Finding Aids

 

Using these Materials

Please contact the Center of Southwest Studies Archives Manager at archives@fortlewis.edu for more information about reproductions and accessing the collection.

 

Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection. The collection is non-circulating but open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies.

 

Reproduction and Copyright: Materials held by the Center may be protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction does not constitute a transfer of copyright or publication rights. Researchers are solely responsible for complying with copyright law and for obtaining any necessary permissions for reproduction or publication. The Center assumes no liability for unauthorized use of materials.

 

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

 

Collection Description

Historical/Biographical Note: Isiah "Zeke" Flora was born in Ohio on April 3, 1901. He grew up and worked as a machinist there. In 1926 he married there. In 1933 he moved to Durango, Colorado with his bride, Gladys Ann. Here he followed an interest in archaeology as a result of prospecting for gold in area canyons. In 1934 he dug in some rock shelters in the Falls Creek area just north of Durango, unearthing many Basketmaker mummies, many of whom he gave individual names such as "Esther", "Bead Girl", and "Jasper". Earl Morris was notified, and using Zeke as a crew member, undertook major excavations there. On US Forest Service land, the "ownership" of artifacts excavated from this site, particularly the mummies, continue to be controversial today. Manuscripts and drafts of articles relating to his archaeological experiences are part of this collection.

Zeke also did work for Harold Gladwin of Gila Pueblo and cultivated an interest in dendrochronology. As a result of work done in this area, Zeke was made a member of the Tree-Ring Society.

Zeke appears to have worked in a job connected to atomic energy during World War II based on a certificate he received from the U.S. War Department thanking him for work essential to the production of the Atomic Bomb.

After this time, his writing focuses more on science related issues and includes stories about atomic energy. He also filed many uranium claims, both in the Durango area and in San Juan County, Utah.

This collection also contains copies of letters he sent to various publications and individuals accompanying articles he wrote.

In 1958 Zeke wrote, "Due to a health problem, I have been forced to give up both my shop and my hobbies". Correspondence from La Plata County social services, along with entries in his checkbook register attest to the ill health that plagued Zeke in later life.  He committed suicide in 1978.

 

Scope & Contents: This collection contains the historically significant records retained from Isiah (Zeke) Flora's personal and business life, including photographs and writings on his archaeological and scientific interests.

This collection contains many handwritten and typed manuscripts by Zeke on archaeological subjects, including the Falls Creek Rock Shelters and dendrochronology, and manuscripts on various topics related to atomic energy. There are also business records of Zeke's Watch and Jewelry Shop, correspondence related to his archaeological and scientific activities, and miscellaneous legal document including uranium claims from San Juan County, Utah.

Records Deaccessioned:

• Manuscript and draft duplications
• Items that are not specifically pertinent to the life of Zeke Flora and can be found elsewhere
• Housekeeping records that lost their administrative purpose after a specified period, including (we deaccessioned his canceled checks because the details are in the Checkbook registers).

 

Arrangement: Note regarding the organization of this collection: materials in this collection are arranged by series. The series are numbered consecutively. Because we do not expect to add to this collection, the boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1. Folder numbers start with 1 in each box. Items within each series (e.g., correspondence, reports) and within each folder are arranged chronologically, unless noted otherwise. The series are organized from highest hierarchical level to lowest; from most general to most specific.

 

Processing Information: The Center of Southwest Studies' Southwest Studies student Jeri Smalley arranged this collection in October to December of 1996.

 

 

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series Description

Series

1. Personal papers of Zeke Flora, 1939-197-, 24 folders. Includes address lists, correspondence, a diary, personal financial records including his checkbook registers, his uranium claims litigation correspondence, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Mr. Flora. Arranged by type, then chronological.

2. Zeke's Watch & Western Jewelry Shop business records, 1950-1955, 7 folders. Chronological.

3. Manuscript drafts and publications by Zeke Flora, 19 - 19, 40 folders. Alphabetical, then chronological within folders.

