The Reverend H. Baxter Liebler Papers
CAINE MSS COLL 11
Scope & Content Note
See also the Father Liebler/Brother Juniper Photograph Collection P0103
Father Liebler Website by Professor April Chabries, Brigham Young University
The Reverend Harold Baxter Liebler established a mission to the Navajo Indians at Bluff,
Utah in 1943 named St. Christopher's until his retirement in the middle 1960s. Liebler's mission
to the Navajo Indians, however, did not end upon his retirement. Instead, he moved into the
Monument Valley area of Arizona and established the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center and St.
Mary's of the Moonlight chapel. He resided here, in Monument Valley, until his death in 1982.
Liebler, even though operating this new religious site was still intricately involved at St.
Christopher's. He was asked to fill both short term and long term vacancies on many occasions
after his so called retirement. The papers in this collection focus primarily upon Liebler's activity
among the Navajo Indians from 1943 until his death in 1982. Much of the material, in addition to
detailing the above work, reflects his work as an Episcopal priest. The collection also chronicles
Liebler's life as an Episcopal priest.
The papers have had, to a degree, an imposed order placed upon them due to the
condition in which they arrived at Utah State University. The papers upon arrival had virtually no
filing order, with the exception of about four feet of the St. Christopher's Mission correspondence
file. This file is the first series of the collection and has been left intact. Although called a
correspondence file, this name is somewhat of a misnomer, as the file contains more that just
correspondence. In this series resides most of the early records of the mission. These records
date from the early 1940's into the 1960s and the documents contain the origins of St.
Christopher's Mission to the Navajo. Of interest here is a block of material that details the
acquisition of land for the mission. This purchase involved considerable negotiation between
authorities of the Navajo tribe, the Federal government, and the state of Utah government and
most of the correspondence is in the collection. This file also includes material regarding the
Southwest Indian Mission corporation, blueprints, personnel material etc. This block of
documents ends mostly in the 1960s.
The second series of records in the collection contain subject files relating to Liebler's
personal life and interests, as well as the operations of the Hat Rock Valley Retreat center and his
continued involvement with St. Christopher's. This material had no discernable order, thus the
decision was made to organize them alphabetically by subject. These documents include Liebler's
files concerning his religious concerns over the direction of the Episcopal Church in the United
states, as well as his budding interests in the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements withing the
Christian community of America. The subject files also include his personal files (taxes,
insurance, personal belongings etc.), as well as his written work. This section also contains a
small file of Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center and a small file of St. Christopher's file. The next
series in the collection is a correspondence series. The letters have been arranged into an
incoming and outgoing correspondence file. The incoming material has been sorted alphabetically
by surname and then filed chronologically by date. Occasionally large blocks of letters from the
same individual were found and these have been filed together under that individual's name and
then placed into alphabetical order and filed at the end of each four letter set.
The remainder of the collection consists of newsletters, newspaper clippings, oversized
material and reel t reel tape recordings. The newsletters were published by St. Christopher's
mission and by the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center. The St. Christopher's newsletters begin in
1944 and run through 1974, and the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center newsletters, called
messages, run from 1966 through 1985. Finally, the collection has a large block of newspaper
clippings about Liebler's work with the Navajo and about pertinent news items to the Navajo or
the Episcopal church. These have been filed chronologically by date. The oversized material has
been cross referenced to its proper place in the collection. A list of Liebler's reel to reel tapes
finishes the register. These tapes cover topics such as Liebler's radio talks, religious services, and
historical information about his work. In addition, the collection has one 16mm movie produced
in 1949 about St. Christopher's. The film is a silent color movie.
Inventory
Boxes 1-7 contain the St. Christopher Mission Files.
Box 1: A - Bothello
Fd 1 Correspondence - A.
Fd 2: Adoption.
Fd 3: Aneth.
Fd 4: Angelus.
Fd 5: Annual Report - 1961.
Fd 6: Applicants - Summer Worker, 1959.
Fd 7: Applicants - Summer Workers, 1969.
Fd 8: Association for Indian Affairs.
Fd 9: Correspondence - B.
Fd 10: Bacon, Esther (Personnel file).
Fd 11: Bates, Jack - See also Box 25, Fd 1.
Fd 12: Bishop Bayne's meditations.
Fd 13: Belco Products.
Fd 14: Bills.
Fd 15: Books.
Fd 16: Bothello, Eugene. See also Box 25, fds 6-8.
Box 2: Brown - Exam Chaplains.
Fd 1 Brown Russell. See also Box 6, fd 9 and Box 25, fd 11.
Fd 2: Building.
Fd 3-7: Correspondence - C.
