Doc Carver Collection, Incl. Shot Half-Dollar, CDV, Large Photograph, and Ephemera

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American History, Featuring the Property of N...

By Cowan's Auctions

Jun 9, 2017 - Jun 10, 2017

Set Reminder 2017-06-09 10:00:00 2017-06-10 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American History, Featuring the Property of N. Flayderman & Co. https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-history-featuring-the-property-of-n-flayderman-co-2392
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• Lot Description

  Lot of 4, including a shot-through 1875 US half dollar; a fine Negretti & Zambra albumen CDV of Carver posed with his rifle and wearing his performance regalia (fringed buckskin jacket with beaded disks and strips); a 4.5 x 6 in. photograph of Carver, housed in a sleeve with the imprint of photographer A.H. Arnold, Omaha, from the Julia Cody Goodman estate (wearing a civilian jacket with shooting medals on his chest); and a promotional biography titled "The Romantic History of a Marvellous Marksman / Dr. William F. Carver of California," 4pp, 4.5 x 6 in., advertising a performance at Beacon Park (Boston?), ca 1878-1880.

  The "biography" seems to have been written more for entertainment than for facts. It claims the Carver family moved from Saratoga, where he was born, to Minnesota where his parents were killed in the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1845 and he was kidnapped and raised by Dakotas.

  William Frank Carver was born in 1851 (not 1840 as the pamphlet claims), likely in Winslow, IL, and his mother lived until 1907. There is actually no credible information about his childhood, as he told many different stories, none of which are verifiable.

  "Doc" trained as a dentist and migrated west in 1872. He practiced dentistry at Fort McPherson and North Platte, NE. It was while in this area that he met William F. Cody and "Texas Jack" Omohundro, and other future Wild West stars. About this time he seems to have moved to Frontier County, NE, with brother and sister Ena Raymonde and "Paddy" Miles. Ena was a markswoman, and it appears that it was here that he began to develop his shooting skills. By the end of the decade, Carver was becoming widely known as a marksman, and took advantage of the opportunities offered as a guide in hunting expeditions that were popular with men of leisure from more urban areas both here and abroad who were looking for a "frontier experience." For some of these he joined Cody. In between, Carver would take a few weeks to practice dentistry.

  In 1876 Carver went to California, still perfecting his shooting skills. He took on the moniker "Evil Spirit," for which he had several other different origin stories - the Indians gave it to him because his skills were superhuman, or Spotted Tail gave it to him because he killed a white buffalo, etc. All fiction.

  But what was true was the skill he developed. One of his first awards was for shooting 885 out of 1,000 target balls in San Francisco. A few months later, he and Texas Jack traveled together giving shooting exhibitions. Carver also issued a general challenge to Captain Adam H. Bogardus, champion trap shooter. Bogardus ignored the "young 'un" for years until February 1883, when the two met for a match in Louisville, KY. Carver won, as he also did in two matches in Chicago. There followed a series of 25 matches sponsored by the Ligowsky Clay Pigeon Company - Carver won 19 of those.

  In 1883, he partnered with Buffalo Bill to get a Wild West show on the road. It only lasted one season, as the two showmen apparently had a clash of egos. They divided assets, and Cody joined with Nate Salsbury, forming Buffalo Bill's Wild West, which would last for decades. Carver also called his new show "Wild West," and the two fought for years over naming rights, the division of the earlier company, etc. Carver then organized as "Wild America," taking his show over essentially the same circuit as Cody. The two avoided each other as much as possible, and remained enemies for life.

  The economic depression of the early 1890s and competition from many other "Wild West" shows finally seem to have destroyed Carver's show, but he continued shooting matches until about 1896. He then developed a diving horse act, with many stories as to how that idea came about (escaping from bandits, and more). Initially it was coupled with shooting exhibitions and other acts, but eventually became just the diving horses. After attending an Old-Timers' convention in 1927, he received word that his favorite horse had drowned. According to his daughter-in-law, he seemed to lose the will to live after that, and, indeed, died just two months later.

  Condition

  Minor foxing and handling wear to cdv. The Arnold photo in excellent condition, as is the promo pamphlet.
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