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Frederick Russell Burnham papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 115

Scope and Contents

The Frederick Russell Burnham Papers are particularly useful for the detailed information they provide on Africa, from approximately 1893 to 1911. Burnham's correspondence, and that of his wife, Blanche, his journals and diary extracts, and photographs provide written and visual observations of military life, native inhabitants and cultures, geography, and wildlife in south and western Africa. Although Burnham was an American, his views of Africa and its future, native Africans, the Boers, and the wars in which he participated, were very much in keeping with those of British imperialists, many of whom he admired, befriended, and fought alongside. There is also substantive material in his subject files, and extensive photographs, on the mining explorations and development operations he undertook in Mexico, from approximately 1905 to 1920. Blanche's life is primarily documented through the informative letters she wrote to Frederick and other relatives.

Dates

  • 1864-1976

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy, which is retained by the repository. Researchers wishing to obtain an additional copy for their personal use should consult Copying Services information on the Manuscripts and Archives web site.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by Frederick Russell Burnham are in the public domain. Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by Roderick D. Burham was transferred to Yale University. These materials may be used for non-commercial purposes without seeking permission from Yale University as the copyright holder. For other uses of these materials, please contact beinecke.library@yale.edu. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Ilo K. Burnham, 1949. Transferred from the Hoover Institute of War, Revolution, and Peace, 1984. Gift of Mr. Frederick R. Burnham II, 2012.

Arrangement

Arranged in five series and additional material: I. Correspondence, 1864-1947. II. Subject Files, 1890-1947. III. Writings, 1893-1946. IV. Personal and Family Papers, 1879-1951. V. Photographs, ca. 1893-1924.

Extent

18.33 Linear Feet (30 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0115

Abstract

The papers consist of correspondence, subject files, writings, scrapbooks, film, and photographs documenting the personal and professional life of Frederick Russell Burnham, especially his years in Africa, and his exploration work in Mexico.

Biographical / Historical

Frederick Russell Burnham, scout, mining expert, and adventurer, was born on May 11, 1861, in Tivoli, Minnesota, to Reverend Edwin Otway and Rebecca (Russell) Burnham. After nine years of frontier life in Minnesota, during which Frederick and his mother survived an Indian attack on New Ulm, the family moved to Los Angeles. Edwin Burnham died in 1873, and Rebecca and Howard, Frederick's brother, moved back east. Frederick, however, enjoyed California so much that he chose to stay and began to acquire the outdoor skills that were to make him famous. For the next twenty years he travelled throughout the southwestern United States and Mexico. He sought out the best scouts in the regions and from them learned riding, tracking, hunting, and wilderness survival skills. His jobs ranged from mounted messenger for the Western Union Telegraph Company (when he was thirteen), to cowboy, big game hunter and seller, gold prospector, deputy sheriff, and Apache fighter.

While mining for gold in Arizona in 1893, Burnham read in the newspapers of the career of Cecil John Rhodes. Feeling he was being "summoned," Burnham, with his wife, Blanche (Blick), and son, Roderick, journeyed to the South African frontier to be of assistance to Rhodes in his endeavors. For the next four years he was a scout for Rhodes' British South Africa Company, and he fought and gained widespread fame in the two Matabele Wars. He also led exploring expeditions north of the Zambesi River and made significant discoveries of archeological ruins and fields of coal and copper. After returning to North America to mine gold in the Klondike, Burnham went back to Africa early in 1900 to serve as chief of scouts for the British army during the Boer War. Again earning fame for his exploits, and mustered out in 1900 due to injuries received in battle, Burnham was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the South African Medal by the British government.

Burnham arrived back in the United States in 1904 and during the next three decades he lived in California and engaged in prospecting and archeological expeditions. He was particularly interested in Mexico and made several important archeological discoveries that shed light on the Maya civilization. With John Hays Hammond, the well-known mining engineer who Burnham had first met in Africa, he attempted to irrigate and cultivate the Yaqui Valley in northern Mexico, but encountered difficulties after the outbreak of the Mexican civil war in 1912. The two men were more successful in establishing the Burnham Exploration Company, which operated the productive Dominguez Hill oil field in California.

Burnham had a number of personal interests, to which he devoted a good deal of time and energy. He was a friend and admirer of Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, and helped that organization spread in America. He was concerned with preserving American wilderness and was one of the original members of the California Park Commission. He also explored the importation of wild game animals from Africa to live in the American Southwest where they could provide a food alternative to beef and pork.

Burnham had little formal education, but he learned to read and write at home when he was a child. After being pursued by publishers for a number of years, Burnham wrote two books detailing his life and exploits: Scouting on Two Continents (1926) and Taking Chances (1944).

Burnham married Blanche Blick of Clinton, Iowa, in 1884, and she accompanied him on many of his trips, as did Blanche's brothers, John and Judd. He had two sons, Roderick and Bruce, and a daughter, Nada. Blanche died in 1938, and in 1943, Burnham married Ilo K. Willetts. He died on September 1, 1947, in Santa Barbara, California.

Title
Guide to the Frederick Russell Burnham Papers
Status
Under Revision
Author
compiled by Christine Weideman and Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty
Date
October 2002
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours