A large group of armed Apache scouts assembled at San Carlos, Arizona Territory, is documented in this albumen stereoview by J.C. Burge, produced circa 1883 to 1884 as part of his "Views of Arizona Scenery and the Apache Indians in their Native Wilds" series. The gray mount carries a handwritten ink caption along the lower border reading "Scouts, San Carlos, A.T." This view corresponds to the titled entry "San Carlos Apache Scouts" documented in Burge's known series.

Approximately thirty figures are arranged in three tiers on open desert ground, nearly every man holding a rifle upright or across his body. The seated front row includes a non-Native figure, Milton Sage Chief of Scouts, at center wearing a wide-brimmed hat and dark shirt, seated cross-legged with a rifle across his lap. The scouts wear a mix of headbands, cloth wraps, plaid and plain shirts, and trousers. Two hats and a basket rest on the ground in the foreground. A low rocky hillside is visible in the background.

Burge's series documented Apache chiefs, scouts, and reservation life from Globe City, Arizona Territory, circa 1883 to 1884, and his work is among the most significant early photographic documentation of the San Carlos Apache. Scout units recruited from the San Carlos Reservation played a central role in U.S. Army operations throughout the Apache campaigns of the 1870s and 1880s.

The reverse is printed: "Views of Arizona Scenery and the Apache Indians in their Native Wilds. Photographed by J.C. Burge."