Lens on the Texas Frontier

Large-Format Mounted Photographs

lArge-FormAt mounted PhotogrAPhs t his฀photograph฀was฀taken฀the฀same฀year฀as฀the฀Texas฀Land฀ and฀Copper฀Association฀Expedition.฀It฀is฀quite฀possible฀that฀ the฀photographer฀on฀that฀expedition,฀A.฀C.฀Troutman,฀took฀ this฀photograph฀of฀a฀part฀of฀the฀Tonkawa฀Indian฀village฀adjacent฀ to฀Fort฀Griffin ฀The฀village฀was฀located฀in฀the฀valley฀below฀Fort฀ Albumen฀Print฀(6½฀x฀9฀inches)฀by฀Unknown฀Artist,฀Fort฀Griffin ฀Texas,฀ca.฀1872 Tonkawa Indian village at Fort Griffin Jones฀Collection,฀DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU Griffin฀in฀an฀a ea฀known฀as฀“the฀Flat.”฀The฀female฀on฀horseback฀ at฀the฀left฀grips฀a฀parasol฀to฀help฀shield฀her฀from฀the฀sun.฀The฀man฀ on฀horseback฀at฀the฀right฀carries฀tipi฀poles.฀The฀warrior฀and฀army฀ scout฀standing฀next฀to฀the฀child฀holds฀a฀carbine฀and฀wears฀a฀US฀ Army฀uniform฀jacket.฀The฀circular฀objects฀worn฀by฀this฀man฀are฀ •฀Photographs฀from฀the฀Lawrence฀T.฀Jones฀III฀Collection฀• •฀132฀• hair฀plates.฀Hair฀plates฀were฀German฀silver฀discs,฀slightly฀concave,฀ that฀were฀attached฀in฀a฀series฀of฀graduated฀sizes฀to฀a฀leather฀strap฀ which฀hung฀from฀the฀back฀of฀the฀head.฀When฀on฀horseback฀and฀ riding฀fast,฀the฀lightweight฀hair฀plates฀would฀fan฀out฀behind฀the฀ rider’s฀head฀and฀flutter฀in฀the฀wind ฀The฀Tonkawa฀man฀seen฀here฀ pulled฀some฀of฀his฀hair฀plates฀from฀his฀backside฀and฀displayed฀ about฀half฀of฀them฀for฀the฀cameraman. J .฀A.฀Caldwell,฀a฀traveling฀photographer฀based฀out฀of฀Henrietta ,฀Texas,฀captured฀this฀scene฀of฀fi e฀cowboys฀at฀work฀branding ฀cattle฀in฀a฀log฀corral.฀While฀one฀steer฀is฀being฀branded,฀a฀ cowboy฀with฀a฀lariat฀is฀seeking฀the฀next฀one฀to฀be฀branded.฀The฀ man฀at฀the฀left฀is฀notching฀the฀ear฀of฀all฀the฀animals฀to฀further฀ help฀identify฀them฀when฀rounded฀up฀later.฀It฀is฀unknown฀exactly฀ where฀Caldwell฀was฀when฀he฀took฀this฀photograph,฀and฀the฀scene฀ appears฀to฀be฀candid฀rather฀than฀staged฀or฀posed.฀A฀rough-hewn฀ log฀bunkhouse฀can฀be฀seen฀behind฀the฀corral. Albumen฀Print฀(4½฀x฀7³⁄⁵฀inches)฀by฀J.฀A.฀Caldwell,฀Henrietta,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1880 “Branding Cattle in Early Days” Jones฀Collection,฀DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀133฀• •฀Large-Format฀Mounted฀Photographs฀• Albumen฀Print฀(8฀x฀10฀inches)฀by฀Henry฀A.฀Doerr,฀San฀Antonio,฀Texas,฀July฀7,฀1881 San Antonio offices and supply warehouse of Ross & Harris, Contractors; International and Great Northern Railroad —extension to Laredo (looking southwest) Collection฀of฀the฀author •฀Photographs฀from฀the฀Lawrence฀T.฀Jones฀III฀Collection฀• •฀134฀• t his฀photograph฀by฀J.฀A.฀Caldwell฀delivers฀a฀view฀of฀an฀“Old฀ West”฀Texas฀town฀that฀resembles฀something฀right฀out฀of฀a฀ motion฀picture.฀False฀front฀buildings฀line฀each฀side฀of฀a฀wide,฀ dusty฀main฀street฀that฀empties฀out฀onto฀the฀prairie.฀Under฀magnifi ation,฀the฀Caldwell฀image฀presents฀a฀good฀deal฀of฀internal฀ evidence฀as฀to฀the฀types฀of฀businesses฀in฀operation. ฀ On฀the฀left฀side฀of฀the฀street฀are฀a฀lumberyard,฀meat฀market,฀a฀ store฀for฀groceries฀and฀grain,฀and฀a฀drug฀store.฀On฀the฀right฀side฀of฀ the฀street฀are฀the฀Earle฀House฀(boarding฀house)฀and฀a฀store฀selling ฀“Dry฀Goods฀&฀Groceries,฀Boots,฀Hats,฀Clothing,฀Hardware.”฀ Next฀door฀to฀that฀store฀is฀a฀combination฀saddle฀shop,฀dry฀goods,฀ and฀grocery฀store฀operated฀by฀“S.฀M.฀Satterfield. ฀A฀book฀and฀stationery ฀store฀can฀be฀seen฀in฀the฀distance,฀and฀the฀last฀store฀visible฀ is฀the฀Burton฀and฀Sears฀drug฀store. Albumen฀Print฀(7¹⁄⁵฀x฀9²⁄⁵฀inches)฀by฀J.฀A.฀Caldwell,฀Henrietta,฀Texas,฀ca.฀1882 Bridge Street, looking south, Henrietta Jones฀Collection,฀DeGolyer฀Library,฀SMU •฀135฀• •฀Large-Format฀Mounted฀Photographs฀• I t฀was฀a฀very฀busy฀market฀day฀when฀Frank฀Walcott฀captured฀ this฀scene฀from฀the฀second฀story฀of฀his฀gallery.฀The฀town฀square฀ is฀fi led฀with฀wagons฀hauling฀goods฀and฀produce฀from฀the฀area฀ farms฀to฀market.฀With฀the฀arrival฀of฀the฀Texas฀and฀Pacific฀ ailroad ,฀the฀northeast฀Texas฀town฀became฀the฀main฀focus฀of฀commercial ฀activity฀and฀was฀the฀primary฀shipping฀point฀for฀local฀farmers.฀ When฀viewed฀under฀magnifi ation,฀this฀scene฀has฀substantial฀ internal฀information฀concerning฀business฀activity฀in฀the฀area฀฀ ca.฀1884. ฀ Beginning฀at฀the฀far฀left฀of฀the฀photograph฀and฀moving฀from฀ left฀to฀right,฀the฀following฀businesses฀can฀be฀seen:฀J.฀J.฀Nesbitt฀ Dry฀Goods;฀the฀diverse฀G.฀A.฀Dailey฀Books฀&฀Stationery,฀Paints฀ &฀Varnish,฀Wines฀&฀Liquors,฀and฀downstairs฀from฀Dailey,฀J.฀฀M.฀ Lord,฀Clock,฀Watches...