These fantastic hand written Letters cover the period from September 22, 1884 to October 12, 1885 and range in size from 4 3/4″ by 8″ to 8″ by 11″. Each letter contains at least 4 pages but many are much longer – some as long as 16 pages. Some of the Letters include additional “insert” Letters written by the Whitman children to their Grandmother. Nine of the Letters retain their original envelopes (all stamps have been clipped).

These simply amazing and very rare, South American Letters came to us with a simply fascinating archive of Documents and Photographs spanning 3 generations of the Reverend Jason Whitman Family. Reverend Whitman was the son of Trinitarian minister Bernard Whitman and brother of Unitarian Ministers Nathaniel and Bernard Whitman. His son Bernard Whitman was an engineer and builder of Railroads who worked in South America building some of the earliest Railroads constructed there. Bernard died in Bogota while building Columbia’s first Railroad in 1885. Jason also had a son John Fairfield Whitman who served in the United States Navy during and after the Civil War and played an important roll in the Battle of Natural Bridge near Tallahassee, Florida. Much of the archive deals with the family of Bernard the younger and his wife Minnie Huntington Whitman who returned from South America with her children after her husband’s death and became a close associate of American Author and Unitarian Minister Edward Everett Hale working with Hale in the administration of Hale’s charitable organization known as the “Lend a Hand Society”.

While we have read only a smattering of pages from this extensive and rich collection of manuscript material, we have been amazed at the detail of daily life that Minnie Whitman communicates to her mother. She writes extensively about just what it is like for an American Family to live in Bogota in the 1880′s and does an amazing job capturing the “feel” of the city and the surrounding area. While nearly all of the Letters are written from Bogota there are a few from Barranquilla and Colon as the Family did travel while living in South America. This was not the first trip to South America building Railroads for Barnard Whitman, but it would be his last – he died of disease just one month after the last letter in this group was written.

The Letters offered here are a simply priceless treasure trove of information on 19th century South American history and culture and give a wonderful insight into just what it was like for an American family with young children to live in the city of Bogota.

All of the 34 Letters offered here are in very good condition. The hand writing is dark and bold and the penmanship very good making the letters easily readable. There is some scattered soiling and minor ink spots and the 9 envelopes included are rather worn but the Letters themselves are very well preserved and will reward the buyer with hours and hours of fascinating reading!! These Letters are fresh to the market and represent the entire archive from this period in the life of the Bernard Whitman – they are mostly unread and unpicked through and offer a wonderful chance for research!!

A fantastic archive of 34 Hand Written Letters dating from 1884 and 1885 written by Mrs. Minnie Hamilton Whitman from Bogota, Columbia while living there with her husband, Railroad Construction Engineer Bernard Whitman and their children and a fantastic addition to any collection!!

Pictured here we have an exceptionally rare and original, 1820′s large size, Hand Sewn 24 Star American Flag.

The Flag came to us without information on its origin,  but we know that the 24 Star Flag was in use from July 4th, 1822 (after Missouri joined the Union) until July 4th, 1836 (when Arkansas became the 25th state). Although this was a rather long period, 24 Star Flags are among the very rarest and most sought after by collectors.

The outstanding research website “Rare Flags” by Anthony Iasso has this to say about the 24 Star Flag:

“Period flags in this star count are extremely rare. Although the period for 24 stars lasted for a relatively long time, flags in this star count are extremely rare, since militarily the nation was at peace and flag making for home use was uncommon. Some flags were made during this period to welcome Lafayette on his visit to the United States in 1824, but of the few flags that are believed to be from this period, possibly to celebrate that event, most feature 13 stars”.

He also states:

“Flags that pre-date the American Civil War are very rare. Those in certain star counts, such as this flag of 24 stars, are almost non-existent… Both 24 and 25 star flags are exceedingly rare, with just a small handful known to survive. Although among collectors smaller flags are generally more sought after, I’m personally very attached to these majestic large ship’s flags from the early-to-mid 19th century. Flags of this period were almost never made for personal use. The few survivors of the period were typically made for maritime or Navy use. They show the age and character of that time in American history where our sailing ships traveled the world, building up our nation’s trade and influence. These large flags were grand signals of our national presence, and they were often the first recognizably American symbol that people in foreign ports, unfamiliar with America itself, came to recognize as the symbol of our nation.”

