Sergeant Parks of the 6th Cavalry is portrayed in this CDV made by C. L. Hamilton, photographer at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, placing the image in the post-Civil War frontier period when the 6th Cavalry was active on the northern plains. The mount features an elaborately printed ornamental border of scrollwork, tassels, and floral motifs framing the oval vignette portrait, a decorative style popular in the late 1860s and into the 1870s. The bust-length portrait is rendered with soft vignetting and good tonal depth characteristic of Hamilton's frontier studio work.

Parks wears a dark military frock coat with a double row of small buttons visible at the chest and a large floppy bow tie or cravat at the collar. He has wavy, loosely parted dark hair, a trimmed full beard and mustache, and a direct, composed expression.

Fort Randall was established in 1856 on the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota and served as a key post during the Indian Wars era. The 6th U.S. Cavalry was deployed across the frontier during this period, and Hamilton's studio at the fort documented numerous soldiers stationed there.

The reverse bears a pencil inscription reading "Sergt. Parks / 6 Cavalry" and the printed imprint of C. L. Hamilton, Photographer, Fort Randall, D.T.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer