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Casper Collins Drawing of Fort Laramie, ca, 1864

Value (2015) | $20,000 Insurance
Watch  

GUEST:
I brought a drawing that was done by I guess my father's great-great uncle when he was in the 11th Cavalry from Ohio, but he was in Fort Laramie, Wyoming, at the time when he drew this, and made a presentation to it to his first wife. My father had it when, you know, when I was little. I know it was in a box and I just never paid any much attention to it. I wish I would've gotten it out and looked at it sooner because it's really a nice depiction, I guess, of Fort Laramie. I think it's in, like, the 1860s because he was in the Civil War, and after the Civil War, he went to Fort Laramie, and then he went back to Decatur, Illinois, so...

APPRAISER:
Your history's a little bit fractured, and the fact that it says, "Presented to Sarah Johnson," which was his first wife, and this is your relative. What's interesting about it, he is actually not the maker of this piece.

GUEST:
He's not?

APPRAISER:
He is not.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And the actual maker of this piece is listed right here, Caspar W. Collins.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And he served with your relative, and he was an officer, a lieutenant in the 11th O.V.C., Ohio Volunteer Company.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
So they were stationed out in Fort Laramie, and this was at a time in Wyoming where it was the Wyoming Territory. This was truly the Wild West. And Caspar Collins is actually quite well known, and he was born in Ohio, and he went out west as a very young man because his father was a colonel in the Army. And his father's job was in the western territory protecting telegraph lines and the early settlers.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And as a young boy, Caspar Collins actually went out and lived with him. So he really was affected by the West and the romance of the West, and he started drawing. And he was responsible for drawing some of the earliest maps and depictions of the early forts and settlements in the Wyoming Territory.

GUEST:
Oh, my goodness, all right.

APPRAISER:
And there is actually a body of work that is known, and that's why we know, even though it's not signed by Collins, it actually is by Collins.

GUEST:
Oh, okay.

APPRAISER:
It's a wonderful folky scene of Fort Laramie. And if you take a look, they did a recent rebuilding of Fort Laramie, how accurate this drawing is. It's a watercolor, it's on a very fine muslin, almost like it was tent material. And he listed all the people in the unit. And he probably made this as a favor for your relative.

GUEST:
Oh, cool.

APPRAISER:
I think when it originally was made and given to Sarah Johnson as a present, I think it was made just to be a memento. This is very tumultuous times out there. There's a lot happening. And the soldiers at Fort Laramie were pretty tough on the local Indian population.

GUEST:
Yeah...

APPRAISER:
And shortly before, there was a famous battle, the Platte River Bridge Massacre. And it's where the Indian tribes actually got together and attacked the area near the fort, and at that point in time, Caspar Collins was killed. And the Indian attack was in part a reprisal for two Indian chiefs that were hung at Fort Laramie. Because it's a family piece, I think we're going to put an insurance value on it today of $20,000.

GUEST:
Oh my God. Really?

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Allan Katz
Folk Art
Allan Katz Americana
Madison, CT
Appraised value (2015)
$20,000 Insurance
Featured In
Charleston, Hour 2 (#2008)
Event
Charleston, SC (August 08, 2015)
Category
Folk Art
Period
19th Century , Civil War
Form
Drawing
Material
Watercolor

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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