Correspondence, 1879-1883

The James H. Wilbur papers consist of his travel journal, correspondence, and legal and financial papers dating from 1850 to 1887. The bulk of the material is from the 1880s and pertains to his career as Indian Agent for the Yakama Reservation at Fort Simcoe in the Washington Territory. The collection includes: correspondence relating to the day-to-day business of running the agency; accounting ledgers, vouchers, reports, and correspondence relating to the government grants that funded the agency; correspondence and testimony relating to the Agency; court papers relating to land disputes; deeds and other papers pertaining to real estate ventures; and personal papers regarding Wilbur’s involvement in the administration of the estates of Calvin Reed and Susan Waters.

Material of note includes: correspondence with Father Louis Napoleon St. Onge in the late 1860s; Wilbur's temporary displacement as agent by Lieutenant James Smith in 1869-1870; the arrival and maintenance of the Paiutes, and the agency inspection of William Pollock.