Click Here to view one of the few surviving 24 Star Flags which is amazingly similar to the example offered here!!

This particular 24 star Hand Made American Flag measures approx. 140″ by 85″ and is made of strips of red and white wool bunting type material with a blue canton with inserted white cotton stars. Every bit of the extensive stitching on this beautiful and historically important Flag is hand sewn including all of the repairs and patches.

This Flag was not a factory production piece but a very large Flag made for a particular purpose likely as a Ship’s Flag. Although this Flag was official from 1822 to 1836, it was a period of peace and, since American Flags were not made for “home” use at the time, very few flags with this star count were made. We are told that 24 Star Flags are “almost non-existent” and only a small handful are known to have survived.

There no grommets on the hoist of the Flag but rather there is an original, braided rope cord sewn into the hoist with loops in the end of the cord for mounting the Flag on a pole or mast. There are 2 holes in the hoist – one near the top and one near the bottom. The borders of these holes have been hand sewn to create a reinforced “cloth grommet” There is a period, manuscript inscription in iron gall ink on the hoist that reads “4 yds” – indicating that the Flag is 4 yards long. The canton measures approx. 74″ by 47″. The 24 stars are arranged in four rows with 6 stars in each row.

This is an exceptionally rare and historically important, 1820′s large size, Hand Sewn 24 Star American Flag and worthy of a place at the very center of even the most advanced Museum quality Collection! We are thrilled to have been able to have it if only for a brief time!!

ORIGINAL 1820′s HAND SEWN 24 STAR AMERICAN FLAG – EXCEPTIONALLY RARE SHIP’S FLAG

For more information, please see our eBay listings.

The Photograph depicts a scene on Broadway – the main street of Larned, Kansas – in the background we see a row of store fronts with a raised, wooden sidewalk. We can see signs for a Druggist, a Harness Shop and a barber shop. The street is, obviously, unpaved and we can see wood hitching post in front of the stores and one in the foreground of the Photo.

It appears that some type of macabre joke was staged on Broadway in Larned – there are two “graves” in the foreground, complete with boots protruding from the dirt and hats respectfully laid atop the mounds of earth. There are easily readable, hand lettered wood Tombstones marking the “graves”. One reads “In Memory of N. B. Freeland, Vene (sic) Vidi Vici”, the other “Chronoscope / In Memory of R. H. Ballinger Sic Semper Tyrannis”.

We purchased this amazing Western Americana Image without having the slightest idea what was going on here – it looked like the “Boot Hill Cemetery” had moved to the main street of Larned!! Some extensive and detailed internet research and some help from the folks at the Santa Fe Trail Center at Larned, Kansas finally uncovered the “tale of the Old West” that culminated in the scene depicted in this Photograph.

We were able to discover that both Freeland and Ballinger were very prominent Pioneer Citizens of Larned. Freeland was an Attorney and Ballinger (also an attorney) owned and edited the local “Chronoscope” Newspaper – a decidedly Republican Party leaning publication. Ballinger had studied Law in the office of Abraham Lincoln and was known to claim that he was the first to recognize Lincoln’s potential as a political candidate. Both Freeland and Ballinger served honorably during the Civil War – Freeland from 1861 to 1866 as a private in the 28th Illinois Volunteer Infantry seeing many battles and Ballinger from 1861 to 1864 first in the 3rd Illinois Cavalry and later as a Colonel of the Third Mississippi Colored Regiment (who saw duty mostly as a “Home Guard” Regiment).

Try as we could, however, we could not uncover the circumstances that led to the “burial” of these two prominent citizens on the main street in a scene right out of Tombstone or Deadwood!! A letter of inquiry to Dan Grzesiak, the Curator of the Santa Fe Trail Center in Larned, Kansas and his kindness finally uncovered just what was going on here. We have appended some early newspaper stories about the incident to this post (see below) but will summarize the events here. It is a story that could only happen in the American West of the 19th century and stands front and center as an example of the “character” and “characters” that have formed our perception of what life in the early West was all about.

