Artist wants pictures of McCook's 'Blind Sam'

An artist with McCook ties, Dick Budig, is looking for old photos of Isaac O'Connor, known in early day McCook as Blind Sam.

Budig wants to paint a portrait of the former McCook minstrel and donate it to the High Plains Historical Society.

"I remember Blind Sam sitting in front of the old First National Bank at Main (now Norris Avenue) and C Streets, playing and singing his heart out," Budig said. "I always thought that if McCook was safe enough for an old blind man with a box of money clamped between his bony knees, it was safe enough for me," he added.

Budig is now retired and lives in Skiatook, Okla., where he paints portraits for a living. "I retired to paint whatever pleased me," Budig said, "and it seems to be turning into yet another career."

Budig recently donated a 12x16 inch portrait of William E. Baldwin to the High Plains Historical Society. Baldwin was a McCook police officer and chief from 1920 to 1926.