Camillus "Buck" Sydney Fly (May 2, 1849 – October 12, 1901) was an Old West photographer who is regarded by some as an early photojournalist and who captured the only known images of Native Americans while still at war with the United States. He took many other pictures of life in the mining boom town of Tombstone, Arizona and the surrounding region. He recognized the value of his photographs to illustrate periodicals of the day and took his camera to the scenes of important events where he deliberately recorded them and resold pictures to editors nationwide.

He was an eyewitness on October 26, 1881 to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which took place outside his photography studio. He took pictures of a number of Tombstone residents including Tombstone founder Ed Schieffelin, pioneer surgeon Dr. George E. Goodfellow, Wyatt Earp's wife Josephine, and others.

He served as Cochise County Sheriff from 1895 to 1897. Most of his negatives were destroyed by two fires that burned his studio to the ground. His widow, photographer Mary E. "Mollie" Fly, donated his remaining images to the Smithsonian Museum before she died in 1912. His photographs are legendary and highly prized.

Life in Tombstone[edit]





An image of the photography studio of C. S. and Mollie Fly burning in 1912, taken by Mollie Fly.
In Tombstone they immediately opened a temporary photography studio inside of a tent.[3] In July, 1880, they completed construction on a 12-room boarding house at 312 Fremont Street in Tombstone that housed their photography studio and gallery in the back, called the "Fly Gallery".[3] Mollie Fly actively managed Fly's Gallery when her husband was away. She was one of the few female photographers of the era, taking pictures of anyone who could pay the studio price of 35 cents.[3] It's unknown how they divided photographic duties between them, although all known photographs are attributed to him.[2]


Mary ("Mollie") (née McKie) Goodrich Fly was a photographer before she married C.S. Fly in San Francisco. They arrived in Tombstone, Arizona Territory in December 1879.
In June 1880, Fly partnered with C. A. Halstead in a studio at the Harshaw mining camp near the Mexican border. Veteran journalist Thomas Gardiner, publisher of The Arizona Quarterly Illustrated, was seeking contributions and welcomed Fly's photographs. The premier July 1880 issue featured two of Fly's photographs as engravings.[2]

On October 26, 1881, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred in an alley adjacent to his boarding house. During the shootout, Cochise County Sheriff John Behan took cover inside the boarding house,[citation needed] watching the gunplay, only to be joined by Ike Clanton who ran away from the gunfight, telling Wyatt Earp that he was unarmed. Fly, armed with a Henry rifle, disarmed Billy Clanton as he lay dying against the house next door.

Fly and Mollie raised a girl named Kitty, though it's not known whether she was adopted or was from another relationship. Mollie ran the boarding house and studio while her husband traveled around the region taking photographs.[3]