As I reported a couple years ago, Billy the Kid reportedly paid a quarter to have his picture taken in 1879 or 80. That tintype sold at a Denver auction in 2011 for 2.3 million dollars.
The price was said to be justified because it was the only known picture of one of the West’s most famous outlaws – but that might have been premature.
The Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun News reports that Photographer Frank H. Parrish of Las Cruces has positively identified the young man on the left of the photograph as Dan Dedrick, an ID that he says is the "clincher" to identifying the friend standing next to Dedrick. That's the outlaw Billy the Kid, Parrish says.
The tintype bears some resemblance to the only authenticated tintype photograph of Billy the Kid, the Sun News points out, which is believed to have been taken in 1879 or 1880 at Fort Sumner, N.M. That tintype sold for $2.3 million in 2011.
"There are many purported photo images of Billy the Kid, but only one that is acknowledged by leading historians – until now," Parrish told the Sun News.
Parrish says he was asked to authenticate the tintype photograph by its owner, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Parrish acknowledged that "there will be skeptics and doubters" and welcomed further authentication by other experts.
No comments:
Post a Comment