Rare Photographic Album/Scrapbook Of Johnny Baker, The Cowboy Kid

LEWIS H. BAKER

Publication: Privately assembled, circa 1903, N P

8" x 10 1/2" oblong photographic album bound in cloth boards containing 14 black and white photographs accompanied by numerous clippings. Johnny Baker was born on January 13, 1869, as Lewis H. Baker. After having moved to North Platte (Nebraska), his parents found their situation too much of a financial burden to adequately raise their son. In 1875, William F. Cody moved his family to Rochester, New York. While on tour, Cody's only son Kit Carson died of scarlet fever. Kit was born a year after Johnny and was almost six years old at the time of his death. William Cody was devastated, he had grand dreams of his son joining the and continuing the legacy of the Wild West Shows. At one of his performances in Nebraska, he met the young Johnny Baker who idolized Buffalo Bill. Cody drew a special connection to this young boy who reminded him so much of his dead son. At the age of seven, Baker was unofficially adopted into the Cody family. Johnny did not become an official member of the Wild West Shows until he was fourteen and then continued performing for the next 33 years. Johnny became a sharpshooter and even was said to have been trained by Annie Oakley. He became known as "The Cowboy Kid." He dazzled audiences in the U.S. and Europe with his sharpshooting and riding skills. After Buffalo Bill's death, Johnny began working with the town of Denver, Colorado, to open a museum and in 1921, the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum was opened. He ran the museum until his death. This photograph album is dated 1903 with most of the images taken when he was on tour in England and performing for the Queen and other members of royalty. The first page shows Baker in a studio and is signed "From Papa." Lists birth dates of himself and was given to his daughter Gladys Katherine Baker who was born June 1st, 1893. The album is also a scrapbook of sorts with roughly twenty clippings from local newspapers. Interspersed in the clippings are rare images. Many show Baker in the studio with his gun or posed in his cowboy clothing. There is a fantastic shot of the Buffalo Bill group posed with a presentation sent for the queen, a rare image showing the group as Native Americans ransacking a cabin, some intimate shots inside his home in London, an original ink drawing that would have been in the paper, and a small portrait of Della Ferrell, his deceased wife and famous cowgirl. Binding and boards are worn and scuffed. Some old tape reinforcements to boards. Hinges broken. Images and clippings are in very good shape. Captioned in ink at various points throughout the album. Very good condition.