ORIGINAL 1905 C S FLY TOMBSTONE ARIZONA POSTCARD OF GERONIMO By MOLLIE FLY For Sale

Exceptionally rare and wonderful, 1905 C.S. Fly Tinted Souvenir Postcard Portrait Photograph of the great Native American Chiricahua Apache War Leader Goyahkla (aka: Geronimo ) taken by Tombstone, Arizona’s famous photographer C. S. Fly - this Postcard was issued by Fly\'s wife Mary E. \"Mollie\" while she was running Buck Fly\'s Photography Studio in Tombstone, Arizona.

This very rare Fly / Tombstone Postcard measures approx. 3 1/4” by 5 1/2” and is titled \"Old Geronimo on the Warpath in Arizona\". The Photograph was taken in the Tombstone Arizona Studio of Camillus \"Buck\" Sydney Fly and pictures the great Chiricahua Apache War Leader on one knee and holding a rifle in his hands. The Postcard offered here was issued in 1905 by Fly\'s Wife - Mollie Fly - as one of a number of different \"Tombstone Souvenir Postcards\" utilizing Buck\'s original photographic negatives. It is copyright 1905 by \"M.E. Fly Tombstone, Arizona\".

While we have handled a few dozen C. S. Fly Photographs over the past 36+ years we have NEVER encountered even a single example of any of these rare Postcards issued by Mollie in 1905. We recently acquired what we believe may be one of the few sets of all 12 subjects published by Mrs. Fly and are offering three of this Postcards in this weeks sale.

This exceptionally rare, Fly Studio Color Lithograph Postcard is in very good condition with some edge wear and some scattered \"fly\" specs at the top edge of the recto. Please see the scans below for a good indication of the content and condition of this exceptionally rare C. S. Fly / Mollie Fly Postcard of Geronimo.

An exceptionally rare and original, 1905 C.S. Fly Tinted Souvenir Postcard Portrait Photograph of Geronimo published by the wife of Tombstone Arizona Photographer C. S. Fly and printed using Fly\'s original photographic negative and a fantastic addition to any collection!!!

Be sure to check out this seller’s other sales for a two other C. S. Fly / Mollie Fly Cabinet Card Photograph Tombstone Souvenir Postcards from this same series are also being offered for sale this week on !!

A bit about C S Fly the Photographer, His Photographer Wife Mollie, Their Tombstone Gallery and the “Shootout at the OK Corral”:

Camillus \"Buck\" Sydney Fly - born 1849 near Santa Rosa, California, and died in Bisbee on October 12, 1901, was most noted for the many photographs he took during Tombstone, Arizona\'s wild and wooly days, many may not know that \"Buck\", who preferred to be called, was also a lawman. His photos are legendary and highly prized.

Fly’s parents were originally from Andrew County, Missouri. Somewhere along the line, they migrated to California before Camillus was born and eventually settling in Napa County. He married Mary “Mollie” E. Goodrich on September 29, 1879 in San Francisco. Mary, who was also a photographer and Camillus soon moved to Arizona Territory, where they settled in Tombstone in December, 1879. Fly and his wife immediately set up a photographic studio in a tent before going to work on more permanent quarters.

In July, 1880, they opened up a 12-room boarding house and a studio called the “Fly’s Gallery” in the back of the building located at 312 Fremont Street in Tombstone, \"Doc\" Holiday lived there for awhile. On October 26, 1881, Fly was in a unique position, as the infamous “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” actually took place just off Fremont Street between his studio and Jersey’s Livery Stable. During the shootout, Cochise County Sheriff John Behan cowered inside the studio, watching the gunplay, only to be joined by Ike Clanton who fled in terror proclaiming he was unarmed. When the smoke cleared, it was Fly, armed with a Henry rifle, who disarmed a dying Billy Clanton. For some strange reason Fly did not photograph the aftermath of the shootout, but legend has it that he was threatened by one of the Earps if he did.

