The Pearl Biddlecome Baker Trail on the Water Papers, 1898-1969A Register of the Collection at the
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The machine-readable finding aid for this collection
was created by the Collections Management staff, Utah State Historical Society.
Utah State Historical Society
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Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List Summary Description |
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| Repository: | Utah State Historical Society |
| Call number: | Mss B 1634 |
| Creator: | Pearl Biddlecome Baker |
| Title: | Pearl Biddlecome Baker Trail on the Water Papers, 1898-1969 |
| Quantity: | .75 lin. ft. (2 boxes) |
| Note: | Items in the collection are the originals. |
| Abstract: | The collection includes the manuscript and research notes made by Pearl Baker for her biography of Bert Loper, Trail on the Water (ca. 1969). |
Topics: |
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| Rivers--Recreational use | ||
| Biography | ||
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| Hite, Cass | ||
| Loper, Albert | ||
| Loper, Rachel | ||
Places: |
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| Utah | ||
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| The collection includes drafts, research notes, and transcriptions of diary entries. | ||
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Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List Background |
Background Note |
| Pearl Biddlecome Baker (1907-1992) grew up on a cattle ranch in the heart of Robbers Roost in Southeastern Utah. Her experiences on the ranch and her association with the region's folklore suited her to write about the adventurers in the region. Her writings have become essential works for students of the American West. |
| Pearl's father, Joseph Cornelius Biddlecome (Joe), had a small herd of cattle when he married Hanner Amelia May Scharf (Millie) in 1904. The couple set up a cattle ranch on Piñon Mesa in Southeastern Utah. Pearl was born 5 August 1907 in Ferron, Utah. When Joe's cattle grew to over one hundred and fifty head, his neighbors made it clear that they wanted Joe to ranch elsewhere. Joe moved his young family to the Robbers Roost region in 1909. |
| Joe and Millie's daughters, Hazel and Pearl, learned the hard work of cattle ranching. When Joe passed away 16 June 1928, the ranch went to Millie, Hazel, and Pearl, but Pearl took over ownership of the ranch in July 1929 with her husband of three years, Mel Marsing. Mel had suffered a leg injury when he was hit by a knot in a rope from the horse he was leading; two months after the Marsings took over the ranch, Mel passed away from blood poisoning caused by the injury. Pearl was left alone to manage the ranch and raise two boys under age 3: Joe and Alex (Jack). |
| Pearl ran the ranch through the Depression. After Pearl married Frank James (Slim) Baker, she sold the ranch to her sister Hazel and her husband, A. C. Ekker. Pearl moved to Oregon, gave birth to a son, Noel, and later separated from her husband. Pearl had many vocations throughout her life. She taught school at Hite and across the Colorado River at White Canyon, ran the White Canyon Trading Post and Post Office, and worked as a clerk-receptionist at Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, New Mexico. |
| Pearl's experience growing up in Robbers Roost acquainted her with the stories of the outlaws who holed up in the area to escape the authorities. Robbers Roost is in the general Canyonlands area in Wayne County, Utah. Its distance and space is daunting, and it is difficult to navigate. For the Wild Bunch during the 1890s, the area was perfect for hiding from the law, but by 1906, Robbers Roost no longer eased an outlaw's escape, as additional roads made it easier for lawmen to navigate the area. Pearl's acquaintance with the lore of the region made her prime to write her critically-acclaimed work on the Wild Bunch. |
| Pearl launched her writing career with The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965, 1971, 1989). Baker's popularity rose when Paul Newman and Robert Redford made the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in 1969. The film was widely popular and garnered much attention, including four Academy Awards in 1970, and interested journalists sought Pearl Baker's expertise for sound bites. |
| Baker wrote other materials, including a biography of Bert Loper entitled Trail on the Water (Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Company, ca. 1969). Pearl knew Loper her whole life, and her acquaintance with him enabled her to include photographs and added a personal touch about a man who spent his life charting the Colorado, San Juan, Green, and Yampa rivers. In the first half of the 20th Century, Loper saw river running transition from a rare feat to a sport based on the techniques he had established. The collection includes those materials that informed Baker's storytelling and drafts of the book. |
| Pearl's last project was a memoir about her experience growing up on her family's ranch entitled Robbers Roost Recollections (Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1976, 1991). Pearl passed away in a nursing home in Price, Utah in 1992. |
Biographical Chronology |
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| 1904 | Joseph (Joe) Cornelius Biddlecome and Hanner Amelia May (Millie) Scharf are married | |
