Modoc Indian War Lantern Slides, 1872-1873

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Summary

Creators:
Heller, Louis, 1839-1928 ; McIntosh Stereopticon Co. ; Muybridge, Eadweard, 1830-1904 ; Putnam & Valentine
Abstract:
This collection contains lantern slides with both photographs and illustrations of the 1873-1873 Modoc War, a conflict fought in the lava beds at Tule Lake on the California-Oregon border between a small band of Modoc Indians and the United States Army. The lantern slides include images of Indian scouts for the U.S. Army; U.S. Army soldiers and camps, Modoc leaders and prisoners of war, and the lava beds that served as the Modocs' stronghold. Notable images include portraits of Modoc leaders Captain Jack and Winema (Toby) Riddle, shaman Curly-headed Doctor, and Indian scout Donald McKy. Within the collection, 26 photographs can be attributed to Eadweard Muybridge, 13 to Louis Heller, and 2 to Putnam & Valentine.
Extent:
52 lantern slides in 1 box; lantern slides 8 x 10 cm. (3 x 4 in.) and smaller.
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains lantern slides with both photographs and illustrations of the 1873-1873 Modoc War, a conflict fought in the lava beds at Tule Lake on the California-Oregon border by a small band of Modoc Indians and the United States Army. The lantern slides include images of Indian scouts for the U.S. Army; U.S. Army soldiers and camps, Modoc leaders and prisoners of war, and the lava beds that served as the Modocs' stronghold. Notable images include portraits of Modoc leaders Captain Jack and Winema (Toby) Riddle, shaman Curly-headed Doctor, and Indian scout Donald McKy. Within the collection, 26 photographs can be attributed to Eadweard Muybridge, 13 to Louis Heller, and 2 to Putnam & Valentine.

Additional images include a Warm Spring Indian camp; San Francisco Bulletin correspondent William McKay; Captain Jack's family; Modocs Scar-Faced Charley, and Boston Charley; the grave sites of Boston Charley, Black Jim, Schonchin John; Modoc women; illustrations of what is possibly the Modoc attack on the 1873 Peace Commission; illustrations of Indians; ruins of buildings; and a wounded U.S. soldier.

Item titles in square brackets devised by cataloger. Other titles are transcribed from slide labels and some are supplied from the titles of the original stereographs by Muybridge and Heller.

Within the collection, there are also some unidentified images that may have been part of a lantern slide presentation but not related to the war, including a still-life image of California poppies (Item 51) and an unidentified scene of buildings on a rocky outpost (Item 52).

Biographical / historical:

The Modoc War, also known as the Modoc Campaign and Lava Bed Wars, was a conflict between a small group of Modoc Indians, led by Kientpoos (Captain Jack), and the United States Army that was fought in the lava beds at Tule Lake on the California-Oregon border from November 1872 to June 1873. During the war, 53 United States soldiers, 17 civilians, and 15 Modoc warriors were killed.

Louis Heller (1839-1928) was a freelance photographer based in northern California when he went to cover the Modoc War conflict in April 1873. He worked independently of Eadweard J. Muybridge (1830-1904), the noted photographer of the conflict, who was contracted by the U.S. government.

Source:
Palmquist, Peter. "Imagemakers of the Modoc War: Louis Heller and Eadweard Muybridge." The Journal of California Anthropology, 1977, 4(2)

Acquisition information:
Gift of Grabhorn Press in 1945.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: www.huntington.org.

Access to the original lantern slides is restricted. Arrangements for viewing the slides must be made in advance with the Curator of Photographs.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
Website