Field and Studio: Western Hunting Photography - Virtual Exhibit

• Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center
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• Portraits
• Hunting Camps
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Buffalo Hunting, Yellowstone Park Stereograph Cosmopolitan Series, ca. 1900 2003.043	Two stereographs that provide an example of the same image, released by two different companies, with two different titles, in two different formats. Sometimes a true photographic stereograph would be released later in a cheaper edition or even colorized, as is the case here. Both cards were printed using the less expensive half-tone printing process rather than true photographic reproduction. Incidentally, this is clearly not the “last buffalo,” the photograph may not have been taken in Yellowstone National Park, and the Model 1892 Winchester rifle pictured was not powerful enough to easily fell a buffalo.
The Last Buffalo (Dead) Stereograph T. W. Ingersoll Sportsman’s Series, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1898 2004.250.089

Six Wyoming hunters pose in front of nine antelope carcasses hung on a log supported by a tree and a wagon. Guns pictured in the photograph include a Model 1893 Marlin lever action rifle, a Model 1886 Winchester carbine, and a Model 1895 Winchester lever action rifle. This is a dirty, hard-bitten group of hunters; note the hands and pants of the man lying down in front and the facial expressions of the men.	Untitled [Antelope hunters with their kills] Mounted silver gelatin print Photographer unknown, Wyoming, 1906 2003.269.2

Fair Huntresses in the Elk Country of N. W. Wyoming, U.S.A. Stereograph Underwood & Underwood, Publishers, New York, New York, 1904 2004.038	Two female hunters, attired in identical fringed leather blouses and skirts, examine a bull elk, apparently felled by the woman standing over the animal. By 1900 increasing numbers of women were defying traditional gender roles and seeking hunting adventures in the West. The curvature found in this and many other stereographs is deliberate, and not the result of age-related deterioration. The curved mount was thought to aid the illusion of depth better than a flat mount.

Photograph of a bearded, subsistence or market hunter posing with two elk, which he shot in the Sultan Basin of the Cascade Mountains in western Washington State. The hunter carries his rifle on a sling and wears a cartridge belt.	A Hunter Just After Killing Two Fine Elk… Cabinet card photograph Photographer unknown, ca. 1890 2004.179.2

A Difficult Problem to Decide Whose Shot Killed the Elk Stereograph Whitney View Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1904. 2004.249	An example of a popular sub-genre of hunting stereographs that features a group of hunters gathering around a dead animal to determine who is responsible for the kill. The hunter on the left has an interesting pair of high lace-up boots and a Model 1895 Winchester rifle; the hunter on the right has an unidentified bolt-action rifle.

J. L. Grandin (standing in rear by platform wagon) was the owner of one of the largest bonanza wheat farms in the Dakota Territory. Here he is pictured with his wife (left) and her friend Miss Hague (right), who have successfully hunted wildfowl and small game. Haynes was the official photographer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, producing one of the finest collections of Dakota Territory images in existence.	Hunters Return Stereograph F. Jay Haynes, Fargo, Dakota Territory, 1879 2004.303

Untitled [Hunter poses with a dead bear] Mounted silver gelatin print Photographer unknown, ca. 1910 2004.332	An unknown hunter poses with a dead black bear on a farm wagon in front of a plow and implement dealer. The wagon has the legend “435 lbs.” written in chalk on the side, possibly referring to the weight of the bear. The hunter is proudly displaying the Model 1886 Winchester rifle used to shoot the bear. The two gentlemen in bowler hats and starched collars are no doubt on-lookers rather than hunting companions.