Cowboys and Cameras

I have a bunch of cowboy and bronc bustin' cards now. Cheyenne had some of the great photographers in the early days as citizens. J. E. Stimson and R. R. Doubleday both come to mind. http://groups.msn.com/ExperimentalTerrarium/cheyennewyomingpostcards.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=143 Let 'er Buck is by Stimson. He was hired by the Union Pacific Railroad to take pictures that would make folks come Out West. He lived in Cheyenne on 25th St.- I bought a biography of him and really enjoy it. His house sat where the Herschler Building sits now. In one picture in the bio, Stimson and a friend are packing for a fishing trip. The Capitol Building is under construction in the background. The Herschler building is on the right in this photo. "Joseph Elam Stimson was the official photographer for the Union Pacific in Cheyenne from 1889 to 1903" J.E. Stimson was one of the official Union Pacific photographers in the late 1890s and into the earlier 20th century," Bowerman said. "He tried to capture the essence of the frontier during the early 20th century before it disappeared." Now, Doubleday: was a totally different breed of cat in photo-land. He was damaged a couple of times while taking pictures at rodeos. He loved the rodeo and being "part of it". Many of his postcards are marked with DFPCo., Doubleday-Foster Photo Co. He was not a family man. He left his wife and "ran away with the circus". "Freelancing led Doubleday into a fleeting relationship with former President Theodore Roosevelt at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo on August 27, 1910. It was here that Doubleday made his personal and professional mark. He captured on film C.B. Irwin's grey bucking horse, "Teddy Roosevelt," throwing its rider, Gus Nylen. It is believed that this was the first action shot of a man in midair, off a bronc. "Up to then," Doubleday recounted, "no one had ever taken a picture of a man flying through the air off a bucking horse. I thought such a picture might be possible." Attending the event was Roosevelt, who was seated in the front row. The event encouraged Doubleday to specialize in rodeo photography. During the decade to follow, the familiar "D.F.P.Co.Inc." (Doubleday-Foster Photo Co. Inc. of Miles City, Montana) copyright notice appeared in the caption on all his photographic postcards. This notice would evolve to "R.R. Doubleday" and finally, indicative of his notoriety and successful branding, to just "Doubleday." http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/r_a_doub.html#intr Both of these men probably photographed Steamboat, Tom Horn, C. B. Irwin and more. In the Stimson book, there is a photo of the Wyoming Stockman's Association. We know that they both photographed the horse, Steamboat... which was owned by C. B. Irwin and that they both photographed Teddy Roosevelt. More Later.


both of these cards are examples of Stimson's work and are postmarked 1911















An example of Ralph Doubleday's work: Gus Anderson on Search Light