The Dunton Times Vol. II Issue 7

W. Herbert or "Buck" Dunton was born William Herbert Dunton on August 28, 1878 in Augusta, Maine. His parents were William Henry and Anna Katherine Pillsbury Dunton. In his childhood years, he spent a great deal of time in the Maine woods with his Grandfather Pillsbury. This sparked an interest in hunting, animals and the outdoors that would last a lifetime.

Mr. Dunton was an accomplished artist at an early age. He studied at The Cowles Art School in Boston, The Students League in New York City, and in Taos with Ernest Blumenschien and Leon Gaspard. He illustrated for Harper's, Schribners, and many other magazines. He also created artwork for many books. Examples of these can be viewed by following this link.The page contains several rather large graphics of his paintings and may take some time to load on slower Internet connections.

Another key event occurred in 1896 when he ventured to Montana. He fell in love with the West and made summer trips there for the following fifteen years. During these trips, Dunton contributed pen and ink drawings to local newspapers. Finally, after a visit to Taos, New Mexico in 1912, and at the suggestion of Ernest Blumenschein, Buck Dunton left New York and moved to Taos in 1914. This is where he was able to thrive as a western illustrator, combining his two loves -- hunting and painting.

In a 1913 interview, W. Herbert Dunton stated, "This is the ideal place for me because there are more varieties of atmosphere than I have found in any other place. . . . There are several varieties of sage and cactus for backgrounds, according to the elevation that you choose. The Taos Indians are as fine types as I have ever seen and if one wants to paint a Mexican picture he can get a background almost anywhere near Taos".

His personal philosophy can be heard in this statement by him, "There is one thing positive, had I lived in Merriweather Lewis's, Audubons's or even as late as Catlin or Francis Parkman's day, no life of mine would be thrown away painting pictures, when I could live the greater part of a year alone with my rifle and a few pack animals among the host of buffalo -- the antelope, the great bands of elk . . . "

"Personally, he was a true western character -- not quite a hero, but an independent man of action. He missed the company of heroic figures or men of pure intent that he assumed had occupied the real West, but certainly inhabited the mythic West. Dunton's nostalgia underlies much of his work . . . 'Yesterday' was Dunton's preferred world. Whether it was inhabited by scouts, prospectors or cowboys, he saw a world in which physical skill accomplished the day's tasks, a meal was right at the end of a gun or fishing pole, and distinctions between right and wrong were simply made." (February 1988 Sports Afield)

On a genealogical note, he had at least one brother, John, who was born in 1880. W. Herbert Dunton married Nellie Gertrude Hartley and through this union was rewarded with two children -- a daughter Vivian Ernestine born July 19, 1907 and died March 1987, and a son, Ivan Harley Dunton, born October 22, 1913 and died September 1987.

If any one has any other leads as to the ancestry or descendants of this man, please contact me. I would love to claim these people as my kin!

Bibliography:

"The Art and Life of W. Herbert Dunton", by Julie Schimmel, Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas
"W. Herbert Dunton: The Man & His Art", by Julie Schimmel, Sports Afield, February 1988

"Announcements" - Submit obituaries, marriage, military service, special events, and birth announcements to keep us all up to date!

I first want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year! My immediate family has truly been blessed this year and we have a lot to be thankful for. We have experienced lifestyle changes, had challenges to overcome, and even a birth. We look forward to an exciting 1998.

On the genealogy side of life, great advancements have been made towards connecting up our scattered lineages. Along with this web site, several others have popped online (refer to the Library Page for links).

Two useful electronic mail based "newsgroups" have been created -- one for Dutton genealogy and the other for Dunton genealogy. The Dunton list, like this site, is to be used to discuss all variations of the Dunton name --

Dutton, Dunten and Dunton. The Dutton list is reserved for Dutton name research. You can join the DUTTON-L list by sending a mail message to DUTTON-L-request@rootsweb.com and putting the word subscribe in the body of the message. That's it. Do the same thing for the Dunton list.

I am hoping that I will be able to get back into the genealogy project a little more this winter and apologize to everyone who has gotten poor service out of me. I have been juggling my career, the farm, a construction project, and am starting up a new computer service business. I appreciate your patience with me. If you are waiting for something from me, please email me again.

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Purchasing books, music & movies through the Dunton Homesite Webstore directly benefits the Dunton Homesite Family History Project. If you are going to place an order with Amazon.com, please remember to use this link -- and tell all of your friends.

If you have an interesting story that you'd like to share, PLEASE submit them.