J. F. Standiford, Photographer

Jacob F. Standiford was an early artist among the many photographers in Oklahoma. He grew up in a large farming family in Marshall County, Virginia. Marshall County is one of the western counties of Virginia that became West Virginia after the Civil War. He was born in February 1852. Jacob usually went by his initials, J. F. He did so because of a slightly older cousin also named Jacob Standiford.

J. F. moved to Muskogee in the spring of 1878 following a wanderlust that began at a young age. There he constructed a residence and art gallery. These were not separate structures. His photographic studio was his parlor. He developed negatives and made prints in a back room.

At the time, the Creek Nation required non-Indians to get a permit if they wanted to reside within the Nation. Because he enjoyed the rough western life, he applied for a permit. For many years thereafter, he advertised on the backs of his cabinet cards that he was the only licensed photographer in the territory.

Standiford covered most of Indian Territory in his photographic efforts. Partly this was because of his wandering nature. He was also aware that competitors could come into the area just as he had. His competition was the photographers living in adjacent states. Occasionally, such photographers came into Indian Territory only to shortly return to their native states. As time passed, more came and stayed.

Like the traveling photographers from adjacent states, Standiford regularly traveled throughout Indian Territory in a wagon. At every opportunity, he offered to take photographs at any gathering or farmstead. His photography business took him to Eufaula, McAlester, Tahlequah, Vinita and Wagoner.

During the mid-1880's, he moved to Kansas where he advertised himself as "The People's Photographer" in Parsons. After a brief spell, Muskogee drew Jacob back for another half dozen years. On July 14, 1892, he made application for a patent on a tool used in etching. Clarence W. Turner witnessed his application.

He married in 1886. His wife joined him in the business by assuming the developing chore. Later, Rachel L. Standiford, a sister, joined the couple in the business. J. F. and his wife had no children. The chemicals in the developing solutions might have been the reason for no children.

Here are some of the photographs Standiford took over the years in Indian Territory. He agreed with Campbell Russell about the need for paved streets in Muskogee. Standiford also appreciated the commercial possibilities of a photograph showing Russell fishing in a waterhole in Muskogee's Main Street in 1888. The powerful image was the result of their co-operative enterprise.

The following year, Standiford made a photograph of Tahlequah. He took the picture from the Cherokee Female Seminary on the outskirts of town. He also made a picture of fishermen at Flat Rock Bend. Another commercial success was Standiford's photographs of the inside and outside of Stampede's Saloon, Tulsa. His most common photographs surviving today are the numerous studio and tent photos he made of families and individuals all across the Indian Territory.