Treasures from Our West: Huffman photograph of sheep herd

Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2010

L.A Huffman Photograph: Herd of sheep in the Powder River badlands

There was an old saying those days which still persists—when natives wanted to compliment a faithful man in any endeavor they would say of him… “There is a man who can get along with hot sheep.” Hot sheep won’t move but each ducked his head under his neighbor and the wise herder would not dog them under those conditions. ~ L.A. Huffman

This Montana herd appears to be staying put under the hot sun, blending in as part of the arid landscape. The photographer, L.A. Huffman, knew a thing or two about the “faithful man” sticking to an endeavor. He arrived in Montana Territory in 1879 hoping for an appointment as post photographer at Fort Keogh. He got the job and, unpaid though it was, the position provided him a log cabin studio. He later opened a studio in nearby Miles City, and, with part of his time devoted to public office through the years—school board, county commission, Montana house of representatives—Huffman kept constant to his love of photography, documenting the West through landscapes, animals, ranching, and people at work.

Hot sheep in the Powder River badlands near Broadus, Montana, 1884. L.A. Huffman Collection. MS 100 L.A. Huffman Collection, McCracken Research Library. P.100.3055

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