January 24, 2025 Old West Events Auction - Las Vegas
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/24/2025
Joe De Yong's Colt Single Action Bisley Model with Texas Ranger History *S/N 253791, .44-40 caliber, 5 1/2 inch barrel, Colt Bisley Single Action revolver. Nickel finish, two-piece hard rubber grips. The included letter shows shipped to F. Wilmanns & Co, Durango, Mexico, 1904. Condition: very good bore, plum color overall, slightly worn grips, excellent mechanically, excellent marks. The holster is marked "A.W. BRILL / MAKER / AUSTIN, TEX." with history of the piece burnt into the reverse. "Joe De Yong - Santa Barbara. California" then "Pete Crawford / Co. D - Texas Rangers / Del Rio, Texas / July. 12. 1942" (in De Yong's hand). The basket-stamped holster nose has been opened to allow 5 1/2 inch barrel, worn-through at ejector housing. Revolver and holster have been together a long time.Included is an 8" x 10" original photographed of Joe inscribed "To All the Floods from Joe De Yong 1950 Round Up Riders of the Rockies"
INCLUDED: Colt Factory Letter
PROVENANCE: Dick Flood Jr. and Daro Flood Collection from Joe De Yong
Includes a copy of the Book "Joe De yong / A Life in the West" by William Reynolds
Charles M. Russell and Joe De Yong had much in common. They were both painters from the St. Louis area who moved to Montana for the cowboy life. Once they made their connection, this powerful relationship would change both their lives.
By January 1916, Joe, nicknamed “Kid Currycomb,” was living with the Russells. De Yong worked as an apprentice to Russell in exchange for watching the house and feeding the animals when the Russells were away on their extensive exhibition schedule.
While working for Russell, De Yong’s deafness was no longer a disability. He and Russell’s use of the Indian Sign Language, at which Russell was an expert, helped create a strong bond of communication between the two and cemented their relationship. Russell and De Yong would hand-talk back and forth about horses, the West, and they also often went to the latest silent Western movies. De Yong was a loyal friend and confidant, and Charlie and Nancy Russell considered him the son they never had.
The relationship continued for about ten years, an experience that helped De Jong hone his art skills painting, sketching, illustrating, etching, and sculpting. De Yong became friends with Howard Eaton, whose family had ranches in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and through this connection he spent much time painting in these locations, going first to Yellowstone in 1920.
He later resumed his travels with Russell, including a stop at Bull Head Lodge on Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. Stopping in East Glacier Park, they visited the famed, deaf Blackfeet wood sculptor John L. Clarke. De Yong and Clarke would remain close friends for fifty years.
Paperwork
Factory Letter, Provenance