4. Photonegatives and photographs by Zeke Flora, undated, 2 folders. Primarily archaeological subjects.

 

Container Description

Box 1

Folder 1:     Zeke Flora address lists, undated

Folder 2:     Zeke Flora ACLU correspondence, 1968

Folder 3:     Zeke Flora archaeology correspondence, 1939-1959

Folder 4:     Zeke Flora correspondence relating to his "Bedtime Stories in Science" manuscript, 1946

Folder 5:     Zeke Flora family correspondence, 1958-1959

Folder 6:     Zeke Flora miscellaneous correspondence, 1942-1960

Folder 7:     Zeke Flora correspondence from Social Services, 1970s

Folder 8:     Zeke Flora correspondence relating to his "Unity in Science" manuscript, 1958-1959

Folder 9:     Zeke Flora uranium claims correspondence, 1957

Folder 10:     Zeke Flora diary, 1921-1922

Folder 11:   Zeke Flora personal checkbook registers, 1969-1975

Folder 12:   Zeke Flora letter to the editor of the Durango Herald-News, 1953

Folder 13:   Zeke Flora miscellaneous science notes, undated

Folder 14:   Zeke Flora miscellaneous personal notes, 1955-1960

Folder 15:   Uranium Crazy, with references to Zeke Flora, undated

Folder 16:   Manhattan Project certificate, 1945 August

Folder 17:   Zeke Flora's will, draft, 1977

Folder 18:   Zeke Flora miscellaneous newspaper clippings, 1938-1965

Folder 19:   Zeke Flora newspaper clippings referring to himself, 1939-1962

Folder 20:   Zeke Flora's Happy Bottom Mine uranium claim and information, 1955

Folder 21:   Zeke Flora's uranium claims, San Juan County (Utah), 1956-1965

Folder 22:   Zeke Flora's uranium claims dropped, San Juan County, Utah, 1959

Folder 23:   Zeke Flora's uranium claims U.S. vs. Crawford, Flora, & Ellenberger, legal case, 1954-1958

Folder 24:   Snoplane, information about, undated (Zeke was a dealer.)

Folder 25:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop business cards, etc., undated

Folder 26:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1950

Folder 27:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1951

Folder 28:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1952

Folder 29:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1953

Folder 31:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1954

Folder 32:   Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1955
 

Box 2

Folder 1:     Zeke Flora's Anasazi cranium drawings, undated

Folder 2:     Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Science: Esther Neanderthal", undated

Folder 3:     Zeke Flora's "Early Man" poem, undated

Folder 4:     Zeke Flora's partial list of archaeology photographs, undated

Folder 5:     Zeke Flora's "Pottery at Durango," undated

Folder 6:     Zeke Flora's "Prehistoric Culture of the Durango, Colorado District," observations of, 1939

Folder 7:     Zeke Flora's "Black and Red Beads," undated

Folder 8:     Zeke Flora's miscellaneous archaeological captions, undated

Folder 9:     Helen Sloan Daniels Sherds and Points article, undated

Folder 10:   Zeke Flora's Sherds & Points: printed vol. II #XII-XIV, undated

Folder 11:   Zeke Flora's "Tom, Dick, and Harry" story draft, undated

Folder 12:   Zeke Flora's manuscript drafts Sherds and Points, 1930s-1940s

Folder 13:   Zeke Flora's manuscript drafts, incomplete, Sherds and Points, undated

Folder 14:   Mailing list for Sherds and Points, undated

Folder 15:   Zeke Flora's "Social Order," manuscript, undated

Folder 16:   Zeke Flora's "Building a Tree Ring Chronology with Charcoal," draft, undated

Folder 17:   Zeke Flora's dendrochronology draft articles, undated

Folder 18:   Dendrochronology publications, 1935-1951

Folder 19:   Tree-Ring bulletins with reference to Zeke Flora, 1934-1942

Folder 20:   Zeke Flora's list of materials sent to the Peabody Museum, 1939

Folder 21:   Wood sample from The East Divide Project (Homer Root's Bodo Project), 1969
 

Box 3

Folder 1:     Zeke Flora's "Atomic Age" drafts, undated

Folder 2:     Zeke Flora's "The Atomic Age is Here, So What?" draft, undated

Folder 3:     Zeke Flora's "Atomic Age Through a Crystal Ball" draft, Feb. 1947

Folder 4:     Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Advertising," undated

Folder 5:     Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Science" television script, 1946

Folder 6:     Zeke Flora's "Bedtime Stories in Science" manuscript, undated

Folder 7:     Zeke Flora's "Flash Theory" manuscript, undated

Folder 8:     Zeke Flora's "The Glider and the Helicopter," draft, undated Also, correspondence from Sikorsky Aircraft, 1946 Jan.

Folder 9:     Zeke Flora's "It's Fun to be Skeptical," draft, 1949

Folder 10:   Zeke Flora's "It's Fun to be Skeptical," manuscript, undated

Folder 11:   Zeke Flora's "Little Jaunts in Science," draft, undated

Folder 12:   Zeke Flora's "Mental Powering in Rays," draft, undated

Folder 13:   Zeke Flora's "New Thoughts of the Atomic Age," draft, undated

Folder 14:   Zeke Flora's "Pages from Zeke's Notebook," undated

Folder 15:   Zeke Flora's "Project - Unity in Science," 1958 Oct.

