This is an original photograph of Comanche War Horse to Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer and sole survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The photograph is by Robert L. Kelly (1851-1934) a noted Dakota Territories photographer who took famous photos of Calamity Jane, Sitting Bull, Alice and Ilma Kelly, Indian scenes and more. The images is on a cabinet card backing marked, “R.L. Kelly, Pierre, Dakota” and the back marked in fountain pen, “’Commanche’, - Brooks war horse”. Comanche was bought by the U.S. Army in 1868 in St. Louis, Missouri and sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was then bought for personal mount, to be ridden only in battle by Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry. He received his name in 1868 when, in fighting against the Comanche Indians in Kansas, the horse was wounded by an arrow to the hindquarters and continued to fight, hence he received the name Comanche. On June 25, 1876, Captain Keogh rode Comanche at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Their entire detachment was killed, with the exception of war horse Comanche, who was badly wounded. He was transported to Fort Lincoln where he was nursed back to health, but ultimately retired from service in 1878. He later died of colic on November 7, 1891, and is one of only four horse in the United States history to be given a military funeral with full military honors (the others being Black Jak, Sergeant Reckless and Chief). His remains were preserved, and the taxidermy mount now on display at the University of Kansas National History Museum, still on display today. The photograph offered in this lot predates the Dakota’s statehood in 1889 making this a late 1870’s early 1880’s photograph. It shows a Cavalry Army solider holding Comanche next to a U.S. Army canvas tent. Provenance: From the Jim Aplan Piedmont, South Dakota collection. Measures 6.5” by 4.25”. The images is clear, with some slight water coloring on the card, overall well kept.