#thomas rutter

Captain Billy and his wife on horseback, ca. 1900

Yakama Indian Captain Billy wears animal skin decorations in his hair, and his wife carries a cornhusk bag on her horse's saddle. Both horses wear feathers on their bridles. In a series of nearly 100 glass negatives made by Yakima photographer Thomas Rutter, this is the only one labeled with the subjects' names, and also one of the few which has broken. Caption on image: "Captain Billy and squaw" Thomas H. Rutter, a British veterinarian, came to the United States from Australia in the late 1860s. After photographing in Montana in the 1870s and 1880s, and Tacoma, Washington, in the 1890s, Rutter opened a studio in North Yakima (now Yakima). He retired around 1906 and died in 1925. (Steven L. Grafe, "Lee Moorhouse: Photographer of the Inland Empire." Oregon Historical Quarterly 98, no. 4 (Winter 1997-98): 477; Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, p. 502.)

[Negative No. MOHAI 92.9.72]

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest -- Image Portion

Title: Captain Billy and his wife on horseback, ca. 1900  Photographer: Rutter, Thomas H.  Studio Location: United States--Washington (State)--Yakima  Date: ca. 1900  Notes: Yakama Indian Captain Billy wears animal skin decorations in his hair, and his wife carries a cornhusk bag on her horse's saddle.  Both horses wear feathers on their bridles.  In a series of nearly 100 glass negatives made by Yakima photographer Thomas Rutter, this is the only one labeled with the subjects' names, and also one of the few which has broken.     Caption on image:  "Captain Billy and squaw" Thomas H. Rutter, a British veterinarian, came to the United States from Australia in the late 1860s. After photographing in Montana in the 1870s and 1880s, and Tacoma, Washington, in the 1890s, Rutter opened a studio in North Yakima (now Yakima).  He retired around 1906 and died in 1925. (Steven L. Grafe, "Lee Moorhouse: Photographer of the Inland Empire."  Oregon Historical Quarterly 98, no. 4 (Winter 1997-98): 477; Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, p. 502.)