Ancient Images of Crockett's Bluff

Obviously among the oldest images on this site, these are also courtesy of James Prange, having been passed along to him by Bob Moody. 

 This image pictures members of the Prange family, a loaded hay wagon, a buggy, and a most impressive windmill whose blades  are blurred and operating.  James notes that on the back of this print is inscribed "Lorenz Farm, Crocketts Bluff.  Wm H. Prange, CF and sons."  Though identification is difficult, he notes that the man standing by the buggy at the right is Chris Prange, and the man in the middle is William Henry Prange.  The small boy sitting on the bales, he speculates is his grandfather Adolph.  The two older boys are, he speculates, Herman and William John Prange.  The very small boy standing to the right of William Henry, he thinks is Walter Prange and the woman holding the baby may be Anna Prange, wife of William Henry.  There are also two young girls, one feeding the chickens and another standing near the white horse whose face is blurred, unable apparently to remain relative still for the photographer.  Unfortunately, the Lorenz family is a bit of a mystery to us all.

Chris Prange and his buggy, horses, and woodpile.

"Prange hay bailing operation, Crockett's Bluff, Arkansas
(Inscription on the back)

This image, and a number of others, have been passed along to James Prange by Bob Moody whose relatives lived in Crockett's Bluff, along with the Pranges and Woodiels.  James has provided the following identifications: R-L: The boy sitting on the hay bales on the far right, I believe, is my grandfather Adolph Prange.  Second from the right is Chris Prange.  The man in the center, I believe, is William Henry Prange.  The man fourth from the right is either Herman Prange or William John Prange. I am certain that it is one of them.  They have a very similar facial structure and zooming in on the photo doesn't help much; it just get fuzzier.  I have no idea who the person is fifth from the right.  My grandfather was born in 1891, so if I am correct that the boy is him, this picture would have been taken in the very early 1900s.

A YouTube video of this baler in operation.

Fourth Annual Northeast Animal-Power Field Days at Tunbridge,Vermont, Oct. 18 2010

"The best of the remaining photos of the Prange Sawmill"

Helen Spence: A Legend of the White River

Where Legends Begin

L-R: Cicero Spence, Helen Spence, Joe Black, followed by two unknown boys, a black dog and the rifle of an unknown figure.
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In her article in The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture, Denise Parkinson provides the following information re this picture.  Her source is L.C. (Lamuel Cressie) Brown a childhood friend of Spence.  It was passed on to him by John Black the young man in the dark cap seated to Helen's left by the deer head.  According to Brown, his late wife's family had a photography studio in DeWitt.  Hugh Bowers was the photographer.  According to L.C., it was staged in the 1920s at a barn in St. Charles where trappers and buyers came to deal in hides and furs.

This picture is in many ways a  typical example of the emerging popularity of the still relatively new photographic technology.  Such images were carefully staged to reflect the subjects occupation, possessions, and accomplishments.  In New England about this time,the Howes Brothers developed a major industry touring the countrysides  recording workers and families -- always in the midst of their work or in front of their homes, and their recorded images reflected the individuals in their finery among their possessions.  So it is here.  

Here we have Cicero Spence with his young daughter Helen, three young boys, a black dog, and the knee and rifle of another figure. On the wall behind them hang hides - mostly raccoon but one apparently that of a deer whose head with antlers rests at Helen's left.  At Cicero's right rests a rifle between two (perhaps mink) hides.  He wears a cap to which a carbide hunting lamp could be attached and a ammunition vest partially filled with shotgun shells, casually holding a pistol in his right hand.  Helen holds what appears to be a rag doll with a roughly sewn image of a face.  It must be winter or late fall, since Helen appears to be wearing "long johns" under her dress.  John Black is wearing dark gloves; the second boy has his hands in his pockets.  

On the wall among the stretched hides hang two hunting horns.  Whether these are for decoration in this "hunting" scene is unclear.  Hunters would not in these days use such horns for holding gun powder, but they might well have carried them "corked" at the open end for keeping precious items such as dry matches.  The interesting wooden box resting at the lower right with the image of a horse or donkey on its side is a box that originally contained Brown's Mule Chewing Tobacco.  (It puzzled me for a while until I was able to verify it, thanks to Google images, with several fin images of similar ones.

A Second Image

James Prange's Snapseed Enhancement of the image.