EUR
CAD
AUD
GBP
MXN
HKD
CNY
MYR
SEK
SGD
CHF
THB[WESTERN AMERICANA] Kit Carson Salt Portrait
![[WESTERN AMERICANA] Kit Carson Salt Portrait](https://s1.img.bidsquare.com/item/xl/3579/35795796.jpeg?t=1W0pYa)
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Two ways to bid:
- Leave a max absentee bid and the platform will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid during the live auction.
- Bid live during the auction and your bids will be submitted real-time to the auctioneer.
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $10 |
| $100 | $25 |
| $300 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
About Auction
LiveApr 24, 2026
Day one of Fleischer's 2026 Spring premier auction includes early American artifacts, documents, signatures, ephemera, and weaponry. Rare material relating to African American history is featured, as well as fine examples of antique photography. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com
View Full Catalog (371)
- Lot Description
Studio bust portrait salt print. N.p., mid-19th century. Inscription to mount verso identifies subject. Adhered paper to mount verso identifies photographer as Jesse Whitehurst. 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 in., mounted to 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.
An attractive portrait of Christopher Houston Carson, better known as Kit Carson. He is seen wearing a fur coat, likely a nod to his time as a frontiersman, mountain man and trapper. This photograph was created using the salted paper technique, where writing paper was wetted with a salt solution and blotted dry, wetted with a silver nitrate solution and blotted dry, then placing the negative over the paper and exposing the group to UV light.
Carson (1809-1868) left home at age 16 to become a mountain man and trapper, joining expeditions to California and the Rocky Mountains. He eventually became a guide to John C. Frémont in the 1840s, where the latter wrote extensively about the Oregon Trail to encourage westward expansion. While guiding Frémont, Carson participated in the Sacramento River and Klamath Lake massacres, as well as the Bear Flag Revolt, when Californians rose up against Mexican forces. As the Mexican-American War ensued, Carson not only served as a courier, traveling cross country three times, but he also guided Gen. Stephen W. Kearny from Socorro, New Mexico, to San Diego, California, briefly leaving Kearny to grab reinforcements when they were surprisingly ambushed. He walked back barefoot to make sure no one would hear.
From his time as a mountain man through the Mexican-American War, Carson became sensationalized through government reports, dime novels, newspaper accounts and word of mouth. One novel included Kit Carson, the Prince of the Gold Hunters; or the Adventures of the Sacramento; a Tale of the New Eldorado, Founded on Actual Facts by Charles E. Averill; another was The Prairie Flower, or Adventures in the Far West by Emerson Bennett. It's believed in one study that more than 70 dime novels were written about the former frontiersman.
In the late 1850s, Carson shifted careers and became a Federal Indian Agent, despite having been known to dislike several Native American tribes in the previous decades. He worked in this role until the Civil War broke out; Carson then resigned and volunteered to help guard the New Mexico Territory. Most notably, he led a regiment of mostly Hispanic Union volunteers during the Battle of Valverde, as well as forces to suppress Navajo, Mescalero Apache, Kiowa and Comanche tribes. When the Civil War ended, Carson was breveted a brigadier general. He only lived for three more years following the War, passing away from an aneurysm.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards] [Western Americana, Western History, Western Expansion, Wild West]
- Shipping Info
-
All packages valued at over $250 are shipped with a signature required upon delivery. All packages handled and shipped in-house by Fleischer's Auctions are not insured unless insurance is requested. Successful bidders who would like their packages insured are responsible for notifying us that this is the case and are responsible for paying the cost of insurance.
-
- Payment & Auction Policies
-
Available payment options
-
-
- Buyer's Premium
