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Post by Diane Merkel on Jun 12, 2005 23:00:16 GMT -6
From a website visitor:
I recently rediscovered a photo album that I thought had been destroyed by flood. It's dated circa 1891 and contains some now water damaged photos. One which can be viewed fairly well is of a Native American and is captioned "White Swan, Scout." This album belonged to my great grandfather, Charles Madison "Maddy" Shelton who lived 1840-1932 in Patrick County, Virginia. How likely is it that this photo was a "souvenir" keepsake or that it was given or taken by someone my great grandfather knew?
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Post by scout on Jun 13, 2005 7:34:33 GMT -6
White Swan Photo
In regards to your photo anything is possible, but someone would have to see it to make a decision. Is the name White Swan handwritten on the photo or printed? Is there a studio name printed on it? It could be a cabinet photo, souvenir card or just a photo of an Indian with White Swan's name on it. Could you post a copy on this site or send a laser or photo copy for posting?
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Post by Don Blake on Jun 13, 2005 11:02:26 GMT -6
White Swan, the Crow who scouted for the 7th is featured in 3 photos on this page: www.omaha.lib.ne.us/transmiss/congress/gallery/incr01.htmlThe photo below is White Swan around 1899 taken at the Crow Agency, Montana, by Arthur M. Tinker, an inspector for the Indian Office and amateur photographer. Check out this site: www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/r_a_tink_imag.htmlThis painting of White Swan (done at the Crow Agency in 1897) is by Elbridge Ayer Burbank. There are some pictographs (poor quality) featuring him at www.wsb-nlu.edu.pl/~kolba/nr16.shtmlThere is information about him at this very site: lbha.org/Cavalry/NameW.htmAnother photo of White Swan holding his war club: Finally, this is a photo of White Swan the Yankton chief, probably taken by Zeno Snindler during a delegation to Washington in 1867. I believe there was a prominent Miniconjou of that name too. Are any of these your man?
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Post by shan on Jun 14, 2005 3:39:44 GMT -6
Hello Don, Don you certainly seem to have your hands on a fund of images of American Indians, where for instance, did you find that image of White Swan by Burbank, I have been trying to track his work down for years. Incidently, White Swan did a kind of self portrait in the drawings he did of his exploits during the Reno fight. Shan
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Post by Grahame Wood on Jun 14, 2005 11:27:08 GMT -6
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Post by shan on Jun 14, 2005 16:48:49 GMT -6
Don, or Grahame, or whoever you are, many thanks for those sites, Burbank derserves to be better known, Shan
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Post by inremembrance on Jun 15, 2005 20:36:44 GMT -6
Hello and thank you for your ideas. I will scan and post the photo which has "White Swan, Indian Scout" handwritten on the pocket of the photo album. Debbie Wood
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Post by inremembrance on Jun 16, 2005 11:52:28 GMT -6
I was unable to learn how to insert photos into email here, so I published them to my website and here is ther url: varoots.tripod.com/whiteswanI will be adding more of the photos as the day continues. This one must be a souvenir as it does have the photog printed on back...C.L. Hamilton Photographer, Fort Randall Thank you all for your replies! debbie wood debbiesheltonwood@yahoo.com
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Post by Grahame Wood on Jun 16, 2005 15:53:25 GMT -6
That's a tremendous photo with a wealth of detail. It's clearly the Yankton headman, not the Crow. It's also clearly taken some years earlier than 1891 even if it is dated then. It looks pretty contemporary with the Shindler photo I posted above. Maybe Ephriam will see this and can suggest a date Hamilton was operating at Fort Randall. Of course, there is the tricky problem that photographers occasionally copyrighted someone else's photos...
To post it here, email it to Diane and she will post it for you. I love this kind of stuff! I wish the other photos were clearer. Are there any names on them?
