A cowboy stands at a wooden gate beside a dark horse fitted with a bridle and Western saddle. He wears a broad-brimmed hat and leather chaps decorated with large round ornaments and hanging ties, with one gloved hand resting at his hip. The horse’s reins fall loosely toward the ground; wooden rails, wire fencing and trees enclose the scene.
The white handwritten caption reproduced along the bottom of the photograph reads “a Typical Cow Boy of the Plains”. The reverse credits “PHOTO MADE BY S. D. BUTCHER & SON, KEARNEY, NEB.” Kearney is the maker’s address, not an established location for the photograph. Neither the man nor the particular setting is identified.
This divided-back real photo postcard was addressed to Wm Stark in San Bernardino, California, and bears a green one-cent Franklin stamp with a partly legible West Chicago cancellation dated November 16, 1908. The pencilled message mentions DeKalb and Chicago and reports that all is well; those references concern the correspondence rather than the photographed scene. The cancellation dates the card’s postal use, not necessarily the exposure.
- Title on card
- a Typical Cow Boy oF the Plains (inscribed)
- Medium
- RPPC
- Subject
- Occupational, Outdoor Scene, Solomon Butcher
- Dimensions
- 5.53 × 3.46 in (140.5 × 87.9 mm)
- Condition
- Brown staining on the reverse, strongest across the upper and left portions. Irregular gray patches interrupt the foliage at the right image edge; physical inspection is needed to distinguish surface loss from scan artifacts. The central portrait remains clear, and the card otherwise appears sound.
- Provenance
- Postally used and addressed to Wm Stark, San Bernardino, Cal., as recorded on the reverse.
- Catalogue no.
- MRPPC3440
Catalogue details
Location
S. D. Butcher & Son studio, Kearney, Nebraska · Kearney, Nebraska, United States
Photographer's studio address — not the scene · Locality (town) · 60% confidence
The back carries the imprint S. D. BUTCHER & SON — Solomon D. Butcher and son Lynn, whose studio was on Central Avenue in Kearney, Nebraska. The caption "a Typical Cow Boy oF the Plains" names no ranch or town, so this pins the photographer's studio town, not the scene. San Bernardino, Cal is only where the card was mailed (to Wm Stark), from West Chicago, Nov 16, 1908 — shown on the journey route, not as a photo location.
