American Historical Ephemera and Photography

[WESTERN AMERICANA]. [STOTZ, C. C., photog.]. Boudoir card featuring tipis and carriages at "The Bent Ranch," [CO].

7 1/2 x 4 3/8 in. photograph on larger cardstock mount (toning, spotting, soiling to print; mount with discoloration and wear). The image features a group of tipis, wooden structures, and wagon carriages on a large, tree-lined ranch. Inscribed in the negative is "The Bent Ranch," likely referring to the ranch in the Big Timbers area in Colorado, owned by the family of Cheyenne-Anglo George Bent (1843-1918).

George Bent was born to a Cheyenne mother and white father, and he went on to become a Confederate soldier, and thereafter a Cheyenne warrior, fighting against the United States in several battles following the Sand Creek Massacre.

A version of this image is curated as part of the Kent Ruth Collection at the Oklahoma Historical Society. It is attributed there to photographer Christopher C. Stotz, El Reno, Oklahoma Territory, and is described as a "Photograph of a Cheyenne encampment at the Bent Ranch."