GERONIMO: (1829-1909)

GERONIMO: (1829-1909)

Geronimo signs for the President of the Wells Fargo Express Company

 

 

       &nbs p;           &nbs p;    GERONIMO: (1829-1909) Bedonkohe Apache leader and medicine man, noted for his raids and related combat actions during the Apache Wars (1849-86). An excellent, bold pencil signature ('GERONIMO') to the verso of the personal printed oblong 12mo Visiting Card of Burns Durbin Caldwell and featuring his printed name to the centre of the recto. Accompanied by the original folio page to which the visiting card was originally loosely affixed. The page, removed from a contemporary album, features a vintage illustrated newspaper clipping laid down to the centre, the text stating, in part, 'From Warpath to Poker Table - Old Geronimo, the famous fighting chief of the Apaches, is now a prisoner of the government at Port Sill…..it is said that the wily old chief has developed such skill at bluffing and “playing a hand” that he is rapidly getting rich…..Recently Geronimo deposited $1425 in a bank at El Reno as the result of a single week's play'. Autographs of Geronimo are extremely rare and highly desirable. Some light age wear and two small traces of former mounting to the upper corners, not affecting the signature. About VG

 

Burns D. Caldwell (1858-1922) American businessman, president of the Wells Fargo Express Company and chairman of the board of the American Railway Express Company.

 

Geronimo attained celebrity status during his lifetime and he became a regular attraction at events and fairs including the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, New York in 1901, the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 and Pawnee Bill's Wild West Shows, where he appeared under Army guard. Geronimo dressed in traditional clothing on such occasions, posed for photographs, provided autographs and souvenirs, and sold his crafts.

 

The present signature links two of the major household names of America's Wild West - Geronimo and Wells Fargo, the latter being the company that handled express service to western states, and were often robbed.

 

Provenance: From the autograph collection of Frank Dyche (d.1944) and his wife Grace Scripps Dyche (1863-1924). Frank Dyche, a prominent Chicago attorney, married Grace Scripps in 1896. Grace was the daughter of John Locke Scripps (1818-1866), editor of the Chicago Tribune, and his wife Mary E. Scripps (1825-1866). The Scripps have been described as 'one of the oldest and most influential families of American journalism' who 'occupied a unique place in nineteenth-century America'.