It seems that in 1882 Mr. Ballinger and Mr. Freeland had some type of disagreement. One account says it was over payment of a Bill and another account (a more likely scenario) states that Mr. Ballinger published something in the Chronoscope that offended the sensibilities of Mr. Freeland. In either case the two men confronted each other on the muddy main street of Larned and engaged in a rather comedic “fight” that was described as follows:

“Ballinger struck out at Freeland, when a running fight ensued which lasted five or ten minutes, both combatants finally tumbling into the gutter in front of George Leasure’s confectionery stand, where they wallowed in about three inches of mud and water until they were parted. It is said that they fought two rounds, Freeland scoring one on the first round by downing Ballinger, and Ballinger scoring one on the second by downing Freeland. When parted both were panting and puffing like mad bulls, were thickly plastered with mud and presented a most ridiculous aspect from the fact that neither sustained the least injury, not a scar or a scratch being visible upon either of their persons. Those who witnessed the affray say they fought like a couple of old women, and that the encounter from beginning to end was too utterly ridiculous for anything.”

The townsfolk could not let the two “prominent” citizens escape with their dignity and there ensued a “pageant” which was thoroughly enjoyed by all (well at least by most). On the evening of the fight a “mock” memorial service and funeral were held in front of the mud puddle where the two men “fought” and “died”. The store fronts were draped in black and eulogies were given to the delight of the many attendees. After some shared libations and a rasher of good natured ridicule, the crowd dispersed for the night – a good time was had by all!!

Those rising early the next morning found the site of the “fight” decorated as it is seen in the Photograph offered here. You will note that the streets are empty of horse or human and the Photo was surely taken in the very early morning hours. Another Newspaper story tells of the events of that morning:

“Two graves were fashioned from this dirt in front of the grocery where they controversy had occurred. And the jokers had Freeland and Ballinger die with their boots on for from each grave protruded a pair of boots. At the heads of the graves were boards that bore suitable inscriptions. The board at the head of Mr. Freeland’s grave carried unreadable Latin phrases for Freeland was quite an orator and would often display his knowledge of the dead language.
The perpetrators of the joke gathered early the next morning to witness the effect upon the principals of viewing their own graves. To Mr. Freeland, who arrived on the scene first, the affair was a laughable travesty but to Mr. Ballinger it was a deplorable tragedy and he immediately proceeded to remove the signboard from his grave.”

A special Thank You to Dan Grzesiak, the Curator of the Santa Fe Trail Center in Larned, Kansas for the following excerpts from local Newspapers regarding the events depicted in the Photograph:

Thursday, July 1, 1909;
An Early day Episode

When Two Prominent Citizens Were “Buried” on Broadway.
Whenever several old settlers of Pawnee County are together and get to reviewing old times, one of the remarks sure to be made sooner or later is “Were you here that time they buried Ballinger and Freeland on Broadway?” And the laugh which always follows shows it was one of the notable frolics of those early years before people were burdened with enormous wheatcrops and bank accounts, and found time for a little “liveliness” as they “walked by the way.”Councilman A. W. Swan was looking over some old clippings last week and among those carefully preserved was one from the Larned Eagle-Optic of some twenty-five or thirty years ago, giving a description of the incident of the “burial” and the events which led up to it. The article is written in a seriocomic vein and is unsigned but Net Adams has always been credited with writing the piece, and so far as we know has never even attempted to prove an alibi. We produce the article in full for the benefit of our readers:

A TRAGEDY IN THREE ACTS.

ACT I

The difficulty between N. B. Freeland, Esq., and R. H. Ballinger, editor of the Chronoscope, culminated Tuesday in an attack upon the former by the latter and subsequently a burlesque funeral and burial on Broadway. The parties met in front of Lee Ainsworth’s meat market, and after a short conversation concerning a bill, Ballinger struck out at Freeland, when a running fight ensued which lasted five or ten minutes, both combatants finally tumbling into the gutter in front of George Leasure’s confectionery stand, where they wallowed in about three inches of mud and water until they were parted. It is said that they fought two rounds, Freeland scoring one on the first round by downing Ballinger, and Ballinger scoring one on the second by downing Freeland. When parted both were panting and puffing like mad bulls, were thickly plastered with mud and presented a most ridiculous aspect from the fact that neither sustained the least injury, not a scar or a scratch being visible upon either of their persons. Those who witnessed the affray say they fought like a couple of old women, and that the encounter from beginning to end was too utterly ridiculous for anything.

