North American Auction Company
Live Auction

Timeless Treasures: 19th C. Native, Western Photographs & French Elegance

Sat, Sep 13, 2025 11:00AM EDT
  2025-09-13 11:00:00 2025-09-13 11:00:00 America/New_York North American Auction Company North American Auction Company : Timeless Treasures: 19th C. Native, Western Photographs & French Elegance https://live.naabid.com/auctions/north-american-auction/timeless-treasures-19th-c-native-western-photographs-french-elegance-20467
Join us Saturday, September 13th at 9am MT in Bozeman, MT for Timeless Treasures: 19th C. Native, Western Photographs & French Elegance. This exceptional auction features a remarkable collection of 19th-century Native American artifacts, rare Western photography by Haynes, Huffman, and other Montana photographers, and an impressive selection of 18th-century French furniture. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to acquire historic and elegant treasures. Browse the full catalog at live.naabid.com
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Lot 390

H.R. Locke "Custer Battlefield on Crow Agency"

Estimate: $1,400 - $2,400
Starting Bid
$450

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$50 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$25,000 $2,500
$100,000 $5,000
Featured in this lot is this mammoth boudoir card titled: No.6 Custer Battlefield on Crow Agency, Montana, along the B. & M. R. R. Battle, fought June 26th, 1876. Custer and all his men were killed. Photographed and copyrighted by H.R. Locke, in 1895, Deadwood, S.D.; by circa 1895 by H.R. Locke born in 1867 and died in 1927. Provenance: From an Ex-Museum collection out of Eastern Montana; Ex-Heritage Auction; and ex-J.T. Gillmore Deadwood, South Dakota collection. The boudoir card features a wonderfully and professionally crafted construction that shows the Custer Battlefield with grave markers up close ans howing a panoramix view of the rolling hills of the Custer Battlefield, with grave markers of fallen soldiers scattered across the prairie. On Verso, a small newspaper clipping has been affixed, and reads in part: "View No.6 in foreground shows the kind of marble monuments used as markers to show where each soldier fell, showing where many men fell. To the right, and distant three miles away, shows Crow Agency, in center of which Custer's monument is located, and to the left is shown Crow Agency, in the center of which Custer's monument is located, and to the left is shown the government burying grounds." Fort Custer was built near the Agency the same year. The Plains line of the B & M Railroad was built west along the Platte River from Kearney, Nebraska, during the 1880s. A northern spur route reached Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1893. During 1894-95 it was extended past Crow Agency to Billings, Montana, in the Yellowstone River valley. H. R. Locke was hired to make promotional photographs along the route. The back bears the “J.T. GILLMORE Deadwood, Sa. Dak.” stamp, which has been documented on several H.R. Locke images, including the images in this auction as well as images in the Yale University Library collection. This is believed to be James T. Gillmore (born August 4, 1841) who was the owner and manager of the Gillmore Hotel at Deadwood, South Dakota Territory as well as having holdings in the Montezuma and the Whizzer mines. The condition of this mammoth boudoir card is well preserved with the top and bottom right corners showing breaks in the cardstock with browning to the card consistent with age but otherwise shows a well preserved condition. The measurements of this boudoir card is 7 7/8" x 9 3/4". The collective weight of this boudoir card is U4oz.

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