Wells A. Hutchins's eminent career with the Department of Agriculture culminated with the publication of "Water Rights Laws in the Nineteen Western States,"* a three-volume work which began to appear a year after his death in 1970. The collection of primary materials described in this key was amassed over a period spanning approximately half a century, and it includes much of the data used in Water Rights Laws in the Nineteen Western States. It also includes Mr. Hutchins's own earlier publications and addresses, work-related documents, and correspondence. Altogether this collection amounts to thirteen cartons of materials. Most of the printed materials collected by Hutchins in the course of his work are not described in this key; they are, however, cataloged into the collection of the Water Resources Collections and Archives and can be accessed through the card catalog at the Archives.

The collection has been organized into five sections. The first section contains both published and unpublished writings by Hutchins; the published materials include virtually all of the works cited in Hutchins's own listing of publications (see File No. 1), with only a few exceptions. Variant states of many of these works, such as type-written drafts, proofs, and reprints, are also found here. The items are in alphabetical order by title.

The second section contains Hutchins's prepared public addresses. These are, for the most part, papers read at various conferences and meetings. Some were published and others are closely related to separate publications found in the first section. These also are arranged alphabetically by title.

A vast amount of correspondence occupies the third section of the collection. Many items of small significance, such as requests for publications and acknowledgements of publications received, are to be found here. Some important documents, however, are also present; these deal with questions of law, the drafting of legislation, the development of publications, Hutchins's personal affairs, etc. This correspondence serves to supplement materials found in other sections. The arrangement of correspondence dealing with water law is alphabetical by state; other correspondence is grouped by specific topic. Within each folder, the correspondence is placed chronologically.

The fourth section contains research materials bearing on water law in the West. Items here are in order by state and are then further gathered into one of six possible categories, as follows:

Not all states have items for all categories and, consequently, numbering of sub-sections (I-VI) is not always consecutive. Arrangement within categories is chronological except in certain instances (e.g., Valmont case, #472A-S) where it appeared advisable to follow a single proceeding through.

The final section of the collection contains general and/or miscellaneous items not included in the other sections. It is divided into the same categories as those for the individual states in the fourth section.

Throughout sections three through five of the collection, loose items which were initially attached together with paper clips (presumably by Hutchins) have been stapled together in order to preserve their integrity. An "item", in collation statements, refers to a single unit: either one document or a number of documents which are attached. For example, a folder of correspondence which contains 9 items could conceivably have 20-30 documents gathered into nine bundles. This may be useful to remember.

*Completed by Harold H. Ellis and J. Peter DeBrall, Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Economics Division, 1971-1977, 3 v.