Muybridge was of partial Dutch descent. In his earlier years in San Francisco, Muybridge became known for his landscape photography, particularly of the Yosemite Valley. He also photographed the Tlingit people in Alaska. He was commissioned by the United States Army to photograph the Modoc War in 1873. In 1874 he shot and killed Major Harry Larkyns, his wife's lover. Muybridge was acquitted in a jury trial on the grounds of justifiable homicide.