Featured in this lot is this early, silver gelatin photo of Earle R. Forrest in a photography studio in Arizona Territory, after his return from his ranching job in Northern Arizona Territory in 1904. Earle Robert Forrest, an author and historian, was born on June 20, 1883, at the Forrest family home in Washington, Pennsylvania. As a young man, he became an avid photographer, amassing over 8,000 negatives by the end of his life. After graduating from high school, Forrest took three years off from studies. During that period, he worked as a messenger for the local Western Union Telegraph office. He also spent two summers on his uncle's farm in northwest Missouri. It was there that he first saw cowboys outside of a Wild West show. In September 1903, Forrest took the train to Tucson, Arizona. He spent the winter in the Santa Catalina Mountains, working for the Bayless family's sheep ranch at Oracle and the Bayless Ranch at Redington, where he oversaw a big field of wild and half-wild hogs. He spent the majority of the summer out with the wagon, punching animals. He returned to Pennsylvania in the fall of 1904 to fulfill a promise he had made to his father about attending college. Forrest obtained a B.S. from Washington and Jefferson College in 1908, though he subsequently stated that it was unclear how he graduated given his many absences. He subsequently went on to study forestry at the University of Washington from 1908-1909. He spent the next four years working for Washington County's road and bridge engineering corps. In early 1913, he began working as a forest ranger in Montana's Deerlodge Forest. In April 1914, Forrest took a temporary employment with the Washington Record, a newly established newspaper. Forrest's brief post led to a lifelong career in the newspaper industry. He was a courthouse reporter for the Washington Record for six years. When that newspaper folded in 1920, he went to work for the Washington Reporter. He worked as a courthouse reporter until 1955, when a hearing problem rendered him unable to cover court hearings. In addition to hundreds of special pieces Forrest published for the Reporter throughout the years, he was a contributor to Travel Magazine, Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, The Curio Collector, and other publications, as well as an annual contributor to the Westerner's Brand Book. Earle Forrest passed away August 25, 1969 at the age of 86 in Washington, Pennsylvania. The photo shows a young Earle posing for a photo in a studio as he holds a large lasso and wears his rancher attire. This was taken just after his return from Babbitt's C O Bar Ranch where he was working at the time. The photo shows good condition overall with little to no wear present and no signs of major damage is noted. The visible photo measures 4 1/8" L x 3 1/8" W, while the entire piece measures 5 5/8" L x 4 3/4" W. It weighs under 6 ounces. Provenance: From the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum in Tombstone, Arizona. P228