A Spirited Wild West Volley – Points West Online

Originally published in Points West magazine History Edition
Winter 2022

A Spirited Wild West Volley

By Mack Frost

The performers and crew who toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West were among the best around at their chosen professions. But they didn’t spend every minute working. Between shows and during setting up and packing out, there was always a little downtime for a bit of fun.

Photographer John C. Hemment captured just such a moment when two Indigenous performers squared off in a table tennis match, with a rapt group of spectators cheering them on.

Hemment was primarily a “turf” photographer based in New York. He covered all aspects of horse racing, with a special interest in developing the “photo finish” process to determine which racehorse crossed the finish line first. He conducted many experiments using different cameras, lenses, and film to develop his process.

He was also a photojournalist who in 1898 covered most of the Spanish-American war in Cuba, following the sinking of the battleship Maine. He was hired by the United States government and several newspapers to photograph the wreckage of the Maine.

It’s not known for sure how he came to photograph the Wild West, but he may have been hired by the production to document the performers and logistics of the popular show. Or, he may also have just been interested in the Wild West as a unique journalism subject.

There are several versions of this photo showing two Native American performers playing table tennis on an impromptu surface in the arena of the show. The competitor on the left with his leg up in the air is Iron Tail. A dozen men have gathered to watch the competition, including cowboys, Cossacks, and other Native Americans.

The cowboy in the front row on the right with his hand up is Andy Belknap, and to his right is head cowboy Joe Esquivel. Another man can be seen in the center clutching some banknotes, possibly awaiting the outcome of a wager on the match. The ball is blurry, but visible over the middle of the net, in the foreground above the shoulder of a Cossack spectator.

The photo was probably taken in 1902, as there is another portrait of Iron Tail signed by Hemment in 1902 in the William F. Cody collection.

About the author

Mack Frost is a lifelong Cody, Wyoming, resident who works as a digital technician in the McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. He displays his photography at Open Range Images in downtown Cody.

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