In 1997 the US Postal Service issued a sheet of 29 cent stamps, called “Legends of the West”.
Each stamp featured a different character out of the Old West and included such luminaries as Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley and Wild Bill Hickok, as well as many lesser-known names. Concurrently, the Post Office published a book about the series, and Texas Jack Omohundro was mentioned and pictured in that book, as a friend and contemporary of Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill.
Now, here’s the question:
Why wasn’t Texas Jack on one of the stamps? We think it was a gross oversight, which needs to be corrected, and some of our members have tried, unsuccessfully thus far, to convince the Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee of that fact.
Dennis Greene, for one, has written to the committee approximately every 3 months with innovative and substantial reasons that Jack should be considered for a stamp of his own – thus far, to no avail. What we need now, is a groundswell, from all over the country, of people who feel that Texas Jack Omohundro deserves this honor every bit as much as the aforementioned 20. The key is volume. We feel that with enough individual requests (as opposed to many requests from the same person(s)), the Committee would look more favorably on the idea of giving Jack a stamp.
Please join in this crusade. Any number of reasons can be used as a basis for such a request. Compatriot of Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill. Member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Hero of numerous Dime Novels. Originator (with Bill and Ned Buntline) of the first of the Wild West Shows to be shown on the eastern stage. Or, that he was one of the original cowboys who drove cattle up the Chisholm Trail, and one of the original Scouts who opened the great northwest to civilization.
So, please join us in our campaign to have Texas Jack placed on a U.S. Stamp. Send your letters to:
Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Room 4474E
Washington, DC 20260-2437
Many thanks for your participation!
