Series 1. FIELD NOTES AND JOURNALS, 1889-1941. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.
Series 2. CORRESPONDENCE, PHOTOGRAPHS, MAPS, PUBLICATIONS, AND NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, 1898-1939, AND UNDATED.
Series 3. MANUSCRIPTS, 1921-1940, AND UNDATED. ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.
This series consists of field notes and journals documenting Vernon Orlando Bailey's career as a field naturalist for the Bureau of Biological Survey and its predecessor the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the Department of Agriculture, 1889-1933. Also included are notes and journals from field trips made by Bailey after his retirement from the Biological Survey in 1933. The field notes contain a record of flora and fauna observed and collected by Bailey. Also included are travel itineraries, expense accounts, and miscellaneous notes. The journals contain a more detailed, narrative account of Bailey's field expeditions. Box 1 of 7
INTRODUCTION
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the
Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
HISTORICAL NOTE
Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864-1942) was born in Manchester, Michigan. At an early
age he and his family moved to Elk River, Minnesota, where he developed an
interest in natural history. Around 1885, Bailey began sending collections of
birds and mammals to Clinton Hart Merriam, Chief of the newly created Division
of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of
Agriculture (in 1896 the name was changed to the Bureau of Biological Survey).
In 1887, Bailey was appointed special field agent for the Division of Economic
Ornithology and Mammalogy. His title was changed to chief field naturalist in
1890, and he remained with the Biological Survey until his retirement in 1933.
Bailey's chief biological interest was the study of the life history and
distribution of mammals. During his career with the Biological Survey, he made
field investigations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico,
including intensive biological surveys of Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and
Oregon. His bibliography numbered 244 titles and included scientific
monographs, as well as publications for the general reader.
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
This collection documents Bailey's career as a field naturalist and consists
mostly of field notes and journals maintained on his many biological
expeditions and field trips, 1889-1941. Also included is a small amount of
correspondence with Bureau of Biological Survey staff and personal friends,
1913, 1922, 1927-1932, 1939; photographs; newspaper clippings; and manuscripts
of monographs and articles by Bailey, 1921-1940, and undated.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES 1.
FIELD NOTES AND JOURNALS, 1889-1941. ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.
| Folder | 1 | Field notes. Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, January 1-February 11, 1889. | |
| Folder | 2 | Field notes. Minnesota and Wyoming, April 8-May 17, 1890. | |
| Folder | 3 | Field notes. Wyoming and Utah, May 16-July 3, 1890. | |
| Folder | 4 | Field notes. Nevada and California, October 17, 1890- January 7, 1891. | |
| Folder | 5 | Field notes. California and Colorado, October 19-November 12, 1891. Also includes notes kept by Bailey in Washington, D.C., January 1892. | |
| Folder | 6 | Field notes. Minnesota, Michigan, and Canada, December 11-16, 1891. Also includes field notes kept by Bailey in Missouri and Kansas, June 20-July 19, 1892. | |
| Folder | 7 | Field notes. North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, April 4-June 19, 1892. | |
| Folder | 8 | Field notes. Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, July 18-September 5, 1892. | |
| Folder | 9 | Field notes. Pennsylvania, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana, December 24, 1893-August 30, 1894. | |
| Folder | 10 | Field notes. Montana and Michigan, September 2-October 19, 1894. Also includes notes kept during field work at Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Michigan, March 3- September 20, 1895. | |
| Folder | 11 | Field notes. Oregon, May 6-October 6, 1896. Also includes notes kept during field work in West Virginia, January 19-25, 1897. | |
| Folder | 12 | Field notes. Oregon and Washington, May 12-October 10, 1897. Also includes notes made in Washington, D.C., March-April 1898. | |
| Folder | 13 | Field notes. Nevada and California, April 16-October 16, 1898. | |
| Folder | 14 | Field notes. Maryland, March 27-31, 1899, and California, August 27-November 1, 1899. | |
| Folder | 15 | Field notes. Texas and California, April 3-November 1, 1899. | |
| Folder | 16 | Field notes. Includes botanical observations made in Washington, D.C., March 1-12, 1899 and March 8-11, 1900; miscellaneous notes, 1913 and 1915; and notes made on trip to the Patuxent River, Maryland, April 23-24, 1916. | |
| Folder | 17 | Field notes. Texas, April 7-June 2, 1900. | |
| Folder | 18 | Field notes. Texas and California, June 5-October 15, 1900. | |
| Folder | 19 | Field notes. Texas and New Mexico, May 2-October 1, 1901. | |
| Folder | 20 | Field notes. Texas and New Mexico, June 6-September 27, 1902. | |
| Folder | 21 | Field notes. New Mexico, May 16-October 14, 1903. |
Box 2 of 7
| Folder | 1 | Field notes. Texas and New Mexico, July 4-December 19, 1904. | |
| Folder | 2 | Field notes. Minnesota and Ontario, September 30-October 22, 1905. Also includes notes kept on trips to Michigan and Minnesota, March 23-April 19, 1907. | |
| Folder | 3 | Field notes. Wyoming and New Mexico, March 15-June 3, 1906. | |
| Folder | 4 | Journal kept by Bailey on field trip to Wyoming and New Mexico, March 15-June 1906. For field notes see box 2, folder 3. | |
| Folder | 5 | Field notes. Oklahoma and New Mexico, August 1-November 16, 1906. | |
| Folder | 6 | Journal kept by Bailey on field trip to Michigan and Minnesota, March 23-April 13, 1907. For field notes see box 2, folder 2. | |
| Folder | 7 | Field notes. New Mexico, Arizona, and California, May 27-July 21, 1907. | |
| Folder | 8 | Field notes. California, July 22-October 31, 1907. | |
| Folder | 9 | Field notes. Nevada, Oregon, and North Dakota, November 7-December 12, 1907. | |
| Folder | 10 | Field notes. New Mexico and Arizona, July 11-October 7, 1908. | |
| Folder | 11 | Field notes. New Mexico, October 12-November 15, 1908. | |
| Folder | 12 | Field notes. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, July 9-August 18, 1909. | |
| Folder | 13 | Field notes. Montana, Washington, and Oregon, August 20-October 22, 1909. | |
| Folder | 14 | Field notes. Oregon and California, October 22-November 15, 1909. | |
| Folder | 15 | Notes on birds observed and migratory patterns of birds around Washington, D.C., and vicinity, 1909-1910. | |
| Folder | 16 | Field notes. New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire, August 26-September 17, 1910. |
Box 3 of 7
| Folder | 1 | Field notes. Montana and Idaho, June 23-September 8, 1911. | |
| Folder | 2 | Field notes. California, September 8-October 24, 1911. | |
| Folder | 3 | Notes on birds observed and migratory habits of birds around Washington, D.C., and vicinity, 1911. | |
| Folder | 4 | Field notes. Minnesota, North Dakota, and Maryland, June 3-August 18, 1912. | |
| Folder | 5 | Field notes. North Dakota and Wyoming, June 18-September 10, 1913. | |
| Folder | 6 | Field notes. Arizona, October 15-November 15, 1913. | |
| Folder | 7 | Field notes. Oregon, May 30-September 9, 1914. | |
| Folder | 8 | Field notes. North Dakota, Canada, and Oregon, June 2-July 8, 1915. | |
| Folder | 9 | Field notes. Wyoming, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park, July 10-October 2, 1915. | |
| Folder | 10 | Field notes. Yellowstone National Park, February 29-April 14, 1916. Also includes notes kept by Bailey in California, September 4-October 3, 1916. | |
| Folder | 11 | Field notes. North Dakota and Oregon, June 10-August 25, 1916. | |
| Folder | 12 | Field notes. Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park, July 1-September 24, 1917. | |
| Folder | 13 | Field notes. Texas, Mexico, and Washington, March 12-May 9, 1918. | |
| Folder | 14 | Field notes. North Dakota, September 6-November 5, 1919. | |
| Folder | 15 | Field notes. North Dakota, July 1-August 13, 1920. | |
| Folder | 16 | Field notes. Adirondack Mountains, August 20-September 29, 1921. |
Box 4 of 7
| Folder | 1 | Notebook containing entries regarding Bailey's activities in Washington, D.C., 1922. | |
| Folder | 2 | Field notes. Michigan, June 16-October 23, 1923. | |
| Folder | 3 | Field notes. Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, March 1-May 2, 1924. Also includes notes kept by Baily in Montana, July 9-August 15, 1924. | |
| Folder | 4 | Field notes. Bat Caves of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia and West Virginia, October 31-December 28, 1924 and February 22-March 29, 1925. Also includes notes kept by Bailey during field trips to Pennsylvania, April 13-25, 1925 and April 7-27, 1926; Louisiana, June 4-July 29, 1925 and January 4-February 12, 1926; and Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edwards Island, Michigan, and Minnesota, August 10-September 30, 1925. | |
