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The factory letter indicates the revolver was one of three Model 1877 Thunderer’s with 4 1/2 inch barrels, “soft” finish, and the stocks not listed when shipped to M. Hartley Company in New York City on October 29, 1902, and the remarks state: “The word ‘soft’ which appears with the finish indicates that subject revolver was shipped without finial finish for engraving outside our factory.”The revolvers may have shipped with either standard grips or without grips given many of the “soft” revolvers sent to the major New York dealer were fitted with deluxe grips of varying types.
One of the most important pieces of historical documentation regarding the revolver is a previously published affidavit made on
April 23, 1933, by Ed Warren, an employee of the Coney Island Saloon in El Paso (not
included). He stated: “Two separate times, Mr. Garrett came
into the Coney Island and left guns for Mr. Powers [owner of the
saloon] to display in his collection. The first time, about 1906, Mr. Garrett brought in two guns; these guns were
a gold plated .41 Colt and a .44 Winchester rifle. I have examined the guns in the Powers estate and can attest, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are the ones bearing the numbers 138671 on the Colt and 47629 on the Winchester....The golden Colt .41 was
given to Mr. Garrett by some friends of the Customs House in 1902. This fact is attested to by the fact that Mr. Garrett said this on numerous visits. These
facts are known by many people now living and can be substantiated.” Warren made this affidavit during a lawsuit brought by Pauline Garrett against the estate of
Tom Powers by which she reclaimed the Colt Model 1873 revolver used to kill Billy the Kid. The gun collection inventory in the probate records for Power’s estate also lists number 138671
as follows: “Colt D.A. 41 gilt pistol -I.D. No. 138671. This gun was given to Pat Garrett by Customs workers. Got from Garrett in 1906.”The gun later became part of the Robert McNellis Collection and then the Dr. Richard C. Marohn Collection and has since changed hands a couple more times.
This historic revolver has naturally attracted a lot of attention over the years and has been featured in several publications. It is illustrated and discussed in the chapter “Pat Garrett: The Man Who Shot Billy the Kid” by Robert E. NcNellis in the book “Guns and the Gunfighters” from the editors “Guns and Ammo.” It is also featured in Leon C. Metz’s book “Pat Garrett: The Story of a Western Lawman” on pages 262 and 263. The revolver is held by Pat Garrett’s son Jarvis on the latter
of these pages.