SCARCE CIVIL WAR SPENCER SADDLE RING CARBINE WITH SPRINGFIELD ALTERATIONS, USED BY CHEYENNE CHIEF LAME WHITE MAN AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN.

SN 19756. Cal. 56-50. Standard Spencer carbine with 22″ bbl, square base front sight and Spencer 800 yd carbine ladder rear sight. Left side of wrist has a sling bar and ring. Carbine is one of those converted by Springfield Armory 1867-1874 by having the bore sleeved with 3-groove rifling and the Stabler cut-off installed. There is no indication as to how this carbine came into the possession of Cheyenne Chief Lame White Man but it is known that many of the Indians at the Little Big Horn carried Spencer carbines and rifles. This carbine is decorated with a series of square shank iron tacks on all four surfaces of the stock and with two more on bottom of forearm. Each side of buttstock has a small incised rectangular recess about 1-5/16″ x 3/4″ on the right side and 1-5/16″ x 15/16″ on left side. These recesses are reliably reported to have contained small mirrors. Chief Lame White Man was a leader in the Cheyenne Nation who was a member of the Mirror Society, an extension of the Medicine Wheel Society. The Mirror was used in their ceremonies for spiritual reasons. It is reliably reported that Lame White Man had traded for three mirrors while on a trip to Ft. Rice to spy on soldiers there to see when they would be leaving to escort survey crews for the railroad. He reportedly traded beaver pelts to Augustus Balirain for 3 mirrors. He gave one to his wife and daughters and the other two he inletted into the stock of this carbine. On the morning of the Custer Battle, June 25, 1876, Lame White Man and his friend, Brave Bear, along with Lame White Man’s wife, Twin-Woman, and his two daughters, Red-Hat & Crane-Woman, along with Monahseetah (and presumably her son, Yellow Bird), were in Lame White Man’s lodge. Lame White Man was talking with Brave Bear, trying to convince him to join the Medicine Wheel Mirror Society. They both agreed that after the battle that was looming Brave Bear would join the Mirror Society. After they had eaten Lame White Man and Brave Bear went to the sweat lodge for a time until they heard shots and when they emerged they saw Two Moon and his group riding south towards the shooting. He caught his and yelled “Let us kill them all this time” and he & his Cheyenne warriors rode south towards the shooting, which appeared to be coming from Deep Coulee Ford. They turned north and headed back towards the Ford and saw everyone heading up Deep Coulee. They crossed the Deep Coulee Ford and turned northwest to cut off the soldiers. When they reached the top of the hill they saw soldiers everywhere and, again, Lame White Man raised his rifle and shouted “Kill them all”. He charged into the line of dismounted soldiers and he, along with his Cheyenne warriors, Hunkpapa, Two Kettle & Sansarc Sioux, along with some Blackfoot warriors, charged into Company L three times before the soldiers gave way. The group then charged Company C further up the ridge. As they charged Lame White Man was shot dead and fell from his horse. Brave Bear later related this story to Nicholas Black Elk, which was passed down to his son, Benjamin Black Elk, who related it to Custer & Little Big Horn Historian Wendell Grangaard. Brave Bear stated he had become separated from Lame White Man and didn’t realize anything was wrong until he saw a Sioux warrior carrying Lame White Man’s rifle with the mirrors. He reports he rode back as an Indian named Tall-Bull was turning Lame White Man over. He had been scalped so they threw a blanket over him and returned to the battle. After the battle was over they took Lame White Man’s body back to his wife and later that evening a Sioux warrior came and gave back Lame White Man’s scalp and rifle. Twin-Woman (Lame White Man’s wife) broke the mirrors out of the rifle and gave it back to the Sioux warrior. Brave Bear stated that later the Sioux warrior threw the rifle away because he was sorry for what he had done. Brave Bear then took all of Lame White Man’s women into his lodge. This Spencer carbine was later found on the battle field and was the subject of a book, Custer….Indian Gun, Schneider, a copy of which accompanies this lot. Apparently this