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Signed image of the famous General Charles King. He was credited with seventy years of active military service, & was the only soldier in American history to serve in five American wars: The Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection and World War I!
Signed boldly on the front, wear as shown in the photograph. Slightly larger than a cabinet card. This one is a real bargain.

$395.00 plus shipping

"...King came from a military background. Both his father and grandfather had served in the military. His grandfather, Charles King, was also president of Columbia College, and his great grandfather, Rufus King, was Minister of England and served 20 years as a U.S. Senator.

His military career began during the Civil War when, as a teenager, he served as a mounted orderly for the Iron Brigade under his father, Brigadier General Rufus King of the Wisconsin Volunteers. He was appointed to West Point by President Abraham Lincoln. After graduating with a U.S. Army commission in 1866 he stayed on as instructor of military tactics.
By 1871 Lieutenant King was serving under General George Crook in the 5th Cavalry across Arizona and the northern states. During this time he became friends with the unit's scout -- William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. King was short in stature – standing just over 5 feet – but had plenty of courage to make up for his diminutive size. In an 1874 skirmish during the Indian Wars campaign he found himself pinned down by renegade Indians. He was shot in the arm, nearly severing it at the shoulder, and if not for the bravery of a fellow soldier, Sergeant Bernard Taylor, would have not survived. The injury plagued him, however, for the rest of his life.
While stationed in New Orleans he married Adelaide Lavender Yorke who bore him three daughters and a son. Upon returning to duty in the West he witnessed Cody's legendary duel with the Cheyenne warrior, Yellow Hand and served in the Nez Perce Indian Campaign of 1877. Still plagued by his arm injury, Captain King retired from active cavalry service in 1879 and went on to teach military science and tactics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. It was at this time that he started writing a series of newspaper articles based on his experiences in the Sioux Campaign of 1876. These writings evolved into his first and probably most enduring book, Campaigning With Crook." In 1882, he was appointed colonel in the Wisconsin National Guard but his duties permitted him a home life and time to write more stories based upon his experiences in the Army. In May of 1886 his leadership of the Milwaukee Light Horse Troop was instrumental in the quelling of the Milwaukee labour riots. This event is also notable as being one of the first instances where the newly invented telephone was used to direct troop movements...
King's extraordinary military experiences of 70 years spawned an enormously long and successful writing career during which he penned over 60 books and hundreds of short stories and articles. He is recognized as being one of the first writers to establish the genre of the Western novel and perhaps more than almost any other author he based these stories on true life experiences. Although he portrayed Native Americans as being a savage and barbaric people, he showed great sympathy for their valiant resistance against the white invaders of their lands and the lifestyle that was being forced upon them. He was also a harsh critic of the many corrupt government officials who cheated the Indians by breaking so many broken and treaties. King, as well as being one of the first great "Western" writers, also has the unique distinction of being the first person to author books by dictating into a sound-recording machine. In 1890, Sunset Pass was the first book published using this technique. King spoke into an Edison phonograph to create recordings on wax cylinder records that were later transcribed by his stenographer, Lucille Rhoades. Charles King was active in his writing career for decades, and it even afforded him a chance to once again work with his old friend Buffalo Bill in helping to write the screenplay for Cody's silent motion picture series: the "Indian War Pictures." In the mid-1920s -- the golden years of silent film -- at least five of King's stories were adapted to film: Fort Frayne ~ Under Fire ~ A Daughter of the Sioux ~ Tonio, Son of the Sierras ~ Warrior"