ACT II

The second act opened about three hours later on the scene of the battleground. A long sign-board which read: “Last remains of Ballinger and Freeland – Rest in Peace,” was erected over the mud hole where the heroes fell, black drapery was hung promiscuously over the hitching posts, awning poles, etc., and a general air of gloom and sadness pervaded the scene. The spot was visited by a large number of our citizens, and remarks of sympathy for the dead and condolence for the surviving members of the warriors’ families were general and heartfelt. The scene called up reminiscences. Friends gathered in little knots to tell how valiantly Ballinger had fought during the war as colonel of the colored home guards of Illinois – that gallant little band which stayed at home to take care of the women while all the men were away fighting the rebels – what daring raids he made upon hen-roosts and pig-stys, scouring the country sometimes as much as two or three miles from town, and striking terror to the hearts of turkey-gobblers and bantam roosters – how many bloody battles he would have been in had he ever been ordered to the front to fight and couldn’t by any possible means have escaped the call – and finally to express their regret that he at last “died with his boots on.” Of Freeland it was said that he served during the same war as high private in the front rank, fought gallantly and bravely for the country which boasts with pride of the “Star Spangled Banner,” and the spread-eagle of freedom, that from exposure he contracted disease which sent him home at the close of the war an invalid for life, only to be ruthlessly murdered by a fellow comrade, but to his honor it was said that he also “died with his boots on,” fighting with his face to the foe. When night gathered her sable robes of darkness over the scene, a hush fell upon the multitude. They were in the presence of death. The occasion was a doleful one. The funeral services were about to begin. Torches were brought forth draped in mourning, and their fitful light cast a lurid glare over the sacred mud-hole, cutting sharp, black shadowy lines here and there, and otherwise increasing the mournful solemnity of the scene. Flags which both fought so gallantly to carry with “Sherman to the Sea,” (Ballinger did his fighting in Illinois to keep down the bantam roosters) were hung at halfmast. An empty dry goods box was confiscated to do service as a rostrum, a funeral sermon preached, the brass band played a couple of doleful pieces, the friends of the deceased weeped a few bucketfuls of tears into the mudhole, and the congregation sadly dispersed to their several homes, to dream about the fearful tragedy and see ghosts stalking over their bed-clothes and straddling the foot and head-boards until morning.

ACT III

Wednesday morning dawned clear and bright. Not a cloud obscured the horizon. Silence reigned supreme. The scene again opened upon the sanguine battleground of the day before. Devoted friends had been at work during the night – presumable the Hyperions. Two neatly constructed mounds of earth marked the last resting place of the dead. Broadway had the appearance of “Boot Heel Cemetery.” It is said that the warriors were buried where they fell because the pieces of the mingled remains were not large enough to remove. The two graves were made side by side, and it is supposed that the corpses were shoveled in and buried without much regard to ceremony. The foot board of one of the graves bore the initials “R. H. B.,” and the head-board was inscribed on one side, “R. H. Ballinger. Died with boots on.” On the other side, “Chronoscope. In Memory of R. H. Ballinger. Sic Semper Tyrannis” – (may this ever be the fate of tyrants.) On the foot-board of the other grave were the initials, “N. B.” and a little “f,” one of the boys who had a musical education claiming that the victim died B flat. On one side of the head-board was inscribed, “In Memory of N. B. Freeland, Pro Bono Publico” – (for the public good.) On the other side, “In Memory of N. B. Freeland. Veni, Vini, Vici,” (I came, I saw, I conquered.) The toes of a couple of boots stuck out at the foot of each grave, indication that as they died so they were buried, “with their boots on,” also that they had been interred face-upwards, in a civilized manner. Empty beer bottles were arranged around the head of Ballinger’s grave, emblems, probably, of his “weakness” while a cumberer of this earth, and for the further purpose of lending an additional charm to the surroundings. Early visitors were struck by the picturesque scene and were moved to tears. Streams of people visited the new graves, read the inscriptions and dropped a tear for the departed. Later in the day, however, some ruthless hand pulled up the head-boards, kicked over the beer bottles, and otherwise desecrated the graves, and today the busy traffic on Broadway passes to and fro over the sacred spots, the dead are forgotten, and the tragic scene of blood and carnage is fast fading out of the minds of our people. Such is life. Requiescat in pace.

