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Wyatt Earp, Bob Dalton and Kit Carson arms on offer

Auctioneers Bonhams & Butterfields bring Antique Arms and Armor, Modern Sporting Guns, Edged Weapons and Militaria to auction in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 with several incredible, historically-important pistols carried by famous and nefarious Americans.

A sale highlight expected to interest collectors and institutions is an historic factory-engraved Colt single action Army revolver carried by “highwayman” Bob Dalton when he was killed at the Coffeyville Raid of 1892. According to historical records and several books on the Dalton Gang, described as one of the last prolific bands of frontier outlaws prowling the West in the 19th century, Bob Dalton intended to one-up Jesse James by conducting a two-bank heist in the sleepy Kansas town of Coffeyville. The Daltons hailed from that part of the country and reportedly, one of the disguised gang members was recognized as they prepared to enter one of the banks. Townspeople, enraged that their banks were to be cleaned out, formed a vigilante group and alongside lawmen shot and killed all of the Dalton Gang but one. Many townspeople also died during that early October 1892 shootout. The pistol on offer this month is Dalton’s .45 caliber Colt with mother-of-pearl grips and factory engraved scrollwork. Estimated at $100,000 to $150,000, it was most likely specially ordered by the Daltons specifically for the bank robbery in Coffeyville. Proceeds from the sale of the gun are to be donated to charity.

Another historic firearm on offer is an engraved Merwin Hulbert revolver belonging to Wyatt Earp. This gun, according to a January 17, 1929 story in the Tombstone Epitaph, was Earp’s favorite six-shooter and the gun he carried most often during his Dodge City days and while serving in Arizona as Deputy U.S. Marshall. The pistol is offered with documentation including several letters and photographs. The lawman’s nickel-plated, ivory-handled firearm could bring as much as $80,000.

Another pistol to be sold also has ties to criminal activity, this being a Colt Bisley revolver once owned by “Little” Bill Raidler, another outlaw roaming the West in search of ill-gotten gains in the 1880s and ‘90s. Raidler joined the Wild Bunch gang in 1893 and had been shot, apprehended and imprisoned by 1895. His Colt is estimated at $2,000 to $3,000.

The June auction features more than 200 lots of handguns -- many derringers, percussion pistols, semi-automatics and single action revolvers. Several others have notable lineage, such as a rare Gustave Young engraved and silver-plated Smith & Wesson first model double action revolver called “The Persian Special.” It features a finely engraved six-inch barrel, mother-of-pear grips and a gold shield-shaped escutcheon (est. $20/30,000). A .38 caliber Webley Fosbery Model 1902 semi automatic revolver is considered scarce, manufactured in London (est. $8/10,000).

Sporting guns have been a focal point within Bonhams & Butterfields’ recent antique arms sales, strong prices seen for cased and custom examples. An ornate cased .470 Nitro Express Marcel boxlock ejector double rifle features gold inlay of a lion and a leopard on opposing sides of the action, as well as an inlaid Cape buffalo and gold scrollwork engraving (est. $20/25,000). A series of 12-gauge Perazzi shotguns are being offered, several featuring multiple barrel sets, each in the $10,000 to $16,000 range. Browning, Purdey, Cogswell & Harrison and Holland & Holland rifles, as well as a 12-gauge Henry Atkin self-opening sidelock ejector double barrel shotgun (est. $20/25,000) should interest sportsmen. A cased Winchester Model 21 skeet grade double barrel shotgun was once owned by the noted outdoorsman and writer Jack O’Connor (est. $6/8,000). O’Connor wrote more than 25 books and was a staff reporter at Outdoor Life for three decades. His rifle bears his monogram, with “JO’C” in gold on the butt.

June's sale takes a turn back to the 16th and 17th centuries as the Armor section opens. A full suit of 16th century armor includes a helmet, breastplate with tassets, backplate, arms and leg defenses, et al (est. $2/3,000). Edged weapons are of interest with a nice selection featuring early Middle Eastern and Persian weapons along with examples from Java and Turkey, Japan and India, among others. A rare Viking sword, probably circa 800-950 A.D, .is 30-inches in length, double edged, with inlays of gold-colored metal (est. $4/6,000). An Italian sword, possibly Venetician, circa 1520, features a 36-inch double-edged blade with a fluted ricasso and an onion-shaped pommel (est. $10/20,000). An interesting lot is an historic 36-inch curved blade dragoon saber captured by Kit Carson at the Battle of Valverde offered with tintype photos, letters and a lock of hair from one of the previous owners, a Captain Colliver. The lot comes with a handwritten letter describing in dramatic detail the circumstance of how Carson came to take possession of the weapon (est. $10/20,000).

Additional lots include knives and presentation swords, daggers, military badges, medals and insignia, as well as a fine incised French & American War era powder horn attributed to the prolific but unidentified “Pointed Tree” carver. The 12-inch horn displays wonderful depictions of ships at sea, coats-of-arms, a hunter with hounds, a leaping stag, doe and a rabbit -- in red and black polychrome shading (est. $5/7,000).

For more details visit the Bonhams web site.