“I was about 25 the summer we fought Long Hair and I still believed we could drive the white men from our country. I’m a little sad yet about that fight, although it was our finest victory.” - Eagle Elk, 63 years after the Battle of Little Big Horn

Studio cabinet card portrait of Eagle Elk. Calistoga, California: E.C. Chesebro, circa 1888-1890. Period ink inscription to photograph reads, "Eagle Elk - [Souix] [sic]". Photographer's imprint affixed to mount verso.

A striking cabinet card of Eagle Elk, an Oglala Sioux Warrior who fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. Warned of an impending attack by soldiers before the battle by an older woman, Eagle Elk rode out to meet Reno’s attack and fought until the end of the conflict. Eagle Elk lived well into his 90s and his account of Custer, the Battle of Little Big Horn, and Crazy Horse are often used by historians. Photographer Edward C. Chesebro was active in Calistoga from 1888-1890 before moving his studio to San Francisco (Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, p. 88).

In this portrait, Eagle Elk holds a pipe tomahawk and wears a single feather and hairpipe breastplate.

[Native Americans, Indian Territory, Early Photography, Historic Photography, CDV, CDVs, Carte de Visite, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Albumen, Cabinet Card]