University of Arizona

Students, faculty, staff, and the public are now welcome to visit Special Collections without an appointment from 9 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday.

Letterbook of Rueben Augustine Wilbur

Letter Sent to H. Bendill, May 15, 1873
Instructions for Research Relative to the Ethnology and Philology of America Pamphlet, 1863

Rueben Augustine Wilbur was a U.S. Indian Agent for the Papago Reservation in Arizona Territory in the 1870s. The collection contains chiefly letters written between Oct. 2, 1871 and Dec. 8, 1874, addressed to Wilbur's superiors in the Bureau of Indian Affairs concerning the administration of the agency and his relationships with the Indians around San Xavier Mission. Topics include the Camp Grant Massacre, farming and food conditions, education, church influence, Apaches, and appeals for the establishment of an official reservation.