Indians of North America -- Great Plains Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Tintypes
Chromolithographs
Lithographs
Prints
Pages
Photographs
Newspapers
Woodcuts
Place:
Mexico
Taos Pueblo (N.M.)
California
Oregon
Fort Davis (Tex.)
New Mexico
Fort Snelling (Minn.)
Arizona
Texas
San Juan Pueblo (N.M.)
Zuni (N.M.)
Kansas
Colorado
Date:
circa 1863-1900
Summary:
Scrapbook entitled "Our Wild Indians in Peace and War: Surveys, Expeditions, Mining and Scenery of the Great West," compiled by James E. Taylor, possibly as a source for his own illustrations.
Scope and Contents:
Scrapbook entitled "Our Wild Indians in Peace and War: Surveys, Expeditions, Mining and Scenery of the Great West," compiled by James E. Taylor, possibly as a source for his own illustrations. The album includes photographs (mostly albumen with three tintypes), newsclippings, wood engravings, and lithographs, some of which are reproductions of Taylor's own illustrations and paintings. Photographs depict American Indians, US Army soldiers and scouts, historical sites, forts, and scenery. Some were made on expeditions, including the Hayden and Powell surveys, and created from published stereographs. Many of Taylor's illustrations are signed, and some are inscribed with dates and "N. Y." The scrapbook also includes clippings from newspapers and other written sources relating to illustrations and photographs in the album.
Biographical Note:
James E. Taylor (1839-1901) was an artist-correspondent for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper from 1863-1883. Born in Cincinatti, Ohio, he graduated from Notre Dame University by the age of sixteen. Taylor enlisted in the 10th New York Infantry in 1861 and the next year was hired by Leslie's Illustrated newspaper as a "Special Artist" and war correspondent. In 1864 he covered the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and was later one of the illustrator-correspondents at the 1867 treaty negotiations at Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He soon earned the moniker "Indian Artist" because of his vast number of drawings of American Indians. In 1883 Taylor retired from Leslie's to work as a freelance illustrator. Colonel Richard Irving Dodge used Taylor's drawings to illustrate his memoir, "Our Wild Indians: Thirty-three Years' Personal Experience among the Red Men of the Great West" (1882).
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 4605
Related Materials:
The National Anthropolgical Archives holds additional photographs by photographers represented in this collection (including original negatives for some of these prints), particularly in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 37, Photo Lot 60, Photo Lot 87.
Additional photographs by Whitney, Gardner, and Barry held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 80-18.
Julian Vannerson and James E. McClees photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4286.
Pywell photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 4498.
O'Sullivan photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo lot 4501.
Additional Hillers photographs held in National Anthropological Archives Photo Lot 83-18 and Photo Lot 87-2N.
Provenance:
Donated or transferred by John Witthoft from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, April 14, 1961.
The collection is largely composed of photographs depicting Plains Indians, many of whom took part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Depicted individuals include Young Man Afraid of His Horse, Low Dog, Good Horse, Clear Eyes, Rain in the Face, Crow Flies High, Trail Hunter, Sitting Bull, Crow King, Red Cloud, White Faces, Running Antelope, Red Girl, Curly, John Grass, Gall, Spotted Tail, and a group of Ghost Dancers. There are also images of Barry, General Custer, the horse Comanche, and Buffalo Bill.
Biographical/Historical note:
David Frances Barry (1854-1934) was a photographer based in Bismarck, Dakota Territory, who is most noted for his photographs of famous American Indians. In 1878, he was hired by itinerant photographer O. S. Goff, with whom he eventually partnered. From 1878 to 1883, Barry traversed the Dakota Territory, making many of his most widely known photographs of American Indians, forts and battlefields, military officers, and other people in the region. In 1883, Barry opened a new studio in Bismarck, where he began photographing members of Cody's Wild West Show.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot R81-71
Reproduction Note:
Copy prints made by Smithsonian Institution, 1981.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Additional photographs by Barry, as well as originals of images in this collection, can be found in the National Anthropological Archives in Photo Lot 24, Photo Lot 80-18, Photo Lot 87-2P, Photo Lot 90-1, MS 4559, and the BAE historical negatives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
This copy collection has been obtained for reference purposes only. Contact the repository for terms of use and access.
Photograph made from a tintype depicting Texas Jack Omohundro, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickok, with two other men, probably Eugene Overton and Elisha Green. The men wear fringed buckskins and hats and carry rifles.
Biographical/Historical note:
In fall 1873, Wild Bill Hickok joined Buffalo Bill Cody and Texas Jack Omohundro in the western melodrama, "Scouts of the Plains." In March 1874, he quit the show and returned to the frontier.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 81-17
Reproduction Note:
Copy print probably made by Joseph G. Rosa, 1981.
General note:
Information on original tintype taken from February 7, 1981 letter from Joseph G. Rosa, Wild Bill Hickok biographer.
Location of Other Archival Materials:
Digital surrogate held by Denver Public Library.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Photo lot 81-17, Photograph of frontier celebrities in "Scouts of the Plains", National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
