RARE ENGRAVED PRESENTATION TO TOM HORN REMINGTON MODEL 1890 SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER.

RARE ENGRAVED PRESENTATION TO TOM HORN REMINGTON MODEL 1890 SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER. Cal. 44 WCF (44-40). SN 1254. One of the most rare of Remington revolvers is the 1890, with only 2,020 having been made in period 1891-1896. Of those only a handful were engraved and of that handful of engraved revolvers, few are known with presentations. This revolver has the inscription engraved on left side of bbl at muzzle “PRESENTED TO / TOM HORN / BY HIS FRIEND JOHN COBLE”. Tom Horn was, undoubtedly, one of the best known “guns for hire” to emerge from the dust of the “wild west”. Tom Horn was born in Missouri in 1860 and left the farm at age 14 to go West. He held various occupations including railroad laborer, wagon driver & stagecoach driver. He later became an Army scout and in fact, was one of the men who negotiated the surrender of Geronimo in 1886. He was a rodeo rider and won the world’s championship as a steer wrestler. He subsequently worked as a deputy sheriff in Colorado and a detective for the Pinkerton Agency for four years during which time he claimed to have killed seventeen men. Little is known of Horn in period 1888-1894 after which he appeared in Wyoming and became a range detective hired by the Swan Cattle Company, a consortium of wealthy Wyoming ranchers led by John Coble. He was successful in eliminating many cattle rustlers & thieves from the area north of Cheyenne to Sheridan. In 1898 he joined the cavalry and served with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, after which he returned to Wyoming and resumed his rustler killing duties. In 1901 he was accused, tried and convicted for killing a fourteen year old boy, William (Willie) Nickell, which was a mistake as apparently Horn had intended to kill Willie’s father, Kels. Horn was finally executed in January 1903. The orig trial was so controversial, and remains so today, that 100 years later a mock retrial was held in the Laramie County Courthouse and Horn was found innocent. Coble was a close friend of Horn’s and, in fact, edited Horn’s autobiography, Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter – Written by Himself. Apparently this was written while he was in jail awaiting execution. It was published in 1904. Coble also paid for the majority of Horn’s legal defense, the coffin, gravestone and all funeral expenses and publishing costs of his book. It was reported at the time that Mrs. Nickell cursed Coble wishing him to lose everything and die in shame. Subsequent to the execution Coble did lose everything and eventually committed suicide in a hotel lady’s room in Elko, Nevada. Therefore the link between Coble & Horn is solidly established with Coble certainly having had the resources to make a present of such a fine gift. The revolver has a 5-3/4” bbl with German silver front sight and 2-pc smooth ivory grips. It is engraved in L.D. Nimschke style with about 60% coverage fine foliate arabesque pattern engraving on frame with matching patterns on sides of bbl, ejector housing web, backstrap, buttstrap & triggerguard. The cyl has matching engraving on the lands between the flutes and at the back edge. It has a lanyard stud & ring in buttstrap. Accompanied by a copy of the January 1978 Gun Report magazine which contains an article about Remington frontier revolvers by Ron Ogan, where on p. 18 this exact revolver is pictured with the notation that it is from the collection of G.L. Phillips. Also accompanied by internet reprints of Tom Horn’s biography, the family history of Willie Nickell with his killing by Tom Horn and a brief biography of John C. Coble. This exact revolver is pictured on the cover of The Remington Society of America Journal, 2nd Quarter 2006. Additional information regarding Tom Horn can be found in The Legend of Tom Horn: Last of the Badmen, Monaghan, 1946, The Saga of Tom Horn: The Story of a Cattlemen’s War, Karkel, 1954, Tom Horn Blood on the Moon, Carlson, 2001. Provenance: Ex-Ted Bell Collection, Ex-Gary Phillips Collection, who reportedly purchased it from an elderly minister in California. This lot is accompanied by a letter from the consignor outlining the guns recent history together with a contemporary poster for the movie “Tom Horn” depicted by Steve McQueen. CONDITION: Fine plus. No orig finish remains being a cleaned metal color overall with some very fine pitting around muzzle, on ejector housing and face of cyl. Ejector housing has a few light dents & dings. Grips are a wonderful mellow ivory patina with numerous age lines around bottom edges. Will not hold in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine, worn lightly pitted bore. Baldwin Collection 4-30010 JR85 (50,000-100,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2007

