Old West Photograph Archives....Please Post Your Photos Here!!!!

[Dutch Limbach]

I think the fishing picture is also reversed, hard to tell with the lace up "lawn garden" shirt, but I don't think they made left handed bait casting reels that far back.  Also the belt appears to be buckled backwards.

The bow on the hatband is on the correct (left) side though.

PS- esox lucius is my favorite fish.

[Shotgun Steve]

The life of Richard J. "Diamond Dick" Tanner encompassed a noteworthy long-distance horseback ride, circus stardom as a crack shot, a medical career in Norfolk, and finally a reappearance as "the original Diamond Dick," when his claim to the title was challenged. For a complete account, see "The Variegated Life of Norfolk's Diamond Dick," by L. Boyd Finch in the Winter 2003 issue of Nebraska History.

It is difficult to pinpoint Tanner's activities as a youth until his long-distance horseback ride from Lincoln, Nebraska, to New York City and then back across country in 1893. Profiting from the publicity generated by his feat, Tanner by was appearing in frontier shows as Denver Dick, a crack marksman. As Diamond Dick he performed in circuses from 1895 until 1905. He formed his own traveling show. His shooting act was impressive, but solid evidence that Tanner performed with Buffalo Bill's Wild West (as Tanner later claimed) is missing.

In 1905 Tanner entered Cotner College (then including Lincoln Medical College) and Nebraska Wesleyan University. He received the M.D. degree in 1909 and ceased using the name Diamond Dick. In 1910 he opened a medical practice in Norfolk and began promoting his medical lectures and herbal medications.

Dr. Tanner's new career was successful, but by the early 1920s he was longing to return to show business. His reemergence as Diamond Dick at the August 28, 1925, Pioneer Days Celebration in Norfolk was a publicity success. But Tanner's claim to the title was challenged, especially by the adherents of George B. McClellan, a Kansas medicine showman who had also used the name from the 1880s to 1911.

The publicity generated by these events (as well as the ongoing popularity of Diamond Dick dime novels) allowed Tanner to build his celebrity. He invited a number of old frontier figures, including W. F. "Doc" Carver and Luther H. North, to appear with him in a Norfolk parade in mid-June 1927. The successful gathering was a validation of Tanner's identity as Diamond Dick. By the time of his death in 1943, Tanner was widely (if somewhat inaccurately) portrayed as a relic of the frontier.

Richard Tanner, a marksman and long distance rider, appropriated the name "Diamond Dick," a character in several dime novels. Tanner toured the U.S. from about 1895 to 1905 with his target-shooting act.


George W. French Legendary frontiersman Diamond Dick vintage original photo measuring 4 1/2x 6 3/8 inches. This photo is by the famous photographer George French and it is stamped with his photographers stamp on the back of the photo

[Dr. Bob]

Steve,

What a cool story and picture!  Thanks! 

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

   Steve , what Dr. Bob said, thanks for sharing pard.

     tEN wOLVES 

[WaddWatsonEllis]

The comment about knickers remainds me of the Professor's line fro 'Trouble' in the Music Man ....

Upon leaving your house, does your son immediately buckle his knickers Below The Knee?

[Shotgun Steve]

A rare Wild Bill Hickok cdv to Cowan's Upcoming Civil War / American History Featuring the West Auction, taking place June 11, 2010. The photograph, pictured above, features a rare pose of Hickok, misidentified below the portrait as "Buffalo Bill." The cdv includes the back mark of the "New River Side Gallery, Topeka, Kansas."

In the book The West of Wild Bill Hickok, Joseph G. Rosa includes two of the only known portraits based on this particular photograph, an engraving of "Wild Bill - From a Photograph," and a copy cdv of the original photograph, which was discovered in 1955. According to Rosa, the photographer of the original photograph was unknown, but the backmark indicates that the "New River Side Gallery" took this rare portrait, most likely between 1868-1870 (Rosa, 1982: 111-112).

[Dr. Bob]

Great pic!  Thanks! 

[Will Ketchum]

One thing of note, here we have a picture of a known gunman....not a pistol in sight ..Other gallery type pictures of everyday folks have them festooned with all types of armaments.

Will Ketchum

[kflach]

So in other words, the *real* gunmen carried concealed?

<grin>

p.s. Luke Short did.

[Shotgun Steve]

Clark Sherrard and Co. supposedly 400 made under contract to the state of texas,yet only 1 produced before the end of the war. I would say it is doubtful this weapon had any part in the wars termination. Barrel length 7 and 1/2".

[Shotgun Steve]

Confederate Horseman were known to use the British made.44 caliber Kerr Revolver.
No other information is available at this time.

[Shotgun Steve]

Imported from Great Britain,it is said officers liked the .44 calibre revolver. No other information available at this time.

[Shotgun Steve]

A very scarce gun...less than 500 of these Allen & Wheelock lip-fire Navy revolvers were ever produced.

This Allen & Wheelock lip-fire Navy revolver having serial number 285 is a .36 caliber lipfire percussion pistol with center hammer and a 5-inch barrel. The gun is marked Allen & Wheelock on the left side; walnut grips are numbered to the gun. The loading gate is original; all numbers are matching. The gun remains lip-fire...never having been converted to rimfire, as so many were. The gun has 75% grip varnish crazed, strong traces of original bright blue on the frame, cylinder and barrel, mechanically fine.

