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Lot 4274ANTIQUE
An important and historic 'Custer Range' U.S. Model 1873 Trapdoor Springfield carbine attributed to Oglala Lakota Chief Crazy Horse and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
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Amended
17 November 2008, 10:00 PST
San FranciscoUS$80,000 - US$120,000
An important and historic 'Custer Range' U.S. Model 1873 Trapdoor Springfield carbine attributed to Oglala Lakota Chief Crazy Horse and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Serial no. 16632, .45-70 caliber. 20 3/4 inch barrel with standard sights. Breechblock marked Model/1873/eagle over crossed lances/US. Buttstock severely broken at wrist with buckskin repair secured by iron screws. With provenance letter dated April 9th, 1931 from Chief Flying Hawk, Sitting Bull's cousin, to collector M.I. McCreight. Chief Flying Hawk states in his letter, dictated to his son Felix, that the gun was given to Chief Kicking Bear after Crazy Horse was killed and that he had obtained the gun for his friend McCreight, who evidently purchased the gun for $75.00. The gun is illustrated on page 58 in the book Flying Hawk's Tales: The True Story of Custer's Last Fight, by Chief Flying Hawk as told to M.I. McCreight, (1936). A reprint of this rare book, by Alliance Press, is included with the lot. The gun was exhibited as No. 14 in the Ohio Gun Collectors exhibition Guns of the Little Bighorn in 1976 and a copy of this catalog is included. This catalog states The serial number of this carbine, #16632, indicates that it was a Seventh Cavalry issue. Carbines #16160 and #16680 were collected by the Chief Ordnance Officer, Department of Dakota in 1877 as having been turned in by Captain F.W. Benteen, Seventh Cavalry, as rendered unserviceable...at the Battle of the Little Bighorn and during the campaign of the summer and fall of 1876.
Condition: Good. Metal with dark brown patina, areas of light pitting and generally sharp markings. Stock with scattered marks and repair as noted above.
See Illustration
Condition: Good. Metal with dark brown patina, areas of light pitting and generally sharp markings. Stock with scattered marks and repair as noted above.
See Illustration
Footnotes
Provenance: M.I. McCreight Collection. Note: Chief Flying Hawk was the nephew of Sitting Bull, cousin to Crazy Horse and brother of Kicking Bear. Present at the Little Bighorn, he later performed with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as well as the 101 Ranch Show and the Sells-Floto Show. His autobiography, dictated to M.I. McCreight, contains many details of his life, battles with the U.S. Army and other Native American tribes and biographical sketches of Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse and others.
Saleroom notices
Lot withdrawn.