Very faded old albumen cabinet photograph of dead Outlaw Ned Christie, killed by U.S. Marshals in 1892. Ned has been tied to a door and stood up with his Winchester stuck through his tied hands. Surrounding him are the posse and U.S. Marshals who tracked him down and killed him. The photograph was taken by C.C. Cook out of Fort Smith, Ark. Christie was a Cherokee Indian who was accused of killing a man by the name of Maples from ambush. He was indicted in Judge Isaac Parker's court. He feared he would not get a fair trial so he held up in his fortified home in the Goingsnake District. He stood off the officers who came after him for 5 years. The leader of the Marshals who went after him was the famous Deputy Marshal Heck Thomas. In 1889 the marshals burned his house to the ground but Christie escaped. He moved to another fortified home. That home was burned down by Heck Thomas and his other Deputy marshals. Christie escaped again. Finally Christie was killed in 1892 by a group of deputies who dynamited his third fortress. Ned Christie was shot and killed trying to escape this last home. They tied him to a door and displayed his body in this photograph. Later he was found to have been completely innocent.
Some collectors will not buy a photograph unless it is in excellent condition. I have never believed in that. My main requirements are Content and History. Many wonderful images are just not in great condition. Years ago they were worth virtually nothing and held in low regard. People had no idea they would ever become valuable so they were not carefully preserved. The survival rate on paper images is extremely low.
