EXTRAORDINARILY RARE & FORENSICALLY PROVEN CUSTER BATTLEFIELD PICKUP SHARPS RIFLE THAT WAS USED BY INDIANS AGAINST CUSTER’S COMMAND.

EXTRAORDINARILY RARE & FORENSICALLY PROVEN CUSTER BATTLEFIELD PICKUP SHARPS RIFLE THAT WAS USED BY INDIANS AGAINST CUSTER’S COMMAND. SN C54586. Cal. 50-70. This rifle has a long & documented history dating back to 1883 to William M. Spear, a young man who was 22 years old at the time and moving with his family and all their livestock & possessions from New Chicago, Montana to the area near Big Horn, Wyoming on Little Goose Creek which is a tributary of Big Goose Creek and the Tongue River. Unusually & a very rare occurrence for that day & age, William M. Spear kept a log of the daily activities on the trek eastward, copies of which accompany this rifle. His log is dated from Aug. 2nd thru Sept. 21st and on Sept. 20th he records visiting the Custer Battlefield and finding a number of cartridge shells & pieces of the monument that have been broken off while it was being set up which they “saved as relics”. He also observed that a great many of the shallow graves had been dug up and the soldiers’ bones “lay scattered in every direction”. He does not mention the finding of this Sharps rifle or another rifle nor the two broken shotguns which he also picked up on the battlefield. In a letter signed by Torrey B. Johnson, nephew of Willis M. Spear, of the Spear O Ranch of Busby, Montana, relates that in 1938 another of Mr. Spear’s sisters, Emma Spear DeWitt, was “sitting on the couch with me in front of the fire place in the Spearhead Room of the Spear O Wigwam Dude Ranch. The talk got around to the two rifles resting on the fireplace mantle. Aunt Emma, who had been on the trail drive from New Chicago, Montana in 1883, told me how her brother Willis had sworn her to secrecy about him (sic) having picked up the rifles and shotgun on the Custer Battlefield and stored them in the bottom of one of the wagons so that his father wouldn’t know about them and perhaps wouldn’t allow him to take them or might make him give them to some official of the battlefield.”. He goes on to say that his mother, Jessamine Spear Johnson, who was the daughter of Willis M. Spear, gave him those rifles a few years before she passed away. He also states that for many years the rifles had small tags attached to trigger guards describing where they had come from & the dates, but they were wrinkled & dirty so he destroyed them. In August 1983 there was a prairie fire that burned about 600 acres of the Custer Battlefield National Monument destroying all the ground cover. In 1984 & 1985, with the assistance of archaeologists and the Midwest Archaeological Center of the National Park Service, there was limited excavation of as much of the battlefield area as was possible. During this excavation, using metal detectors they discovered around 5,000 artifacts of which over 2,000 were bullets & cartridge cases. As each item was discovered it was marked & plotted as to its exact location when it was discovered. Subsequently with the use of modern techniques & laboratory methods it was discovered that at least 44 different types of firearms were used by the Indians in more than 300 different arms ranging from 44 caliber up through the 577 Enfield. The personnel involved in the comparison testing apparently had learned of this rifle and had obtained specimen cartridge cases actually fired in this rifle. They then compared those cases to excavated cartridge cases found on the battlefield by means of a comparison microscope precisely the same method used in criminal laboratories for comparison of cartridge cases found at crime scenes. They were able to identify two of the excavated cartridge cases that matched the impressions of this rifle to a degree of 90% certainty. One case was found southeast of Lt. Calhoun’s position along with several other 50-70 cases and a large quantity of 44RF Henry cases, absolutely marking this as an Indian position. There were at least 23 different Henry or Winchester 1866 rifles, two 44RF pistols, one 44 S&W American, six model 1873 Winchesters and some cal. 50-70 rifles used from that position. The other matching specimen was found on Greasy Grass Ridge, Southwest of Lt. Calhoun’s position with a similar number and variety of Indian fired cartridge cases in this position. This evidence absolutely ties this rifle to two different Indian occupied positions during the Custer fight. This rifle conceivably could have been one of the firearms that killed or wounded some of Custer’s troops. The firearms examiner of the Nebraska State Patrol who examined the cases stated that it is almost impossible to achieve a perfect match in any comparison especially on a firearm such as this that has been exposed to the elements. He also stated that the 90% certainty of this match would be sufficient to establish in a court of law that both cases were fired in the same rifle. Virtually all of the above information appeared in the Jan/Feb 1988 issue of Man at Arms in an article titled “Battle of the Little Bighorn” by Dick Harmon & Douglas Scott. Accompanied by a Sharps Rifle Co. letter signed by Dr. R.L. Moore which identifies this rifle as a Model 1874 military rifle in 50 caliber with 30″ bbl. It was invoiced April 23, 1875 to Schuyler, Hartley & Graham of New York City, Sharps’ largest dealer who shipped to the western United States, supplying many of the buffalo rifles used during the great buffalo hunts. This rifle also appeared on p. 25 of The Peacemakers, Wilson. Also accompanying this rifle is a photograph of Mr. Torrey Johnson along with Dick Harmon & Glen Swanson, two of the gentlemen who were instrumental in promoting the excavation of the battlefield after the fire. PROVENANCE: Willis M. Spear; Willis M. Spear descendants CONDITION: Poor to fair. No orig finish remains with the metal being an overall very dark brown patina with mottled patina over receiver, lockplate & hammer. Forestock is missing a couple of large slivers on left side and shows very heavy saddle bow wear between receiver & first band. Middle band & spring keeper are missing. Buttstock is weathered & worn with a crude repaired crack in the toe being held by three screws. Buttplate is sprung & missing the bottom screw. Wood is extremely weathered from 7 years exposure to the dry Montana prairie. Top tang is broken through the front screw hole. Mechanics are fine, very dark bore. 4-35382 JR504 (175,000-375,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2008