Folder 16:   Zeke Flora's "The Scientist's Problems are also the Layman's," 1959 Feb.

Folder 17:   Zeke Flora's "Where the Old and the New Meet," undated

Folder 18:   Zeke Flora's writings re: science, atoms. Context unclear, undated

Folder 19:   Zeke Flora's "Zeke's Theory of Rays" manuscript drafts, undated

Folder 20:   Zeke Flora photonegatives, undated

Folder 21:   Zeke Flora photographs, primarily archaeological, undated

Container list index (linked to page # in printed inventory)

ACLU correspondence, 1968 (4)
Address lists (4)
Anasazi cranium drawings, undated (4)
Archaeological captions, undated (5)
Archaeological photographs (3), (5)
Archaeology correspondence, 1939-1959 (4)
Archaeology photographs list (4)
Atomic Age MS drafts, undated (5)

Bedtime Stories in Advertising MS, undated (5)
Bedtime Stories in Science manuscript correspondence, 1946 (4)
Bedtime Stories in Science manuscript, undated (5)
Bedtime Stories in Science television script, 1946 (5)
Bedtime Stories in Science: Esther Neanderthal MS, undated (4)
Black and Red Beads MS, undated (5)
Bodo Project, 1969 (5)
Building a Tree Ring Chronology with Charcoal draft, undated (5)
Business cards, etc., undated (4)

Clippings referring to himself, 1939-1962 (4)
Correspondence, 1942-1960 (4)
Crawford, Flora, & Ellenberger, legal case, 1954-1958 (4)

Daniels, Helen Sloan (5)
Dendrochronology draft articles, undated (5)
Dendrochronology publications, 1935-1951 (5)
Diary, 1921-1922 (4)
Durango, Colorado District, observations, 1939 (4)

Early Man poem, undated (4)
East Divide Project (5)

Family correspondence, 1958-1959 (4)
Financial records, 1950 (4)
Flash Theory manuscript, undated (5)

Glider and the Helicopter MS draft, undated (5)

Happy Bottom Mine uranium claim and information, 1955 (4)

It's Fun to be Skeptical MS draft, 1949 (5)

Letter to the editor of the Durango Herald-News, 1953 (4)
Little Jaunts in Science MS draft, undated (5)

Manhattan Project certificate, 1945 August (4)
Manuscript drafts (5)
Mental Powering in Rays MS draft, undated (5)

New Thoughts of the Atomic Age MS draft, undated (5)
Newspaper clippings, 1938-1965 (4)

Pages from Zeke's Notebook MS, undated (5)
Peabody Museum list, 1939 (5)
Personal checkbook registers, 1969-1975 (4)
Personal notes, 1955-1960 (4)
Photographs, primarily archaeological, undated (3), (5)
Photonegatives (5)
Poem (4)
Pottery at Durango MS, undated (4)
Prehistoric Culture of the Durango, Colorado District, 1939 (4)
Project - Unity in Science MS, 1958 Oct. (5)

Root, Homer (5)

San Juan County (Utah), 1956-1965 (4)
Science notes, undated (4)
Scientist's Problems are also the Layman's MS, 1959 Feb. (5)
Sherds and Points (4), (5)
Snoplane, information about, undated (4)
Social Order manuscript, undated (5)
Social Services correspondence, 1970s (4)

Theory of Rays manuscript drafts, undated (5)
Tom, Dick, and Harry story draft, undated (5)
Tree Ring Chronology draft, undated (5)
Tree-Ring bulletins with reference to Zeke Flora, 1934-1942 (5)

Unity in Science manuscript corresp., 1958-1959 (4)
Uranium claims, San Juan County (Utah), 1956-1965 (4)
Uranium Crazy (4)
Uraniums claims correspondence, 1957 (4)
US vs Crawford, Flora, & Ellenberger, (4)
US vs Crawford, Flora, & Ellenberger, legal case, 1954-1958 (4)

Where the Old and the New Meet MS, undated
Where the Old and the New Meet," undated (5)
Will draft, 1977 (4)
Wood sample from The East Divide Project (5)

Zeke's Theory of Rays" manuscript drafts, undated (5)
Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop business cards, etc., n. (4)
Zeke's Watch and Western Jewelry Shop financial records, 1950- (4)