Cantey Collection

Original cabinet photograph of Sioux Indian brave Beaver Tail taken by Siegel Cooper & Co. , New York circa 1897. It is from the Capt. Hugh Thomason collection. On the back, in Thomason's hand is the following:  "Beaver Tail. A Sioux brave who fought against the 6th Cavalry 1890 (at Wounded Knee). He, I and Lone Elk were with Buffalo Bill Show in New York when this was taken. H.T." This is another of the Indians who traveled with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows in this period.

Unidentified Cossack trick rider and trick shot artist taken by Stacey, Brooklyn, New York in 1897. He was one of the Cossack entertainer with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show in Madison Square Garden in 1897. The Cossacks WOWED the crowds with their exception riding  and shooting skills. Photograph is from the Capt. Hugh Thomason collection.

Original cabinet photograph by Stacey, Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1897 of Shiek Hadji Tahar who was Buffalo Bill Cody's chief of his Arab entertainers in his New York Show in Madison Square Garden in 1897. It is signed and dated in Arabic under his image. it is also presentation inscribed in English on the back. This is an exceptionally rare photograph of one of Cody's more exotic entertainers. This image was part of the Capt. Hugh Thomason collection.

John Wallace Crawford, "Capt. Jack", moved his family to New Mexico in 1879. He became the Post Trader at Fort Craig New Mexico and went into ranching and mining. In 1880, he served as a U.S. Army Scout during the Victorio War of 1880.  He established a home at Fort Craig after the Victorio War and stayed there until after 1885 even though the Military reservation had closed.  This photograph by Wittick & Son, Albuquerque, N.M. was taken during this period in his life. It is a quite rare image of him by this famous photographer. Image was part of the Capt. Hugh Thomason collection who was involved in the Wounded Knee battle , Co. A. Infantry, 1890. He had met Crawford in New Mexico and they knew each other when both were involved in the Cody Show in London. 

I like to find things like this!  This is real life. The A.S. Lewis Big Show Wild West theater arrives in Ft. Pierre, South Dakota circa 1910-1915. Banners read A.S. Lewis Big Show and one reads "To Night. The White Slave in The Big Tent." Lewis is the tall man in the middle of the group in western cloths and broad brimmed Western hat. He has his African American band on each side of him. There are nine children on the left of the photo getting in the photograph. False front buildings  on left, F.B. Davis & Co. stone building on the right, dated 1903. Must be main street in that rather small town. That night, the townspeople got a treat!