O2306

Legends Of The West

Chief Joseph

Collins Anecdotal Note 

Throughout the summer of 1877, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe led his people on an epic retreat that was followed in the press with sympathy and even support by a large portion of the American public.

As a pacifist, Joseph opposed both the white officials who wanted more and more of his ancestral land and the warriors in his own tribe who wanted war. When the U.S. Army attacked to force his people onto a reservation, he reluctantly decided to fight. For over 1700 miles he led his people through the territories of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Alternating between boldly fighting the pursuing army and strategic withdrawals, he surrendered after 108 days. A direct quote from his lips sums up his philosophy of life. "All men were made by the same Great Spirit. They are all brothers."

The cancel is from Idaho Springs, Colorado, and my cachet shows the great leader in front of the Bitterroot Mountain Range that he loved so much. Chief Joseph - A Legend of the West.

Collins Cover Announcement 

LEGENDS-OF-THE-WEST

Very soon the Post Office will issue a sheet of twenty stamps that will stir the heart of every stamp collector with nostalgic Americana, sentimental romanticism, and historical legends with varying degrees of fact and tall-tale yarns. All of the individuals portrayed on these magnificent stamps (I hope you have seen pictures of them) are rugged individuals who played out during their famous lifetimes the fabled and remarkable story of the American West.

It would be easy for me to write—a page or mora-on each-o-f-thesehardy and stalwart individuals. Researching for my up-coming cachets was a fascinating journey through the American West of the 1800's. I can tell you straight out and from the bottom of my heart that I was so impressed with the adventurous lives of the honored subjects that I pledge to each collector who obtains this set that it will be the finest set of First Day Covers produced for the issue. This COLLINS effort is going to be an incredible collection, and it will only be avai]able to those of you who reserve a set now. It will not be available after issue from me or anyone else, and I will only produce the number of sets reserved. That means it will be an "instant sell-out" from my stock and after the issue date will only be available on the open market. This fact alone, in my opinion, makes this set a must for collectors because it is so affordable with the low monthly payments. In fact, I hope you will consider an extra set because down the road in the years ahead you will have something very special to trade or sell as a complete set or to offer as individual high interest covers such as Buffalo Bill, Western Wildlife, Annie Oakley (Famous Women topic), Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickock, American Indians, and, of course, the controversial Bill Pickett portrait error of which so much has been written. Based on my past history, I predict that a few individual covers in this set will have such appeal and collectibility that they as a small group will fetch significantly more than my current offering price for the entire set of twenty.

For a moment just quietly sit back and reflect about the subject matter that I had to work with for my hand-painted cachets. The one and only 'Buffalo Bill" Cody who was an Army scout, a famous hunter, and founder of the spectacular and long-running -Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show-. Sacajawea, the intelligent, dedicated, and attractive Indian maiden who guided Lewis and Clark during their famous and brave first exploration and mapping expedition of the West. Christopher "Kit" Carson, a teenage runaway, who became a trapper and guided three of Fremont's expeditions and John Fremont himself who explored the beautiful and expansive territory from the formidable Rocky Mountains to the fertile and inviting California. Mountain men Jim Bridger--among the first White men to see Yellowstone and Great Salt Lake--and Jim Beckwourth, a former slave who became a trailblazer in the Sierra Mountains and was a founder of Pueblo, Colorado. Sharpshooter Annie Oakley who was an expert shot with pistol, rifle, or shotgun and who toured with Buffalo Bill. Nellie Cashman who mined in the northwest gold rushes and who was known as the "Frontier Angel" for the care she gave to the sick. Fierce Indian Chiefs Geronimo and Joseph who led their tribes with unquestioned courage.

Famous lawmen--marshalls and sheriffs--Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp, Bill Tilghman, and Bat Masterson. Each of these famous lawmen who carried the badge of frontier law and order had their own stories and I will bring them to life in my hand-painted cachets. The shoot-out at the OK Corral. Maintaining the peace in Dodge City. Battling outlaws in Oklahoma. "Wild Bill" holding his famous hand of aces and eights while shot in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.

Cattle baron and rancher Charlie Goodnight's life was a fascinating and unique story of a western cattleman. He started as a cowboy and then became a Texas ranger. He founded the "Goodnight Trail" starting in Texas and proceeding along the Pecos River through New Mexico and Colorado to Wyoming. The final individual in my "Legends" set will be Black cowboy Bill Pickett who worked at a large cattle ranch and was highly thought of for his skills. He invented the rodeo sport of bulldogging or steer wrestling. Because a wrong photograph was used as the research reference for the Pickett stamp, it prompted a huge and continuing philatelic news story as the original sheets were recalled so that the Pickett stamp could be corrected. Obviously, Bill Pickett First Day Covers will become a collecting specialty in their own right because of all the press coverage and the COLLINS FOC will evolve as one of the most sought after of all. It will only be produced as part of this set.

It is an impossible task for me to describe to you the astounding artistic workmanship which will go into each of the cachets for the sixteen individuals mentioned above. First, hours upon hours of research is done to develop cachet themes for each of the subjects that will create a unique and distinguished First—Day Cover while at the same time blending each FOC in terms of carefully varied subject matter and presentation to come together as a magnificent complementary set. After research, each cachet has to be designed to use the entire surface area of the cover (along with stamp and cancel) for the maximum visual impact and appeal. Painstaking use of color brings each of these images to life-like proportions because on each and every COLLINS the cachet is hand-painted brush stroke by individual brush stroke resulting in the superb reputation gained by a history of quality. Every COLLINS in this "Legends of the West" set will be the final result of time-consuming personal effort devoted to each cachet. That is why you will love the artistic expertise that will make this set the best of any cachetmaker.

