He signed the work James Reginald De Courcey. It wouldn’t do to sign his work Sampson Quick—not when there was a reward on his head for murder. While in the guise of De Courcey, he took great care to use the proper Received Pronunciation, like a well-educated Englishman, and not let his r’s betray his lower class Cornwall background. To frontier Americans all Limeys no doubt sounded alike—but Quick could not take the risk someone might make the connection. Since his release from a Union Prisoner of War camp, Quick, on more than one occasion, had donned a black hood and taken up the life of a highwayman and road agent. His victims were the banks, rail lines, and companies owned by those he considered war profiteers and carpetbaggers. There was a five hundred dollar reward for the Cornishman and former Confederate raider. He was wanted dead or alive. Quick stepped back and took a moment to quietly appreciate the painting. Rendered in oils, the wealthy owner of the McNulty Cattle Company stared out at his home’s sun-drenched library from the canvas surface of Quick’s masterwork.
