New Photos of Interest

[Wayne Land]

I've received some photos from one of our newest member "wildblue" who has some photo to share and needed help getting them posted. There are 9 tintypes altogether, who are thought to be,

"William Bonney, Sherriff William Brady, Ygenio Salazar, John/Sallie Chisum, Richard Dick Brewer and his much younger brother Micheal, Paulita Maxwell, Dan Dietrich/Charlie Bowdre, Odelia Maxwell when she was around 13, and the last tintype I think may be a very young Paulita and her Mother."

I'm posting the photos in separate posts for review. "wildblue" will comment on each post for more information. Here are the first two::

[Wayne Land]

Two more photos:

[Wayne Land]

[montanas]

I've not studied them much but I'll go ahead and ask the inevitable, what's the provenance? Where'd they come from?

[wildblue]

There are more photos to be posted, which is why I haven't commented on them yet. All 9 tintypes were purchased at an Estate Sale together. They were in a stack, on a table, and they were the only ones there. I love antiques and the price was only $2.00 a piece so I bought them all. I looked at the people briefly and tucked them away. After hearing about the famous tintype of Billy , I got them out to look at the young man thinking, "what are the odds?" Well, let's just say they were quickly put back. It wasn't until I started researching what Billy the Kid looked like that I started thinking well maybe. On to the provenance! I've went through the family's genealogy starting with the owners of the photos, and found that the wife's great, great grandmother and grandfather lived in Tecumcari Quay County NM. Tecumcari is only 80 miles North of Ft. Sumner. The great great grandfather was a Physician. I have recently been in contact with the owners children, finding out other information. The other provenance is in the photo of the Billy tintype.

[wildblue]

This is what I learned about what Billy the kid looked like. He was young, slender, had sloped shoulders, an adam's apple, snappy blue eyes with a brown rim around them. A lot of people who knew him commented on his eyes. He had a boyish look, an oval face, an aquiline nose, nice dresser, wore a pinky ring, stood straight as an arrow, and wore a gun belt. That pretty much is a description of my tintype. My scan has a rectangular distortion over the center of his nose that runs lengthwise makin it difficult to see his aquiline nose. It's an amazing tintype, with lots of detail. I know having a tintype that looks like Billy the Kid isn't enough to convince anyone. I wondered if the other tintypes that accompanied the Billy photo would tell me anything, and I believe they do.

[wildblue]

  Looks a lot like Sheriff William Brady                                                     

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[wildblue]

Trying to post a better picture of the possible photo of Billy the Kid.  Here are each of his hands up close.

[wildblue]

Attachments:

[wildblue]

This tintype is who I believe may be Dick Brewer and his younger brother Micheal.  Dick was 16 years older than Micheal and the picture may have been taken in Wisconsin before he left to go South.  I am including a close-up of something under his coat.  It is possibly an ivory handled or pearl handled gun.  Just thought I'd throw the pearl handle in there because of all the conversations about that gun.

[wildblue]

This photo I think may be Charlie Bowdre. He is in one of the previous post standing next to Dan Dietrich(possibly) I'm not saying these are the people. They just all happen to look like those people involved in Billy' life.

[wildblue]

Here is the last of the 9 tinypes. The man in the photo resembles a younger John Chisum, and the young lady looks like Sallie Chisum.

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[Texas Truth Teller]

Chisum died in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on December 23, 1884, aged 60, due to complications from surgery to remove a growth from his jaw. He was unmarried and left his estate worth $500,000 to his brothers Pitzer and James. While living in Bolivar, Texas, he lived with a young slave girl named Jensie and had two daughters with her. The relationship is described in a book titled Three Ranches West.[citation needed] Chisum had an extended family living with him at the South Springs ranch in Roswell, and this family, along with hired help, often numbered two dozen at the main ranch headquarters. Chisum's niece Sallie Lucy Chisum, daughter of his brother James, became a beloved figure in the area, where she lived until 1934. Sallie kept a diary or journal that has historical importance because of its references to Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, both of whom she knew. She and John Chisum are honored by statues to their memory in Artesia and Roswell, New Mexico.[5][6]

[wildblue]

Here is a close up of the first tintype of a young girl in a checkered dress. I think she looks like Odelia Maxwell, sister of Paulita Maxwell.

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[wildblue]

I am not sure who these two are but I am leaning toward a young Paulita Maxwell and her mother or one of Paulitas sisters.  I have put up a side by side comparison of my Paulita tintype and the young girl in the photo above.