American Indian rides along with Buffalo Bill Cody

It was only a month ago that I posted my writeup of a commercial solo use of the 14¢ American Indian stamp on a “souvenir cocoanut” mailing label from the 1920s. Interestingly enough, I just acquired another example of the stamp doing solo duty, this one on an entirely philatelic cover.

The envelope postmarked in Golden, Colorado, in February 1935 features a cachet commemorating the 90th anniversary of Buffalo Bill Cody’s birth.

While the subjects of most contrived covers bearing the 14¢ American Indian stamp have little to no relation to the subject of the stamp, Hollow Horn Bear, there is an indirect connection between Hollow Horn Bear and Buffalo Bill Cody, and you’ve probably heard of that connection: George Armstrong Custer. I explain in greater detail in my writeup on the Buffalo Bill cover.

My 14¢ American Indian collection now contains nearly 20 solo use examples of the stamp on cover, parcel tag, or label, with roughly half of them being commercial in nature and the other half (including first day covers) being philatelic in nature. We’ll see how many more I can track down!

Published 2022-07-19