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
	1210	$86,250.00	RARE ENGRAVED PRESENTATION TO TOM HORN REMINGTON MODEL 1890 SINGLE ACTION REVOLVER. Cal. 44 WCF (44-40). SN 1254. One of the most rare of Remington revolvers is the 1890, with only 2,020 having been made in period 1891-1896. Of those only a handful were engraved and of that handful of engraved revolvers, few are known with presentations. This revolver has the inscription engraved on left side of bbl at muzzle “PRESENTED TO / TOM HORN / BY HIS FRIEND JOHN COBLE”. Tom Horn was, undoubtedly, one of the best known “guns for hire” to emerge from the dust of the “wild west”. Tom Horn was born in Missouri in 1860 and left the farm at age 14 to go West. He held various occupations including railroad laborer, wagon driver & stagecoach driver. He later became an Army scout and in fact, was one of the men who negotiated the surrender of Geronimo in 1886. He was a rodeo rider and won the world’s championship as a steer wrestler. He subsequently worked as a deputy sheriff in Colorado and a detective for the Pinkerton Agency for four years during which time he claimed to have killed seventeen men. Little is known of Horn in period 1888-1894 after which he appeared in Wyoming and became a range detective hired by the Swan Cattle Company, a consortium of wealthy Wyoming ranchers led by John Coble. He was successful in eliminating many cattle rustlers & thieves from the area north of Cheyenne to Sheridan. In 1898 he joined the cavalry and served with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, after which he returned to Wyoming and resumed his rustler killing duties. In 1901 he was accused, tried and convicted for killing a fourteen year old boy, William (Willie) Nickell, which was a mistake as apparently Horn had intended to kill Willie’s father, Kels. Horn was finally executed in January 1903. The orig trial was so controversial, and remains so today, that 100 years later a mock retrial was held in the Laramie County Courthouse and Horn was found innocent. Coble was a close friend of Horn’s and, in fact, edited Horn’s autobiography, Life of Tom Horn: Government Scout and Interpreter – Written by Himself. Apparently this was written while he was in jail awaiting execution. It was published in 1904. Coble also paid for the majority of Horn’s legal defense, the coffin, gravestone and all funeral expenses and publishing costs of his book. It was reported at the time that Mrs. Nickell cursed Coble wishing him to lose everything and die in shame. Subsequent to the execution Coble did lose everything and eventually committed suicide in a hotel lady’s room in Elko, Nevada. Therefore the link between Coble & Horn is solidly established with Coble certainly having had the resources to make a present of such a fine gift. The revolver has a 5-3/4” bbl with German silver front sight and 2-pc smooth ivory grips. It is engraved in L.D. Nimschke style with about 60% coverage fine foliate arabesque pattern engraving on frame with matching patterns on sides of bbl, ejector housing web, backstrap, buttstrap & triggerguard. The cyl has matching engraving on the lands between the flutes and at the back edge. It has a lanyard stud & ring in buttstrap. Accompanied by a copy of the January 1978 Gun Report magazine which contains an article about Remington frontier revolvers by Ron Ogan, where on p. 18 this exact revolver is pictured with the notation that it is from the collection of G.L. Phillips. Also accompanied by internet reprints of Tom Horn’s biography, the family history of Willie Nickell with his killing by Tom Horn and a brief biography of John C. Coble. This exact revolver is pictured on the cover of The Remington Society of America Journal, 2nd Quarter 2006. Additional information regarding Tom Horn can be found in The Legend of Tom Horn: Last of the Badmen, Monaghan, 1946, The Saga of Tom Horn: The Story of a Cattlemen’s War, Karkel, 1954, Tom Horn Blood on the Moon, Carlson, 2001. Provenance: Ex-Ted Bell Collection, Ex-Gary Phillips Collection, who reportedly purchased it from an elderly minister in California. This lot is accompanied by a letter from the consignor outlining the guns recent history together with a contemporary poster for the movie “Tom Horn” depicted by Steve McQueen. CONDITION: Fine plus. No orig finish remains being a cleaned metal color overall with some very fine pitting around muzzle, on ejector housing and face of cyl. Ejector housing has a few light dents & dings. Grips are a wonderful mellow ivory patina with numerous age lines around bottom edges. Will not hold in safety notch, otherwise mechanics are fine, worn lightly pitted bore. Baldwin Collection 4-30010 JR85 (50,000-100,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2007 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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