Frontier Photographer Orlando S. Goff - North Dakota

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Chasing an EnigmaFrontier Photographer Orlando S. GoffBy Louis N. HafermehlGoff’s traveling darkroom advertising Views,Indian Pictures, and Dakota Scenery, Bismarck,1879. Presumed to be pictured are Goff, his wife,Annie, and daughter, Bessie. It would not havebeen difficult for Goff to stage the photographand have someone set off the shutter.SHSND SA 10190-02840Volume 81.23

Self-portrait, 1873-1878. Orlando Scott Goff (1843–1916) arrived in Bismarck, Dakota Territory, in 1873 andestablished a photograph gallery. The next year, he joined with a partner and relocated to Fort Abraham Lincoln.In 1875, he returned to Bismarck. He is credited with taking the last photograph of Lieutenant Colonel GeorgeArmstrong Custer and officers and men of the Seventh Calvary before the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the firstphoto of Sitting Bull as its only subject. SHSND SA A1695-00001All photographs are credited to Orlando S. Goff unless otherwise noted.4North Dakota History

Photography in the second halfof the nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries played asignificant role in encouraging publicinterest in America’s Trans-MississippiWest. Previous public knowledgeof the West originated with tales offur trappers, early explorers, andadventurous travelers, and frompaintings and drawings of scenicsplendors. Many such accounts andimages of the American West weregreeted with public skepticism. In nosmall part the art of photography—inparticular the stereo images westernphotographers created, which weresold by the hundreds of thousands toa public eager for information aboutthe nation’s expanding frontier—wasresponsible for turning skepticism intotrust and acceptance.1Among these early photographersof the West was Orlando Scott Goff,one of Bismarck’s pioneer settlers andprominent early citizens, who has beencredited with a number of photographic“firsts” and “lasts.” Chief among thelatter are photographs taken of someof the officers and men of the SeventhCavalry stationed at Fort AbrahamLincoln before meeting their end at theBattle of the Little Bighorn. Chief amongthe former is Goff’s iconic photographof Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull.Mandan quarters of Like-A-Fishhook Village, 1878. Like-A-Fishhook Village was established in 1845by members of the Three Affiliated Tribes—the Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa. It was also inhabited bynon-Indian traders. The village, consisting of earthen lodges and log cabins, was abandoned in 1880.The site of Like-A-Fishhook Village was lost when the construction of Garrison Dam flooded the area tocreate Lake Sakakawea. SHSND SA 00088-00023Goff’s photos can today be foundin public and private collections,sometimes coming up for auction atsubstantial prices. Among institutionsholding images attributed to him arethe Library of Congress, the StateHistorical Society of North Dakota,the Wisconsin Historical Society, theMontana Historical Society, the DenverPublic Library, the Jesuit OregonProvince Archives at Gonzaga University,and the Big Horn County Library inHardin, Montana, to list but a few.While Goff’s work and some of thebasics of his photographic career arefamiliar to historians interested infrontier photography, much less isknown about his life outside of thephotographic realm. He left no personalVolume 81.25

papers, no letters, no business records. Whatfollows is an attempt—based largely onpublic records, newspaper accounts, and, toa lesser extent, prior published research—toflesh out the life and activity of a man bothwithin and outside of his profession.Orlando Scott Goff was born onSeptember 10, 1843, in Middletown,Connecticut, the youngest of fivechildren born to Adaline L. (née Giddings)and Alfred Goff, a shoemaker. We knownothing more of his childhood or youth,except that by the time he enlisted in theUnion army at age eighteen, he was acarriage maker by trade.Young Orlando was a blue-eyed, dark-haired,light-complexioned lad of five foot sevenwho had turned eighteen less than a monthbefore enlisting in the Tenth ConnecticutVolunteer Infantry Regiment on October 1,1861.2 He was one of many who rushed tojoin the Union army following its defeat atthe first Battle of Bull Run. He enlisted withthe rank of sergeant as the youngest ofthe noncommissioned and commissionedofficers in Company D, to which he wasassigned. The Tenth served in North andSouth Carolina, briefly in Florida, and inVirginia. For unexplained reasons, Goff wasdemoted to corporal after almost two yearsof service. He reenlisted with that rank onJanuary 1, 1864, when the regiment wasstationed in St. Augustine, Florida. Fivemonths later he was again promotedto sergeant.3Handwritten on back of photograph:“Wildflower Plantation, Pawnee CountyOklahoma. Steamer Helena of thePowers Packet Line loaded with SiouxIndians enroute home to StandingRock Agency after the Sioux War andWinners of the battle of the Little BigHorn where General George A. Custerwas defeated and his detachmentsslain. James A. Emmons.”James A. Emmons (1845–1919)was a steamboat operator and earlyBismarck merchant and entrepreneur.SHSND SA A1613-00001(Bottom left) Dakota Block, SecondStreet and Main Avenue, Bismarck,Dakota Territory, 1886. The Dakota Blockwas built in 1883 on three fifty-foot lotsindividually owned by three partners:Martha J. Thompson owned the westlot; Dr. Henry R. Porter, a survivor of theLittle Bighorn expedition, the center; andOrlando Goff, the east lot. Goff installedliving quarters as well as a spaciousphoto studio on the third floor of hisbuilding. SHSND SA A3438-00001(Bottom right) The Dakota Block is one ofthe oldest surviving commercial buildingsin Bismarck. Jacobsen Music occupiesthe space where Goff’s section of thebuilding stood before it was destroyedby fire. Courtesy Mark Halvorson,SHSNDWet Plate PhotographyThe photography in the three decades following the CivilWar bears no resemblance to the photography of today.Until the mid-1880s, photographs were produced using thewet plate collodion process—a difficult, time-consuming,unpredictable, and costly process relying on “chemistryand a bit of magic and some luck.” The photographer ofthat day would create a film base on a piece of glass plateor metal using collodion, a flammable, syrupy solution ofpyroxylin (variously referred to as nitrocellulose, cellulosenitrate, flash paper, or “gun cotton”) in ether and alcohol.While the surface was still wet, the photographer wouldsubmerge the glass plate in a silver nitrate solution to makeit light sensitive. The plate, still wet, would be exposedusing a bellows-type camera box. Following exposure, and6North Dakota Historywhile the surface of the plate remained wet, the plate wasremoved from the camera and immediately developedin a darkroom by pouring a solution of ferrous sulphate,acetic acid, and water over the plate. When developmentwas deemed complete, the plate was washed with water,placed in a “hypo” solution (a solution of potassiumcyanide or sodium thiosulphate) to remove the unexposedsilver, then washed again and allowed finally to dry. Thusthe negative was created. Imagine traveling through largelyroadless territory by horse and buggy with glass plates,chemicals in glass bottles, and a wooden bellows camerato take images of the people and places of the AmericanWest—not a vocation for the unadventurous or the faintof heart.55