| 1907 | Pearl Biddlecome born to Joe and Millie in Ferron, Utah, 5 August | |
| 1926 | Pearl marries Melvin Marsing in Green River, Utah, 19 March | |
| 1926-1929 | Pearl and Mel have two children, Joe and Alex (Jack) | |
| 1928 | Joe Biddlecome dies, 16 June | |
| 1929 | Pearl and Mel buy range rights from Pearl's mother and sister, July | |
| 1929 | Mel Marsing dies of blood poisoning, 13 September | |
| 1930s | Pearl runs the Robbers Roost Ranch, marries Frank James (Slim) Baker, moves to Oregon, gives birth to son Noel | |
| 1965 | The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost published | |
| 1976 | Robbers Roost Collections published | |
| 1992 | Pearl Biddlecome Baker dies in Price, Utah, 19 December | |
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Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List Scope and Content |
| The collection includes the manuscript and research notes made by Pearl Baker for her biography of Bert Loper, Trail on the Water (ca. 1969). |
| The collection's original order was indeterminable. It appears that Baker organized her notes chronologically, and the dates she indicated in her notes have been maintained for the collection. It is unclear where some of the drafts are unclear fit in the chronology of her writing, but it is clear that Running the Colorado with Bert Loper was her original title for the book. Therefore, after the collection begins with the series "Correspondence," Baker's drafts are organized under the series "Draft, Running the Colorado with Bert Loper," the final title "Draft, Trail on the Water," and alphabetically under the series "Various Drafts." |
| Baker also had access to transcriptions of Loper's diary, which are included in the collection under the series "Diary Transcriptions" and organized chronologically according to diary entry. Also, several sheets of Baker's handwritten notes are contained under the series "Notes." |
| Loper appears to have led a Boy Scout expedition on the Colorado River shortly before his death, and the experience is chronicled under the series entitled "Boy Scouts Expedition." |
| Correspondence |
| Draft, Running the Colorado with Bert Loper |
| Draft, Trail on the Water |
| Various Drafts |
| Transcriptions of Loper's Diary |
| Notes |
| Boy Scouts Expedition |
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Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List Administrative Information |
Preferred Citation:Pearl Biddlecome Baker Trail on the Water Papers, 1898-1969, Utah State Historical Society. |
Acquisition Information:Bequest, 30 December 2004. |
Restrictions on UseThe Pearl Biddlecome Baker Trail on the Water are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection. |
Processing Information:Collection processed by Melissa Ferguson, 2005 Finding aid compiled by Melissa Ferguson, 2005 Finding aid edited by Linda Thatcher, 2005 Collection cataloged by Linda Thatcher, 2005 Finding aid encoded for the World Wide Web by Craig Ringgenberg, 2005 |
Sources:Ancestry File, Pearl Biddlecome, available at www.familysearch.org. Accessed June 2005. Baker, Pearl. Robbers Roost Recollections. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, 1976, 1991. ________. Trail on the Water. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Company, ca. 1969. ________. The Wild Bunch at Robbers Roost. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965, 1971, 1989. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," Internet Movie Database, available at www.imdb.com/title/tt0064115/. Accessed June 2005. Johnston, Jerry. "Pearl Baker Wrote from Her Heart, Heritage." Deseret News, 3 January 1993. "Lifetime of Owl-Hoot Lore Passes As Author Pearl Biddlecome Baker Dies." The Salt Lake Tribune, 23 December 1992. Pearl Biddlecome Baker Obituary. The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 December 1992. |
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Summary Description | Background | Scope and Content | Administrative Info | Container List |
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Correspondence |
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Draft, Running the Colorado with Bert Loper |
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Book II: Glen Canyon Years; Chapter 2: Bert Turns Farmer, n.d. |
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Draft, Trail on the Water |
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Book I: Preparatory Years; Chapter 5: Glen Canyon Folks, 1907 |
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Book 2: Glen Canyon Years; Chapter II: Romance on the Colorado, 1909 |
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Various Drafts |
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Baker, Pearl. "7000 Miles of Rapids with Bert Loper," ca. 1947 |
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Chapter 2: "Bumming Around Country-in Spanish American War 1898-1899" |
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Transcriptions of Loper's Diary |
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37 |
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Notes |
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Boy Scouts Expedition |
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Bert getting ready to take scouts down Glen Canyon, ca. 1949 |
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Boy Scouts of Arizona, Log of The River Lopers Senior Scouts Colorado River Expedition, 1949 |
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