RARE CUSTER LITTLE BIG HORN BATTLEFIELD ARTIFACT.

RARE CUSTER LITTLE BIG HORN BATTLEFIELD ARTIFACT. Unusual piece of horse leg bone, 11-1/4″ long, inscribed on the side in old period ink “Bone of a horse / killed at Custer battle with Sitting Bull / June 25, 1876”. It is accompanied by a letter dated October 14, 1963 from John S. du Mont to William A. Bond of Vernon, Texas, wherein he states that the horse bone was given to him by John Parsons when they were working on their book. Mr. du Mont states that the bone was given to a lawyer by a neighbor he had counseled who had inherited it from a career Army officer member of the family. He states that he guesses that it came from one of the officers at the reburial in 1877 but no one had any proof at that time. Also accompanied by a September 1963 issue of The Westerner’s Brand Book in which a large article discusses the cleaning up of the Custer battlefield sight by Cpt. Sanderson and a party of troopers in about April 1879. Cpt. Sanderson reports in a letter to the Post Adjutant he carefully remounded all graves to be found and drove a stake to replace the earlier markers where individual troopers had fallen. He states “I believe a large number of horse bones lying over the field have given rise to some of such statements and to prevent any such statements being made in the future I had all the horse bones gathered together and placed in the mound where they cannot now readily be disturbed by curiosity seekers”. He apparently is responding to reports that there were still unburied dead on the battlefield. CONDITION: Bone is very dry with a number of age lines with some staining on the top. Inscription is beginning to fade. Ex. Parsons, Dumont Collections. 4-53312 (3,000-5,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2004

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
	1427	$0.00	RARE CUSTER LITTLE BIG HORN BATTLEFIELD ARTIFACT. Unusual piece of horse leg bone, 11-1/4″ long, inscribed on the side in old period ink “Bone of a horse / killed at Custer battle with Sitting Bull / June 25, 1876”. It is accompanied by a letter dated October 14, 1963 from John S. du Mont to William A. Bond of Vernon, Texas, wherein he states that the horse bone was given to him by John Parsons when they were working on their book. Mr. du Mont states that the bone was given to a lawyer by a neighbor he had counseled who had inherited it from a career Army officer member of the family. He states that he guesses that it came from one of the officers at the reburial in 1877 but no one had any proof at that time. Also accompanied by a September 1963 issue of The Westerner’s Brand Book in which a large article discusses the cleaning up of the Custer battlefield sight by Cpt. Sanderson and a party of troopers in about April 1879. Cpt. Sanderson reports in a letter to the Post Adjutant he carefully remounded all graves to be found and drove a stake to replace the earlier markers where individual troopers had fallen. He states “I believe a large number of horse bones lying over the field have given rise to some of such statements and to prevent any such statements being made in the future I had all the horse bones gathered together and placed in the mound where they cannot now readily be disturbed by curiosity seekers”. He apparently is responding to reports that there were still unburied dead on the battlefield. CONDITION: Bone is very dry with a number of age lines with some staining on the top. Inscription is beginning to fade. Ex. Parsons, Dumont Collections. 4-53312 (3,000-5,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2004 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.

.red{fill:#B50938;} .white{fill:#FFFFFF;} .blue{fill:#005596;}