| Folder | 5 | Field notes. Yellowstone National Park, Michigan, and Minnesota, July 3-September 17, 1926; California, October 20-December 1, 1926. Also includes notes kept by Bailey in Washington, D.C., January-February, 1927. | |
| Folder | 6 | Journal kept by Bailey during a trip to the Mohavi [Mojave] Desert, California, October 20-December 15, 1926. For field notes see box 4, folder 5. | |
| Folder | 7 | Field notes. Wisconsin, Oregon, and Nevada, May 5-August 25, 1927. | |
| Folder | 8 | Journal kept by Bailey on a field trip to Nevada and Oregon, June 22-July 22, 1927. For field notes see box 4, folder 7. | |
| Folder | 9 | Field notes. Oregon, August 4-25, 1927; New Hampshire, September 5-6, 1927; Pennsylvania, May 10-16 and October 10-14, 1928; Arizona, July 19-August 7, 1928; and West Virginia, October 29-November 9, 1928. | |
| Folder | 10 | Journal kept by Bailey on a field trip to Grand Canyon, Arizona, July 19-August 7, 1928. For field notes see box 4, folder 9. | |
| Folder | 11 | Field notes. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, April 16-October 1, 1929. | |
| Folder | 12 | Field notes. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, November 5-19, 1929; Minnesota, Montana, and Oregon, June 15-December 30, 1930. Also includes notes kept by Bailey in Washington, D.C., April 1-29, 1931. | |
| Folder | 13 | Field notes. New York, April 26-June 12, 1931; Nevada, California, and Grand Canyon, Arizona, July 2-September 1931; Michigan, October 19-23, 1931. | |
| Folder | 14 | Field notes. Adirondack Mountains, April 14-21, 1932; Mexico and California, October 18, 1932-January 7, 1933. | |
| Folder | 15 | Notebook containing entries regarding Bailey's activities in Washington, D.C., 1933. Also includes notes kept on a field trip to Pennsylvania, June 1933. | |
| Folder | 16 | Field notes. California, September 1, 1933-January 4, 1934. |
Box 5 of 7
| Folder | 1 | Field notes. California, March 1-May 4, 1934; Virginia, April 5-7, 1935. Also includes miscellaneous notes kept by Bailey, May 4-December 15, 1934. Includes Bailey's comments on the death of Edward William Nelson. | |
| Folder | 2 | Field notes. California, November 16, 1935-January 7, 1936. | |
| Folder | 3 | Field notes. California, January 1-February 4, 1936; Washington, D.C., notes, February 5-May 29, 1936; California, New Mexico, and Arizona, June 22-October 4, 1936. | |
| Folder | 4 | Journal kept by Bailey during a trip to California, New Mexico, and Arizona, June 22-July 5, 1936. For field notes see box 5, folder 3. | |
| Folder | 5 | Field notes. Consists mostly of notes recorded by Bailey at the Blackwater Refuge, Maryland, February 16-May 27, 1937. | |
| Folder | 6 | Field notes. Nevada and California, November 3-December 31, 1937. | |
| Folder | 7 | Field notes. Florida, April 23-May 31, 1938; New Mexico and Arizona, June 23-August 2, 1938; Pennsylvania and New York, August 31-September 14, 1938. | |
| Folder | 8 | Field notes. Grand Canyon, Arizona, April 22-July 9, 1939; Pennsylvania, New York, and Kentucky, July 15-October 3, 1939. | |
| Folder | 9 | Field notes. Notes kept by Bailey on flora and fauna observed around Washington, D.C., February 15-June 15, 1940; New Mexico, June 20-October 2, 1940. | |
| Folder | 10 | Field notes. Includes notes kept by Bailey on trips to Pennsylvania, New York, and Tennessee, 1941. |
This series consists of a small amount of correspondence and memoranda from Bureau of Biological Survey staff and personal friends, 1913, 1922, 1927-1932, 1939; photographs of mammals and a photograph of Vernon Orlando Bailey on a field trip in Nevada, 1898; maps of and publications concerning Grand Canyon National Park; and newspaper clippings regarding wolves.
Box 5 of 7
| Folder | 11 | Correspondence, 1913, 1922, 1927-1932, 1939. Consists of a small amount of memoranda from Bureau of Biological Survey staff and correspondence with personal friends. | |
| Folder | 12 | Photographs, 1898 and undated. Consists mostly of photographs of mammals. Also includes a photograph of Bailey on horseback in Nevada, 1898. | |
| Folder | 13 | Maps. Grand Canyon National Park. |
Box 6 of 7
| Folders | 1-2 | Maps, Grand Canyon National Park and miscellaneous. | |
| Folder | 3 | Publications regarding Grand Canyon National Park. | |
| Folders | 4-5 | Newspaper clippings regarding wolves. |
This series consists of manuscripts of monographs and articles written by Vernon Orlando Bailey, 1921-1940, and undated. Most of the manuscripts are on mammals and are of a nontechnical nature. Related photographs, drawings, and correspondence regarding the manuscripts are found in a few instances and are noted in the folder listing.
