Why this post?

Here we have a late Nineteenth Century photograph of Deadwood, South Dakota, by John C.H. Grabill, with an inset of James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok.

 

The photographs of John C.H. Grabill

 

If someone were to ask me, "Why this post?" my response probably would be words to the effect:

 

"Just for the hell of it. Why ask me why I do anything? I like to say I have a reason for everything I do, but, sometimes, the reason escapes me, and just for 'the hell of it' seems as good an answer as any."

 

The long and the short of it is that I really am not sure of the reason. I encountered a few "stereoscopic" photographs by a guy named Grabill, surrendered to my curiosity, did a bit of research. The following paragraph is direct from Wikipedia:

 

"John C. H. Grabill was an American photographer. Little is known about his work. In 1886 he opened his first photographic studio in Sturgis, with studios in Hot Springs, Lead and Deadwood, Dakota Territory. He had presumably already been active in the area before this date. In this time he was the official photographer of the Black Hills and Fort Pierre R.R. and Home Stake Mining Company. From 1891 to 1894 he operated a studio in Chicago. Most is known from 188 photographs he sent to the Library of Congress between 1887 and 1892 for copyright registration. His work documents the frontier life in Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. His photographs of Pine Ridge during the aftermath of Wounded Knee are most remarkable."

 

The reference to photographs from Wounded Knee is absolutely correct. Remarkable might not even be an expressive enough word to describe the photographs. I have a book, "Eyewitness at Wounded Knee," (Richard E. Jensen, R. Eli Paul, John E. Carter / University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln and London) with more than 150 photographs contemporary to the 1890 event. For those not familiar with Wounded Knee, do a bit of your own research.

 

I have enjoyed photography since my pre-school years. My mother taught me with her camera, and I "stole" money (sort of) from my "piggy bank" (literally) when I was five years old to buy a camera and a roll of film. My interest comes and goes, rises and falls, and I have been a "serious photographer" (depending on the definition of serious) at times, like when I worked as a journalist.

 

I particularly like old photographs. I relish studying them in detail, often with a magnifying glass -- looking at faces, at buildings, at firearms, at dogs, at landscapes .... well, you catch my drift. I have found this to be an excellent means to study and to learn what was here before me, and, by that means, to learn more about myself.

 

Actually, that probably is a better explanation to the question of "why this post." It is sort of a "thank you" to Grabill for doing what he did: Take photographs of the world as it was during his lifetime for me to enjoy and to study during my lifetime a hundred years later .... and, I want to bring him back to life for a while, in a manner of speaking, so others might know of him and see his photographs.

 

Here are two internet websites which contain many of Grabill's photographs:

 

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/grabill/

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/John_C._H._Grabill