carbine was auctioned by the Larimer County History Museum of Wellington, CO as a fundraising event along with another small book Marching With Custer, Col. Elwood Nye, an autographed copy of which also accompanies this lot. The Larimer County book shows that this carbine was issued March 1864 to the 12th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry and was returned, refurbished and “reissued to the West circa 1867-1868”. It also states that it was acquired by Col. Nye between 1936 and 1946. It also states that it was gifted to R.S. Baker in 1954 along with numerous other artifacts and eventually was donated to the Larimer County History Museum in 2005. Dick Baker was city manager of Ft. Collins, CO, and was also a close friend of the long-time superintendent of the Custer Battlefield National Monument, Edward Luce. Consignor states that Mr. Luce had bought this carbine locally from one of the Reservation Indians and sold it to Col. Nye. Consignor purchased it at the museum auction and has maintained it all these years. Also accompanying is a lengthy article by Col. Nye dated 1941 which would become the main text of his book, Marching With Custer, published in 1964. Col. Nye was an Army veterinarian assigned at various times to the 7th Cavalry in the 1930’s. His main focus was on the cavalry horses and he was a strong advocate for retaining the horse cavalry even into the age of mechanization. There is a ridge on the Custer Battlefield named after Col. Nye – “The Nye-Cartwright Ridge”. CONDITION: Fair to good. Overall retains a dark blackish brown patina with heavy rust as though exposed to the weather for a long time. The iron tacks are equally rusted. Stock has several small grain checks, otherwise wood is sound and retains a dark hand worn patina. Mechanics are fine. Worn dark bore with heavy pitting and visible rifling. 4-51259 JR262 (30,000-50,000) – Lot 3206

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Auction: Firearms - Fall 2014

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	3206	$34,500.00	SCARCE CIVIL WAR SPENCER SADDLE RING CARBINE WITH SPRINGFIELD ALTERATIONS, USED BY CHEYENNE CHIEF LAME WHITE MAN AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN. SN 19756. Cal. 56-50. Standard Spencer carbine with 22″ bbl, square base front sight and Spencer 800 yd carbine ladder rear sight. Left side of wrist has a sling bar and ring. Carbine is one of those converted by Springfield Armory 1867-1874 by having the bore sleeved with 3-groove rifling and the Stabler cut-off installed. There is no indication as to how this carbine came into the possession of Cheyenne Chief Lame White Man but it is known that many of the Indians at the Little Big Horn carried Spencer carbines and rifles. This carbine is decorated with a series of square shank iron tacks on all four surfaces of the stock and with two more on bottom of forearm. Each side of buttstock has a small incised rectangular recess about 1-5/16″ x 3/4″ on the right side and 1-5/16″ x 15/16″ on left side. These recesses are reliably reported to have contained small mirrors. Chief Lame White Man was a leader in the Cheyenne Nation who was a member of the Mirror Society, an extension of the Medicine Wheel Society. The Mirror was used in their ceremonies for spiritual reasons. It is reliably reported that Lame White Man had traded for three mirrors while on a trip to Ft. Rice to spy on soldiers there to see when they would be leaving to escort survey crews for the railroad. He reportedly traded beaver pelts to Augustus Balirain for 3 mirrors. He gave one to his wife and daughters and the other two he inletted into the stock of this carbine. On the morning of the Custer Battle, June 25, 1876, Lame White Man and his friend, Brave Bear, along with Lame White Man’s wife, Twin-Woman, and his two daughters, Red-Hat & Crane-Woman, along with Monahseetah (and presumably her son, Yellow Bird), were in Lame White Man’s lodge. Lame White Man was talking with Brave Bear, trying to convince him to join the Medicine Wheel Mirror Society. They both agreed that after the battle that was looming Brave Bear would join the Mirror Society. After they had eaten Lame White Man and Brave Bear went to the sweat lodge for a time until they heard shots and when they emerged