North American Auction Company
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The West Rides Again: Tombstone Museum Part II, Western Art & Navajo Treasures

Sat, Nov 15, 2025 11:00AM EST
  2025-11-15 11:00:00 2025-11-15 11:00:00 America/New_York North American Auction Company North American Auction Company : The West Rides Again: Tombstone Museum Part II, Western Art & Navajo Treasures https://live.naabid.com/auctions/north-american-auction/the-west-rides-again-tombstone-museum-part-ii-western-art-navajo-treasures-21122
Join North American Auction Company on November 15th for Part II of the Tombstone Western Heritage Museum Collection with other rare items. This extraordinary sale features the largest private collection of Tombstone history, including rare and historic pieces tied to Wyatt Earp, the Earp Brothers, and the infamous Cochise Cowboys. From original artifacts, outlaw relics, and C.S. Fly photographs, this is a can’t-miss event for collectors of the Old West’s most legendary chapter.
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Lot 156

John Hillers Chief Jicarilla & Sac & Fox Photos

Estimate: $700 - $900
Starting Bid
$225

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
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$1,000 $100
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$100,000 $5,000
The lot features two historic photographs, first a photograph of Chief Augustine Jicarilla Apache circa 1870-1880’s and Wah-Pash-Ka of the Sac & Fox both by John K. Hillers circa 1896. The first image is marked in the image and is Augustine Chief Jicarilla (also referred to as Apache Chief Augustine Jicarilla / Augustin Vigil-Jicarilla Apache Chief / Augustin Virgil (Jicarilla Apache)) circa 1870-1880’s noted online as being from the collection of Major George W. Ingalls, a United States Indian agent, 1872-1875, who worked among the Paiute and other tribes in the American West known to collect glass plate negatives from Powell’s expedition photographer John K. Hillers, and by Charles M. Bell. Next is an image of Wam-Pash-Ka a Sac & Fox Native American Indian taken by John K. Hillers (1843-1925). John Karl Hillers (German, 1843-1925) was an American government photographer. Hillers first arrived in the U.S. in 1852 starting out as a policeman and soldier in the American Civil War (with the New York Naval Brigade and then the Army), later he re-enlisted after the was and served with the Western garrisons until 1870. He also worked as a teamster (also known as a drover) in Salt Lake City, where he met John Wesley Powell. He went to work as a boatman for the second Powell expedition down the Colorado River in 1871, Hillers then began to replace Walter Clement Powell as the expedition’s photographer, first top E.O. Beaman and then to James Fennemore. Hillers was the chief expedition photographer on the trip down the Grand Canyon in 1872. He then spent twenty years exploring and photographing the American West, being known for his portraits of Native Americans. He was the first staff photographer of Powell’s Bureau of Ethnology (from 1879) later doing work for the U.S. Geological Survey 1881 and Bureau of American Ethnology. These are both large format photographs, albumen photographs dating to circa 1870’s to 1890’s and of a boudoir cabinet card size, marked on the back including a stamp by the Bureau of American Ethnology. Marked in the image and on the back including Augustin Virgil Jicarilla Apache and Wam-Pash-Ka Sac & Fox; both images have been identified as being correctly marked with other rare examples of these early warriors in the Smithsonian and other museum collections. The condition of this pair of photographs is well preserved with some yellowing to the photographs consistent with age but otherwise shows a well preserved condition. The measurements of this pair of photographs is 6 3/8" x 4 3/4" for each.

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