Aultman Scrapbook
Libro de recuerdos de Aultman

Aultman Scrapbook

AULTMAN, OTIS A. (1874–1943). Otis A. Aultman, photographer, was born on August 27, 1874, in Holden, Missouri. His family moved to Trinidad, Colorado, in 1888. As a young man he learned photography from his older brother, Oliver, many of whose photographs of the Trinidad area are now in the collections of the Colorado State Historical Society. Aultman married and had two children, but the marriage ended in permanent separation in 1908, after which he moved to El Paso. There he first worked for Scott Photo Company, was later in partnership with Robert Dorman, and eventually owned his own studio. Aultman was a favorite of Pancho Villa, who called Aultman "Banty Rooster" because he was only 5'4" tall. Aultman worked for the International News Service and Pathé News and experimented with cinematography. In 1916 he was one of the first photographers to arrive at Columbus, New Mexico, after the famous raid on that town by the Villistas. After the military part of the revolution was over, Aultman settled down to a conventional career as a commercial photographer. He took an interest in photographs depicting early El Paso history and collected many from the 1880s and 1890s. Another of his interests was archaeology; early photographs of archeological sites in the El Paso area are an important part of his work, and he was a founding member of the El Paso Archaeology Society. Aultman died from a fall in his studio in 1943. Subsequently, the El Paso Chamber of Commerce purchased his negatives from the estate. Over the next twenty years the negatives were moved from one storage place to another, and undoubtedly some disappeared. In the 1960s, due largely to the interest of historian C. L. Sonnichsen, the remaining 6,000 negatives were purchased, prints were made, and both negatives and prints were placed in the El Paso Public Library. A second set of prints is in the Library of the University of Texas at El Paso. Aultman's photographs are a priceless contribution to the recorded history of El Paso, southern New Mexico, and Ciudad Juárez. Equally important are his photos of the early stages of the Mexican revolution.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Reference ID: 083-1995-36-p14a

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

U.S. Pres. Taft / Mex. Pres. Diaz Plaque

The meeting of presidents William Howard Taft and Porfirio Díaz ...

Plaza Theater

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas. The ...

Mills Building

The Anson Mills Building is an historic building located at 303 ...

E. Howard Post Clock

The 1910 E. Howard Post clock sits at the southwest corner of ...

Teepee

I believe this is in San Jacinto Plaza and was set up during ...

La Feria Carnival Gift Shop

La Feria Carnival Gift Shop, 500 S Mesa El Paso TX.

Kress Building

S.H. Kress & Co. (1896–1981) was one of the 20th century’s ...

Capt. John R. Hughes

Capt. John R. Hughes was a Texas Ranger who had served in the El ...

El Paso in 1932

Note the Plaza Hotel in the background. Trolley lines mixed with ...

Mrs. Zach White and daughter Mary Boynkin - El Paso, Texas

Zach White, businessman, financier, and city administrator in El ...

Prof. Esterly and His First Corps Of Teachers

Mr. Calvin Esterly, a retired Army officer and West Point ...

South El Paso St.

This photograph belonged to Z.T. White and shows S. El Paso St. ...

Ice Installation by Jyoti Duwadi

This large ice installation was created outside the Museum of ...

Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Solomon

Mrs. Solomon later became Mrs. John S. Adler. Mr. Solomon was ...

Bonnie McLaughlin - El Paso, Texas

This is a Feldman Bushong Art Studio Photograph.

Aultman Behind The Camera

By 1911 El Paso was a gathering place for many of the main ...

President Johnson Visits El Paso, Texas

Johnson's visit to El Paso, Texas. Johnson is holding the hand ...

Aultman Scrapbook

This is a group portrait of a band taken by photographer, Otis ...

Aultman Scrapbook

These are photos and caricatures of reporters and photographers ...

Horses Pushed Over A Cliff in the Guadalupe Mountains

A newspaper article and photographs by Otis Aultman depicting ...

Horses Pushed Over A Cliff in the Guadalupe Mountains, continued

The continuation of a newspaper article and photographs by Otis ...

Pathe News

A selection of photos and stories from the Pathe News.

Aultman Scrapbook

This is a collage of photos of photographers, including Otis ...

home.search_collection