Post by keogh on Dec 10, 2008 21:10:10 GMT -5
UPDATE: My Great grandfather, Will Sharp's old Smith and Wesson Model 3 No.
1 American revolver #US 2102 in taking a ride to the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles in January 2009. I have come to terms with this museum to use Will Sharp's 7th Cavalry gun for a SHORT term loan in 2009 -10.
They will use this American legend of a firearm in a display inside the Conquest Gallery. It will share a case with a kepi worn by Captain Keogh of the 7th Cav. Troop I (Troop I is the Company that Lt. Jas. Porter was in. #US 2102 is speculated to have been with him at the LBH Battle, Not the #US 2123 he left behind at the Fort Abe Lincoln) and binoculars used by
Col. Geo. A Custer with other artifacts of this Little Bighorn Battle. A future new building designated for the Battle of Little Bighorn is being built to house these kind of artifacts. Building is slated to be done by 2012.
Sharp family. Please NOTE: # US2102 IT WILL NEVER LEAVE THE FAMILY.
www.autrynationalcenter.org/arms_and_armor.php
Any Questions? Please call. Beginning in the early spring of 2009 you may see this SHARP family relic on display.
Bill Dunniway
PS. This museum is no small deal. It now curates all of Sam Colts collection including the first Colt he ever made.
Below: William F. & Minnie Ola Sharp. Colton, California, 1899. Son of Charles and Sarah (Rowe) Sharp. Portsmouth, England
7th Cav leather issue stamps on holster rig with British War Dept. WD 'Broad Arrow' mark.
The Provenance:
Very little formal documentation is available on such firearms as the above pictured, and because of this the criteria for determining whether or not such a firearm was in a specific place at a specific time must be decided on many factors. The following quote from the Custer historian Wiley Sword: expresses what I mean:
“Fundamental to the understanding of what specific arms are the best prospects is the awareness of the nature of the data available. Despite the enormous quantity of historical material located at the National Archives, so far is known, no complete itemized list of 7th Cavalry firearms by serial number for the period has survived, if any such document was ever made. Rather than an exacting identification of the 7th Cavalry firearms on the basis of precise data, most often the answer is available only in the form of approximation, based upon various evidence.”
He than goes on to list five categories in which these firearms can be assessed. I feel my firearm fits his class 2-Strong probability of association. The following is a summary of the Man at Arms article and the reasons why I and other historians feel this way:
1) The leather rig is stamped with two inverted 7’s. One Indian War collector maintains this mark was used on 7th Cavalry leather equipment as he has seen it first-hand.
2) The back of the holster has sewing tracks which match those of the officers narrow belt loop but which had been removed in the period to make it a Mexican lop rig. This was done to make a leather cartridge belt fit.
3) 7th Cavalry Troop I Officer Lt. Porter maintained a Smith & Wesson Model 3 #1 ‘American’ US 2123 in the barracks of Fort A. Lincoln. With an issue of 79 of these models, the serial range would conceivably fit within this range, as only 21 numbers separate these two nickel plated offices’ handguns.
4) In the Troop I ordnance report prior to the Little Big Horn Battle, they maintained 2,700 rounds of S&W 44 cal. ammo, but none of the other companies listed any. This tends to lend itself very strongly to the fact that Lt. Porter and others possibly used the Smith & Wesson Model 3
#1 ‘American’. up until and at the Little Big Horn Battle itself. This in the face of very hard battlefield dug evidence.
5) The 5 square-shanked tack mark’s on each side of the walnut grips, are a very strong indication of Indian ownership. Where did this revolver pass into the hands of Indians?
6) The broad arrow British War Department stamp in the leather holster rig (the only family tradition pointing this revolver towards the 7th Cavalry and the Little Big Horn Battle) and my great grandfathers contention that he obtained this piece while in service with the North West Mounted Police. It would seem to me that the NWMP connection in itself would cause a Custer historian to pause even for a moment.
What are the chances of all these dots being connected, as they seem to be, with this old Cavalry relic?’ What it seems is the skeptics want 100% provenance when it’s not possible in this day and age. Should this wonderful piece of American history and others like it be relegated to the shoe box under the bed and forgotten because they are not on a list? What I suggest is that we all look at how such pieces fit into Wiley Sword’s classifications and work together to further document them. To this end America will be the benefactor. END
Will Dunniway
1 American revolver #US 2102 in taking a ride to the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles in January 2009. I have come to terms with this museum to use Will Sharp's 7th Cavalry gun for a SHORT term loan in 2009 -10.
