Found 1860 Army Colt in No. Dakota
Back in the year 1904 my grandpa found a rusty 1860 Army Colt revolver. As a kid I can recall it hanging on a nail on the bunk house wall. The butt showed dent marks from this misuse. My son now has possession of this gun. The area found was about two miles NE of Heimdal, ND. This gun is NOT FOR SALE.
I'd like to know what this gun was doing in No. Dakota. Any comments would be appreciated. I do have a pic of this item but I do not know how to add it to this site. Ser. # 10973. Made about the year 1861 ??
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I have no answer how your revolver ended up in Dakota, but that is a totally awesome find. I would love to see a picture of that. There are several posts floating around in General Discussion on how to post photos. 0 -
There were a fair number of people moving around in the west by and before 1860. Could have been Calvary, though it should show marks, could have been any cowboy or prospector though early for that, could have been a stray wagon train. Could have been lost by a Native American who found or captured it. You will never know. Since you have the serial you could get a Colt Archive letter and at least see where The colt factory shipped it to and what the original configuration was. Search "Colt Letter."
Be great if a lot of old guns could tell their tales. Even the ones with quiet lives would be interesting as they too are part of history.
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I know how it got there but I promised I'd never tell. 3 -
SAM 0397.PG 0 -
Elmer Keith grew up in Montana. He was a teenager, in the year 1905.
It was still the Wild West and he saw some shootouts. There were many Civil War veterans in his town and many of them preferred the old cap and ball pistols, and they carried them still, 40 years after the war.
It would be great if you could somehow, get the story behind this pistol.0 -
Is she loaded? 0 -
Maybe a Letter from Colt would help 0 -
It is loaded with a half cock hammer and cylinders between barrel. 0 -
I'm not too far from Heimdahl, have several customers that come to me from there, really small town.
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I'll give you my best guess. The area you describe is just west of the current day Spirit Lake Nation Sioux tribe. The Sioux were notorious for being warriors and not friendly to white people. One could draw the conclusion that there was a skirmish of some sort between the army, which carried revolvers like that one, and the Sioux.
Just my guess, ND didn't become a state until 1889 and was a pretty wild place until the early 1900s. If it was rusty like that in 1904 it probably layed there 30 years before your grandpa found it.
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If it were possible to get a serial number off, which looks tough I highly recommend attempting to get a factory letter.
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AWESOME, if that could talk. So cool! 0 -
Ole Wild Bill got his just a bit south of you in Deadwood. Not too hard to believe an old colt turned up in ND. I have found a couple Pennsylvania made longrifles here in the state of Michigan. Rifles that were made by gunsmiths just after the Revolutionary War.
Folks traveled all across this country a bit at a time, in search of greener pastures. They all took their prize possessions with them. Guns were tools and were much needed for food and defense.0 -
I don't think you'll be able to shoot that one.
You ought to get yourself a reproduction, Black Powder is lots of fun.
Here's my Pietta:
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In the 1950's on one of my grandfathers farm/ranch, one of my uncles found a 1873 colt cavalry revover.
Rusted, grips gone, hammer at full cock, all chambers empty except the one under the hammer.
Fort Dilts was only about 12 to 15 miles away. Not far from Rhame and Marmarth ND.Don't know what ever happened to it. Many other similar items found.
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