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THB[TEXAS RANGERS]. Cabinet card of Captain Junius "June" Peak and his Frontier Battalion, Company B, Texas Rangers. Ca 1878-1880.
![[TEXAS RANGERS]. Cabinet card of Captain Junius "June" Peak and his Frontier Battalion, Company B, Texas Rangers. Ca 1878-1880.](https://s1.img.bidsquare.com/item/xl/8590/8590729.jpeg?t=1LMYy3)
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6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
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About Auction
LiveJun 25, 2021
The June 25 American Historical Ephemera and Photography Auction features an exciting assemblage of 18th-early 20th century material, including Civil War archives, Early Photography, Western Americana, Autographs and Manuscripts, and more. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
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- Lot Description
5 9/16 x 4 in. cabinet card on cardstock mount (toned, spotting, chipping to edges). Inscription on verso: "Capt. June Peak and two of his Rangers in a gag picture made about 1880 probably at Ft. Concho, Texas. (Capt. Peak on right end)."
This is an exceptionally rare, unmarked Texas-made cabinet card of Captain June Peak and his Frontier Battalion, Company B, Texas Rangers. Capt. Peak cuts a very fine figure on the right side wearing a white hat, reading a document or warrant. The men are pictured on the trail exactly as they would have appeared on the hunt for the infamous Texas outlaw and train robber Sam Bass. This exceptional outdoor image shows a rare glimpse of fully-armed Texas Rangers in field gear. Their horses, saddled with rifle scabbards can be seen tied to a brush pile behind them. Captain Peak, pictured on the right, reads a small document, perhaps a list of charges, and has a small Green River-style knife in a sheath behind his holster. Both Peak and the man on the left have early, wood-gripped 7 1/2 inch barrel Colt Single Action Army "Peacemaker" revolvers and Model 1873 Winchester rifles. He is pictured in a tintype with the same Bowie knife, shirt, and holster in Rick Miller's reference book Sam Bass and Gang, on p. 139. He is also sketched from this exact photo on p. 378 of Walter Prescott Webb's The Texas Rangers.
The central man is armed with a large Bowie knife and a Colt 1860 Army cartridge conversion with the loading gate open. The photograph is an albumen print, which was probably reproduced into a glass negative. Scratching within the original negative, which is only evident behind the men, has lightened the background. However, the image and perspective is as it appeared when taken outdoors. Inscription on verso: "Capt. June Peak and two of his Rangers in a gag picture made about 1880 probably at Ft. Concho, Texas. (Capt. Peak on right end)." The top left corner is clipped and there is a tear on the left side of the photo itself, which despite great handling wear and minor spotting has strong tonality. A truly remarkable Texas Ranger and early Dallas, Texas-related image.
Captain Junius "June" W. Peak (1845-1934) was mustered into the Texas Rangers and given the charge of forming the Frontier Battalion Company B specifically to look for Sam Bass and his gang. Capt. Peak and his Co. B Rangers wounded or killed several members of the Sam Bass gang and drove them out of the Dallas area. Local lawmen helped by scouting and formed search posses, one of which was led by Fort Worth City Marshal "Long Hair" Jim Courtright. At the "Salt Creek Fight" in Wise County on 13 May 1878, Peak and his Rangers rode upon Bass and his men in camp and killed gang member Arkansas Johnson, also capturing the gang's horses. Soon after Peak had driven Bass and his gang from their home territory in Denton, Texas, the gang decided to rob another bank near Austin, Texas. Texas Rangers George Herold and Clayton "Dick" Ware, along with Major John B. Jones killed Sam Bass and Seaborn Barnes in the infamous gunfight at Round Rock, Texas. The gunfight also took the life of Deputy Sheriff Grimes of Williamson County, and wounded several others. Capt. Peak's Rangers also served as Indian Scouts out of Fort Concho and near San Angelo, Texas. He left the Rangers on 15 April 1880 and worked for the Mexican Central Railroad, eventually becoming a Texas Rancher and then returning to Dallas, Texas in 1899 where he lived happily with his wife and children.
Lot includes the following reference texts:
CASTLEMAN, Harvey N. Sam Bass, the Train Robber: The Life of Texas' Most Popular Bandit. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Publications, 1944. Original wrappers.
WEBB, Walter Prescott. The Texas Rangers: A Century of Frontier Defense. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935. Ex-Library.
WILKINS, Frederick. The Law Comes to Texas: The Texas Rangers, 1870-1901. Austin, TX: State House Press, 1999.
Lot also includes the following:
A copy of June Peak's State muster records (see detail images 5, 6, 7).
A copy of the N.P.R.R. physical description of Sam Bass and Gang, used by Peak to identify Bass.
Two (2) high quality scans of the armed comparison Peak tintype (see detail image 4).
Two (2) high quality scans of this image digitally repaired. - Shipping Info
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