[Alaska Mining Promotional]:

CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD, "THE POET SCOUT," IN HIS WONDERFUL ENTERTAINMENTS, "THE CAMP FIRE AND THE TRAIL." THE ONLY ENTERTAINMENT OF ITS KIND ON EARTH. GLOWING PICTURES OF THE BEAUTIFUL BORDERLAND. RECITATIONS OF HIS OWN QUAINT POEMS. THRILLING STORIES OF LIFE IN CAMP AND FIELD...TWO HOURS OF RARE ENJOYMENT. NOTHING LIKE HIM EVER SEEN BEFORE. NOTHING LIKE HIM WILL EVER BE SEEN AGAIN.

[New York? 1897]. Broadsheet, 9 1/2" x 12". With a small, oval half-tone portrait. On recto, at the bottom, printed in red: 'Norton Hall, Granville, N.Y., Thursday Eve., Dec. 30, 1897.' Near Fine.

A rare announcement of a public entertainment-- "Not a Lecture. But a Budget of Jewels, Sparkling, Pathetic, Humorous and Original"-- by this popular Western hero who, on his first outing as a reporter in 1875, promoted the Black Hills Gold Rush. John W. Crawford [1847-1917] was a "poet-scout" who memorialized Custer and Wild Bill Hickok in verse. He "was one of the original discoverers of gold on French Creek, in the Black Hills, in 1876." After a stint with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, which he left when he accidentally shot himself in the groin [blaming it on Buffalo Bill's drinking], he moved to New Mexico to scout for the Army against the Apache. He "did more than any other man in the Territory in bringing before the public the immense mineral wealth of New Mexico."
This broadsheet not only publicizes Captain Jack's Entertainment, but also promotes "The Capt. Jack Crawford Alaska Prospecting and Mining Co." Testimonials to Crawford are printed here, along with an invitation for the recipient to receive a Company prospectus.
OCLC 778631567 [3- Yale, SMU, U AK] as of February 2023. Item #29536

Price: $450.00