This intriguing group of photographs shows different members of the Ute and Apache tribes. Included is a portrait Jicarilla Apache chief James Garfield, who took his name after receiving a peace medal from President Garfield. He later adopted the surname Velarde and lived on an allotment near La Jara Lake.

Though uncredited, the images were most likely shot by the Denver-based photographer Charles A. Nast. The portrait of James Garfield Velarde is a variant of an image credited to William Henry Jackson, produced as a photochrome for the Detroit Publishing Company, but there are other known examples of Nast’s work that are reproduced as photochromes and credited to Jackson. Additionally, there are glass negatives Nast in the collection of the Denver Public Library which show the same distinct floor pattern as the floor in one of the present images.

Charles Albert Nash began his professional career as a reporter in Cincinnati before settling in Denver. He was sent to South Dakota to cover the gold rush, where he fought in skirmishes with Native Americans and sold land as well as reported. After returning to Denver, he continued his career as a photographer, partnering with several noted Colorado photographers such as Alexander Martin and Albert E. Rhinehart.