Stuff

[Stepmac]

I'll try to post a copy of my picture and the Upham one. Not sure I can do it tho. Okay, here is a detail of the Upham photo of Billy the Kid. My image and this one are reversed from the tintype, so Billy shows as he did in life. I don't think I need to pick out areas of similarity in the two pictures. Mine is much clearer, obviously. They are the same man.

[Stepmac]

Even the curles on his forehead match! In my picture he has closed his lips over his buck teeth. You can guess his age as well as I can. He does look innocent doesn't he. By this time in his life he has already killed one man and participated in the death of three others. Childish looking? Yep, Deadly? Yep.

[C.O.B.]

Have you considered donateing your collection to a museum? Might be a nice tax write off and it would at the least preserve a piece of American history.

The wife asked about the two boxes in the front entrance hall as they have been there a week. I told her they were shotgun shells. Her reply was to ask about the other four cases in the garage and I replied they were also shotgun shells. She just shook her head and asked that I put my stuff away. I haven't told her about the new gun

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Rich Anderson

Have you considered donateing your collection to a museum? Might be a nice tax write off and it would at the least preserve a piece of American history.

I have approached the Autry in southern Cal, the Cody in Wy, and the Smithsonian in DC offering to donate the collection which includes about 70 tintypes. No takers. They just don't believe the authenticity of the collection and when they call the "experts" their skepticism is given credence.

The experts don't like my provenance. I traced the collection back to Sallie Chisum's brother's family and they recall at least some of the photographs. Most were kept secret by Ara V. Chisum, Sallie's niece.

There is much more to this story. Book is in the works. I've got to go, but I'll have to post some more matches with my collection and known pictures of the same people.

[Mills]

The book should be interesting.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Mills Morrison

The book should be interesting.

It has been hard to write. It's not a history, or a novel, it is a biographical tale about Sallie Chisum's collection of tintypes that I stumbled across. I found other tintypes in and around Wisconsin, where the photographer's hometown was. Some I found within the historical society there and since they were not for sale, I just copied them. (with permission)

The photos are much better than any of the others that you see in books on the subject and while there are scores of books about Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War they all show the same few, well known, hackneyed images. Mine are not only never before seen, but also timely. Other's show the people, George Coe for instance, as an old man years after the time of the Kid, but mine were all taken at about the time of the Lincoln County War and people look as Billy would have known them.

Interestingly I have several pictures of people who have no others. So my photos are unique and now, at long last, people can see John Middleton, Frank McNab, and Yginio Salazar.

Of course one of the most exciting things about owning these photos is that I know that each and every person depicted also handled the very picture that I own! How neat is that! It is almost like shaking hands with Billy, or Sallie or Alex McSween. Handling old things carry the charm of the people who first owned them, just as shouldering an old Parker brings us close to the original owner so long ago.

[Mills]

It is a real treasure to have that collection and too bad the museums have turned up their noses. It does not surprise me as we have the same problem with our local art museum in Savannah. They want stuff you would see in New York, but turn away good local work - stuff people actually want to see.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Mills Morrison

It is a real treasure to have that collection and too bad the museums have turned up their noses. It does not surprise me as we have the same problem with our local art museum in Savannah. They want stuff you would see in New York, but turn away good local work - stuff people actually want to see.

Yup; my experience too. I have also run into directors of museums being young women, recent graduates from some sort of school of museum science. I see little excitement concerning history. It is a business and a place for the employees to feel important. I don't get a good feeling when working with these folks.

Okay, I don't want to come off as petty or trite. But museums here are becoming like museums in the UK where they are part of the school system and very P.C... As an example I've been to the Cody in Cody Wy many times and right after they opened. They used to have scalps and severed finger necklasses on display. (taken at the Custer fight and found soon thereafter) No longer. It was explained to me that some very vocal people demanded that such items be hidden away. One of the items was the scalp Buffalo Bill'stook from Yellow Hand. It used to be on display. It is an interesting historical item. No longer.

To me, history and Parkers are sacrosanct.

And, yes, it is exciting owning this little group of tintypes.

[Mills]

That is my experience exactly. I couldn't have put it better. Savannah had a great community of artists from about the 1920's to 50's, but the museum here was busy competing with the NY crowd (and losing too). The Morris Museum in Augusta had more foresight and they bought up all the good Savannah art from this period and you can go there to see it now. They even have some hunting scenes which are definitely not "pc". It probably helps that their backer, Billy Morris, is "like us" and hunts and invests his money in farm and hunting land.