Archive of William Courtenay (1832-1901), Civil War veteran, frontier businessman, and postmaster, physician, clerk, and Indian Agent at Ft. Berthold, Dakota Territory. Collection spans roughly 1865-1895 (bulk 1870s), and consists of hundreds of pages of documents and 9 photographs. This historically significant archive provides enormous insight into the daily happenings and ongoing issues at Fort Berthold Indian Agency during a critical period, and is of particular interest for its relevance to frontier transactions, documenting corruption, and the reservation system. Highlights include an eight-page manuscript report with testimony by Gros Ventre Chief Lean Wolf (also known as Chief Poor Wolf) relating to privations of American Indians on Fort Berthold Agency and Sioux violence; a series of letters written to William Courtenay and his wife by Gros Ventre Wolf Chief discussing his people's poverty, distrust of a new Indian agent, and other struggles; and the postmaster letter press copy book detailing activity at Fort Berthold in the years 1875-1876. William Courtenay was an adventuresome English immigrant who made his way and his fortune on the American frontier. After serving with "H" Co. US Army 13th Infantry during the Civil War, Courtenay settled in the bustling frontier town of Fort Benton, Montana. Here Courtenay entered business gathering wood for the steamboats that traversed the Missouri River and engaging in trade with the Indians. By the early 1870s Courtenay had established himself as an Indian trader and was well-acquainted with frontier and native culture. On September 1, 1874, he was appointed as Postmaster of Fort Berthold Indian Agency, then in 1879 he was appointed the reservation's Indian Agent. On July 19, 1880, Courtenay married Fannie Patterson. The two removed to Miles City, Montana, in 1882, where Courtenay became one of the most prominent businessmen in the city. Initially a fur trading post and then an army outpost, in 1868 Fort Berthold became the Indian Agency for the American Indians known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, or the Mandan, Hidatsa [Gros Ventre], and Arikara. Unlike other tribes who remained hostile to the US Government and white settlers during the 1860s and 1870s, Indians at Fort Berthold Agency largely remained loyal to the authority of the US Government - though at a high price. Documents in this collection attest to the fact that the Three Affiliated Tribes, who had already been savaged by disease, suffered greatly at the agency due to inadequate military protection, hostile Sioux, meager food rations, and the corruption and disdain of government officials and traders. For his part, Courtenay appears to have done his best to treat the American Indians at Fort Berthold fairly and humanely during his time there. He seemingly harbored a great respect for American Indian culture, amassing a large collection of native "curiosities" and other items which he sometimes gifted to friends (see Lot 369, letter to Gen. G.A. Custer). The extensive archive offered here predominantly relates to Courtenay's years at Fort Berthold and to the American Indians residing on the reservation.  Contents of particular note include the following:Postmaster's letter press copy book, completely disbound, with over 250 pages of ink transfer copies spanning 1874-1881, but primarily from March 1875 - October 1876. Copy letters signed almost entirely by Courtenay, including correspondence detailing post transactions such as purchases of meat and tobacco and the selling of hides. Book also includes copies of more personal correspondence, some related to reservation corruption, such as an excellent six page letter of March 27 [year illegible] written to Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs E.J. Brooks Esq. in Washington DC describing the activity of J.E. Tappan, Ft. Berthold Indian Agent from 1871-1873, and likely evidence of corruption. Another letter written January 31st, 1874, to Col. Campbell K. Peck of the Leavenworth, Kansas firm Durfee and Peck, describes in detail the rampant corruption on the agency and its effects. Courtenay writes in small part: "Matters here are in a wretched state; the Agent (Sperry) ... is now absent without leave and in direct violation of orders from Washington....Another matter calculated to excite discontent of the Indians is the fact of the whole family, viz; Sperry, Magaw and the Beals family, five in all, living openly on the provisions purchased for the Indians...I hope you will use your influence at Washington, promptly and decidedly, and for the benefit of all parties - Indians and whites - succeed in getting the Dept. to give us a new Agent with less christianity and more honesty."Manuscript copy of testimony "by Lean Wolf 2nd Chief of the Gros Ventres in answer to questions in relation to Col. Gilherst's communication to Gen Hancock," 7.75 x 9.75 in., 8pp, n.d. Lean Wolf describes in great detail his tribe's relationship to the Sioux, an incident in which a trader was attacked by Sioux warriors, and the sentiment shared among his people that the "Great Father" had abandoned them. Testimony includes in small part, "...[Lean Wolf] depracated the necessity that forced his People to seek a precarious living among the camps of their natural enemies. He said that if the Government supplied them as their enemies the Sioux are supplied they would have no occasion to leave their reservation, he said that their great Father seemed to have forgotten them, and that their seemed to be truth in the taunts of the Sioux that their Poverty sickness and general Forlorn condition is attributable to their friendship for the whites..."Approximately eleven handwritten letters and additional letter fragments sent to Courtenay and his wife by "Wolf Chief" of the Gros Ventre, many asking for assistance with matters at the agency as in a letter of Dec. 3, 1883, after Courtenay's move to Montana. Wolf Chief writes in broken English: "Friend William Courtenay. Sir. Will you Please Will you give. We want another store here, and We want some other man to keep store....We want you to keep store. My agent. With this store. W.B. Shaws ... We do not like agent shaws because he tells lies. I want you to tell the truth. you ought to believe the truth..." Letters indicate an affectionate bond between the Courtenays and their correspondents. In one letter Wolf Chief writes to Mrs. Courtenay, who was a teacher at the reservation, saying in part "...my teacher going away I am Sorry my teacher Mrs. Wm Courtenay away I do not like." Letters also reference US Presidents including Garfield and Grant.Approximately 27 "true copies" of sworn statements, most taken at Fort Berthold D.T. on September 17, 1878, describing transactions between the American Indian residents of Fort Berthold and Indian Agent C.W. Darling who served at Fort Berthold from 1875-1876. Statements identified to "Little Bull," "Crow's Breast," "Poor Wolf," "Sharp Horn," "Walking Bull," and others.Additional documents include Courtenay's 1874 appointment as Postmaster at Fort Berthold, signed by Postmaster General Marshall Jewell; a brief letter from Henry Ward Beecher dated April 9, 1877; an 1879 certificate confirming Courtenay's honorable discharge from the US Infantry; an 1879 Fort Berthold pay roll of authorized employees; a series of Courtenay's own handwritten copies of letters of recommendation for the Indian Agent position, including one from steamboat magnate T.C. Power; approximately 20 pages of manuscripts with Courtenay's original writing consisting of poetry, diary entries, speeches, and a travelogue; an auction catalog for the October 11-12, 1881, sale of "Indian Curiosities from Fort Berthold, Dakota" collected by "Mr. William Courtenay of the United States Indian Service" held at the Clinton Hall Sale Rooms by George A. Leavitt & Co.; two documents from the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology concerning communicating with American Indians via sign language, including"Types of Hand Positions in Gesture Language"; and much more.Photographs accompanying the archive include a cabinet card of Courtenay and his wife Fannie on their wedding day, taken at the studio of noted Dakota Territory photographer O. S. Goff; an albumen photograph of Courtenay and his wife on their wedding day; a cabinet card of Courtenay, his wife and their young child, taken in Miles City, ca 1885; cabinet card of Courtenay taken by S.C.R. Hamilton, Bozeman, MT, ca 1892; albumen photograph of the interior of Courtenay's real estate office in Miles City, ca 1896; albumen photograph of Courtenay with his family in Miles City ca 1896; a small albumen photograph of Courtenay standing in front of an unidentified structure; and two albumen photographs of Courtenay in front of his 1887 and 1896 real estate offices.