On October 18, 1881, The Cincinnati Commercial reported that Farny’s latest picture, “The Last Match”, had attracted significant attention at Wiswell’s window and was “probably the best effort of his life”.
“The Last Match” depicts four men with canoes. In the foreground, three of the men have their canoes next to one another and have visible names on the starboard bow: the Blue Jay, the Daisy Miller and the Bonny. Here, Farny may well be picturing himself, since he named his Canadian-style canoe the Daisy Miller, a vessel that was longer and sported a larger cockpit than the more common Light Rob Roys that flank the Daisy Miller in his drawing. Farny, if he pictured himself in his own boat, seems to be telling a story, not an uncommon occurrence for him, with the others turned toward him, their paddles at rest.
This image eventually appeared three years later in the October 4, 1884, issue of Harper’s Weekly, page 655. In what appears to be a “filler” story, the image references an article about the exploding popularity of canoeing. It notes that the American Canoe Association, founded in 1880 with twenty people, had grown to nearly one thousand members by 1884. The article also includes details about canoeing, canoe types and more.
So, why would Farny have illustrated canoes in the first place, given the article wasn’t published until three years later?
This image could harken back to an 1879 adventure Farny undertook with three friends down the Allegheny River, a canoe trip that marked the first time he mentioned wanting to spend time with and sketch Indians, though, as we’ll see, there was one particular Indian he most wanted to draw. The trip was the second grand adventure of a new local club, the Cincinnati Canoe Club. The full story will be shared in my upcoming book.