…………………

The Tiller & Toiler
Friday, October 13, 1916

This Was Long Ago In Larned

A picture of two graves in the streets of Larned was found recently in Mylon, Utah, and mailed by the commercial club of that city to E. E. Frizell. It was after N. B. Freeland and R. H. Ballinger, two early day citizens quarreled and threatened each other in very expressive language and then failed to make good on their threats, that a bunch of local wags constructed the two graves in the street, a very grave sort of joke, indeed. That was long and long ago. It is said that a traveling man in town that day asked about the graves and was told that the dead were usually planted in such fashion until enough bodies had accumulated to warrant carting them to the cemetery and interring them in the proper manner. The traveling man left for other parts hurriedly, it is said. Several pictures of the two graves are owned in Larned, and Comrade Smith has the original plate.

……………..

The Tiller and Toiler
Thursday, June 15, 1922

The old talk of the two empty graves in Larned’s Broadway is a familiar one but oft repeating has not detracted from the interest. Prosecution and care were hot on the heels of newspaper editors then as well as now, for when Dick Ballinger, who edited the Chronoscope at the time, saw fit to get personal in his sheet, Mr. Freeland, the object of the remarks, strenuously objected. He accosted Ballinger the day after publication of the article. His ire was roused and his fists clenched. But Ballinger was unafraid. For a while they sparred but brotherly affections seemed to gain the upper hand and nobody got hurt.
Practical jokers were alive at that date and so it came to pass that Charley Valk, drayman, was engaged to supply two loads of fresh dirt for the miscreants. Two graves were fashioned from this dirt in front of the grocery where they controversy had occurred. And the jokers had Freeland and Ballinger die with their boots on for from each grave protruded a pair of boots. At the heads of the graves were boards that bore suitable inscriptions. The board at the head of Mr. Freeland’s grave carried unreadable Latin phrases for Freeland was quite an orator and would often display his knowledge of the dead language. The perpetrators of the joke gathered early the next morning to witness the effect upon the principals of viewing their own graves. To Mr. Freeland, who arrived on the scene first, the affair was a laughable travesty but to Mr. Ballinger it was a deplorable tragedy and he immediately proceeded to remove the signboard from his grave.

…………………

Pictured above is an  original, 1863 Battle of Gettysburg / Civil War subject CDV Photograph, which was sold to support those children orphaned by the Civil War. This fascinating  CDV is titled “The Children of the Battle Field” and features a fantastic Albumen Photograph taken from the famous Ambrotype Photograph which was originally found clutched in the hands of an unidentified Union Soldier who died on the Battle Field at Gettysburg.

The three young children pictured here are identified in printed text on the card mount below the photo as “Frank. / Fredrick. / Alice.”. Printed text on the back of the mount reads: “The Children of the Battlefield. / This is a copy of the Ambrotype found in the hands of Sergeant Humiston of the 154th Regiment of New York Volunteers, as he lay dead on the Battle-Field of Gettysburg. The copies are sold in furtherance of the national Sabbath School to found in Pennsylvania an Asylum for dependent Orphans of Soldiers in memorial of our Perpetuated Union”. Further text on the reverse reads “This Picture is private property and cannot be copied without wrongdoing the Soldier’s Orphans for whom it is published”.

Here is a “Sketch” written in 1863 detailing the story of “The Children of the Battlefield”:

“Few readers of the public journals will fail to remember that, after the battle of Gettysburg, a dead soldier was found on the field, clasping in his hand an ambrotype of his three little children. No other incident of the present fratricidal war is known to have so touched the heart of the nation. For months after the battle, the soldier’s name, and the home of his family, were a mystery. The ambrotype found within his clasped hands was obtained by J. Francis Bourns, M.D., of Philadelphia, who had the picture photographed, in the hope that its circulation might lead to the discovery of the family, and the soldier’s own recognition, and, at the same time, that the sales of the copies might result in a fund for the support and education of the little ones thus left fatherless. Publicity was also given to the incident in many newspapers throughout the country. From various quarters letters of affecting inquiry were soon received; but still the mystery of the soldier was unsolved. At length, in the month of November, a letter arrived with the intelligence that a soldier’s wife at a little town on the Allegheny River, in Western New York, had seen the account of the picture in a religious paper, the American Presbyterian, of Philadelphia, – a single copy of which was taken in the place. She had sent her husband such a picture, and had not heard from him since the sanguinary struggle at Gettysburg. With trembling anxiety she awaited the reply and the coming of the picture. A copy of it came, and was the identical likeness of her own children, and told the painful story that she was a widow and her little ones were orphans. The unknown soldier was thus ascertained to be Amos Humiston, late of Portville, Cattaraugus county, New York, sergeant in the 154th N.Y. Volunteers.”.

