MS 239 - Royal Hassrick Collection | McCracken Research Library

The Royal Hassrick collection consists mostly of images of both American Indians and American Indian arts and crafts. The majority of the images were used to illustrate the book After the Buffalo Were Gone. Other major groups of images include photographs taken at the Pine Ridge Reservation from 1942-1943, postcards of American Indians, slides of American Indian craftwork and artifacts, and scenes associated with Hassrick’s career as a rancher.

The Hassrick Collection is 2.25 cu. ft. in size. Citations for the books mentioned in this finding guide are under Related Publications.

Royal Hassrick was considered by many to be one of America’s foremost authorities on both the anthropology and art of American Indians. Hassrick was educated at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Among his many jobs, Hassrick served as the Curator of the Southern Plains Indian Museum, United States Tribal Relations Officer at Anadarko, Oklahoma, and Assistant Director of the Denver Art Museum where he was Curator of American and American Indian Art.

As a commissioner of the Department of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Hassrick spent several years among the Sioux at both the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations gathering notes for his well-known book The Sioux: Life and Customs of a Warrior Society. For many years Hassrick also owned and operated the Lone Star Ranch near Elizabeth, Colorado.