American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Stereoview on buff cardstock mount (light toning, some soiling, wear to edges and corners). Leominster, MA: L. A. Richardson. Verso bears Richardson's imprint along with penciled inscriptions including, "Geo. M. Dutcher & Family / Buckskin Sam."

Major Samuel Stone Hall (1838-1886), also known as "Buckskin Sam," is featured here reclining to the viewer's left side of the image. He wears a wide-brimmed hat with a prominent 5-point star, fringed hide sleeves and pants, and displays a Bowie knife and guns for the camera. The other man featured is his friend George M. Dutcher, and the rest of the subjects are Dutcher's wife and 5 children.

As a Texas Ranger at the time of secession, Hall was drafted into the CSA. Not believing in the Confederate cause, however, he became a Union scout in 1864, serving as part of Donaldson's Rangers in the Army of the Southwest.

Hall gained wider national fame through Beadle's dime novels, retelling and later writing stories inspired by his exploits and adventures in the West.

George M. Dutcher was a temperance activist and authored several books on the subject including My Escape From King Alcohol, With Trials and Triumphs on Temperance Trails.