Striking 1873 stereoview from “The Modoc War” series, featuring Donald McKay, the famed Warm Springs Indian scout, photographed by pioneering motion photographer Eadweard Muybridge. McKay, a mixed-race interpreter, scout, and negotiator, served a critical role during the Modoc War as a mediator and military scout for the U.S. Army. He is shown here seated in field attire, gripping a rifle, with a stark battlefield-like backdrop. The card is printed with the title: "1622, Donald McKy, the celebrated Warm Spring Indian Scout" along the bottom edge, with publication and photographer credits to Bradley & Rulofson and Muybridge on the mount.

The verso, with Bradley & Rulofson’s elaborate magenta backstamp, promotes their “Photographic Illustrations of the Pacific Coast,” listing locations and subjects including Yosemite, the Pacific Railroads, Chinese and Indians, and geysers. This series remains among the most graphically and historically significant visual records of Native American participation in the Indian Wars, and Muybridge’s field photography is widely regarded as technically and artistically groundbreaking.