President Roosevelt And The Hugo Cowboys

SHERMAN, F. M. [PUBLISHED BY]

Publication: Gowdy-Simmons Press, 1903, Colorado Springs

First edition. Oblong 8vo printed, string-tied wrappers, 23 leaves, each with mounted, full-page, half-tone photographs. Sherman was publisher, editor, and photographer. Theodore Roosevelt visited Hugo, Colorado, in 1903 during his eight-week tour of the American West. Roosevelt's visit is pictured in four photographs with him in presidential clothing enjoying a meal out on the range with the cowboys. A rather rare Colorado pictorial showing Roosevelt enjoying a cowboy breakfast and much on cowboy life. Hugo, named for the early pioneer and stage driver Hugo Richards, was originally a stop on the Smoky Hill Stage Route and was called Willow Springs. The Kansas Pacific Railroad arrived in 1870, the Hugo Post Office was established in 1871 and the town was platted in 1877. When Lincoln county was formed, Hugo was made the county seat in 1889. Stockmen were attracted to the abundant range land, and Hugo was the center of a thriving agricultural community. In the frontier of Colorado in 1903, Frank Sherman had a photography studio and a souvenir shop in Colorado Springs. He decided that he needed more postcards to sell to the tourists, so he visited his brothers who worked at the Holt Livestock Co. in Hugo, Colorado. He packed up his gear and went to photograph the cattle roundup. His timing was fortuitous. Just before the roundup was to start, word came that President Theodore Roosevelt would be stopping in Hugo on his western trip. Frank Sherman got the pictures. The Denver Post reported: "Hey! Mr. President," said County Judge C.N. Miles, "git down and hitch. This ain't no way station. This is Hugo. We want you to hand out with us a while." "Howdy, boys, howdy!" returned Mr. Roosevelt, waving his hat and smiling the great big delighted smile that only the cowboys can bring out. The Roosevelt stop in Hugo was supposed to last five minutes, but the ebullient crowd and the whiff of a good coffee and steak won out. The "biggest cowboy in the land" helped himself to steak and biscuits and coffee (with sugar), complimented the cook, and reminisced about burning his mouth on a tin cup." Also there are terrific range photographs around the area, life in camp, activities, etc. Photographs entitled, Howdy Mr President, Pres. R.: That Steak Looks Fine, Pres Roosevelt's Cowboy Breakfast, Goodbye Come Again, Cowboy Biscuit; Bread and Cactus, Baking Bread, Chuck for Thirty Men, Dinner, Hungry Cow Boys, A Busy Cook, OZ and TTA Wagons, Ready To Round Up, A Typical Cowboy, Writing Home To...., Our Spurs, Craps, You Are Next, Branding a Horse, Branding, Saddling a Bronco, Famous Hugo Cooks, Cowboy's Moving Van, and A Cowboy's Dressing Room. A "range rarity" missed by Ramon Adams' Rampaging Herd. Sherman described himself as a "cowboy artist." Light wear to the fore-edges of the over-sized covers and a few small old water stains to the front cover, else internally clean. A choice item and scarce to rare today.

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