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Post by inrembrance on Jun 16, 2005 18:15:41 GMT -6
Thanks Grahame; the phtots were just inserted into an old family album and it looks as if several previous ancestors (perhaps children) had their turns at writing in it and mishandling it. No other Native american names are found in it, although much of the writing is faded now. The slots where actual known ancestors names are captioned are mostly empty. My grandaunt, who gave this album to me when I was very young, asked me to hide it and keep it. She said she knew I would appreciate my Indian heritage even though some family members wre ashamed. This may well be true but upon my examination, these do look to be sourvenir photos and not family ones...one is atintype but is all blackened now. Oh yes, the 1891 date was written on a page and may not be correct...says "how old the book is".
Deb also Wood
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Post by Diane Merkel on Jun 16, 2005 21:19:49 GMT -6
Deb,
I was going to modify your post and insert the White Swan photo, but I think it's better that people are directed to your website. Guys, take a look at her Page Two Photos also. If they are souvenir cards, I would think that someone will have seen them before.
To post an image, the address needs to have an image extension, such as .jpg or .gif. As Grahame said, you are welcome to send photos to me for posting on my server. In this case, I think what you did is fine, but I'll be glad to post it for you if you like.
Diane
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Post by Grahame Wood on Jun 17, 2005 9:42:24 GMT -6
I wonder if there's any way some of the other images could be cleaned up...
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Post by Diane Merkel on Jun 17, 2005 23:29:44 GMT -6
Unfortunately, they are in a very low resolution. I've saved them to my hard drive and will experiment when I have time. If someone who is really good with Photoshop could get higher resolution copies, they may be able to clean them up a bit and make them sharper.
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Post by Ephriam Dickson on Jun 18, 2005 8:02:31 GMT -6
Good morning, everyone. The photographs posted are great examples of a portrait series by C. L. Hamilton -- too bad that they are water damaged. Hamilton worked as a photographer at Fort Randall in 1865 and 1866. He was the brother of two other western photographers, James H. Hamilton (who we have discussed earlier in relation to the "Crazy Horse" [sic.] tintype) and Grant Hamilton. Charles Lewis Hamilton was born in Wayne County, Kentucky about 1837 and moved to Macon County, Missouri with his family about 1841. During the Civil War, several of the Hamilton brothers fled the violence. James Hamilton settled in Omaha, Nebraska Territory where he opened a studio by mid-1864. Meanwhile, his brother C. L. Hamilton went up the Missouri River and was taking photographs at Fort Randall by 1865. Most of his known Indian portraits appear to have been taken at the Yankton and Santee Agencies, located near Fort Randall. He also produced a great series of portraits of the officers and enlisted men of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry stationed at Fort Randall. C. L. Hamilton then became the post trader at Fort Randall, from about 1866 until 1870. The 1870 census for Dakota Territory shows Hamilton as post trader with his brother Grant at the post as photographer. I do not know much of C. L. Hamilton after his time at Fort Randall. He located his studio temporarily in Sidney, Nebraska, in 1875 and then went on to the Black Hills where he worked as a mine operator for ten or fifteen years. I assume he died in the Black Hills, but have not been able to find any record yet. I have been collecting copies of his images with the hopes of writing an article about his Indian portraits. The posted image of White Swan is actually important historically. This same image, or one very similar, was actually reprinted in an edited format by William Henry Jackson in his Omaha studio in the late 1860's. This confirms that some of Jackson's portraits were actually by C. L. Hamilton, something I have suspected based on backdrops but until now could not confirm. Thanks! I have seen two examples of this photograph printed by Jackson. On one, he is listed as a Pawnee chief; on another as a Sioux Chief. Here is a link to one of those images. www.iphotocentral.com/search/detail.php/32/indian/60/8375/3As to the images on page 2 of the photo album, several of them also appear to by by C. L. Hamilton (based on backdrop). Only one of these I have seen before. It is in the Minnesota Historical Society and can be accessed through their website. This link below should take you straight to that image: collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/Results.cfm?Page=1&Keywords=c%2E%20L%2E%20hamilton&SearchType=Basic&CFID=1490101&CFTOKEN=60374536If that does not work, you can open up the digital photograph website at MHS and type in C. L. Hamilton -- this is the only image that will come up. Do I understand correctly that the other photographs posted on page two do not have any identifications? Ephriam
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Post by Grahame Wood on Jun 18, 2005 11:31:45 GMT -6
Thanks for this. Fascinating, as always.
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