GUN FALL 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.
EARLY COLT 44 CENTER FIRE SINGLE ACTION ARMY REVOLVER WITH PERIOD HOLSTER THAT BELONGED TO MURDERER LINCOLN SPROLE AND DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL BADGE OSTENSIBLY THE PROPERTY OF DEPUTY JOHN WILLIAMS.COLTSAA8967844 WCFW/HOLSTERCal. 44 WCF (44-40). Usual configuration with 7-1/2" bbl, thinned front sight & 1-line block letter address. Bottom of the bbl is hand stamped in small letters "PROP. USDC. WDA" (Property of the District Court. Western District of Arkansas). Left side of frame has 3-line patent dates and left front web of trigger guard is marked "44 CF". Ejector housing is 3rd type with half moon ejector rod head and what appears to be the orig copper colored spring. Mounted with 1-pc walnut grip whose backstrap channel is dark & oil stained obliterating any number. Left side of grip is crudely hand-carved "L SPROLE". Right grip has a carved single notch. Base pin is orig type with dimpled ends. Accompanied by a period 3-loop tooled leather holster with 4 nickel-silver concho's and a leg strap through a hole cut in the toe. Belt loop stitching apparently deteriorated and came loose so the owner secured the belt loop with 2 copper harness rivets, 1 of which has pulled through. Additionally accompanied by a nickel-silver shield shaped badge, 2" x 1-1/2" marked on the front "DEPUTY / U.S. / MARSHAL" with a spread winged eagle over the top and a small serpentine shaped mark at the bottom. Bottom side edges have small cast holes. The pin on the back is through a brass planchet with the pin itself of spring brass. Top left rear side is stamped "LAS&SCO" (Los Angeles Stamp & Stationary Company). This revolver was produced about 1883 in an era when these revolvers were in great demand on the American frontier. Lincoln Sprole was living on a farm in Paul's Valley, Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma Territory in May 1885, when he had and argument with a neighbor, Ben Clark, and his 18 year old son, Alex, over watering livestock at a well. Nothing was settled and later as Clark and his son were returning home from the town of White Bead Hill, Indian territory, after having purchased provisions, they were ambushed by Sprole, who fired from the brush alongside the road. Mr. Clark was mortally wounded and his son was shot in the leg and the chest. Mr. Clark died six hours later and his son died eleven days later. Sprole left the area, but was tracked down by Deputy US Marshall John Williams and returned to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he was convicted by the hanging judge, Isaac Parker and hanged July 23, 1886. A local newspaper observed "it is only to be regretted that he has not two necks to break instead of one". Accompanied by a large packet of information regarding this incident and the trial records thereof, copies of records from the archives of the district court, western district of Arkansas, Fort Smith division. Many of these papers deal with the issuance of warrants for Sprole and subpoenas to witnesses for the trial, many of which either mention or are signed by Deputy Marshall John Williams. It is well known that back in that era, confiscated property of convicted felons was retained by the court or the law enforcement officer himself for future use. In this instance, this revolver and holster were retained by the court and probably issued to law enforcement officers for us in enforcing the law. With the addition of the badge, ostensibly that belonged to Deputy Williams, it can be surmised that this revolver and holster were issued to Deputy Williams. If in fact this was a U.S. Marshal's gun it saw hard & continuous service under the most severe conditions, often with little or no maintenance. CONDITION: Fair, all matching, grip as noted. Bbl retains 10-15% bright blue under the ejector housing with the balance a blue/brown patina and pitting around the muzzle. Frame, hammer, cylinder, front & backstraps are a plummy brown patina. Grip is sound showing heavy wear with battering on both bottom edges and the buttstrap. Mechanics are fine, strong bore with sharp rifling and moderate pitting. The 6 &7 of the serial number on the buttstrap have been re-stamped. The 7 on the trigger guard is re-stamped. Holster shows commensurate wear, handling & use with heavy soil. Badge shows moderate to heavy wear with some minor oxidation on the front and heavy oxidation on the back. We do not guarantee the authenticity of the badge. 52700-24 JRL (4,000-6,000)