Sep 29, 2022 - Sale 2615

Sale 2615 - Lot 309

Price Realized: $ 520
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(WEST--WYOMING.) Early wanted poster and photograph issued by a renowned Cheyenne sheriff. One mimeograph page, 11 x 8 1/4 inches, on letterhead of Sheriff Edwin J. Smalley; partial separation at fold, moderate wear and dampstaining; with small silver-print photograph of the suspect, 1 3/4 x 1 1/4 inches, minor wear. Cheyenne, WY, 25 January 1908

Additional Details

This notice announces a warrant for the arrest of A. Leysen and Mrs. D.P. Gould for "obtaining goods under false pretense and grand larceny." Leysen is described at length and "has a blue uniform and badge, Cheyenne Detective Bureau. He is a barber by trade and undertakes to act as a detective. Ran a Detective Bureau here a short time." Mrs. Gould is "Leyden's mistress, and acts as a lady detective." The accompanying photograph of Leyden shows him in his blue uniform and Cheyenne Detective Bureau badge.

A report on Loysen's arrest two weeks later notes that "he has been a constant reader of dime novels for years and wanted to establish a reputation," which he accomplished by circulating worthless checks.

Sheriff Edwin John Smalley (1868-1939), who issued this notice, was the first white child born in Cheyenne, and is best known as the sheriff who arrested outlaw Tom Horn in 1902.