John Swartz, Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJohn Swartz
American photographer
Date of Birth: 27-Aug-1858
Date of Death: 17-Jan-1937
Profession: photographer
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Virgo 
About John Swartz
- John Swartz (1858-1930) was a photographer in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- He is notable for taking the only known portrait of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang of outlaws.
- A copy of this iconic photograph is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery (United States)The Swartz brothers – David, John and Charles – were three Virginia farm boys who ventured west, arriving in Fort Worth in the mid-1880s.
- Over the next 30 years, they observed the city through the lens of a camera, snapping pictures of people, events and architecture – leaving a priceless legacy.
- They collectively produced thousands of photographs that were scattered to the four winds after their deaths.
- Hundreds of those images have survived, although the brothers themselves are largely forgotten. The best-known photograph shows the five members of the “Wild Bunch” (aka, the “Fort Worth Five”) posed in John’s studio in 1900.
- His studio was located at 705½ Main Street upstairs over John P.
- Sheehan’s Saloon.
- The studio was on the edge of the red-light district known as "Hell’s Half-Acre"—the town's vice district consisting of a concentrated area of saloons, gambling halls, dance parlors, and bawdy houses catering to the rough and rowdy tastes of the Chisholm Trail cowboys.
- One can imagine the outlaws having a few drinks at Sheehan’s then trooping upstairs to get their picture taken.
- Sometime later an unnamed Fort Worth detective was in Swartz's studio and recognized two or three of the men in a photo John had on display.
- The detective ordered sent the photo to the Denver office of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency who were leading the nationwide search for the gang.
- The Pinkerton's printed large quantity of “Wanted” circulars and blanketed the country with them.
- By May 15, 1901, those circulars were in the hands of lawmen from Nevada to Minnesota.
- That infamous image immortalized the gang and is credited with helping bring about their downfall. Swartz's extensive photographic chronicle of early Fort Worth served as the inspiration of a major downtown revival and historical preservation development known as “Sundance Square.” The Swartz brothers’ cumulative work provides a stunning visual chronicle of late 19th- and early 20th-century Fort Worth as well as a window into American life during that era.
Read more at Wikipedia