A glass plate showing the aftermath of The Battle of Gettysburg titled “A Harvest of Death.” This image was taken by Timothy H. O’Sullivan for Alexander Gardner circa July 5-6, 1863. It is courtesy of the Library of Congress.

For more information, please see our eBay listing.

This volume is the first published “code-book” relating to telecommunications in the United States and is one of only 3 known copies in existence (Worldcat finds one example at Harvard’s Houghton Library and one other held by the Peabody Essex Museum). The system of communication was devised and this Volume written by Samuel Chester Reid, an officer in the United States Navy who commanded a privateer during the War of 1812. He is also noted as having submitted to Congress the design of the flag of the United States, which first established the rule of keeping thirteen stripes and adding one star for each U.S. state in 1818. Reid’s design is still in use today.

This exceptionally rare, Merchant Shipping / Nautical Code Volume measures approx. 3 3/4” by 6” and contains 72 profusely illustrated pages. The first section of the Volume is titled “Description of the Telegraph and the Manner in Which it Communicates With the Shipping in the Lower Harbour”. These 11 pages detail (with text and illustrations) the form and function of the Optical Telegraph located at Sandy Hook on Staten Island which was used to relay messages to and from ships entering the harbor of New York and the Merchants’ Exchange Building in Manhattan.

Within these first pages there is a complete detailing of the positions of the mechanical parts of the Telegraph that represent each letter of the alphabet. The text tell of the manner in which the Telegraph first identifies which ship it wishes to communicate with (New York’s lower harbor was a busy place in 1822 with many ships coming and going), the manner in which the subsequent communication is to be made and the manner in which the ship would be able to communicate with the Telegraph Station.

Of special interest in this Volume are the next 52 pages titled “Signals” which presents a VERY detailed code to be used by the Vessels when communicating with the Telegraph. By the use of a combination of flags commonly found on all merchant ships along with a black ball, a vast array of information can be conveyed through vertical combinations of the signal flags and ball flown from the flag staff or other pole.

The ships ensign (in most cases a variation of the National Flag), the jack, pendant and burgee along with a square white flag and the black ball were all that was need to communicate everything from “I want a cable” to “I have several persons on board taken from a wreck” to “My crew is so exhausted that they are unable to work the vessel up”.

There are specific communications meant to be relayed to the individual ship’s owners as well as general news and communications and specific needs and desires of the ship’s masters and crew. Each message is illustrated with the combinations of flags and ball that represent that message and these illustrations use the flags of an American vessels – hence the American Naval Flag, the star jack and the American Flag form pennant!!

This exceptionally rare and wonderful Volume is a treasure trove on information regarding the state of the U.S. Merchant Marine Fleet of the early 19th century as well as a fantastic insight into what types of communication were deemed important and how that information was communicated in the years before ship to shore telegraph / radio. Also included are “signals” that could be used by the ships in the harbor to communicate with each other!!

At the back of the Volume is a “Telegraphic List of Vessels” which is a part printed and part manuscript list of all of the American Merchant Ships along with their one or two letter designation for identification and communication purposes. The list is extensive with many Ships and Brigs printed into the original work but with many of the two letter designations left bland and with the names of other ships added in manuscript as they joined the merchant fleet.

This historically important Volume is bound in its original half red leather and marble boards which are intact and sound with some edge wear and a partial split at the bottom of the front hinge.  There is extensive, period manuscript entries in the List of vessels at the rear that appear to be all in the same hand.

For more information, please see our eBay listing.

