Stuff

[Steve McCarty]

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.

[Steve McCarty]

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.