The Modoc Indian War (1872-1873) was a conflict between a small band of Modoc Indians and the United States Army, fought in the lava beds at Tule Lake on the California-Oregon border. Louis Heller was a freelance photographer based in northern California when he went to cover the Modoc War conflict in April 1873. He worked independently of Eadweard J. Muybridge, the noted photographer of the conflict, who was contracted by the U.S. government. (Source: Palmquist, Peter. Imagemakers of the Modoc War: Louis Heller and Eadweard Muybridge. The Journal of California Anthropology, 1977, 4(2).)
