Merrill J. Mattes was born on November 16, 1910 in Congress Park, Illinois. After attending the University of Missouri as an undergrad, Mattes obtained his Masters degree from the University of Kansas in 1933. Mattes joined the National Parks Service in 1935 as a park superintendant. Throughout his tenure with the Park Service, Mattes wrote and published numerous books documenting the westward expansion of the United States. Mattes was married twice, the second time to Clara Ritschard, with whom he stayed until his death. Together they had two sons. He had another son from his first marriage. Mattes co-founded the Oregon-California Trails Association and donated thousands of works from his own collection to the library and museum in Missouri. He retired as manager of Historic Preservation of the United States with the Park Service in 1975. Mattes died of a heart attack on May 5, 1996.
From the description of [The Merrill J. Mattes Collection]. 1960-1961. (Pritzker Military Library). WorldCat record id: 232263275
