Like many other early photographers, Huffman occasionally acquired negatives from other photographers. In a letter to his father in summer 1883, he states, "I must close and varnish up my new negatives bought four more nice lots last week making 10 some which have now increased to quite a handsome figure compared to their cost." Huffman put these negatives into his inventory and made prints under his name with no credit to the original photographer. This practice was not uncommon among early photographers; negatives were simply necessary business assets. They were trying to run businesses, often under the difficult circumstances of remote locations and scarcity of everything from photographic supplies to customers. Acquiring good negatives was just another way to help make the business profitable. We have several Huffman-produced photographs in our collection known to have been taken by other photographers.

Eight of the 13 "Custer Battlefield" views listed in Huffman's 1881 photo list were taken by his predecessor, Stanley Morrow. They were taken in spring 1879 when he accompanied an expedition from Fort Keogh, led by Captain George K. Sanderson, assigned to clean up the battlefield. One of those views is shown below.

One can only assume Huffman acquired these negatives (and a few others) at the same time he acquired Morrow's gallery and equipment in the spring of 1880. One of Morrow's views was used on one of Huffman's postcards. The first photo of the battlefield was taken by John H. Foch, the first post photographer at Fort Keogh. He was at Fort Keogh for only a brief time in 1877 and 1878. His rare photograph, The Place Where Custer Fell, taken in July 1877, "is now recognized as the earliest photograph of Custer's Battle Field' (Where Custer Fell, James S. Brust, et al - 2005).

In spite of his busy schedule, Huffman apparently managed to do some socializing. On October 18, 1883, he married Eliza Ann Skinner (Lizzie), the daughter of a Miles City merchant and, by then, a next door neighbor. A daughter, Elizabeth (Bessie), was born in 1884 and another daughter, Ruth, was born in 1886. Ruth would play an important role in the future of The Huffman Pictures.

In 1883, Huffman published his next list (Huffman now calls it a catalogue); it includes 170 subjects in similar categories as 1881 with one major addition - Yellowstone National Park. That more than one-third of the list are views Huffman took during an 1882 summer visit to the National Park suggests a high interest in Yellowstone among travelers passing through Miles City.

The other significant change is in the "Hunting Scenes" category. Added are eight images taken in January 1882 during his participation in a buffalo hunt north of Miles City. The recent availability of dry plates allowed him to record the activities during that winter hunt. His few photographs of a hide hunter skinning a buffalo may be the only ones that exist and are among the most historically significant images of his career. Several of these images would be used on postcards. Huffman hunted again with G. O. Shields in the fall of 1882. In his 1883 list, he deleted 23 views from his 1881 hunt and added nine new ones from the 1882 hunt.

-from pages 13-14