Volume 81.27

The opportunities for George Armstrong Custer and Goffto have met in Yankton certainly existed, and if they didmeet, Custer may well have suggested that Goff might haveopportunities to ply his craft at Fort Abraham Lincoln.On October 13, 1864, the TenthConnecticut, with only ninety men inits ranks, was ordered to join a brigadecommanded by Colonel Frances B.Pond in charging a well-mannedline of Confederate earthworks onthe Darbytown Road five miles fromRichmond, Virginia. The outnumberedTenth was repulsed, with five killed, onemissing, thirty-eight wounded, and fivecaptured.4 Among the wounded wasGoff, who had been shot during theassault through the right breast, thebullet then exiting into and throughhis right arm. Regimental chaplainRev. H. Clay Trumball found Goff onthe battlefield; the next day Goffentered Hampton Hospital at FortMonroe, Virginia, where he wouldspend the next two-and-a-half monthsrecovering from his wounds.5Shortly after his release from thehospital and return to Company D,Goff was promoted to first sergeant.A month later, on February 14, 1865,he was promoted to secondlieutenant by commission fromthe governor of Connecticut.He was transferred to theregiment’s Company K, whichhe served in and brieflycommanded (May 28 toJune 27, 1865), until hismustering out of the serviceon August 25, 1865.6The injury Goff suffered atthe Battle of Darbytown Roadwould plague him throughouthis life, “totally disabling himfrom laboring at his trade ascarriage maker.”7 From 1878until the end of his life he wouldcontinue, unsuccessfully, toseek pension relief from thegovernment for total disability8North Dakota Historyresulting from the progressing atrophy ofhis right arm caused by his combat wound.Where and from whom Goff learnedthe art of photography is unknown. Goffhimself, in documents submitted to thePension Office, reported that followingthe Civil War he resided in New York andthen Dakota Territory, moving to the latterlocation in 1872.8 An 1884 biographicalsketch of Goff in Andreas’ Historical Atlasof Dakota notes, “after leaving the army hespent about six months in his native state.He afterwards lived for two years and ahalf at Lyons, N.Y., removing from thereto Portage, Wis., where he remainedmost of the time, until 1871, when hewent to Yankton, Dak. In 1872 he cameto Burleigh County.”9According to the chronology givenabove, Goff would have been in Lyonsbetween early 1866 and mid-1868 andin Portage from then until late 1871 orearly 1872, when he moved to Yankton.This chronology roughly corresponds toBismarck Tribune, Oct. 9, 1878.what little documentary evidence wehave found about his pre-Bismarckyears. Goff is the only photographerlisted in a Lyons, New York, businessdirectory for the years 1869–70,and a photograph attributed to himof one Libby Rapp of Lyons appearsonline.10 Goff is not, however, listedin a business directory for the years1867–68, though there was anotherphotographer listed in Lyons, CharlesH. Ravell.11 So if it is true that Gofflearned photography in Lyons, it waslikely from Ravell. It is also possiblethat Goff was operating Ravell’sstudio in the latter’s absence, thoughthat seems unlikely, since Ravell’sbusiness address is given as CanalStreet in the 1867–68 directory andGoff’s was given as William Street in1869–70.12 Thus, this evidence doesnot adequately answer the questionof when and from whom Goff learnedthe art of photography.The only other evidence we havefound suggesting Goff spent time inPortage, Wisconsin, appears in theYankton Press on November 1, 1871:“Mr. O. C. [sic] Goff, an experiencedPhotographist, from Portage, Wis.,has been engaged by Mr. S. J. Morrow,and will attend to business at hisgallery during the coming winter. Fromsamples of the work of Mr. Goff,which have been shown us, weare confident that he is a goodartist.” The language suggeststhat Goff had not yet arrived inYankton. Presumably Morrowengaged Goff not to attend to hisgallery over the winter, but tomind it during an extendedjourney up the Missouri River,which Morrow had planned tobegin in the spring of 1872.Morrow announced in theMarch 27, 1872, Yankton Pressthat his gallery would be closedon April 1, when his trip upriverwould begin. Morrow did notreturn to Yankton untilNovember 18, 1873, by whichtime Goff was in Bismarck.13This raises the questions: Was,Continued on p. 12