An early Billings, Montana photographer, Alfred Baumgartner had a studio on Minnesota Avenue which opened in 1906 and closed just a few years later. Little is known of his work except that he was certainly a true Western Photographer – had a “cowgirl” in his employ at the studio and most of his surviving works are in studio portraits of local Billings, Montana residents. We recently purchased a small collection of simply fantastic and stunningly beautiful, Art Photo style portraits of Native American Crow who lived on the expansive Crow Indian Reservation south of Billings, that were taken and copyrighted in 1906 by Alfred Baumgartner.

As far as we can tell Baumgartner, never published this or any of the Crow Images in this wonderful collection as we can find only a single example of a Native American Photograph by Baumgartner in any museum or library collection (that photograph is of Crow Chief Plenty Coups and is held in the collection of the Yellowstone Western Heritage Center- image can be found here). We believe this beautiful Photograph may be the only known example or at the very least exceptionally rare.

Each Photograph in this collection is very much in the style of Carl Moon with a soft, warm “feel” to the Image and a respectful treatment of the subject, and most features a wonderfully appropriate and beautiful painted backdrop and the high quality and stunning beautiful, embossed card mount that complete the artistic presentation. There is text in a number of the negatives, or stamped on the recto, that reads “Baumgartner Studio, Billings, Mont.”.

Studio full length Photographic seated portrait of an unidentified Crow Woman    dressed in a beautiful, elk tooth tunic and wearing a multi-strand necklace and agency blanket.

 Photographic portrait of an unidentified Crow Warrior dressed in traditional garb with an elaborate, multi-strand necklace and with typical Crow hair style along with his wife. Also in the Photo is a second Crow brave dressed in much more western style clothing with his wife and young child . (We feel that we have seen this Crow Brave at the left before but we have been unable to identify him. Any information regarding his identity would be greatly appreciated.)

Studio full length portrait Photograph of an unidentified Crow Warrior dressed in traditional garb with an elaborate, multi-strand necklace and with typical Crow hair style. (We feel that we have seen this Crow Brave before but we have been unable to identify him. Any information regarding his identity would be greatly appreciated.)

This Photograph is a half figure, studio portrait of Strikes the Iron dressed in a wonderful, elk tooth tunic.  (The subject is not identified but the wife of Chief Plenty Coups was photographed numerous times in her life and she is easily recognizable.)

This Photograph is a full figure, studio portrait of the Plenty Coups and his wife Strikes the Iron dressed in a combination of traditional and western garb with Plenty Coups wearing his full eagle feather war bonnet and a pipe bone breastplate.

More information on Chief Plenty Coups:

The last traditional Chief of the Crow Nation, Plenty Coups was a visionary that led his people from the ‘Buffalo Days’ into the 20th century. He was an accomplished statesman and ambassador well known by several US Presidents and foreign leaders. Chief Plenty Coups best illustrated the close bond between the US and Crow Nation when, in 1921, he offered his war bonnet and coups sticks at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In his speech, he promised the allegiance of Crow warriors to fight any enemy of the United States. His promise has been upheld countless times in wars or armed conflicts since that gathering. The Chief was a leader by example – he was a productive farmer and stockman, expert steward of his 1885 allotment, and a supporter of education. In 1928 Plenty Coups and his wife, Strikes the Iron, willed their home and land as a place for all cultures to come together in a cooperative nature. Their homestead is now Montana’s Chief Plenty Coups State Park. The Chief did not dedicate this location to glorify himself or his deeds, but to honor the culture of the Crow Nation and to bring people together.

For more information, please see our eBay listing.

This Photograph has absolutely no identification, nor a photographer’s mark but our extensive online research turned up the fascinating story of this wonderful image. As far as the photographer is concerned, we know that Warren King Morehead (pictured at the left) was the only news reporter on site in the days following Wounded Knee that had “his own photographer”. There is some confusion in many of the pictures associated with Morehead, because on top of having “his own photographer”, he also in many instances took photos himself. In this particular case it appears most likely that Morehead engaged one of the few photographers who were present at Pine Ridge in the days following the “Battle”, all of whom were employed by George Trager.

The Photo is a truly amazing tableaux with Warren King Moorehead seated wearing a revolver in a holster attached to a belt loaded with cartridges. A large caliber, double barreled shotgun leans against a clock behind Mooreheads chair. Pine Ridge and Deadwood, South Dakota Deputy U. S. Marshall George Bartlett sits at a table writing furiously. Bartlett also has a substantial six gun in a holster at his belt and a beautiful, Winchester Repeating rifle on the table in front of him. The Indian Police Sentry also wears a revolver in a holster on rig studded with cartridges and holds his Springfield rifle in front of him. This room is cluttered but certainly chock full of weapons with a large caliber rifle leaning against the wall behind the unidentified gentleman and another rifle on the desk to the right of Moorehead.

