Wild Bill's Colt

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

One of the pair of ivory handled Colt's used by Wild Bill is up for auction at RIA.  The other is in the Cody Museum.  After Wild Bill was killed they were sold to cover funeral expenses.  The cost?  Twenty-five cents each.  Will probably bring more than that at the upcoming auction.

 

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

I'd bid $7.05 which is what $ .25 is worth today based on inflation rates. 

[Rye Miles #13621]

.25 cents?? Even back then that is unbelievably cheap! 

[Rip Snorter]

Remember, he was a holdout - still using percussion pistols in the cartridge era.

[Rye Miles #13621]

16 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Remember, he was a holdout - still using percussion pistols in the cartridge era.

Yea but .25 cents?? Wow!! What a return on that investment!

Edited May 4, 2022 by Rye Miles #13621

[PowderRiverCowboy]

And Not the one He was carrying when killed ,  Hickok was wearing a S&W Model No2 Army  revolver, a five-shot, single-action, .32-caliber weapon,   It was Given to a storekeeper to settle a debt By Seth Bullock .  This is when they were at the Adams Museum In Deadwood . 
 

Edited May 4, 2022 by PowerRiverCowboy

[Rye Miles #13621]

6 minutes ago, PowerRiverCowboy said:

And Not the one He was carrying when killed ,  Hickok was wearing a S&W Model No2 Army  revolver, a five-shot, single-action, .32-caliber weapon,   It was Given to a storekeeper to settle a debt By Seth Bullock .  This is when they were at the Adams Museum In Deadwood . 
 

I thought I remember reading that he was carrying a different gun than his Navies when he was killed. 

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

I can't have it.  I live in california.   

[PowderRiverCowboy]

36 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I thought I remember reading that he was carrying a different gun than his Navies when he was killed. 

Yep Hold my beer  , Now local Legend Has it that he was carrying 2 , one (this one made it to the Funeral Home ) the other said to be missing by the time his body got there ?? I have chased it on and off for years does it exist ???  
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21020/lot/4136/

[Rye Miles #13621]

47 minutes ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

I can't have it.  I live in california.   

It’s a cap and ball! They’re not allowed in Cally?

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

19 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

It’s a cap and ball! They’re not allowed in Cally?

Probably the ivory grips

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

17 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

It’s a cap and ball! They’re not allowed in Cally?

 

Ivory grips.

 

Even though federal law establishes a date of manufacture after which ivory is not legal, the wethers in sackamenna deemed it necessary for the protection of ivory-bearing animals to ban it's sale/purchase regardless of age.  

 

Gotta protect them endangered wooly mammoths, mastodons, and fossilized ice-age walruses, don'tcha know!  

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Any time a firearm, that has a tie to an American person, or event, and is put up for sale at an auction...well...I always dread the thought of someone other than an American, will buy it, and take it off to "B.F. Egypt", and thus we lose our heritage/history, little by little.

 

 

[Black Angus McPherson]

20 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

.25 cents?? Even back then that is unbelievably cheap! 

 

If you read the notes in the photos it says they were raffled off to pay for his funeral.  .25 cents for a raffle ticket isn't bad.  It doesn't say how many tickets were sold. Plus, .25 to pay for a funeral is pretty darn cheap, too.  

 

Angus

[Rye Miles #13621]

2 hours ago, Black Angus McPherson said:

 

If you read the notes in the photos it says they were raffled off to pay for his funeral.  .25 cents for a raffle ticket isn't bad.  It doesn't say how many tickets were sold. Plus, .25 to pay for a funeral is pretty darn cheap, too.  

 

Angus

Hmmm, you’re right I never thought of that. There could have been hundreds of tickets sold !

[Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439]

On 5/4/2022 at 7:17 PM, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

I can't have it.  I live in california.   

Another good reason to move to AZ!

[Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439]

I wonder if Bill Koch is going to buy it?  He has Frank James’ 1875 Remington and Colt 1873, serial # 1!  He has a great firearms collection, saw a lot of them when he exhibited some of them in West Palm Beach FL back in 2010-11 not sure. Wouldn’t surprise me if he did. 

[Dawg Hair, SASS #29557]

Wonder how many tickets were sold at auction.  If not many it would have been a real cheap funeral!

Edited May 6, 2022 by Dawg Hair, SASS #29557

[Rye Miles #13621]

19 hours ago, Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 said:

Wonder how many tickets were sold at auction.  If not many it would have been a real cheap funeral!

I would think funerals were pretty cheap back then. Pine box and a hole and a stone marker couldn't have cost that much. Plus I doubt if there were many people there. I doubt they had a funeral home! 

[Rip Snorter]

Some more details https://www.deadwood.com/history/history-timeline/

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

I keep wondering if it is a Pietta or a Uberti?

[Sedalia Dave]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:27 AM, Nimble Fingers SASS# 25439 said:

I wonder if Bill Koch is going to buy it?  He has Frank James’ 1875 Remington and Colt 1873, serial # 1!  He has a great firearms collection, saw a lot of them when he exhibited some of them in West Palm Beach FL back in 2010-11 not sure. Wouldn’t surprise me if he did. 

 

Phil Collins (British Citizen) was and avid collector of historical items related to the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. A few years ago he donated all of his collection, believed to be worth tens of millions of dollars, to the State of Texas.

 

 

[PowderRiverCowboy]

12 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

Some more details https://www.deadwood.com/history/history-timeline/

 Do Not  accept that Deadwood history Page as Facts , Even the Adams Museum has Items they purchased that are questionable origin. The Deadwood Page want you to fall into the lore or a story . Like the death Chair and deadmans  hand . tourist bucks  .