1891 6th U.S. CAVALRY FIELD CAMP AT WOUNDED KNEE CABINET CARD PHOTO By CROSS

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1891 6th U.S. CAVALRY FIELD CAMP AT WOUNDED KNEE CABINET CARD PHOTO By CROSS:
$335.00

Exceptionally rare and original, 1891 Cabinet Card Photograph of the field Camp of the 7th United States Cavalry at the Pine Ridge Agency following the “Battle” of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. This simply amazing \"moment in time\" photograph was taken by acclaimed Western Photographer William R. Cross and is titled in the negative \"745. General Carr\'s camp. Pine Ridge Agency, S.D., 1 1/2 miles east, Jan. 19th, 1891\".

This fascinating Image measures approx. 7\" by 4 1/2\" and is mounted on its original, photographer\'s card mount (overall size of mount is approx. 8 1/2\" by 5 1/4\"). The Photograph is a gripping \"bird\'s-eye-view\" depicting the expansive field camp of the 6th Cavalry with a large number of field tents along with many cavalry soldiers, wagons, horses and somewhat larger tents at the far left and foreground right. This is a rare look at the formation of a Cavalry Field Camp during the Indian Wars period and a photograph taken at a very important moment in the history of the Indian Wars of the post Civil War period.

While it was the 7th Cavalry who \'initiated\" the \"Battle\" at Wounded Knee, the members of the 6th Cavalry responded to the sound of gunfire and came to the \"aid\" of their fellow cavalrymen. Nine members of the 6th Cavalry were awarded the Congressional medal of Honor for their actions at Wounded Knee even though once they arrived on the scene most of the \"action\" was in chasing down unarmed Sioux men, women and children fleeing the scene and slaughtering them.

This wonderful Cabinet Card Photograph was taken in the camp of the 6th Cavalry at the Pine Ridge Agency - the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre - sold and distributed by the William R. Cross, the original copyright holder. The back of the card mount carries the mark of Cross’ Hot Springs, South Dakota Studio.

William Richard Cross, an early photographer of the Nebraska - South Dakota frontier, moved to Knox County in northeast Nebraska in 1871. For nearly 20 years he both maintained a Photography Studio in his home town and traveled extensively throughout the region accumulating a large body of work related to the landscape and the Native American Indians of the area. In mid-June 1890, Cross had arranged to occupy the gallery of Hot Springs photographer J. W. Pike. As a photographer of American Indians, Cross had chosen an ideal location in which to live, for Hot Springs was only forty miles west of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There, at the end of December 1890, the tension that had been building for months among white settlers and the military over the increasing participation of the Sioux in the Ghost Dance religion exploded. On December 29th, 1890, Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge reservation became the site of a bloody encounter between United States Army soldiers and Big Foot\'s band of Miniconjou Sioux.. No photographers recorded the actual event at Wounded Knee. They did, however, flock to the battlefield to secure photographs of the immediate aftermath. Credit for being the first photographer to arrive goes to George E. Träger of Chadron, Nebraska, whose pictures showed the dead bodies and carnage still strewn about the battle site. Cross did not leave Hot Springs until around the middleof January 1891 to travel to the reservation, where he stayed until the end of the month. Exactly how many photographs Cross made on that trip is not known but his Views document the tense situation at Pine Ridge in the weeks following the Massacre at Wounded Knee.

Between 1888 and 1890 the Ghost Dance Religion spread through many Native American Tribes and, in some cases, became somewhat of an obsession to both the Indians who practiced the Religion and its hypnotic Ghost Dance and the Government Indian Agents who feared that it was a prelude to a massive Indian War. The events leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre are complicated and have been much argued but suffice it to say that on December 29, Lakota Ghost Dancers were on their way through the badlands toward Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. James W. Forsyth and 7th Cavalry Regiment intercepted the dancers and ordered them to hand over their weapons. A search was ordered, and some of the weapons were collected. A shot was fired, prompting a call for the Cavalry to fire. At first, the struggle was fought at close range, but the fight moved as the Lakota sought to escape fire from the troops, who chased them for miles across the prairies. By the end of fighting, which lasted less than an hour, at least 150 Lakota had been killed and 50 wounded. In comparison, army casualties numbered 25 dead and 39 wounded.

The soldiers immediately began gathering the dead both Indian and Military but a blizzard began to move in as night fell and they abandoned the task of burying the Lakota. The military hired civilians to bury the dead Lakota after an intervening snowstorm had abated. Arriving at the battleground on New Years Day 1891, the burial party found the deceased frozen in contorted positions by the freezing weather. They were gathered up and placed in a common grave. It was reported that four infants were found still alive, wrapped in their deceased mothers\' shawls. In all, 84 men, 44 women, and 18 children reportedly died on the field, while at least seven Lakota were mortally wounded.

The Photograph offered here was taken just over 2 weeks after the Massacre at Wounded Knee and depicts the field camp of the 6th Cavalry - men who had taken part in the Massacre at Wounded Knee - men who had lost fellow soldiers and friends during the “battle” and most certainly soldiers who were keenly on edge in anticipation of further \"trouble\".

This very rare and wonderful Native American Indian / Indian Wars / 6th Cavalry Cabinet Card photo is in very good condition. The Photo itself exhibits strong contrast and rich tonality with no fading, soiling or staining. There are scattered, tiny surface scuffs to the Image as can be seen in the scans below but these appear much more prominent in the scans than they do when the Cabinet Card is viewed in-hand. There is some light soiling and edge wear to the card mount.

A very rare and riveting, 1891 Cabinet Card Photograph of the field camp of the 6th Regiment, United States Cavalry at the Pine Ridge Agency taken shortly after one of the lowest moments in the shameful record of the treatment of this nation’s Native American People. The Image offered here is worthy of a place in even the most advanced Native American Photo or Western Americana Collection!!! Sold here, as always without reserve and with the confidence that it will attract the serious attention that it justly deserves!!!

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