[WILD WEST SHOWS] -- [POSTER]. Texas Jack. Philadelphia, PA: Jackson's Printing House, ca 1872-1877.
Sale 1046 - American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann
Lots 1-296
Jun 21, 2022
10:00AM ET
Lots 297-560
Jun 22, 2022
10:00AM ET
Live / Cincinnati
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Estimate
$3,000 -
5,000
Price Realized
$2,813
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Lot Description
[WILD WEST SHOWS] -- [POSTER]. Texas Jack. Philadelphia, PA: Jackson's Printing House, ca 1872-1877.
12 x 19 1/4 in. lithograph (dampstains, light spotting).
Texas Jack is depicted wearing a plumed hat, a fringed jacket, and a knife tucked into a tasseled sash. He leans upon his rifle. Jack Omohundro was born in rural Virginia in 1846 and despite his young age, attempted to join the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. After being twice refused, he was allowed to serve as a courier at the headquarters of the Virginia Militia and given the nickname "Boy Scout of the Confederacy." When he turned 17 in February 1864, he enlisted as a private in Company G of the 5th Virginia Cavalry, part of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He soon served General J.E.B. Stuart directly as a courier and scout. Jack was wounded at the Battle of Trevilian Station and continued serving in the 5th and later the 15th Virginia Cavalry. Found together with the companion Buffalo Bill poster listed as Lot 284.
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The friendship between the two men began when Cody helped Jack get hired as a "trail agent and scout" with the 5th US Cavalry at Fort McPherson. They had several engagements together as scouts and hunting guides, and in late 1872, the frontiersmen performed in the stage show, "Scouts of the Prairie." They continued to perform together throughout the 1870s. RARE: only 1 copy located (published on codyarchive.org/topics/stage).
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