The nature of my research was to try and determine the origin of the genre of American school band music, and band director training. There is evidence in writings that suggest the genre originated in the small town of Friendship, New York, in the mid-19th century by a man named James Baxter. He built the Baxter University of Music in Friendship, NY, and the school operated from 1853 to sometime in 1883. It attracted a wide variety of students from across the United States, its territories, and Canada, and even by today's standards had an incredibly rigorous curriculum. It was also the first school of its kind west of the Appalachian Mountains, and over its lifetime, many men and women graduated from this school. The school also had its own publishing company and produced and sold music texts not only for the school but for others interested in music across the United States during this time.