type="box"> Box 1</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Bulk 1917-1919</p> </scopecontent> </c04> <c04 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Letters from South Africa></unittitle> <unitdate>1944-1948></unitdate> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> </c04> <c04 level="file"> <did> <unittitle> Miscellaneous</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Includes correspondence with the University of Minnesota, a hand-drawn family tree, programs and other memorabilia.</p> </scopecontent> </c04> </c03> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Correspondence, </unittitle> <unitdate>1904-1956</unitdate> </did> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1904-1929</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1930-1933</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1934-1939</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1940-1949</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1950-1951</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1952</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1953</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>1954-1956</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Manuscripts</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>"The Sheepherder"</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>article</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>"Straws in a High Wind"</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle><emph render="underline">Sheep</emph></unittitle> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>"excised sections", 2 folders</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle><emph render="underline">Sheep</emph></unittitle> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Includes correspondence with publisher 1942, 1951</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>[<emph render="underline">Sheep</emph>?]</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 4</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>These are essays or chapters, in alphabetical order by title; 2 folders: A-F, L-W</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>[Essays?]</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 4</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>These are numbered and titled (not all numbers present); 3 folders: 1-53, 54-140, 141-238</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Early Work</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 4</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Miscellaneous writing</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 4</container> </did> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Reviews</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle><emph render="underline">Sheep</emph></unittitle> <container type="box">Box 5</container> </did> </c02> <c02 level="file"> <did> <unittitle><emph render="underline">A Goat's Eye View of the Black Hills</emph></unittitle> <container type="box">Box 5</container> </did> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Publications</unittitle> </did> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Articles</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 5</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Loose, 1 folder</p> </scopecontent> </c02> </c01> <c01 level="series"> <did> <unittitle>Photographs, </unittitle> <unitdate>1890-1963</unitdate> </did> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Archer Gilfillan Photos</unittitle> <container type="box">Box 1</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>All photo inscriptions by Emily Gilfillan Dean Heilman</p> </scopecontent> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>"Early pictures and pictures taken other than So. Dakota, and pictures of others closely connected with him [Archer]", </unittitle> <unitdate>1900-1947</unitdate> <container type="folder">1</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Childhood, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1890, 1898</unitdate> <container type="folder">1A</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>The Gilfillans and the Griffiths at Cape May, NJ, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1904</unitdate> <container type="folder">1B (oversize)</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Early formal photographs of AG [Archer Gilfillan], </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1903-1910</unitdate> <container type="folder">1C (oversize)</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Family, friends, work and pets; taken in South Dakota, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1910-1934</unitdate> <container type="folder">2</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Sheepwagon, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1924, 1928</unitdate> <container type="folder">3</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Archer Gilfillan, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1935-1949</unitdate> <container type="folder">4</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Archer Gilfillan, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1950-1955</unitdate> <container type="folder">5</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Archer Gilfillan with family and friends, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1950s</unitdate> <container type="folder">6</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Family and friends of Archer Gilfillan, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1950s</unitdate> <container type="folder">7</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Work and buildings, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">n.d.</unitdate> <container type="folder">8</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Place postcards, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1910s</unitdate> <container type="folder">9</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Autographed by Archer Gilfillan</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Blank postcards, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">n.d.</unitdate> <container type="folder">10</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Deadwood Parade, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">August, 1956</unitdate> <container type="folder">11</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Archer Gilfillan, Deadwood Parade, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1930s?</unitdate> <container type="folder">12 (oversize)</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>Inscribed by Emily Gilfillan</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Gilfillans and Deans at Mount Rushmore, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1954</unitdate> <container type="folder">13 (oversize)</container> </did> </c03> <c03 level="file"> <did> <unittitle>Gilfillan Grave and tombstone, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1963</unitdate> <container type="folder">14</container> </did> </c03> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Emily Gilfillan Photos</unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive"/> <container type="box">Box 2</container> </did> <scopecontent> <p>China photos</p> </scopecontent> </c02> <c02 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Emily Gilfillan Dean Photos</unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive"/> <container type="box">Box 3</container> </did> <c03 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Turkey photos, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive"/> </did> <scopecontent> <p>From Mrs. Dean's tenure as Librarian for the USIA in Turkey</p> </scopecontent> </c03> <c03 level="subseries"> <did> <unittitle>Venice photos, </unittitle> <unitdate type="inclusive">1936</unitdate> </did> </c03> </c02> </c01> </dsc> </archdesc> </ead>