Photographers

Bee Ho Gray and Ada Sommerville were photographed by some of the most respected photographers of their time. Some of these photographers became famous for their ability to chronicle the Wild West shows and rodeos of the early 20th century. Others were established studios which offered publicity shots. Almost all of them are now recognized as having made a priceless contribution to history through their photography.
  • Baker Art Gallery, Columbus Ohio was a studio in Columbus, Ohio which photographed a number of famous people from 1886 to 1955. Some of the other famous people Baker Art Gallery photographed included Annie Oakley and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
  • Ralph Russel Doubleday was a photographer who was one of the few people to really capture some of the early rodeos and Wild West shows. Will Rogers described Doubleday as ” the one that has taken 90 per cent of the good rodeo pictures ever made. He don’t get ‘em till they are doing something unusual. But when they do, he is right down under them shooting up at ‘em. He has had horses jump over him, wild steers run over him. But he always comes up with an exact likeness of the animal.”
  • M. B. Marcell of Portland, Oregon photographed many of the early rodeos and round ups. Marcell’s style was more controlled than Doubleday’s. He shot many of the official panoramic photographs of large groups of cowboys, cowgirls and Indians who participated in the likes of the Cheyenne Frontier Days.
  • Orpheum Studio of Denver
  • Orpheum Studio of South Bend, Indiana
  • Morrison of Chicago
  • Mort of Kalamazoo
  • John Addison Stryker of Fort Worth, Texas
  • Garnet E. Palfrey of Saint Louis, Missouri
  • Dean W. Tainter (or Painter) – probably of Chickasha, Oklahoma
  • Howard Wilcox – possibly of Hartford, Connecticut
  • Lyall Commercial Photo Limited – Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • Newman – Photographer at New York Stampede, 1916