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Extraordinary 6 x 8 albumen photo of George Armstrong Custer posing with a trophy from his Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, taken by the expedition's official photographer William R. Pywell, affixed to its original 8 x 10 mount, captioned and signed on the reverse in ink by Custer, "Elk killed on Mussel Shell river Montana in summer of 1873 by GAC. Weight dressed [800] lbs." Annotated at the bottom in another hand: "presented to Frank Mayo Esq., Gen. Geo. A. Custer. June 21, 1874." In very good condition, with moderately heavy staining to the signed side, and professionally repaired tear to the borders of the mount on the image side.
The Yellowstone Expedition of 1873 was part of a series of military-led surveys into the Northern Plains and Yellowstone region, undertaken to protect railroad survey crews and assert U.S. presence in contested territories. Led by General David S. Stanley, with Lt. Col. George A. Custer commanding the 7th Cavalry, the expedition combined scientific exploration with military escort duties. Accompanied by geologists, naturalists, and photographer William R. Pywell, the party documented the landscape, wildlife, and Native American life while navigating ongoing tensions with Lakota Sioux forces.
According to the Smithsonian Institution's National Anthropological Archives, Custer described posing for this photograph in an extract from a letter to his wife, sent September 6, 1873: 'I have had the good fortune to kill a fine large buck elk…weighing cleaned eight hundred pounds, and with the handsomest pair of antlers I ever saw, and such a beautiful coat. I killed him only a mile and a half from camp, sent for a wagon, and carried him entire back with us, when the officers and men, and even those belonging to the scientific party, flocked to the grassy plot in front of my tent to see him. The photographer who accompanied the scientists hitched up his photograph-wagon and drove over to take a picture of what they called the 'King of the Forest.' All the officers and the photographer insisted that not only the game but the hunter should appear in the picture. So I sat down, dressed as I was in my buckskins, resting one hand on an antler, and you may judge of the immense size of the elk when I tell you that as I sat there my head only reached to about half the height of the antlers.'
The Western Americana auction of Jochen Zeitz.
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