Charles Howard (photographer) - Fort Sanders

Fort Sanders

In July 1878, Private Howard was transferred back to his original assignment with the Fourth Infantry Band, now stationed at Fort Sanders near Laramie, Wyoming. At his new assignment, Howard set up another portrait gallery and produced images for the officers, men and their families stationed at the post. He also reprinted some of Mitchell, McGowan & Company original images, suggesting that he may have kept some of the negatives when the partnership was dissolved. One surviving image bears the imprint of "Howard & Johnston, Fort Sanders, Wyoming Territory, suggesting that Howard took on a partner. This may be William J. Johnston, a Canadian who came to Wyoming in 1880 and established a portrait studio in Green River. This may be the same Johnston who later joined Charles S. Baker in Evanston, Wyoming, to produce a series of prints of Shoshone, Arapaho and Apache portraits.

Private Charles Howard completed his enlistment and was discharged from the Army in June 1880. What became of him after this currently remains a mystery. No further documentation of this soldier/photographer has yet been found.

Examples of Howard's Photographs From Fort Sanders, circa. 1878–80

• Officers Quarters, Fort Sanders, Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
• Unidentified 3rd Cavalryman. Bill Chachula Collection. Published in: Douglas C. McChristian, Uniforms, Arms, and Equipment: The U.S. Army on the Western Frontier, 1880–1892, vol. 1 (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007) p. 16 (figure 1.4).
• First Sergeant John Henry (John H. Shingle), Company I 3rd Cavalry. By Howard & Johnston. Hayes Otoupalik Collection.

Examples of Photos Reprinted by Howard

• Portrait of Brigadier General George Crook, taken in January 1877 in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, by D. S. Mitchell. Reprinted by Private Charles Howard. Wyoming State Archives.
• Portrait of Young Man Afraid of His Horses, probably taken in the fall of 1877 at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, by D. S. Mitchell. Reprinted by Private Charles Howard. American Heritage Center.