Cleaning sometimes has its own rewards: this morning I was picking up the house and studio for Patti, the cleaning lady, when I found some Apache War photos I had forgotten about.
In 1994 I was hard at work on a Geronimo biography and travelled to Tucson to the Arizona Historical Society to photograph their incredible Apache collection. One of the original photographs I took a photo of is this one, of General Crook and staff just prior to their departure for Mexico to hunt for Geronimo. This first photo (below) is actually a close-up of a much larger group. That is General Crook, seated, center, with the cheek whiskers and pith helmet on. To his left, in the back row is Chief of Scouts Al Sieber:
This is a close-up on Sieber (below). Note his wide-brimmed hat, dark (wool?) shirt and suspenders.
So extrapolating from this photo, I did a study of Al with his favorite Winchester (below):
Can you make out the subtle skulls scattered around him? (I put in eight) This led to the inspiration for the title: "Al Sieber, Chief of Death." Which, of course, he was!
And, by the way, Tom Horn is also in the group photo. He's the cowboy looking guy, fourth from the left of Crook, in the white shirt. Tom also appears to be wearing the same style hat as Seiber.
Man, I love this stuff!
"He had delusions of adequacy."
—Walter Kerr
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