A group of 2 items from Fort Grant, Arizona, comprising:

1. Outdoor albumen cabinet card of three men on horseback. Fort Grant, Arizona: D.A. Markey, n.d. Photographer's imprint to mount recto and verso.

A nice Wild West cabinet card evocative of the burgeoning western frontier. Three men are on horseback, their backs to the camera. The two men on the flanks are cavalry officers in dress uniform with epaulettes and plumed shako-style helmets. Relevant to the requisition letter included here, the officer in the background wears a Saddler Sergeant of Cavalry chevrons, possibly identifying him as the author of the letter. At center is a man in civilian clothes, shielding his eyes and looking to the distance.

D.A. Markey was an Arizona photographer who initially was active in Ft. Apache with Myton in 1885. He seems to be itinerant for much of his career, likely when this image was captured, before arriving and opening a studio in Bisbee around 1895. (Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers 1840-1900, p. 42).

2. Autograph letter signed by Captain O.L. Heim, 1st Cavalry, to the Commanding Officer of Rock Island Arsenal. Fort Grant, Arizona, 12 November 1894. 2 page, 8vo.

A letter of requisition sent by Captain of the 1st Cavalry, O.L. Heim writing to the Rock Island Arsenal: "I desire to purchase a saddle cloth from the Arsenal for my use, and beg to request that one may be sent me at an early a date as practicable,” followed by instructions for shipment, citing the express charges as "exorbitant."

From 1892, Troops C, E, F, H and K of the 1st Cavalry Regiment were headquartered at Fort Grant, Arizona. After various iterations as an outpost from 1860, the fort was relocated to the southwestern slope of Mount Graham in 1872, strategically placed to combat Apache forces, and indeed played a prominent role in the Apache Wars of the 1880s.

[Western Americana, Colorado, Early Photography, Albumen, CDV, Carte de Visite, Cabinet Card, Boudoir Card, Gold Mining, Gold Rush, Cowboys, Wild West, Late Indian Wars, Apache Wars, Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Custer's Last Stand, Cavalry, Militaria]