At this point I would like to tell you of a special added feature that I will do for this set. It is something that I do for my "Duck" Covers and for a few other occasional items such as the recent "Joe Louis". As I mentioned, my research took me on an incredible journey into the lives of each of the personalities outlined above. Interesting, entertaining, and informative background information that even if I did take the space to expand on each legendary figure on these pages it would not be practical for you to keep it with the corresponding COLLINS Cover. Thus, for each of the twenty covers in this set, I will provide an individualistic insert which will provide historic background information on that particular subject. By providing these individual narratives, I will be highlighting the lives and exploits of each of the men and women who eventually became the legends that these stamps commemorate. These inserts may be kept within the cover itself, in the protective sleeve on reverse side, or displayed separately in an album as a visible, complementary piece to the FDC. This will be a wonderful feature of this COLLINS se't and an extra bonus, so to speak.

As for the First Day postmarks, I am waiting for the Post Office to announce a firm Day of Issue schedule for June. At that time I will firm up my travel plans to Wyoming to obtain the stamps and secure top quality postmarks. I also hope to include in the set a variety of related Western-theme First Day cancellations that will add a great deal to the philatelic appeal of this COLLINS set. My "Indian Headdress" set of 1990 is a good example of the ultimate in securing superb First Day postmarks, so I'm very familiar with what it takes to get the job done.

And now I must touch on the final four covers that will make up this very beautiful and note-worthy COLLINS set. There are four topical stamps on the sheet that supplement the sixteen individuals. Featured stamps will be: "Home on the Range" which will give me a welcomed opportunity to portray the life of the fabled American cowboy; "Western Wildlife" which will abound with the dramatic and popular big game animals that populated the American West (as most of you know, wildlife and nature are favorite topics of mine); "Overland Mail" brings into the set of twenty a cover which will feature the venerable stagecoach that carried passengers and mail throughout the West; and "Native American Culture" which will give me the opportunity to expand upon and portray in cachet-art the Indians that populated all areas of the American West--alwAys a favorite collecting interest. These four covers will be the anchors that really set the tone and create the mood for this spectacular group of COLLINS Covers.

Affordability is something that I know is important to many collectors on a fixed hobby budget. Accordingly, I've priced this set so that virtually each of my collectors who wants this set can afford it--a low "per-item-cost" and a monthly payment schedule which will make the financial aspect fairly easy. Also, for those collectors who want to consider an extra set(s), the monthly payment option will also make this decision a bit easier. Your cost for this set will be an initial payment of $15.80 to be followed by a per-cover monthly payment of $9.75. Your monthly payments won't begin until a month after issue date.

Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and I reserve the right to cut off order acceptance any time between now and issue date. Sets produced will be limited to those collectors ordering now, and no sets will be available after issue date. Please send in your initial payment now because I can guarantee you that you will not want to miss out on this fantastic offering. It will challenge my award-winning "Christopher Columbus" set in terms of artistic workmanship and over-all quality. I certainly plan to enter it in next year's American First Day Cover Society Cachet Competition at the San Diego Convention. It is my belief that it will be a top contender for the 'Earl Planty Award" presented for the best set of 1994.

In our memories with television in its golden age and with the Saturday matinee movie still a mainstay, we dwelled in the time when children played -Cowboys and Indians . Early western stars like William S. Hart and Hoot Gibson. Gary Cooper in "The Virginian" and Jimmy Stewart in "Destry Rides Again". Tom Mix and Bob Steele. Johnny Mack Brown and a young unknown actor in "Stagecoach"--John Wayne. Jumping from the movies to television were Roy Rogers and Trigger as well as Gene Autry and Champion. The Lone Ranger and Tonto rode into the sunset each week with the stiring "Hi-Ho Silver, Away" and Hopalong Cassidy galloped across our yesteryears on his white stallion Topper. Later, "adult" westerns such as "Gunsmoke- with Marshall Matt Dillon, Miss Kitty, Doc, and Chester made their weekly appearance in American living rooms. Countless others such as "Rawhide' and Bonanza perpetuated the romantic yet violent era of the early west. The intense and wide-spread popularity of those movies and television shows attested to the on-going fascination that the public still has with these bye-gone days. The West captured our imaginations.

This stamp issue deals with the "real" personalities of the 1800's west. Real Indians and cowboys. Real men and women who lived the adventure. Brave explorers. Solitary mountainmen. Tribal chiefs. Fearless women. Determined cattlemen. Courageous lawmen. The lumbering stagecoach and the free-roaming wildlife. This COLLINS set will encompass the real Wild West. The handpainted cachets will exceed your expectations and that' §- a promise. The inserts will provide a nice aside for each cover with interesting background. The First Day postmarks will be the best that I can obtain. The whole project is something that I'm putting a tremendous amount of effort into because I want to please you and also because this set will enhance and build the reputation of COLLINS First Day Covers.

There are two bottom-line reasons why this set will be one of your most treasured possessions. First, they will be extremely handsome and unmatched by any other maker. Second, they will not be available after issue date so those who have them will be sitting pretty with a darn good holding. In terms of recognition and reputation within our First Day Cover hobby, these twenty COLLINS hand-painted FDCs are destined to become the "Legends of the West".