Clarence W. Rowley papers relating to Buffalo Bill and John L. Sullivan

The Clarence W. Rowley Papers Relating to Buffalo Bill and John L. Sullivan contain correspondence, photographs, diaries, printed material, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia documenting the life of Clarence W. Rowley, particularly his relationship with William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and John L. Sullivan. The papers span the dates 1878-1941, but the bulk of the material covers the years 1910-1920.

Series I, Correspondence (Box 1) is organized into two subseries: General Correspondence and Third-Party Correspondence. Both are arranged alphabetically by correspondent. General correspondence contains letters and telegrams concerning Rowley's business and personal relationships. They concern the development of property in Arizona, the dissolution of the Dyer-Cody Arizona Mining and Milling Company following a financial scandal in 1911, and the subsequent incorporation of the High Jinks Gold Mining Company. Letters between Cody and Rowley detail their friendship and their business partnerships. Correspondence between Rowley and General Charles King documents Rowley's attempts to protect Buffalo Bill's posthumous reputation, and relates King's recollections regarding Buffalo Bill's campaign experience. A letter from Gordon "Pawnee Bill" Lillie in 1930 describes the establishment of Pawnee, Oklahoma, a western entertainment venture. Third-party Correspondence contains a small set of letters written to William B. Gale of the Boston law firm Gale & Gale, dated 1878 to 1882, from various legal figures; a letter written to John L. Sullivan in 1917; and a letter concerning debts from A. L. Brown to A. Rossi, possibly related to one of Rowley's business ventures in the Southwest.

Series II, Photographs (Boxes 2-4) is organized into five subseries: Clarence W. Rowley, Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Pawnee Bill's Great East Show, John L. Sullivan, and Other Photographs. The series contains both gelatin silver prints and cyanotypes. Clarence Rowley subseries contains formal portraits of Rowley, as well as photographs of Rowley mining, traveling, at home, and with friends. A set of photographs documents the meeting Rowley arranged between Buffalo Bill and John L. Sullivan in 1908. There are also many photographs of Rowley with Buffalo Bill, possibly taken during their 1911 tours; photographs of Rowley with various Wild West performers; a photograph of Rowley eating a camp meal with Theodore Roosevelt and others; and four photographs of Rowley's daughter, Patricia Ann Rowley.

Buffalo Bill subseries contains formal portraits, snapshots and postcards of Buffalo Bill and his family, including five photographs documenting Cody's tour of Fort Bliss, Texas, with General Hugh L. Scott. Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Pawnee Bill's Great East Show subseries contains over fifty photographs of performers, and includes two photographs of exhibition grounds. John L. Sullivan subseries contains studio portraits and commercial prints of Sullivan as both a young and an older man, including photographs with his wife and family, and a numbered group of photographs relating to the July 4, 1910 boxing match in Reno, Nevada, between Jack Johnson and James Jeffries.

Other Photographs subseries contains a set of albumen prints on mounts created by Allen & Rowell, Boston, reproducing scenes from Paul Philippoteaux's Battle of Gettysburg mural, as well as snapshots and miniature photographs of unidentified animals, individuals, landscapes, and objects.

Series III, Personal Papers (Box 5) is arranged by type of material. It contains a circular relating to Rowley's bid for a seat on the Boston Common Council, business stationery, a clipping, and a group of diaries which Rowley kept from 1909 to 1919.

Series IV, Business Papers (Boxes 5-6) is organized into four subseries: High Jinks Gold Mining Company, John L. Sullivan Motion Picture Company, Montezuma Mining Company, and Montezuma Silver Mines Corporation. Each subseries is arranged by type of material. High Jinks Gold Mining Company subseries contains incorporation documents, by-laws, minutes, and notes. John L. Sullivan Motion Picture Company subseries contains a description of the business. Montezuma Mining Company subseries and Montezuma Silver Mines Corporation subseries both contain stock certificates and other corporate documents.

Series V, Subject Files (Box 6) is organized into two subseries: Buffalo Bill and John L. Sullivan. Buffalo Bill subseries contains a biographical sketch, clippings tracing Buffalo Bill's career and commemorating his death, and a folio of six chromolithograph prints titled The Indian: Buffalo Bill's Art Studies with Portraits of Himself. John L. Sullivan subseries contains clippings, printed ephemera, typescript speeches and poems, and records related to the settlement of Sullivan's estate.

Series VI, Other Papers (Box 6) is arranged alphabetically by type or title of material. The series includes a Henry Ward Beecher autograph, a report on the Campo Bonito and Southern Belle Mining and Milling Company by F.E. Fielding, a printed prospectus for the Cripple Creek Consolidated Mining and Milling Company, and a typescript resolution from the "citizens of Boston... assembled in Faneuil Hall" urging the United States to send an "expeditionary force of volunteers under the command of Theodore Roosevelt to France to co-operate with the allied forces in the war against the Imperial German government."

Oversize contains material from Series I, II, and V. It includes oversize advertisements, photographs, and prints.