Spring 1874William S. Beadle
Pioneer Photographer
Dodge City, Kansas
I have a tale to tell about Jesse James, but since so many have been told about him already, I shall first tell you the saga of one of those heroes who was truly responsible for The Winning of the West—me, William S. Beadle.
I was born in the east, of blue-blooded parents, in the year 1853 and lived a normal childhood. I went to school, played games and teased the girls. My heroes were the same ones most boys had—Boone, Crockett, Andy Jackson, the builders and ring-tailed roarers.
I was too young to fight for Abolition, but I would have if I could—Jackson would have, Boone and Crockett would have. A few years after the war ended, the westward surge of the American empire became the focus of my idealism. I was ninetee