Fd 8: Cameron, Madeline.
Fd 9: Carson, Xanthus.
Fd 10: Corporation.
Fd 11: Correspondence - D.
Fd 12: Death - Las will of Harold Baxter Liebler.
Fd 13: Diocese of Utah.
Fd 14: Dragon Lady - Dorothy Faber.
Fd 15: Correspondence - E.
Fd 16: Ecumenism and Reunion.
Fd 17: Education.
Fd 18: Elwell, Edward.
Fd 19: Exam Chaplains.
Box 3: F - L
Fd 1 Correspondence - F.
Fd 2: Fellowship of Concerned Churchman.
Fd 3: Financial.
Fd 4: Findley, David and Lenore.
Fd 5: Fisher, Reginald.
Fd 6: Correspondence - G.
Fd 7: General Convention.
Fd 8: Grafath, Milton Jr. (Personnel file, sensitive).
Fd 9: Correspondence - H.
Fd 10: Harris, Ethel.
Fd 11: Horse Sales.
Fd 12: Indian Newsletter.
Fd 13: Insurance.
Fd 14: Intermountain Indian School.
Fd 15: Correspondence - J.
Fd 16: Correspondence - K.
Fd 17: Correspondence - L.
Box 4: Land
Fd 1 Land - general.
Fd 2-7: Land - A-G.
Fd 8-12: Land - H-N.
Box 5: Land - Parochial Reports.
Fd 1-3: Land - O-S.
Fd 4-6: Land - T-Z.
Fd 7: Lyle Adjustment Company.
Fd 8: Montezuma Creek.
Fd 9: Monument Valley Mission and Hospital - Seventh Day Adventists.
Fd 10: Music.
Fd 11: Nashotah House.
Fd 12: National Council - Committee on the Ministry and Mission to the American Indians.
Fd 13: Newsletter Correspondence - See also Boxes 33 and 35.
Fd 14: Correspondence - O.
Fd 15: Correspondence - P.
Fd 16: Parochial Reports - 1956.
Box 6: Peyote - Walsingham.
Fd 1 Peyote.
Fd 2: Photographs of Liebler.
Fd 3: Pittsburgh trip.
Fd 4: Power Plant.
Fd 5: Recommendations - Assessment of St. Christopher's future to the Right Reverend Richard Watson.
Fd 6: St. Christopher's goals in 1972.
Fd 7-8: St. Christopher's questionnaires and general information.
Fd 9: Southwest Indian Mission incorporated - See also Box 2, fd 1 and Box 25, fd 1.
Fd 10: Tape Recorder.
Fd 11: Thompson, George and Marian Talmidge.
Fd 12: Tuck, Ralph Michael.
Fd 13: Correspondence - W.
Fd 14: Water.
Fd 15-16: Walsingham - Pamphlets about "Our Lady of Walsingham."
Box 7: Watson - Work group.
Fd 1 Watson, Richard - 1955-1956.
Fd 2: Watson, Richard - 1957.
Fd 3: Watson, Richard - 1958.
Fd 4: Watson, Richard - 1959.
Fd 5: Watson, Richard - 1961-1966.
Fd 6: Whitecloud correspondence.
Fd 7: Work group.
Boxes 8-23 contain subject files from Liebler's entire career in Southwestern Utah.
Box 8: Anglo-Catholic Reunion.
Fd 1 Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Affirmation of St. Louis.
Fd 2: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Church Unity Octave Council.
Fd 3: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - "Conversations at Malines, 1921-1985," by Viscount Halifax.
Fd 4: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - "Corporate Reunion," by Bartholemew Payatas.
Fd 5: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Liebler's personal writings.
Fd 6: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement -Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Miscellaneous papers.
Fd 7: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Publications.
Fd 8: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Society of the Holy Cross.
Fd 9-15: Anglo-Catholic Reunion Movement - Society for the Promotion of Catholic Unity (S.P.C.U.)
Box 9: Appliances - Episcopal Charismatic Fellowship.
Fd 1 Appliances.
Fd 2: Ashley House Course: St. Paul's Epistles.
Fd 3: Automobiles.
Fd 4: Book of Common Prayer Revisions.
Fd 5: Church supply catalogues.
Fd 6: Church Historical Society.
Fd 7-9: Civil Rights.
Fd 10: Clerical Cartoons.
Fd 11: Commission on Southwest Episcopal Indian Relations.
Fd 12: Cook Christian Training School.
Fd 13: Cursillo.
Fd 14: Daughters of the Utah Pioneers - History of San Juan County, Utah.
Fd 15: Drawings.
Fd 16: Ecumenical material from Utah.
