Elija Swann

Elija Caesar Swann; circa 1915. This publicity shot was taken during his book tour for Swann’s Way: A Remembrance of Things Blasted, which collected many of his talks on survival and the military arts, including his July 4, 1903, speech in Helena (Phillips County), titled “The Best Way to Eat Possum Innards.”
April Fools!

Old man with long hair and gun sitting in military uniform

Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration