Before and after the coming of European settlers, hunting game was an important aspect of Indian life.
Jamestown founder John Smith relates the earliest recorded instance of European hunting activity: 148 wildfowl killed with three shots.
“We have been a nation of hunters ever since,” notes an exhibit on these early-day hunters at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Running through December 11, the exhibit continues the museum’s 50th Anniversary celebration by showcasing hunting weapons and trophies, and vintage field and studio photographs of 19th-century hunters.
The photography of hunters and hunting can be examined from multiple perspectives. First, there is the distinction between personal and studio photography. Second, the photographs can be viewed on subject matter (shown in the following selection of photography): portraits; hunters with their kills; hunting camps; and posed commercial photographs.
Lynda Haller is the Director of Public Relations at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Photo Gallery
This bearded subsistence hunter poses with two elk, which he shot in the Sultan Basin of the Cascade Mountains in western Washington. The hunter carries his rifle on a sling and wears a cartridge belt in this circa 1890 cabinet card.
Perfect examples of commercial photography: (bottom) Aged hunter with his stuffed menagerie, circa 1885; (above) The lack of wear on the “hunter’s” holster, cartridge belt and Model 1876 Winchester rifle indicate he is likely a dude. This cabinet card was taken by Charles D. Kirkland in Cheyenne, Wyoming, circa 1884.
– All images courtesy National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum / Exhibition by Jonathon Nelson –
Rather formally dressed, these female hunters pose with their guns and their Springer Spaniel dog in front of a tent. The rifle leaning against the tent is a Model 1873 Winchester; the woman on the left holds a Model 1892 Winchester. Clearly “mugging” for the camera in this circa 1900 print, the woman on the right aims her pistol at the photographer, while the seated woman holds a liquor bottle on her lap.
The stylishly dressed hunter Georgia Gray poses in the studio with her sleeping hunting dog and Stevens Ideal rifle. The cabinet card was taken by E. Hamel in Lexington, Nebraska, circa 1890.
Six Wyoming hunters pose in front of nine antelope carcasses hung on a log that’s supported by a tree and a wagon. Guns pictured in the 1906 photograph include a Model 1893 Marlin lever action rifle, a Model 1886 Winchester carbine and a Model 1895 Winchester lever action rifle.
These three young hunters are using Winchester and Marlin repeating rifles and have already bagged one doe, which has been hung from the tree. Also hanging from various tree limbs are articles of clothing, a rifle scabbard and a flask. The men have also prominently displayed a whiskey bottle in the lower left of the circa 1895 photograph.
These two young hunters display half-stock, percussion sporting rifles almost as tall as they are. The gun on the left is heavily ornamented with silver and would have been quite expensive. Both hunters wear large leather game bags and powder horns around their necks, although only the powder horn on the right is visible in this circa 1865 carte de visite.
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