author
Ray H. Mattison
1903–1980
A longtime public historian of the American West, he wrote with the calm authority of someone who had spent decades studying historic sites, ranching country, and the early National Park Service. His work is especially valued for turning regional and frontier history into clear, readable stories.
2 Audiobooks
The History of Badlands National Monument and the White River (Big) Badlands of South Dakota
by Ray H. Mattison, Robert A. Grom
Devils Tower National Monument: A History
by Ray H. Mattison
About the author
Born in Nebraska on September 15, 1903, he grew up in Boone County and went on to study education and history, earning a teaching certificate, a bachelor's degree in education, and later a master's degree in history. Archival records also note that he pursued doctoral coursework. He died in Tucson, Arizona, on October 6, 1980.
Much of his career was spent in public history. Sources connected with his papers and later references to his work show that he served in the National Park Service and became known for research on historic sites across the Midwest and northern plains. His writing focused on subjects such as western ranching, army posts, fur trade history, Theodore Roosevelt's ranch country, and landmark places including Devils Tower.
His memoir, As I Saw It: The Recollections and Observations of a Nebraska Maverick, 1903-1978, suggests the same direct, unsentimental voice found in his historical work. That mix of field experience, archival research, and plainspoken storytelling helped make his books and reports useful both to scholars and to general readers.