Abstract
Copyright
Scope and Content of the Collection
Arrangement and Container List

Collection Number

2000.01

Contact Information

The University Library, Special Collections
Cal Poly Humboldt
One Harpst Street
Arcata, California 95521

Processed By

Edith Butler, MA, CA

Date Collection Processed

2011 and 2012

Language

English

Collection Creator

Peter Palmquist

Dates Covered by Collection

Circa 1895-1992

Size of Collection

.5 cubic foot

Abstract

Peter Palmquist's wide ranging research interests included the Thompson Family, starting with Burtha Thompson's (spelled Bertha in many sources) work as a model for photographer Emma Freeman. Palmquist granted permission to the Cal Poly Humboldt Library's Special Collections to photocopy items from his information file on Lucy and Milton J. Thompson. In 2012 the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library granted the Cal Poly Humboldt Library permission to include digital files of selected items from the Peter E. Palmquist Collection. This collection provides information about the extended Thompson Family and the timber and land related activities of Milton J. Thompson. Lucy Thompson (Yurok) is the author of To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman, first published in 1916, republished in 1991 with a foreword by Palmquist.

Access

The collection is open for research.

Copyright

Copyright has not been assigned to Cal Poly Humboldt. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce in any format, please contact the Special Collections Librarian. For permission to reproduce a digital file contact the Western Americana Curator at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

Acquisition Information

Peter Palmquist's wide ranging research interests included the Thompson Family, starting with Burtha Thompson's work as a model for photographer Emma Freeman. Palmquist granted permission to the Cal Poly Humboldt Library's Special Collections to photocopy items from his information file on Lucy and Milton J. Thompson. Palmquist's file is comprised of materials gifted to him by the Zampatti Family and other information he gathered about the extended Thompson Family.

Materials in this collection were photocopyed before this part of Palmquist's vast collection was shipped to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Yale University) as part of the Peter E. Palmquist Collection. In selecting materials for copying Edie Butler focused on Milton J. Thompson's survey book and maps of land ownership and land transactions along the Klamath River and on Thompson Family correspondence and photographs.

Additional documents from Palmquist's collection were selected by Edie Butler in April 2012. George Miles, Western Americana Curator at Beiencke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, granted permission (in an email message on July 10, 2012) for the digital files of these documents to be available to Cal Poly Humboldt Library patrons.

Most of the materials came to Palmquist as a gift from Nina Zampatti (maiden name) who was the daughter of Victor Zampatti, attorney for Milton J. and Lucy Thompson. Palmquist noted that Zampatti was a Eureka attorney from 1923-1963. After Lucy Thompson's death, granddaughter Loleta (adopted by Lucy and Milton Thompson in 1926 after the death of Burtha Thompson White Elk in 1924) lived with the Zampatti Family. Nina and Loleta were about the same age. At age 16 Loleta was emancipated and no longer lived with the Zampatti Family, according to Palmquist.

Scope and Content of the Collection

Information compiled by Susie Van Kirk (folder 1) explains the family relationships and chronology of events for the materials assembled in this collection. Many persons are mentioned in the documents. Maps and survey records annotated by Milton Thompson provide substantial information about timber surveys, land ownerships and transactions in the lower Klamath River area from Weitchpec to Requa.

Arrangement and Container List

The collection is arranged into nine folders as follows:

Box 1

1. [Thompson Family information compiled Susie Van Kirk; two sets: pre 2000 and 2011-12]
2. [Text Documents: correspondence, including documentation of events regarding Charly Saxon, Dora Jacobs Saxon Thompson, Jeff Baldwin, Jimmy Donnelly, Dora Jacobs Saxon Thompson]
3. [Postcards to Lucy and Milton Thompson from Burtha Thompson and other relatives]
4. [Photographs-21 images]
5. [Chief White Elk photographs and documents] See also folder 2
6. Milton J. Thompson's land survey notebook for lands along the lower Klamath River]
7. [Four maps with notes on trails and sites, property owners, Indian Allotments along the lower Klamath River]
8. [Belcher and Crane Co. map section: Klamath River with notes on property owners, Indian Allotments along the lower Klamath River]
9. [CD containing files from the Beinecke. Some files on the CD are the same as some of the photocopied documents in folders 1-8]
   CD contents:

• 1452564.jpg and 1452565.jpg Chief White Elk's War Department document
• 1452566.jpg Map showing property ownerships in Klamath River (T11N R2E HM) area
• 1452567.jpg Humboldt County map with annotations pertaining to the lower Klamath River area
• 1452568.jpg 1901 Humboldt County map with annotations pertaining to the lower Klamath River area
• 1457625.tif and 1457624.tif Map of lower Klamath River region showing property ownerships
• UNCAT +MSS+509+Box+130 pdf Pocket Plot Book created by Milton J. Thompson; folder of 39 images
• Uncat + MSS+509 + Stewart letter pdf ; Letter pertaining to Chief White Elk; folder of 2 images
• Uncat +MSS+509 Thompson, Bertha correspondence pdf; folder of 11 images
• Uncat+MSS+509 To The American Indian pdf; Letter from A. Pilling, Thompson Family notes; folder of 7 images
• Uncat+509 War Dept.pdf Chief White Elk's War Department document [same as 1452564 and 1452565.jpgs]; folder of 3 images

Bibliography

Thompson, Lucy; To The American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman. Foreword by Peter E. Palmquist; introduction by Julian Lang; Berkeley, CA : Heyday Books in conjunction with Peter E. Palmquist, c1991. Originally published in 1916.

Van Kirk, Susie; Milton J. and Lucy Thompson [Family notes]; Two sets: one set copied when other materials were copied and the other set supplied by Ms. Van Kirk in December 2011 and January 2012. Folder 1 contains both sets.

Subject Headings

Yurok Indians
Humboldt County (Calif.) -- History
Del Norte County (Calif.) -- History