This young man may be playing cowboy as the photographer is "Wheat, Rockford, Ill." The real cowboys drove their cattle to the stock yards in Illinois or shipped them there via the railroad. However, Illinois did not have any REAL cowboys. Put this young man down a a hunter. He holds a small caliber rolling block rifle and wears a flap holster and cartridge belt. His hat brim is pushed up in the military style. The image dates in the 1890s.