Fd 17: Episcopal Charismatic Fellowship.
Box 10: Franciscans - Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center.
Fd 1 Franciscans - Anglican.
Fd 2: Franciscans - Padres Trail. Publication of St. Michaels, Arizona.
Fd 3-4: Franciscans- Society of St. Francis.
Fd 5: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Articles of Incorporation.
Fd 6: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Bank Statements.
Fd 7: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Baptisms.
Fd 8: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Building.
Fd 9: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Kawano, Roland.
Fd 10: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Land Documents.
Fd 11: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Service Material.
Box 11: Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - Brother Juniper's statement about dogs.
Fd 1 Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center - St. Mary of the Moonlight.
Fd 2: Holy Cards.
Fd 3: Indians - American Indian Capitol Conference on Property.
Fd 4: Indians - American Indian Traditions.
Fd 5: Indians - Bibliography on Indians and Indians Affairs.
Fd 6: Indians - Indian Church Organizations.
Fd 7: Indians -The Indian in American Society.
Fd 8: Indians - Indian Church Organizations.
Fd 9: Indians - Programming for Indian Citizenry.
Fd 10: Insurance.
Fd 11: Insurance - Automobile.
Fd 12: Insurance - Property.
Fd 13: Brother Juniper's statement about Dogs.
Box 12: Liturgy - National Council of Churches.
Fd 1-4: Liturgy material.
Fd 5: Mailing list.
Fd 6: Marks Artificial Limb Company - correspondence.
Fd 7: Nashotah House.
Fd 8-11: National Council of Churches.
Box 13: National Council of Churches - Navajo Newspapers.
Fd 1-2: National Council of Churches.
Fd 3: Navajo - Anthem of Holy Communion in Navajo.
Fd 4: Navajo - Prayers written in Navajo.
Fd 5: Navajo - Christian explanations.
Fd 6-8: Navajo - Language lessons.
Fd 9: Navajo - Addresses of Navajos.
Fd 10: Navajo - "The Grass Does Not Grow." (Excerpt about Navajo history).
Fd 11: Navajo newspapers.
Box 14: Navajo - Personal
Fd 1 Navajo - Story of the Old Navajo Woman.
Fd 2: Navajo - Treaty between the United States of American and the Navajo.
Fd 3: Navajo - Department of the Interior publications about Navajos.
Fd 4: Navajo - Tribal Utility Authority.
Fd 5: Navajo - Navajoland church.
Fd 6: Ogden Center and Home of Truth - A Cooperative established out of Monticello, Utah, 1940 and
1943.
Fd 7: Pentecostal Material.
Fd 8: Pentecostal - clippings.
Fd 9: Pentecostal - correspondence.
Fd 10: Personal - Account book for money loaned.
Fd 11-12: Personal - Autobiography.
Fd 13: Personal - Awards - Doctorate of Divinity from Nashotah House.
Fd 14: Personal - Baptismal and marriage records.
Fd 15: Personal - Baptismal instructions in English and Navajo.
Box 15: Personal
Fd 1 Personal - Biographical.
Fd 2: Personal - Biographies of Harold Baxter Liebler.
Fd 3-4: Personal - Church Pension Fund.
Fd 5: Personal - Church Pension Fund Newsletter.
Fd 6: Personal - Confessions - Quiz in Navajo.
Fd 7: Personal - Family.
Fd 8: Family - John Lieber's Wedding.
Fd 9: Personal - Family.
Fd 10: Personal - Financial.
Fd 11: Personal - Medical insurance.
Fd 12: Personal - Retirement - AARP.
Fd 13: Personal - Retirement Newsletter.
Fd 14: Personal - Sixtieth Anniversary Planning.
Box 16: Personal - Pontious
Fd 1 Personal - Social Security.
Fd 2-4: Personal - Taxes.
Fd 5: Political.
Fd 6-8: Pontius, Wayne.
Box 17: Religious Material - St. Christopher's.
Fd 1-5: Religious Material - Pamphlets and Newsletters from affiliated organizations.
Fd 6: St. Christopher's - Applicant questionnaires.
Fd 7: St. Christopher's - Bills and Invoices.
Fd 8-9: St. Christopher's - Blueprints.
Fd 10: St. Christopher's - Christmas Cards.
Fd 11: St. Christopher's - commodities.
Fd 12: St. Christopher's - Dittos.
Box 18: St. Christopher's.
Fd 1 St. Christopher's - Documents.
Fd 2: St. Christopher's - Drawing of the compound.
Fd 3: St. Christopher's - Frontier Corps.
Fd 4: St. Christopher's - History (unknown author).
Fd 5: St. Christopher's - Letters about.
