March 1-2, 2018 Firearms, Militaria & Sporting
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/2/2018
Handed down through the family of William Sanders Peterson, who was a private with the famous Arizona Rangers from 1901-1905. The holster passed to his daughter Mary Ethel Peterson Kenisell in 1929, after her death in 1964 and the rig was passed on to her daughter Emma Kenisell Benner, and finally to John A. Benner, great-grandson of William Paterson. The original marked money belt was made by Kelly & Harrison of Silver City, New Mexico; and during its lifetime had the bottom set of loops removed, as the double set made it difficult to remove cartridges from the belt. There is a picture of Peterson wearing this belt before the second row of loops was removed, taken during the mining strike of 1903, while Peterson was assigned to the protection of Teddy Roosevelt. The holster is a single loop, border tooled, for 4 - 3/4" or 5 - 1/2" Colt 1873 Single Action Army or Bisley. There is a maker stamp in the oval "E WILLIAMS MAKER MARFA TEX". Peterson is listed as having served from 1902-1905 in the Arizona Territory. This lot comes with three books on the Arizona Rangers, in which Peterson is photographed several times. His occupation is listed as cowboy and his place of birth is Texas. The Arizona Rangers were modeled after the Texas Rangers, were formed 1901 and disbanded in 1909. They were an elite well-trained agency, mounted on quality horses and well equipped to deal with the infestation of outlaws in the territory of Arizona along the Mexican border. In addition to outlaws, the rangers were called on to deal with several minor strikes. The Rangers recruited from old cowboys and the ranks of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Raids and murders were so common that they were scarcely noted and no livestock was safe. The Rangers essentially put an end to that, and to their credit it is estimated that nine out of ten men they went after were brought back dead or alive. Several books have been written on collecting rigs of the Wild West and these marked holsters and belts have skyrocketed in price and demand, but seldom can a rig be identified to a distinct personage, especially someone so illustrious as an Arizona ranger. This rig comes with signed personal history from the family, a 1903 picture and three books all titled the same: "The Arizona Rangers" by Joe Miller, Bill O'Niell, and M. David DeSoucy. The rig: the money belt is stamped "30-30" on the billet with the California clip point buckle. The cartridge loops have been replaced with a single row for .45 caliber pistol cartridge. The opposite billet has the maker stamp. Total length of belt is 43". It is in excellent condition, intact, and billets have not been adjusted. The holster is also in excellent condition; the maker marks are extremely strong, with the majority of stitching intact and just a small 1/2" area of lost stitching. It is a beautiful double marked rig, especially collectable due to it detailed history and family provenance, and the best of its type that we have ever offered. A true piece of American history.