Featured in this lot are Vintage A. B. Welch Collection Photographs of Fort Abraham Lincoln, Mandan, Dakota Territory, 1872. Provenance: From the John Kleinschmidt collection which was on loan to the C.M. Russell Museum from 1987 to 1993 and included in the "The Cowboy West: 100 Years of Photography 1992-1993 exhibit. The first post commander of Fort Lincoln was Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, who held the position until his death in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, commonly referred to as "Custer's Last Stand." The silver gelatin photographs are signed on the reverse, "Old Fort Lincoln John Kleinschmidt". These photographs are attributed to Colonel Alfred Burton Welch who was well known for his extensive artifact collection and lifelong association with the Sioux nations. The Welch Dakota Papers include thousands of pages of oral interviews, writings, newspaper articles and photographs of the Sioux, Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan peoples. Welch is credited as the first white man adopted into the Yanktonai Sioux, a separate band from the Yankton Sioux; both are considered Western Dakota people. Description of photographs includes: "Ft. Abraham Lincoln View from Northwest" "Ft. Abraham Lincoln Barracks" "Ft. Abraham Lincoln 'Retreat' parade ground" The photographs are in very good preserved condition for being over 150 years old, the photographs measure 3.5"W x 7.5"L.