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
	2554	$0.00	EXTRAORDINARILY RARE & FORENSICALLY PROVEN CUSTER BATTLEFIELD PICKUP SHARPS RIFLE THAT WAS USED BY INDIANS AGAINST CUSTER’S COMMAND. SN C54586. Cal. 50-70. This rifle has a long & documented history dating back to 1883 to William M. Spear, a young man who was 22 years old at the time and moving with his family and all their livestock & possessions from New Chicago, Montana to the area near Big Horn, Wyoming on Little Goose Creek which is a tributary of Big Goose Creek and the Tongue River. Unusually & a very rare occurrence for that day & age, William M. Spear kept a log of the daily activities on the trek eastward, copies of which accompany this rifle. His log is dated from Aug. 2nd thru Sept. 21st and on Sept. 20th he records visiting the Custer Battlefield and finding a number of cartridge shells & pieces of the monument that have been broken off while it was being set up which they “saved as relics”. He also observed that a great many of the shallow graves had been dug up and the soldiers’ bones “lay scattered in every direction”. He does not mention the finding of this Sharps rifle or another rifle nor the two broken shotguns which he also picked up on the battlefield. In a letter signed by Torrey B. Johnson, nephew of Willis M. Spear, of the Spear O Ranch of Busby, Montana, relates that in 1938 another of Mr. Spear’s sisters, Emma Spear DeWitt, was “sitting on the couch with me in front of the fire place in the Spearhead Room of the Spear O Wigwam Dude Ranch. The talk got around to the two rifles resting on the fireplace mantle. Aunt Emma, who had been on the trail drive from New Chicago, Montana in 1883, told me how her brother Willis had sworn her to secrecy about him (sic) having picked up the rifles and shotgun on the Custer Battlefield and stored them in the bottom of one of the wagons so that his father wouldn’t know about them and perhaps wouldn’t allow him to take them or might make him give them to some official of the battlefield.”. He goes on to say that his mother, Jessamine Spear Johnson, who was the daughter of Willis M. Spear, gave him those rifles a few years before she passed away. He also states that for many years the rifles had small tags attached to trigger guards describing where they had come from & the dates, but they were wrinkled & dirty so he destroyed them. In August 1983 there was a prairie fire that burned about 600 acres of the Custer Battlefield National Monument destroying all the ground cover. In 1984 & 1985, with the assistance of archaeologists and the Midwest Archaeological Center of the National Park Service, there was limited excavation of as much of the battlefield area as was possible. During this excavation, using metal detectors they discovered around 5,000 artifacts of which over 2,000 were bullets & cartridge cases. As each item was discovered it was marked & plotted as to its exact location when it was discovered. Subsequently with the use of modern techniques & laboratory methods it was discovered that at least 44 different types of firearms were used by the Indians in more than 300 different arms ranging from 44 caliber up through the 577 Enfield. The personnel involved in the comparison testing apparently had learned of this rifle and had obtained specimen cartridge cases actually fired in this rifle. They then compared those cases to excavated cartridge cases found on the battlefield by means of a comparison microscope precisely the same method used in criminal laboratories for comparison of cartridge cases found at crime scenes. They were able to identify two of the excavated cartridge cases that matched the impressions of this rifle to a degree of 90% certainty. One case was found southeast of Lt. Calhoun’s position along with several other 50-70 cases and a large quantity of 44RF Henry cases, absolutely marking this as an Indian position. There were at least 23 different Henry or Winchester 1866 rifles, two 44RF pistols, one 44 S&W American, six model 1873 Winchesters and some cal. 50-70 rifles used from that position. The other matching specimen was found on Greasy Grass Ridge, Southwest of Lt. Calhoun’s position with a similar number and variety of Indian fired cartridge cases in this position. This evidence absolutely ties this rifle to two different Indian occupied positions during the Custer fight. This rifle conceivably could have been one of the firearms that killed or wounded some of Custer’s troops. The firearms examiner of the Nebraska State Patrol who examined the cases stated that it is almost impossible to achieve a perfect match in any comparison especially on a firearm such as this that has been exposed to the elements. He also stated that the 90% certainty of this match would be sufficient to establish in a court of law that both cases were fired in the same rifle. Virtually all of the above information appeared in the Jan/Feb 1988 issue of Man at Arms in an article titled “Battle of the Little Bighorn” by Dick Harmon & Douglas Scott. Accompanied by a Sharps Rifle Co. letter signed by Dr. R.L. Moore which identifies this rifle as a Model 1874 military rifle in 50 caliber with 30″ bbl. It was invoiced April 23, 1875 to Schuyler, Hartley & Graham of New York City, Sharps’ largest dealer who shipped to the western United States, supplying many of the buffalo rifles used during the great buffalo hunts. This rifle also appeared on p. 25 of The Peacemakers, Wilson. Also accompanying this rifle is a photograph of Mr. Torrey Johnson along with Dick Harmon & Glen Swanson, two of the gentlemen who were instrumental in promoting the excavation of the battlefield after the fire. PROVENANCE: Willis M. Spear; Willis M. Spear descendants CONDITION: Poor to fair. No orig finish remains with the metal being an overall very dark brown patina with mottled patina over receiver, lockplate & hammer. Forestock is missing a couple of large slivers on left side and shows very heavy saddle bow wear between receiver & first band. Middle band & spring keeper are missing. Buttstock is weathered & worn with a crude repaired crack in the toe being held by three screws. Buttplate is sprung & missing the bottom screw. Wood is extremely weathered from 7 years exposure to the dry Montana prairie. Top tang is broken through the front screw hole. Mechanics are fine, very dark bore. 4-35382 JR504 (175,000-375,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2008 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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