David F. Barry - the 'Crow' backdrop

[grahamew]

Partly in repsonse to Gergor's suggestion and partly to ease my own confusion about this, I'd like you to post any Barry photos with the backdrop used when he photographed a number of Crows. My assumption - perhaps totally wrong(!) - is that these were taken during his time at Fort Custer in 1883 with his (new) mobile studio after the previous one had blown away at Buford; however, not all the Indians are Crows, although the only Lakota I've found so far is Young Man Afraid...

I'll start:


Curley


Curley


Old Crow


Old Bear - the same man as above. Look at his dress (aside from the elaborate hat)


Crooked Face


Sitting Woman (identified on another print as War Man)


Spotted Horse and Snake


Snake and Big (Bad?) Belly (identified on another print as Bottsotts, a Sioux!)


Spotted Horse


Not sure about this one

Okay, here's another version. It IS a Barry and it allows us to see how primitive the studio was:



Exterior shot of Crow scouts


White Bear - you can't tell from the backdrop, but I'm assuming this is from the same series.


Chief Shield(s), Gros Ventre


So it's probably safe to assume that this photo was taken around the same time and the Fort Buford label I saw on this is either incorrect - or this was Barry's replacement backdrop and he took it with him to Fort Custer. Presumably, the Gros Ventre photos posted below were taken round about the same time.


Son of Star and Black Horse (Arikrara?)


Black Owl, Gros Ventre


Mary, Gros Ventre. My initial thought was that this may be Bismarck Mary, as photographed by Gilbert, but the latter doesn't seem to be as slender as this Mary.


Black Owl, Mary and the unidentified man seen in one of the photos below; all Gros Ventre.


Young Man Afraid of his Horses, Lakota


Young Man Afraid. Although this is in a Cross mount, it would, judging from the dress, seem to be a Barry, from the same session as above. If Barry took his mobile studio to Pine Ridge, Young Man Afraid seems to have been the only subject there, so maybe the Oglala was visiting Fort Custer (or Buford...).

Edit - according to Joseph Agonito's article, Young Man Afraid of his Horses: the Reservation Years ( www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/1998-Young_Man.pdf ), " While hunting in the summer of 1883, Young Man Afraid had met a party of Crow Indians and made peace with his old enemies." Maybe he DID visit Fort Custer in 1883...


unidentified - note his companion at right

Unfortunately, there's a problem with the idea that these were taken at Fort Custer in 1883. Here's a Barry photo of Sitting Bull against the same backdrop and I had always thought he didn't photograph the Hunkpapa until at least 1884. So perhaps the mobile backdrop was used initially at Bismarck or Fort Yates, before being replaced?



This may blow a considerable hole through my theory, although this kind of furniture - which appears in later Barry photos, seems to be a new addition. Maybe the backdrop went with him to Bismarck...

[gregor]

Here is more "backdrop"...




and more of the interior.

[grahamew]

Thanks, Gregor. I wish had more information about this. It's interesting that the 'garden furniture' is only in the Sitting Bull photo of those posted above...

Maybe we're looking at Barry's earliest photo of Sitting Bull. Here's Louie/Louis Sitting Bull with the same backdrop:





This photo of 'Bob Brave Bear' (the same photographed by Cross in Sitting Bull's camp at Fort Randall? Dunno.) also has this backdrop with the furniture from the other group - see the next thread. The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this is the same man identified as Louie/Louis Sitting Bull. His hair is tied behind his head with the cloth that ties 'Louie's' hair at the side. The face isn't as sharp, but the slight 'break' in the nose is in the same position and the clothes are exactly the same. I don't believe this any more - they're wearing different shirts for a start and Louis has a 'fuller' face and I suspect his hair has been cropped.

Problem with this is that THIS photo of Sitting Bull, with a completely different backdrop (but with the garden furniture) shows him wearing the same shirt, leggings, feathers and tomahawk as the other one:



I seem to be getting nowhere with this!

The man at the right side of the unidentified photo above is, on second glance, Black Owl, the Gros Ventre. The questiion is, I guess, why would the Gros Ventre be at Fort Custer? They wouldn't, unless they were visiting Crow relatives so at least some of the above were taken later at the Bismarck studio using the same backdrop - or were they taken on his travels? Or were the Crow photos taken at his Bismarck studio too???

[cinemo]

Hi grahamew,

thanks for starting of this interesting topic. With regard to Curley, I think, the second photography of
Curley was taken about 1877 or 1878 by Barry.

At this time, Curley was believed to be the only survivor of the Little Big Horn battle. So he was
interesting for reporters, historians and others. Curley was born in 1856, maybe a little later.
In this photo, he looks how in his very early 20ies. It's my opinion, I am not sure if this is right.

cinemo