In March, 1886, Fly accompanied General George Crook to the Canyon de Los Embudos for the negotiations with Geronimo. He became most famous for the photographs he took of the negotiations, Geronimo and the other wild Apaches he took on March 25th, 26th and 27th.

Fly had become a heavy drinker and the year after these famous photographs were taken, his wife Mary, took their child and separated from her husband. He then left Tombstone on December 17, 1887 to tour Arizona with his photographs and briefly established a studio in Phoenix in 1893. However, the following year, he returned to the area. In the meantime, Mary continued to run the studio in Tombstone during his absence. Though his drinking was becoming more and more heavy, he was elected as the Cochise County Sheriff in 1895 and served for two years.

Fly ranched in the Chiricahua Mountains, until his death at Bisbee on October 12, 1901. Though Camillus and his wife had been separated for years, she was at his bedside when he died and made arrangements to have his body returned to Tombstone, where it was buried on Boot Hill.

Mary Edith Goodrich and Camillus Sidney Fly were married in San Francisco on September 28, 1879. The newlyweds shared not only a love of each other, but of adventure and photography as well. Thus, to indulge themselves, they moved to Arizona Territory. Arriving in Tombstone in December 1879, the Fly’s, “Mollie” and “Buck” as they preferred to be called, quickly set up a photographic studio in a tent. By July of 1880, they had built a twelve-room boarding house. The “Fly Gallery” as the studio was named, occupied the back of the building at 312 Fremont Street in Tombstone.

While her husband roamed the countryside in search of historic photographic opportunities, Mollie ran the boardinghouse and the studio. Although women photographers were extremely rare in the 1880s, Mollie snapped the pictures of anyone with the required price or thirty-five cents. The residents of Tombstone seem to have appreciated her talents.

With the marital separation of the Fly’s in 1887, the Tombstone Epitaph wrote:“Mr. C.S. Fly, the well known photographer, leaves today for Florence, Phoenix and other points in the Territory … During his absence, Mrs. Fly also an accomplished photographic artist, will conduct the gallery in this city as usual.”

Aside from the fact that Mollie Fly was a respected photographer, little is known about her personal life and what little is known is often contradictory. We do know from photographs and letters that Mollie was a small woman,”… about five feet of pure dignity, very plainly dressed, but in manner Queen Victoria had nothing on her,” wrote Coral Henry, a young girl who lived with the Flys after her parents died.

Researchers do not know if Mollie was Buck Fly’s first or second wife, nor is it known if Kitty Fly, a girl they adopted, was Buck’s child from a previous marriage, or a stranger. Although the Flys had been separated for several years when Buck became ill from years of alcohol abuse, Mollie was at his bedside when he died on October 12, 1901 in Bisbee. She continued to run the Tombstone gallery on her own and in 1905, she published a collection of her husband’s Indian campaign photographs as well as a series of \"Tombstone Souvenir Postcards\" published using her husband\'s original photographic negatives.

Finally in 1912, Mollie decided to retire. Knowing the historic value of the work both she and Buck had done over the years, she donated the negatives to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. She then retired to a small home in Los Angeles where she died in 1925. Mollie Fly was a gentle woman in rough times, a quiet woman doing a man’s job in a pioneer environment – as usual.

Overseasshippping is extra and cost will be quoted at buyers request. Massachusetts residents must add 6.25% sales tax.

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Important Notes about Shipping Charges:

The amount quoted for Shipping & Handling is calculated by and is equal to the EXACT amount charged by the Post Office plus a $1.00 \"packing fee\" - the $1.00 fee is our only compensation for the virgin packing materials we use on all of our professionally packaged boxes as well as our cost for the salaried help that does most of our packing - as I am sure you can see, we make NO profit on the Shipping charges and, in fact, our costs are usually greater than the $1.00 fee. Please contact us if there are any issues regarding the cost of shipping.

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