Photographs of individuals and the Modoc Indian War.

Heller operated a photography studio in Yreka, California, 1864-1869, and in Fort Jones, California, 1869-1900. Images from both studios consist primarily of studio portraits of children, women, and men. Identified portraits from the studio in Yreka, include Henry M. Reid, and probably sisters Catherine E. Moore and Emily B. Moore. Identified portraits from the studio in Fort Jones, include Edward J. Baxter, Daniel Davis, Cora Kist, Naomi Swan, and Henry E. Witherspoon.

Other photographs related to the Modoc Indian War include single and group portraits created by Heller and distributed by Watkins' Yosemite Art Gallery documenting Modoc prisoners taken into custody and their captors. Portraits include Black Jim, Buckskin Doctor, Curley Headed Jack, John A. Fairchild, Hooka Jim, Donald McKay, One-Eyed Dixie, One-Eyed Mose, Scarface Charlie, Shacknasty Jim, Schonchin, Steamboat Frank, Wheum, in addition to Captain Jack and a portrait of his family.

Stereograph cards include images related to the Modoc Indian War, including exterior group portraits of the United States military and allied Indians pursuing the Modoc force, views of the lava bed landscape, and the military headquarters of Tule Lake. Some stereograph cards also bear the imprint of the Watkins' Yosemite Art Gallery, San Francisco, California, which also distributed them.

Studio portrait photographs and incidental images primarily in Siskiyou County, California, created by Louis Herman Heller, 1864-1900, in addition to images related to the Modoc Indian War, the only major Indian war fought by the federal government in California, November 1872 - June 1873.