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A. Frank Randall Photographs of Apache Indians: Finding
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photCL 101
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Title: A. Frank Randall Photographs of Apache Indians
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1883-1888
Collection Number: photCL 101
Creator:
Randall, A.F. (A. Frank)
Extent:
123 photographs in 1 disbound album; prints 18 x 11 cm. (7.25 x 4.5 in.)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract:
This disbound album contains 123 photographs taken by photographer A. Frank Randall between 1883 and 1888. The images include
studio and field photographs of Apache Indians
taken during the United States military campaign to capture Apache renegades during the Apache Wars. Notable portraits
include those of A. Frank Randall, Geronimo, Naiche, and Nelson A. Miles. There are also some scenes of Indian agencies and
camps in Arizona. The last part of the album ends with views in Southern
California, including Rancho Camulos, scenes of Santa Barbara, missions, and San Diego. There are also views of Guaymas, Mexico.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
A. Frank Randall Photographs of Apache Indians. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Mrs. Lyman Thompson in December 1957.
Bibliography
Sources used in the creation of this finding aid include:
Faulk, Odie B.
The Geronimo Campaign. Oxford University Press: New York, 1969.
Kraft, Louis.
Gatewood & Geronimo. University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, 2000.
Lane, Jack C., ed.
Chasing Geronimo: The Journal of Leonard Wood, May-September, 1886. University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, 1970.
Radbourne, Allan. "Capturing the Apaches: The Photographs of A. Frank Randall."
Wild West, February 2004.
A Researcher's Guide to the Apache Indian Photographs made by A. Franklin Randall in Arizona and New Mexico 1883-1887: Part
Two: The Mescalero Apache Reservation,
N.M., and Fort Bowie, A.T., 1885-1886.
A. Frank Randall was born March 2, 1854, in Massachusetts. Little is known about his early years, but in 1883, he accompanied
General George Crook's expedition as a newspaper
correspondent and photographer in the campaign to capture Apache Indians in Mexico. For the next four years, Randall traveled
around Arizona and New Mexico photographing
various Apache tribes, including the Chiricahua, Warm Springs, Mescalero, and Jicarilla Apaches. In 1887, Randall moved to
California and spent his final years in Alameda
County, where he died of a heart attack on March 4, 1916.
Scope and Content of Collection
This disbound album contains 123 photographs taken by photographer A. Frank Randall between 1883 and 1888. The photographs
have descriptive captions written by Randall, most identifying their
subjects. The images include studio and field photographs of Apache Indians taken during the United States military campaign
to capture Apache renegades during the Apache Wars. Notable portraits
include those of A. Frank Randall, Geronimo, Naiche, and Nelson A. Miles. There are also some scenes of Indian agencies and
camps in Arizona. The last part of the album ends with views in Southern
California, including Rancho Camulos, scenes of Santa Barbara, missions, and San Diego. There are also views of Guaymas, Mexico.
The majority of Randall's photographs are portraits of men, women, and children from various Apache subtribes in Arizona and
New Mexico. Among these photographs are images of a fox tamer; a
fiddler; a flutist; a well-dressed, possibly high-ranking Apache man; medicine men; young girls; mothers and their infant
children; and Apache chiefs. Portraits of United States Army officers
and scouts include Nelson A. Miles, Leonard Wood, Wilber E. Wilder, Roger Ames, Henry W. Lawton, William A. Thompson, Amos
S. Kimball, John A. Dapray, Thomas J. Clay, Frank P. Bennett, Buffalo
Jack, a female Indian scout, and Apache scouts. Randall also included photographs of Rancho Camulos, many of which show people
dramatizing scenes from Helen Hunt Jackson's novel
Ramona. Antonio Franco Coronel appears in some scenes. Other images include views of Missions Santa Barbara and San Juan Capistrano,
what may be Vasquez Creek and Tujunga
Canyon near Los Angeles, and street scenes of Guaymas, Mexico.
The first page of the album is a dedication written by Randall, saying: "This album is respectfully dedicated to the memory
of Captain Emmet Crawford who offered his life as a sarafice [sic]
to the Apache race, a brave and noble man, the idol of his friends. Murdered by Mexicans in Mexico January 11th 1886. A. Franklin
Randall, artist." A newspaper cutout of Captain Crawford's
portrait has been pasted on the dedication page. On the reverse side of the page, Randall wrote: "Presented to Claire W. Murphy.
Christmas 1888. The Author [Randall]." Part of this presentation
note includes a phrase written in Greek.
Though presumably the photographs are all by Randall, research has shown some images may be the work of Ben Wittick.
Item titles transcribed from A. Frank Randall's handwritten captions.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Apache Indians -- Photographs.
Apache Indians--Wars, 1883-1886 -- Photographs.
Chiricahua Indians -- Photographs.
Chiricahua Indians—Wars -- Photographs.
Fort Bowie (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Fort Huachuca (Ariz.) -- Photographs.
Hotels—Arizona -- Photographs.
Indians of North America--Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Indian scouts -- Photographs.
Jackson, Helen Hunt, 1830-1885. Ramona—Pictorial works -- Photographs.
Jicarilla Indians -- Photographs.
Medicine-man -- Photographs.
Mescalero Indians -- Photographs.
Mission San Juan Capistrano -- Photographs.
Mohave Indians -- Photographs.
Rancho Camulos (Ventura County, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Santa Barbara Mission -- Photographs.
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Fort Apache Agency -- Photographs.
United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs. San Carlos Agency -- Photographs.
Warm Spring Apache Indians -- Photographs.
Chato, 1860?-1934 -- Photographs.
Clay, Thomas Jacob, 1853-1939 -- Photographs.
Coronel, Antonio Franco, 1817-1894 -- Photographs.
Crawford, Emmett -- Photographs.
Geronimo, 1829-1909 -- Photographs.
Lawton, Henry Ware, 1843-1899 -- Photographs.
Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839-1925 -- Photographs.
Naiche, ca. 1857-1921 -- Photographs.
Randall, A.F. (A. Frank)--Portraits
Victorio, Apache Chief, -1881 -- Photographs.
Wilder, Wilbur Elliott, 1856-1952 -- Photographs.
Wittick, Ben, 1845-1903 -- Photographs.
Wood, Leonard, 1860-1927 -- Photographs.
Arizona -- Photographs.
Guaymas (Sonora, Mexico) -- Photographs.
New Mexico -- Photographs.
Photographs.
Photograph albums.
Studio portraits.