Fd 6-8: St. Christopher's - Lithurgy.
Fd 9: St. Christopher's - Lithurgy - Mass of St. Isaac Jogue's.
Fd 10: St. Christopher's - Mailing lists.
Fd 11: St Christopher's - Mission Council Reports.
Fd 12: St. Christopher's - National Committee on Indian Work.
Fd 13: St. Christopher's - Staff orientation material.
Fd 14: St. Christopher's - Press releases.
Fd 15: St. Christopher's - Printed Material.
Fd 16: St. Christopher's - Trade material.
Fd 17: St. Christopher's - Vacation Bible School.
Box 19: St. Saviour's - Writings.
Fd 1-3: St. Saviour's.
Fd 4: Seminary - Report of the trustees of the General Theological Seminary.
Fd 5: Southwest Indian Mission, Incorporation.
Fd 6: Sprague, Rosamund - Address to the Diocesan convention of Upper South Carolina.
Fd 7: Student Rural Church Training.
Fd 8: Utah Episcopal Church material.
Fd 9: Verde Valley School.
Fd 10: Writings - "According to the Episcopal Rite of 1928 and the Ceremonies of the Ritus Servandus of
1965."
Fd 11: Writings - Boil My Heart Reviews.
Fd 12: Writings - Book of Common Prayer (A history of).
Fd 13: Writings - A Brief History of St. Mary of the Moonlight and the Hat Rock Valley Retreat Center.
Fd 14: Writings - "Canon" (essay on the meaning of the word in the Anglican church).
Fd 15: Writings - Christian Concepts and Navajo Words. "Reprinted from the Utah Humanities Review."
Fd 16: Writings - "The Divine Office."
Fd 17: Writings - Doggerel.
Box 20: Writings
Fd 1 Writings - "For Episcopalians Only."
Fd 2: Writings - "God's Quadrilateral."
Fd 3-6: Writings - Mythinformation - drafts and notes.
Fd 7: Writings - Mythinformation - Introduction: "What's Wrong With Right Now for Anglican Roma
Reunion?"
Fd 8: Writings - Myth No. 1.
Fd 9: Writings - Myth No. 3.
Fd 10: Writings - Myth No. 4.
Fd 11: Writings - Myth No. 5, "Those Poor Aunciente Fathers."
Fd 12: Writings - Myth No. 10.
Fd 13: Writings - Myth No. 11.
Fd 14: Writings - Myth No. 14.
Fd 15: Writings - Random.
Box 21: Writings.
Fd 1 Writings - Moccasin Tracks.
Fd 2: Writings - "A Peculiar System of Morality."
Fd 3: Writings - "The Sanctification of Time."
Fd 4: Writings - Text of a speech entitled "The Social and cultural Patterns of the Navajo Indians." See
the Utah Historical Quarterly, v. 30. pp. 299-325.
Fd 5: Writings - "Thoughts on Anglo-Roman Reunion."
Fd 6: Writings - Father Lieber's "Two Cents" Radio Talks.
Fd 7: Writings - Utah Historical Society Reviews, articles and correspondence.
Fd 8: Writings - Utah Historical Society material.
Fd 9: Writings - Utah Historical Society Lecture (See oversize box 34, folder 6).
Fd 10: Writings - When We Look Around Us. Publishing Correspondence.
Fd 11: Writings - When we Look Around Us.
Box 22: Writings.
Fd 1-3: Writings - Newspaper Column entitled "Words"
Fd 4-6: Writings - Articles by Liebler on various topics that appeared in the Living Church.
Fd 7: Writings - Miscellaneous articles and essays.
Fd 8: Writings - Sermon for the ordination of the Reverend William Hannifin.
Fd 9-11: Miscellaneous notes, drafts and essays.
Box 23: Writings
Fd 1-6: Miscellaneous notes, drafts and essays.
Boxes 24-32 contain correspondence files.
Box 24: Incoming correspondence.
Fd 1 A - C, no dates.
Fd 2: A - C, 1940 - 1944.
Fd 3: A - C, 1945 - 1949.
Fd 4: A - C, 1950 - 1954.
Fd 5: A - C, 1955 - 1959.
Fd 6: A - C, 1960 - 1960.
Fd 7: A - C, 1965 - 1965.
Fd 8: A - C, 1970 - 1974.
Fd 9: A - C, 1975 - 1979.
Fd 10: A - C, 1980s.
Box 25: Incoming Correspondence.
Fd 1 Bates, Jack, 1960s.
Fd 2: Bates, Jack, 1970s.
Fd 3: Blakslee, John, 1970s.
Fd 4: Bond, Jo, 1960s.