The James E. Taylor Album

[Shotgun Steve]

In the early 1870s, the idea of a Wild West show became popular and several plays were produced using recognizable Western figures. Headlining these dramas were such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Texas Jack Omohundro, Josephine Morlacchi and Wild Bill Hickok. The plays recreated various Western adventures in a loosely organized form. Hickok was especially interested in keeping people on their toes and liked to shoot off live ammunition when he got bored. Eventually these productions evolved into the famous outdoor Wild West Shows staring Cody, but on Taylor's "Border Drama" page (above), one can glimpse the cast of an early and now forgotten play. Of particular note is the unique original tintype of Wild Bill Hickok (right), cropped from a group portrait of the rest of the troup.

While we do not yet know if Taylor used these images in an illustration, he certainly used other rare portraits in his collection. His scrapbook includes two other tintypes, one of Miss Josephine Meeker, Mrs. Flora Price and her children, and another of Major Thomas Thornburgh. All were involved in a brief but bloody conflict with the Ute Indians in the region of present-day Utah.

In 1879 Nathan Meeker, a government agent for the Utes, repeatedly attempted to persuade the Indians to become a farming community with little luck. Fearing trouble, Meeker asked for military assistance and, in response, Major Thornburgh and his troups were dispatched. Upon seeing the military, the Utes believed they had been sent to take their lands and a battle ensued. Thornburgh and many of his men were killed. At the agency outpost, Meeker and eleven others were killed and several hostages were taken including his daughter Josephine. Their lives were spared only because of her appeals to the Indians. As can be seen on these pages, Taylor used the tintypes to illustrate these events, accurately copying the source images.

[Books OToole]

Great picture Steve.

The one fly in the oniment is the top center photograph of "Kit Carson."  The problem is that when Carson was that young, photography had not yet been invented.

Aside from that it is a great montage.

Books

[Irish Dave]

Look close, Booksy, it reads "Kit Carson Jr."

[Shotgun Steve]

 I enlarged the photo fellas, and I still can't make the name out..but it looks
like "Jim Sherman" or "Jim Sheleen" alias "Kit Carson Jr". He must have been an actor that portrayed Kit Carson Jr??
Can anyone else read the writing to the left of the photo any better then I can?

[Books OToole]

Looks close, Booksy, it reads "Kit Carson Jr."

I've seen the photo elsewhere listed as "Kit Carson."  It always makes me shout bul....t!

Jr. Huh.  --  Kit didn't have a son that I recolect.
[Probably some wanabe.  There were a bunch of those.]

An actor?  Well that sorta makes sense.

Books