Box 7 of 7
| Folder | 1 | A Grizzly Bear Hunt, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 2 | A Ten League Canvas, undated. Handwritten and typed manuscripts. | |
| Folder | 3 | The American Badger, Taxidea taxus, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 4 | The American Buffalo or Bison, Bison bison, undated. Typed manuscript and drawing. | |
| Folder | 5 | Animals Worth Knowing Around The National Capitol. Text of a radio talk over WRC, July 12, 1934. | |
| Folder | 6 | The Asymmetrical Ears of Owls, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 7 | Autumn Colors, October 17, 1940. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 8 | Bannertails and Little Fourtoes, Native Animals That Are Not Wild, 1940. Handwritten manuscript. Includes two letters (4-11 & 4-22, 1940) with Three Lion Publishers concerning the manuscript. | |
| Folder | 9 | Be Fair to The Woodchuck, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 10 | Big Brown Bat, 1937. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 11 | Catching and Handling Skunks, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 12 | Catching Cats in Cage Traps, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 13 | Catching Cottontails, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 14 | Catching Woodchucks, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 15 | Ears, undated. Handwritten and typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 16 | Enemies of the White Goat, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 17 | Flying Squirrel, 1937. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 18 | Foods of the Early Cliff Dwellers, undated. Partial handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 19 | Handling Animals Without Fright or Injury, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 20 | Hibernation in some of Our Native Mammals, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 21 | Home Life of the Big Wolves, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 22 | Humane Traps for Foxes, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 23 | Letters to a Young Naturalist, 1921-1922. | |
| Folder | 24 | Mammals of the Arid Southwest, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 25 | Mammals of the Desert, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 26 | Mammals of the District of Columbia, Today and Yesterday, undated. Handwritten and typed manuscript. | |
| Folders | 27-29 | Mammals of the Grand Canyon National Park, undated. Annotated manuscript. | |
| Folder | 30 | Memorandum re. Flooding of Upper Mississippi Wild Life and Fish Refuge, October 10, 1930. | |
| Folder | 31 | Mouse Plagues, undated. Typed and handwritten manuscripts. | |
| Folder | 32 | The Muskrat Marshes of the Mississippi Delta Region, undated. Annotated manuscript. | |
| Folder | 33 | The Name of the Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 34 | Our Gray Squirrel Family, 1940. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 35 | Our Grizzly Bear Family, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 36 | Perognathus pacificus, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 37 | Pole Traps at Craig Kennels, Virginia, 1935. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 38 | Raising Deer in Captivity, April 1933. Bureau of Biological Survey News Release. | |
| Folder | 39 | Rattlesnake Kills Small Dog, September 21, 1932. Handwritten and typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 40 | Recollections of Louis Agassiz Fuertes, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 41 | The Refining Leaves, 1939. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 42 | Save That Dead Tree, undated. Handwritten manuscript and photograph. | |
| Folder | 43 | Scrappy - The Badger, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 44 | Setting the Foothold Trap for Coyotes, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 45 | Skunk: Mephitis occidentalis major (Howell). Fallon, Nevada, November 12 to December 12, 1937. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 46 | The Solitary Lives of Two Little Pocket-Mice, undated. Annotated manuscript, photographs, and poems by Bailey. | |
| Folder | 47 | Specimens of Mammals Needed for Study, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 48 | Steel Traps for Carnivores, 1935. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 49 | Taking Some of the Cruelty out of Trapping, undated. Handwritten manuscript. | |
| Folder | 50 | Taming Wild Animals, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 51 | The Tassel-Eared Squirrels, undated. Typed manuscript. | |
| Folder | 52 | The Troop or Camp Museum, 1929 | |
| Folder | 53 | The White Goats of the High Country, Oreamnous montanus, undated. Typed manuscript and drawing. | |
| Folder | 54 | Why the Enormous Inflations of Audital and Mastoids of the Kangaroo Rats, 1921. By Bailey and Sterling Bunnell. Typed and handwritten manuscript. Also includes a letter from Bunnell to Bailey (4-14-21) concerning the paper. | |
| Folder | 55 | Witching For Water, 1939. Handwritten and typed manuscript, with photographs. Also includes a letter from Henry Bailey to Bailey (11-11-39) regarding witching for water. |
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Revised: September 21, 2007