The purpose of this site is to improve access to materials relating to the Northwest Resistance of 1885 held by the Special Collections Department of the University of Saskatchewan Libraries and the University of Saskatchewan Archives. It contains a searchable database of bibliographic records. A number of the items from our collections were digitized (such as photographs) and some documents were transcribed and made available as HTML documents. Database records with available images or full text have links to the photographs and documents.
The majority of the material held by the University relating to the Resistance comes from the following collections:
The Adam Shortt Library of Canadiana:
The core of this collection was purchased by the University from Adam Shortt, noted academic and civil
servant, in 1918. Until his death in 1931, Dr. Shortt continued to donate additional material, notably
Sandford Fleming's personal library. Considerable material was also
collected by
historians A.S. Morton and
Edmund Oliver. The collection includes material on the history of Western Canada, Arctic exploration, and
native peoples. Particular emphasis is on prairie Canada. The collection is strong in early editions on
exploration and travel in the Arctic and the Prairies, the fur trade, and the railways in the West. Early
and rare Canadiana also forms part of the collection. Recent collecting has focused on social history,
especially labour and women's history, and native studies. The collection is
composed of approximately
20,000 volumes.
Canadiana Pamphlet Collection:
This collection of approximately 10,000 items includes material relating to Canadian political parties,
labour, women, native peoples, and general Canadiana. Not limited to pamphleture, the collection includes
posters, illustrations, and other ephemera.
Morton Manuscript Collection:
This manuscript collection was largely compiled by Arthur Silver Morton, a professor of history and the first
librarian at the University. Composed of original manuscripts, transcripts, and photographs, the strength
of the collection is early Western Canadian and Saskatchewan history.
Jean E. Murray Fonds (University Archives MG 61):
The personal papers of a history professor, the fonds includes a number of original items relating to the
resistance..
All University Archives and Special Collections materials must be used in the reading room which is located in the Murray Building on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
Contact Information for University Archives and Special Collections
