October 25, 2023 The Paul Friedrich Collection of Firearms & Gold Rush
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/25/2023
Bodie is, perhaps, one of the most famous "ghost towns" of all time. In 1859 a group of prospectors found gold in the area and set up a mining outpost, with a man named "W.S. Bodey" among them, who lent his name to the town (although Bodey died in 1860 during a blizzard while he was en route to Monoville). The early Bodie was not profitable and was a fairly small town, but in 1876 Standard Company found a large vein of gold-bearing ore, and the town quickly became a boomtown, with an approximate population of 7000 - 10000 people. By 1880, most of the entrepreneurial and fickle miners left Bodie for other booms in Butte, Tombstone, and Utah, seriously impacting the population of the town. Despite this, Bodie held on for several more years, but was officially called a ghost town in 1915, and in 1920 had a scant population of 120 according to the Federal Census. As a town with such a fickle and boisterous population of largely single untethered male miners, lawlessness was rampant, and Bodie even had its own red light district on the north end of town. To combat this were normal police officers, but Richard O'Malley, who owned the contents of this lot, stood out as not only regularly mentioned in newspapers but as the only police officer in Bodie to engage in a true 1-on-1 gunfight, which he won. The story goes that O'Malley was patrolling on July 15th, 1880, when a local named George Center happened to cross paths with O'Malley. Center, drunk, turned up a street, and O'Malley followed him when Center decided to fire his Colt Lightning revolvers (some accounts recount that Center claimed he was shooting at a cat). O'Malley tried to confiscate the guns when Center declared "No son-of-a-bitch will take my pistols" and drew on O'Malley. O'Malley went for his own gun while Center opened fire, but missed due to his inebriated state. O'Malley, however, hit Center in the leg and the hand, and disarmed him, holding onto both of his guns when Officer Roberts came to support O'Malley. Amusingly, there was some controversy over whether or not O'Malley could even have demanded the guns, as Bodie was not incorporated, and as such, it wasn't technically illegal to be touching off rounds. O'Malley continued to be involved in various newspaper-worth disturbances, including a multi-man brawl at the Snug Salon and the shooting of Johnny Allen, a Good Samaritan who was attacked while rendering aid to a man he thought was injured. O'Malley's revolver, a 7 - 1/2" Colt SAA with walnut grips, is in a standard configuration with a bullseye ejector rod head, blackpowder frame, single line address on top of the barrel. Full or partial numbers observed on barrel (under the ejector rod), cylinder, frame, trigger guard, and butt. Very faint 3-line patent address on left sid of frame. The backstrap is engraved "R. O'Malley", probably done by a Bodie local named Frank Ingoldsby, who is listed as an artist. On the left side of the trigger guard is stamped "T. McElroy Gunsmith Bodie"; Timothy McElry was born in Ireland in 1832 and emigrated to the United States in 1855, opening a gunstore in San Francisco in 1861 before reloading to Bodie circa 1880; a letter from Dick Burdick discussing the discovery of this marking and noting some minor replaced internal parts (trigger and hammer sears). Other accessories include a five-star badge engraved "DEPUTY CONSTABLE" on the front face, and Richard O'Malley on the front, in a font that appears very similar to the backstrap and may also have been cut by Ingoldsby; a leather belt that measures 36" long, with a holster tooled with striated edges and a central floral; and a leather sap with a nonferrous filler, probably lead. All items that would have been useful for a lawman! CONDITION: Metal is essentially a soft gunmetal grey and has been refinished at some point far in the past, with legends heavily softened. Grips have numerous heavy usage marks, including an extensive repair on left grip, and lightly inside "M" or "W" depending on the orientation. Mechanically fine, bore is very good with strong rifling and some light abrasion throughout. Badge excellent with some minor age related marks. Leather is excellent with some crazing and alligatoring but pliable and strong. Sap is very good. A very important piece from one the most famous ghost towns. PROVENANCE: Accompanied by an extensive binder of provenance, including a Colt factory letter listing the gun as shipping in 1880 to Hartley & Graham in a shipment of 50 on December 31st; aforementioned letter from Dick Burdick; the original commission appointing O'Malley as a deputy constable; copies of period newspapers mentioning Bodie; part of what appears to be a display featuring this gun covering the shooting between O'Malley and Center; letters from Brownell Merrell; letters from Larry Poag; several photos of this gun with the holster and badge.
Accessories
Holster, Badge, Sap
Paperwork
Binder and display piece