The head of “Dirty” Dave

by Josh Slatten

Is this the head of “Dirty” Dave Rudabaugh?

This information is based on the research of David Thomas, and is shared with his blessings.

The pictures of Rudabaugh's decapitated head were taken by Albert W. Lohn, a nineteenth-year old, traveling, professional photographer who was in Parral the day Rudabaugh was killed. Shortly after Dave was decapitated, Lohn got out his camera and took four pictures of the event. Two of the photos were of better quality than the other two, therefore Lohn printed only the two best shots.

The head of Dave?

Lohn took the two images and began selling postcards of Rudabaugh’s severed head.Naturally, this did not sit well with the governor of the Mexican State of Durango. The images were ordered to be turned over. Lohn handed over the two better images that he had printed, yet retained the negatives of the two poorer photographs, which he had not yet printed.

Lohn put the two negatives away, completely forgetting about them. In 1943, Fred W. Mazzulla, an avid collector of western memorabilia, met with Lohn in Nogales, Arizona, where Lohn was operating a photography studio. The two became good friends. During one of their conversations, Lohn mentioned that he had been present in Parral when Rudabaugh was decapitated and he had taken photos of the event. Prompted by Mazzulla’s interest, Lohn located the two negatives he had put away 57 years earlier and gave them to Mazzulla.

Of the two negatives, the one of the mob carrying Rudabaugh’s head on a pole is dark  (because it was taken at night) and poorly focused. The one of a man, an unknown Mexican Rurales, (Federal Police) holding Rudabaugh’s head is good. In this photo, Rudabaugh has a black “mustache, neatly trimmed and waxed,” as described in the newspaper article about him two years earlier. The Las Vegas Daily Optic reports the following on Jan 15, 1886: He fatally shot two persons before the fatal ball struck him and after his head was severed from his body and exhibited about the streets on the end of a pole.”

There is some speculation and disagreement amongst historians as to the authenticity of the photo. Some say that it was taken by Lohn in Culiacan, Sinaloa in 1911. I've personally not seen the provenance to support this claim and question if it's as solid as the evidence that’s laid before you. I’ve also seen nothing to indicate that Lohn wasn't in Parral at the time in question. I'm inclined to believe this is the decapitated head of Dave Rudabaugh, until further evidence says otherwise.

David Thomas visited the collection of Mazzulla, located at the Colorado State Archives in Denver Colorado where the two negatives/images are currently located. The collection had just been moved from the Carter Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas only a month prior.

Sources-

David Thomas, “Dirty Dave” Rudabaugh, Billy the Kid’s Most Feared Companion” pg. 96-97

Fred. M. Mazzulla, “Don't Lose Your Head,” 1964 Denver Westerners Brand Book”

Dabuek D, Arreika, Postcards From the Sonora Border, Visualizing Place Through a Popular Lens, 1900-1950. Pg 36,62

Southwesterner (Columbus Nm) Aug, 1962