They will use this American legend of a firearm in a display inside the Conquest Gallery. It will share a case with a kepi worn by Captain Keogh of the 7th Cav. Troop I (Troop I is the Company that Lt. Jas. Porter was in. #US 2102 is speculated to have been with him at the LBH Battle, Not the #US 2123 he left behind at the Fort Abe Lincoln) and binoculars used by
Col. Geo. A Custer with other artifacts of this Little Bighorn Battle. A future new building designated for the Battle of Little Bighorn is being built to house these kind of artifacts. Building is slated to be done by 2012.
Sharp family. Please NOTE: # US2102 IT WILL NEVER LEAVE THE FAMILY.
www.autrynationalcenter.org/arms_and_armor.php
Any Questions? Please call. Beginning in the early spring of 2009 you may see this SHARP family relic on display.
Bill Dunniway
PS. This museum is no small deal. It now curates all of Sam Colts collection including the first Colt he ever made.
Below: William F. & Minnie Ola Sharp. Colton, California, 1899. Son of Charles and Sarah (Rowe) Sharp. Portsmouth, England
7th Cav leather issue stamps on holster rig with British War Dept. WD 'Broad Arrow' mark.
The Provenance:
Very little formal documentation is available on such firearms as the above pictured, and because of this the criteria for determining whether or not such a firearm was in a specific place at a specific time must be decided on many factors. The following quote from the Custer historian Wiley Sword: expresses what I mean:
“Fundamental to the understanding of what specific arms are the best prospects is the awareness of the nature of the data available. Despite the enormous quantity of historical material located at the National Archives, so far is known, no complete itemized list of 7th Cavalry firearms by serial number for the period has survived, if any such document was ever made. Rather than an exacting identification of the 7th Cavalry firearms on the basis of precise data, most often the answer is available only in the form of approximation, based upon various evidence.”
He than goes on to list five categories in which these firearms can be assessed. I feel my firearm fits his class 2-Strong probability of association. The following is a summary of the Man at Arms article and the reasons why I and other historians feel this way:
1) The leather rig is stamped with two inverted 7’s. One Indian War collector maintains this mark was used on 7th Cavalry leather equipment as he has seen it first-hand.
2) The back of the holster has sewing tracks which match those of the officers narrow belt loop but which had been removed in the period to make it a Mexican lop rig. This was done to make a leather cartridge belt fit.
3) 7th Cavalry Troop I Officer Lt. Porter maintained a Smith & Wesson Model 3 #1 ‘American’ US 2123 in the barracks of Fort A. Lincoln. With an issue of 79 of these models, the serial range would conceivably fit within this range, as only 21 numbers separate these two nickel plated offices’ handguns.
4) In the Troop I ordnance report prior to the Little Big Horn Battle, they maintained 2,700 rounds of S&W 44 cal. ammo, but none of the other companies listed any. This tends to lend itself very strongly to the fact that Lt. Porter and others possibly used the Smith & Wesson Model 3
#1 ‘American’. up until and at the Little Big Horn Battle itself. This in the face of very hard battlefield dug evidence.
5) The 5 square-shanked tack mark’s on each side of the walnut grips, are a very strong indication of Indian ownership. Where did this revolver pass into the hands of Indians?
6) The broad arrow British War Department stamp in the leather holster rig (the only family tradition pointing this revolver towards the 7th Cavalry and the Little Big Horn Battle) and my great grandfathers contention that he obtained this piece while in service with the North West Mounted Police. It would seem to me that the NWMP connection in itself would cause a Custer historian to pause even for a moment.
What are the chances of all these dots being connected, as they seem to be, with this old Cavalry relic?’ What it seems is the skeptics want 100% provenance when it’s not possible in this day and age. Should this wonderful piece of American history and others like it be relegated to the shoe box under the bed and forgotten because they are not on a list? What I suggest is that we all look at how such pieces fit into Wiley Sword’s classifications and work together to further document them. To this end America will be the benefactor. END
Will Dunniway
