Photo courtesy of his grandson (and namesake) Harvey Provencio.
Harvey, on the right, and his buddy Black Jack send my imagination spinning and romanticizing, I must admit, about what the men of the Old West must have looked and been like. No, I'm not romanticizing about Harvey.....he's family. He was Gertrudis "Tula" Robles' husband.
But just look at them. This is a terrific family photo from 100 years ago that clearly shows us how the cowboys of the day were really outfitted. Lassos, six shooters, a horse for transportation, the cool vests and those sun shielding hats were what you'd get together if you were a cowboy heading out on your horse. Hollywood depicts cowboys, cowpokes, lawmen accurately for the most part, I'm sure, but here's a photo of the real McCoys.
This photo tells us so much more as we study it. About the terrain, buildings (see the outhouse in the back), the weather that day (notice the rain puddles), roads or lack thereof and leaves us to imagine what they were up to on that day in the Arizona Territory. So we can date the photo as a snapshot in time before Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. And given that Harvey was born in 1878 he would be somewhere around his mid to late 20's in this photo.
Great photos spark our natural curiosity. Hope this one sparks yours.
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