they saw Two Moon and his group riding south towards the shooting. He caught his and yelled “Let us kill them all this time” and he & his Cheyenne warriors rode south towards the shooting, which appeared to be coming from Deep Coulee Ford. They turned north and headed back towards the Ford and saw everyone heading up Deep Coulee. They crossed the Deep Coulee Ford and turned northwest to cut off the soldiers. When they reached the top of the hill they saw soldiers everywhere and, again, Lame White Man raised his rifle and shouted “Kill them all”. He charged into the line of dismounted soldiers and he, along with his Cheyenne warriors, Hunkpapa, Two Kettle & Sansarc Sioux, along with some Blackfoot warriors, charged into Company L three times before the soldiers gave way. The group then charged Company C further up the ridge. As they charged Lame White Man was shot dead and fell from his horse. Brave Bear later related this story to Nicholas Black Elk, which was passed down to his son, Benjamin Black Elk, who related it to Custer & Little Big Horn Historian Wendell Grangaard. Brave Bear stated he had become separated from Lame White Man and didn’t realize anything was wrong until he saw a Sioux warrior carrying Lame White Man’s rifle with the mirrors. He reports he rode back as an Indian named Tall-Bull was turning Lame White Man over. He had been scalped so they threw a blanket over him and returned to the battle. After the battle was over they took Lame White Man’s body back to his wife and later that evening a Sioux warrior came and gave back Lame White Man’s scalp and rifle. Twin-Woman (Lame White Man’s wife) broke the mirrors out of the rifle and gave it back to the Sioux warrior. Brave Bear stated that later the Sioux warrior threw the rifle away because he was sorry for what he had done. Brave Bear then took all of Lame White Man’s women into his lodge. This Spencer carbine was later found on the battle field and was the subject of a book, Custer….Indian Gun, Schneider, a copy of which accompanies this lot. Apparently this carbine was auctioned by the Larimer County History Museum of Wellington, CO as a fundraising event along with another small book Marching With Custer, Col. Elwood Nye, an autographed copy of which also accompanies this lot. The Larimer County book shows that this carbine was issued March 1864 to the 12th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry and was returned, refurbished and “reissued to the West circa 1867-1868”. It also states that it was acquired by Col. Nye between 1936 and 1946. It also states that it was gifted to R.S. Baker in 1954 along with numerous other artifacts and eventually was donated to the Larimer County History Museum in 2005. Dick Baker was city manager of Ft. Collins, CO, and was also a close friend of the long-time superintendent of the Custer Battlefield National Monument, Edward Luce. Consignor states that Mr. Luce had bought this carbine locally from one of the Reservation Indians and sold it to Col. Nye. Consignor purchased it at the museum auction and has maintained it all these years. Also accompanying is a lengthy article by Col. Nye dated 1941 which would become the main text of his book, Marching With Custer, published in 1964. Col. Nye was an Army veterinarian assigned at various times to the 7th Cavalry in the 1930’s. His main focus was on the cavalry horses and he was a strong advocate for retaining the horse cavalry even into the age of mechanization. There is a ridge on the Custer Battlefield named after Col. Nye – “The Nye-Cartwright Ridge”. CONDITION: Fair to good. Overall retains a dark blackish brown patina with heavy rust as though exposed to the weather for a long time. The iron tacks are equally rusted. Stock has several small grain checks, otherwise wood is sound and retains a dark hand worn patina. Mechanics are fine. Worn dark bore with heavy pitting and visible rifling. 4-51259 JR262 (30,000-50,000) – Lot 3206 Click here to view provenance Auction: Firearms - Fall 2014 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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SCARCE CIVIL WAR SPENCER SADDLE RING CARBINE WITH SPRINGFIELD ALTERATIONS, USED BY CHEYENNE CHIEF LAME WHITE MAN AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN.