The Michael B. Olbrich Papers are organized in four categories: Correspondence; Memoranda, Speeches, and Miscellany; Legal Papers; and Land and Ranch Speculation.
Correspondence
The Olbrich correspondence, 1906-1930, covers a variety of subjects: politics, legal cases, University affairs, financial transactions, family matters, and speaking engagements. Attention is directed particularly to the first three of these.
Between 1912 and 1914 there is correspondence regarding Progressive and Republican Party politics. This includes letters exchanged with Robert M. La Follette, 1912, 1914, John J. Blaine, 1912, and Robert R. McCormick, 1912. Letters from Emanuel L. Philipp to S. Morrissey, October 10, 1914, and to E. P. Minahan, October 13, 1914, explain Philipp's views on the state insurance department, and on initiative, referendum, and recall. Two letters from La Follette, June 28 and July 2, 1916 concern the writer's justification for his stand on political matters and pay tribute to Olbrich as a valuable member of the party.
There is some correspondence concerning legal cases on which Olbrich worked while he was deputy attorney general, 1919-1921, and special counsel for the state, 1921-1926. This is especially true in relation to the railroad rate case of 1921.
Olbrich was very active as a regent for the University, 1925-1929. He had much to do with hiring Dr. Glenn Frank, and kept in close touch with University matters. This is reflected in correspondence for the period, correspondence which deals with policies concerning acceptance of gifts and with the financial and physical condition of the University.
Memoranda, Speeches, and Miscellany
While Olbrich was special counsel for the state he was responsible for advising the governor on legislative matters. Included here is memoranda concerning bills submitted by Governor Blaine in 1923, and notes relating to tax bills, probably in 1925.
A typewritten copy of a speech on “Representative Government”, delivered by Senator La Follette at Chautauqua at Lincoln, Illinois, August 20, 1908, is present, as is a printed copy of Olbrich's nominating speech for La Follette for President, July 6, 1912, which appeared in La Follette's Magazine. Several volumes contains speeches filed by subject.
Also in this section are Olbrich's notes on the ancestry of Henry Dodge; a file on a University of Wisconsin endowment controversy, 1925; a few items designated Miscellaneous; and a scrapbook of clippings related to Olbrich.
Legal Papers
The Olbrich Papers originally contained many briefs and notes relating to cases of particular interest to Olbrich and state affairs. Where it was determined that the state attorney general's office has the briefs on file these were not kept in Olbrich's papers. However, notes that indicate his own treatment of cases involving the state are retained. These include the railroad rate cases; the Board of Regents of Normal Schools vs. Fred R. Zimmerman, Secretary of State, 1924; the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light and Power Company vs. the Railroad Commissioner of Wisconsin, 1919; the Union Indemnity Insurance Company vs. the Railroad Commission of Wisconsin; the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Case; and the Rodd Case.
Land and Ranch Speculation
In 1909 Olbrich helped organize the Judith Basin Land Company, a Wisconsin corporation that purchased several thousand acres in Fergus County, Montana. This was the beginning of a maze of small land and ranch companies in which he had heavy commitments. At one time or another he held stock in the Home Ranch (a sheep producing enterprise in Montana), the Bank Ranch, and the Flat Willow Land Company; and all of these corporations borrowed from or made loans to each other. The Judith Basin Land Company had disposed of much of its land prior to 1917, but four years later the Company took back several tracts for which purchasers could not pay, due to assessments as the result of organization of an irrigation district. In 1928 the Judith Basin Land Company was notified that the Board of County Commissioners had decided to take tax deed on all real property on which taxes were delinquent for three years or longer. This affected most of the Company's holdings and would have meant heavy loss to Olbrich and his associates. It was this litigation that Olbrich was deeply involved in at the time of his death.