[Colt Fanning]

Hi,
Regarding the Allen and Wheelock revolvers with the hammer striking the cap to the right of the receiver (not in the center)?
There is one for sale locally for $500 in similar condition to the picture.  It carries 1857 pat. dates.
Regards
Colt

[Shotgun Steve]

My friend Bill sent this neat photo and I thought I would pass it on.
A picture of a hunter with a very heavy barreled 1878 Borchardt leaning on a Monster Griz, the rifle is chambered in 45-110. The Location on the picture says near the Custer Battle Field and the date is 1878 on the Picture.

[Shotgun Steve]

Doc Holliday as a dentist. (Photo courtesy of Gary Dunlap)

It's only fitting that the winner of Golden West Casino's Labor Day weekend poker tournament will win an expensive print of legendary gambler — not to mention notorious gunslinger — John Henry "Doc" Holliday.

The print is especially rare considering it shows Holliday as a dentist, his profession before tuberculosis made him turn to cards, gals and guns.

But what the cardslingers at Golden West may not know is the story behind the portrait.

In particular, they probably haven't heard the tale of how the original tintype photograph, probably taken in the 1870s, was found among garbage in the back of a 1967 Chevrolet El Camino Super Sport roughly 15 years ago and how it went on to change the lives of the local family who found it.

"Doc is my huckleberry," said Gary Dunlap, finder of the photo, referencing the famous line from the Western "Tombstone."

Dunlap, of Bodfish, was first featured in The Californianfor his lucky find in 2004. Since then, the former blue-collar hot rod upholsterer has graced a governor's home, chatted with celebs and broadened his career prospects into slot machine design and international business.

And all because of a 6-by-4 photo.

"Since Doc came into our lives it has definitely changed," Dunlap, 45, said. "He has been good to us."

THE MAN, THE MYTH

Dunlap and Holliday's lives have been touched by extreme twists of fate.

For Dunlap, fortune smiled on him when he found the photo in the car he bought for $300.

The portrait sat in his home for more than 10 years until a friend recognized the young man with the bushy mustache, haggard eyes and bowler hat.

Instead of a gun in his hand, Holliday holds extraction forceps.

"He's kind of dentistry's bad boy," said Dr. Scott Swank, curator of the Smithsonian-associated Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry at the University of Maryland. "He's an infamous dentist due to his association with the names of the West."

Holliday's fate changed when he contracted tuberculosis, a contagious bacterial infection mainly of the lungs.

He knew what tuberculosis could do, having watched his mother die of the disease.

"I don't think he really wanted to go out that way," Swank said. "He probably picked more fights than he would have if he hadn't gotten sick."

Patients didn't appreciate a dentist who continually coughed in their faces. The economy went bust in Texas, where Holliday practiced. He believed that dry, warm air would help his condition.

For all these reasons, Holliday headed West, making a living out of gambling. He would eventually become friends with the Western icon Wyatt Earp.

"They just kind of followed where the money went, where the railroads were, where the miners were," Swank said.

Swank's museum holds one of Dunlap's prints.

Dentists come in looking for something on Holliday, and it's the only thing we have," he said. "As far as we know, it is the only picture of Holliday actually holding a dental instrument."

That distinction has made prints of the photo tremendously popular.

Dunlap printed 1,000 copies of the photo shortly after learning of its significance.

The 100 larger master prints, which are printed on metallic Kodak paper, go for $75,000. The rest, which are smaller and printed on regular, high-quality paper, cost roughly $8,000.

The original tintype? Priceless, Dunlap said.

Most of the prints have been sold. Actor Kevin Costner, who played Wyatt Earp, has one, and former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn donated a master print to the Nevada State Museum. President Bush has asked for print No. 43 — He's the 43rd president — but has not paid for or collected it.

Dunlap developed a Doc Holliday "Wanted" Slot Machine, which features Holliday's face from the photo. These can be seen in casinos in Colorado, the East Coast, Asia and Africa.

He has also created postcards, and next year, a new line of products will debut, which will include a new slot machine, hats, playing cards, commemorative coins and cards that dental offices can send to patients when it's time for their next checkup.

"Don't gamble with your teeth," the brown cards read.

Through this success, Dunlap has been able to quit his upholstery business and focus on Holliday full time.

The family is building a new house, and Dunlap's wife bought a new Cadillac.

Still, the family tries "to live a very down-to-earth, humble life."

So much has gone on," Dunlap said. "And it has gone by so fast."

[Shotgun Steve]

J.Lester Wallack (1820-1888), actor and owner of Wallack Theater in New York. Photographed by Sarony, 37 Union Square, New York.

[Shotgun Steve]

An 1848 daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe was used as the model for a famous engraving of the writer, and is housed with an envelope written in Poe's hand.

[Blair]

Shotgun Steve,

All these images are pretty "cool"!
I have just one question,
How are you able to post images?
I have found no way to do this.
None, that is to say, that offers me a hint in how I can do this. Not with the access I now have?

[kflach]

So I guess this means anyone who wants to bring a dead bear to a match can now document it as being period correct?


<grin>