Back from the Wild West

kunc1, originally uploaded by repose.

I picked this up in Omaha- it's wrapping paper from a general store that was located in Crete, Nebraska, ca. the 1880's.

Nebraska was considered part of the "wild west" at the time; Wild Bill Hickok's first known gunfight happened at a Pony Express Station an hour south of Crete.

The name of the proprietor, Frank J. Kuncl, and the ad copy in Czech on the Buffalo's mantle attest to the migration of Bohemians to Nebraska in the 19th century. Wila Cather's great novel, My Antonia, memorializes Bohemian Nebraska- check it out at your local library!