Missoula

downtown MissoulaArchives and Special Collections holds rich published and unpublished materials documenting the history of the Missoula area. 

Examples of published materials include city directories, the Missoula Sentinel newspaper (1912-1962), promotional pamphlets created to encourage settlement in Missoula and the Missoula Valley, and a large number of maps and books about the region. All our books and maps, and most of our pamphlets and oral histories, have been cataloged; records are available by via OneSearch.

Unpublished materials include historic records of Missoula City and Missoula County. Records of prominent businesses and organizations include the Missoula Mercantile (found in the papers of C. H. McLeod and Walter McLeod and the YWCA of Missoula. The manuscript collections of a number of individuals and families provide extensive information about Missoula through the years, as do a number of oral history collections. Architectural drawings of Missoula residences and business buildings can be found in the records of A. J. Gibson, Ole Bakke and H. E. Kirkemo. Significant collections of Missoula-area photographs can be found in the collections of Morton J. ElrodR. H. McKay and Stan Healy. Additional information about relevant unpublished materials from Archives and Special Collections documenting Missoula and the Missoula area can be found in the Missoula Collection List and by keyword searching or browsing in the Archives West database.