University of Arizona

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Hazel E. Mills Papers

Plan of the Rio Colorado, undated

Hazel Emery was born in Pomona, CA on October 29, 1910. She lived on a ranch near Chino, CA. Then the family moved to Long Beach. Hazel married Randall Vause Mills on December 13, 1931 in Berkeley, CA. Both wrote about the history of Oregon.

Hazel completed undergraduate work in English at the University of California at Berkeley. Hazel attended library school and subsequently worked for the Washington State Library in Olympia. Hazel died July 2, 1999 in Eugene, OR. Her book, Frances Fuller Victor: the Witness to America’s Westerings, was published posthumously in 2002 by the Oregon Historical Society. 

Research notes, newspaper clippings and maps, 1816-1938. The bulk of the material is handwritten research notes related to the navigation of the Colorado River. Some of the notes are contained in a card index. The notes include article summaries compiled for Mills’ proposed dissertation, Navigation of the Colorado River and its Effect on the Development of the Arizona Frontier. The maps are tracings done by Mills.