We were able to identify the folks in this Photograph from the caption printed under the Newspaper illustration taken directly from the Image. The caption reads: “Where the graphic dispatches which have appeared in the daily press during the past fortnight where written. The figure on the left is the writer of the accompanying article. The Indian police sentry on the right was guarding the ravine back of the house and was called in to be photographed”. The accompanying article was written by Moorehead (thus identifying him in the photo) and we could easily identify Bartlett (from other portraits) who was Moorehead’s friend and Indian language translator. The location was somewhat of a mystery until we discovered a photograph published on page 124 of the volume titled “Eyewitness at Wounded Knee” (Jensen, Paul and Carter; Nebraska State Historical Society, 1991). That image shows Marshall George Bartlett standing in front of the combination Post Office and Store owned by Louis Mousseau with its small attached log cabin residence. The caption led us to believe that the Image offered here was taken in the residence of Mousseau. That caption reads “The first news stories of the killings at Wounded Knee were written in the small log cabin shown here, just behind the Wounded Knee Post Office… The small cabin was the home of Louis Mousseau, a French-mixed blood, who operated the combination Post Office and store. This was the nucleus of a small community. There was a day school, a little used Presbyterian church and a nearby dance lodge. George Bartlett (standing) had a financial interest in the store.”. The caption to this photograph seems to identify the location of the Photo offered here (by its reference to the earliest reports of Wounded Knee and the connection with George Bartlett) but also likely identifies the unknown white man in the image as the owner of the home – Louis Mousseau.

George E. Bartlett was a quite fascinating character – a U.S. Marshal for Pine Ridge Agency as well as for a city west of there already infamous as Deadwood, South Dakota. Bartlett had worked as a sales representative for the gunpowder company and also ran a small trading post of his own on a creek through part of the Pine Ridge Reservation. From his wild days as a Pony Express rider and then Marshal in Deadwood, Bartlett had picked up the Indian name “Huste,” which was explained to be a dialect word for “Wounded Knee”. Bartlett had been sent to Pine Ridge in hopes that he could negotiate an end to the “Ghost Dance Troubles”.

In early 1890 Bartlett had invited a young writer / archeologist / anthropologist by the name of Warren King Moorhead out to visit him and had taken him around to the camps and settlements of the Lakota Sioux across the Nebraska/South Dakota border. After the relative success of the author’s novel “Wanneta” (which included much material gathered in this earlier visit) Bartlett had continued to suggest Moorehead come out again to write about this Ghost Dance phenomenon. With the support of an editor at “The Illustrated American”, Moorehead traveled to Chadron, Nebraska where Bartlett owned a ranch, and quickly found himself welcomed in the camp of Red Cloud, a greatly respected Lakota leader.

Moorehead never claimed to speak any of the Lakota dialects he encountered, but the articles he later wrote included a variety of Indian words, and of course his friend and guide George Bartlett spoke a number of Sioux tongues quite well. During this time Moorhead took some of the only photographs of the Ghost Dance ceremony seen before the Wounded Knee Massacre. After almost eight weeks of travel and camping among the various settlements across the Pine Ridge area, he was called into the headquarters of Gen. John R. Brooke, commanding officer of the Department of the Platte. According to Moorehead’s journal, Brooke informed him that as he was the only correspondent who spoke the “hostiles” language, and was accepted enough to overnight in their camps, he was considered a liability to the Army as they tried to bring order to the Pine Ridge situation: so two soldiers would escort him directly to his quarters, watch him pack, and take him to the next train east. Bartlett, however, remained behind and is seen in various photographs taken by Trager and W. R. Cross in the days following the Wounded Knee Massacre. Moorhead returned to Pine Ridge just after New Years Day 1891 and began reporting on the aftermath of the massacre. George Trager and his Northwestern Photographic Company photographers are best known for the Photographs taken in the days leading up to the Battle of Wounded Knee and for those taken of the aftermath of that bloody massacre.

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