Platinum Print Photograph Of Al Sieber - Army Scout, Indian Fighter In Arizona Territory

LUBKEN, WALTER J. [PHOTOGRAPHER]

Publication: The Lubken Company, 1907, Mesa, Arizona

10 7/8" X 7" platinum print photograph of Al Sieber, the famous Army scout and Indian fighter. A period piece of paper that was taped to the reverse has since detached. It reads, Al Sieber the famous Scout who with his band of Scouts killed the last fighting Indians of Arizona." Albert "Al" Sieber was born February 27, 1843 in Mingolsheim, Baden, Germany. He was the 13th of 14 children born to Johannes and Eva Katharina (Fisher) Sieber. Johannes died in 1845. In 1851 Eva immigrated with her still living eight children (six had died) to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The family moved to Minnesota several years later. In 1862 Sieber enlisted in Company B, 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, to fight in the Civil War. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and also fought at Antietam and Fredericksburg. After the Civil War, he became a prospector in California and Nevada and then managed a ranch in the Arizona Territory from 1868 to 1871. In July 1871, he was hired as Chief of Scouts by General George Stoneman. He held that position for much of the Apache Wars, participating in Crook’s Tonto (Apache) 1871-1873 Campaign. When the Camp Verde reservation closed, Sieber was told to move the Yavapai and Tonto Apache Indians to the San Carlos Reservation in the middle of winter. He remained employed there and participated in several engagements with the Apache that left the reservation. In the mid-1870s, Sieber adopted Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl, better known as the "Apache Kid," who was a White Mountain Apache scout, and later a notorious renegade. In 1883, Sieber served as General Crook's lead civilian scout when he pursued Geronimo into the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. Sieber stayed on at San Carlos as Chief of Scouts for 13 years. In December 1890 he was fired from his position by Major John L. Bullis. He left and took up prospecting until 1898. On February 19, 1907, while leading an Apache work crew that was building the Tonto road to the new Roosevelt Dam site, Sieber was killed after a boulder rolled on him during construction. He was buried with military honors at the Globe Cemetery in Globe, Arizona. He is memorialized on the Crook monument at Arlington National Cemetery. Sieber has been portrayed in a number of films including the 1953 film, "Arrowhead," where he was played by Charlton Heston; the 1979 film, "Mr. Horn," where he was played by Richard Widmark ;and the 1993 film, "Geronimo: An American Legend" where he was played by Robert Duvall. He is the subject of a book "Al Sieber, Chief of Scouts." written by Dan L. Thrapp and published in 1964, by the University of Oklahoma Press. Small loss at three corners with a tiny (1/4 inch) horizontal closed tear at the upper left edge and two small pinholes are also present at the bottom left edge, else a very good copy that is suitable for framing.