This 1874 Bismarck street scene showsJames A. Emmons Liquor, Drug Store,J. W. Raymond and Company, and the Empire Storeon the First National Bank corner on the north side ofMain Avenue east of Eighth Street.SHSND SA A1516-00001A horse and cart stops outside theJ. W. Raymond and Company Groceries andSteamboat Supplies store in Bismarck in 1878.J. W. Raymond bought this building on Main Avenuein 1873. Raymond was a lawyer and mayor ofBismarck. He was one of the early founders of thebanking business in Bismarck, establishing theBank of Bismarck in the early 1870s. The name waschanged to Bismarck National Bank in 1883.SHSND SA A3283-00001(Left) Anna E. Eaton Goff, 1880. “Annie” Goff(1844–1933) came to Bismarck after marryingOrlando Goff in 1875 and taught music lessons.SHSND SA A3193-00001(Right) Bessie Goff (1878–1965) in 1884.SHSND SA 00092-00023Volume 81.29

10North Dakota History

Early ladder wagon of the Pioneer Hose Company(fire department), Bismarck. The picture was takenabout 1890 on the west side of Fourth Street, justnorth of Main Avenue—the current site of First NationalBank. SHSND SA A3740-00001Volume 81.211

Goff photographed Jennie MacNider(1876–1942) in his Bismarck studio in 1880.SHSND SA 00263-00007Steamboat Montana, Bismarck, Dakota Territory. The steamboat Montana was in Bismarck on June 30, 1879,preparing to reload for a third trip to Fort Benton when a tornado completely stripped the cabin off.SHSND SA 00088-00044in fact, Goff ever working in Yankton?Did Morrow’s intent to have him tend tohis gallery fall through?What drew Goff to Bismarck we cannotsay. If he ever were in Yankton, hemay well have met Lieutenant ColonelGeorge Armstrong Custer, who, alongwith his command, spent some time inthe spring of 1873 camped near thereon the journey to Fort Abraham Lincoln.According to Custer’s wife, Libbie, theYankton community threw a ball forthe Seventh Cavalry regiment duringits sojourn in the Yankton vicinity, towhich “all the town, and even the12North Dakota Historycountry people, came.” Following theball and just prior to its departure, theregiment paraded in review beforethe territorial governor, his staff,and the townspeople. Libbie Custerreported it “a great event in the livesof the citizens, and the whole townwas present.”14 The opportunities forGeorge Armstrong Custer and Goff tohave met in Yankton certainly existed,and if they did meet, Custer may wellhave suggested that Goff might haveopportunities to ply his craft at FortAbraham Lincoln, where the SeventhCavalry was to be stationed followingits Yellowstone Expedition from lateJune through mid-September of 1873. Itcertainly would have been in characterfor Custer to have done so.15In any case, Goff arrived in Bismarckin the fall of 1873. The first mentionof his presence in the frontier townof perhaps two hundred people isfound on the front page of the BismarckTribune on October 15, 1873—anannouncement Goff had established aphotograph gallery on the town’s mainstreet. By early spring of the followingyear, however, he had moved his galleryto Fort Abraham Lincoln, located on thewest bank of the Missouri River opposite

duration between the fort and Bismarckto ply their trade, in addition to trips toother military posts along the MissouriRiver.19 Their partnership seems to haveended sometime between January andJune of 1876, which, according to oneaccount, was inspired by Ford’s decisionto chase the glitter of Black Hills goldin May 1876.20 The last mention of theGoff and Ford partnership in the localnewspaper was in early January 1876.21used her to entice Goff to remove toBismarck permanently: “Mrs. O. F. [sic]Goff is getting along nicely with hersinging class and several voices havebeen immensely improved under herinstruction. If Mr. G does not locateat Bismarck instead of remaining atthe military posts he deserves to beconfined to S. B. and hard tack for sixmonths. Mrs. Goff would be a valuableaddition to Bismarck society.”23erhaps the dissolution wasgiven further impetus by Goff’smarriage the previous fall toAnna “Annie” E. Eat

and a photograph attributed to him of one Libby Rapp of Lyons appears online.10 Goff is not, however, listed in a business directory for the years 1867-68, though there was another photographer listed in Lyons, Charles H. Ravell.11 So if it is true that Goff learned photography in Lyons, it was likely from Ravell. It is also possible

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