Es-kin-al-ze, Apache Warrior with Lever-Action Repeating Rifle, by C. S. Fly

Full-length studio portrait of Apache warrior Es-kin-al-ze. Albumen print cabinet card. Tombstone, Arizona Territory: Camillus S. Fly, ca.1880s. Mount verso blank with Jim Crain's collector research notes on adhesive slips citing references in "Old West" magazine (Fall 1977, p. 31) and the "Journal of Arizona History" (Vol. 49, No. 4, Winter 2008), along with an inventory mark dated 2-14-88.

A dramatic and exceptionally rare full-length studio likeness of the young Apache warrior Es-kin-al-ze. He is posed bare-chested wearing a patterned calico headband, long hair, a beaded or stone necklace with pendant, high knee-length Apache moccasin boots, a white breechcloth, and a heavy cartridge belt with an affixed knife sheath tucked behind his left hip. In his right hand, he grips a lever-action repeating rifle (specifically, a Model 1873 Winchester) resting butt-down on the studio floor.

Photographed against Fly's plain studio canvas, this striking portrait illustrates the iconic material culture of Chiricahua and Western Apache warriors during the height of the Southwest border campaigns. High-top n'deh b'keh moccasins, customized cartridge riggings, and advanced repeating firearms defined Apache tactical mobility and combat capability throughout the Sierra Madre and Arizona Territory.

Camillus Sidney Fly (1849–1901) operated his famous gallery on Fremont Street in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, opening in 1879. While widely known for his proximity to the O.K. Corral gunfight, Fly achieved lasting photographic renown for his field and studio documentation of Native Americans, most notably his historic March 1886 expedition to Cañon de los Embudos where he photographed Geronimo and the surrender negotiations with General George Crook. Fly’s studio portraits of individual Apache men and women represent some of the rarest and most sought-after ethnographic records of the Southwest frontier.

[Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards, Stereographs] [Western Americana, Western History, Western Expansion, Wild West]

Very good condition overall, displaying excellent clarity, deep mid-tones, and strong contrast. The image has a tiny pinhole punch centered at the extreme top margin for period display, and light handling wear along the edges of the card mount. Mount verso is unprinted, clean, and retains original collector research tags.