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I read the term "needle gun" all of the time, and finally discovered that it was an early term used for the Trapdoor Springfield Rifle. They long firing pin was called the needle.
Then I read that all rifles, fired by the use of a firing pin were also called needle guns. Someone described the rifle that Buckshot Roberts used to kill poor Richard Brewer as a needle gun. It was one of those fancy officer's model Trapdoor…
ContinuePosted on August 18, 2010 at 2:50pm — 5 Comments
Posted on August 14, 2010 at 2:30pm — 10 Comments
This was one of the first pictures that I found. It is very small, just over two inches high. It is also very clear and in excellent condition. No paper frame, however. I recognized the Patron's immediately, yet some question it...seems strange to…
ContinuePosted on August 14, 2010 at 10:30am — 8 Comments

Posted on August 12, 2010 at 10:20pm — 3 Comments
tim davis said… steve, thanks again for the comments, and i'm really quite excited for your adventure, and hope i can help with the i.d.'s: i didn't mean to get on a back-and-forth with you arguing over brewer, i noticed commenters said things 'like doesn't look like him' which is non-descript -- so when possible, i use a computer technique which allows analysis not likely to be performed by the human eye. in summary, the facial dimensions in what i called the 'mcCarty 010' photo didn't match the known photo of brewer, but matches the famous btk tintype nicely as well as aragon #1. attached is the report if you are interested. i'll leave it at that unless you have a question or comment.
steve, you are now the 'curator' of probably one of the world's rarest and most historically relevant photo groups known. i can't easily test the 2 you call billy. my instinct is that the younger one is probably him, and i didn't think the older one was him, but now i'm not so sure. the guy had so many faces. but the alignment of the eyes and nose APPEAR by my eye to be of the same general pattern. tough call.
and, i find your history on your collective discovery of the photos plausible and accountable, now that you told me what you did above. what you found in oregon sounds like providence; in wisconsin, persistence and smart supporting research. bravo.
billy sat for MANY photographs. (btw i should let you know i'm a brushyite)
long story short, i like MANY of your assumptions on the identities of these photos. as with some of the other commenters, its a mixed bag. we can agree here and disagree there. one thing we can probably agree on is you have summoned up an amazing piece of americana.
there are SO MANY issues at play here. i've used your photos to identify LCW people in other collections. which is why i want to tell you what happened with the photos you call mcNab. in the next message.
God bless,
Steve McCarty said… Hi Tim: So you are a Brushy Billy fan, eh. I just had a two day meeting with W.C. Jameson. He believes the BB story to his core. I do not, but it is a free country. I don't care if folks believe it.
Nor do I buy the Aragon Billy. It just does not look like him. Finding the photographer's album has shed some light on quite a few photos before unknown. I am quite sure that I have found Frank McNab and John Middleton. I have five of McNab and two of Middleton. Huge inky black mustache, curly black head of hair. A wonderful portrait.
None of my pictures are previously known, which is strange to me, since they were probably duplicates taken in a multiple lens camera of some sort.
I've got the three men who boarded the train in Las Vegas on 27 December 1880. I think they were taken as mug shots. All sport new suits and hats. They are the Kid, Rudabaugh and Wilson. Wilson was allowed to sit outside and even wander around. The kid and Rudabaugh were locked down and show as such.
I'm stepmccarty@q.com and will be happy to share any with you.
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