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"Gold Nugget Mike" Russell
LOT 3020
Rare, Historic and Extraordinarily Well- Documented Winchester Deluxe Model 1895 Lever Action Saddle Ring Carbine Presented
by Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) to Deadwood Businessman and Friend M.R. “Gold Nugget Mike/Deadwood Mike” Russell with Factory Letter - Serial no. 38732, 30 U.S. cal., 22 inch round bbl., blue finish, deluxe walnut checkered stock. Manufactured in 1902, this is a rare deluxe version of the Winchester Model 1895 lever action carbine that was factory documented as presented by famed Wild West legend and showman Buffalo Bill to Deadwood, South Dakota, business mogul and longtime friend Mike Russell. This carbine is pictured and described in R.L. Wilson’s book “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West: An American Legend” (pages 179 and 181). Cody used a
26 Model 1895 on hunting expeditions, and he is known
to have presented Model 1895s to friends. Also pictured and described in Wilson’s book is a similar deluxe Model 1895 carbine that Buffalo Bill presented to David F. Powell, serial number 48751 (pages 179 and 181). Both of these carbines have a deluxe stock featuring a silver stock presentation plaque. Another presentation Model 1895 was presented to Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation by Prince Albert of Monaco. At the time, Prince Albert was visiting Cody, Wyoming, and hunting with Buffalo Bill. Although Buffalo Bill did not personally present the rifle to Chief Plenty Coups, film footage of the presentation shows Cody present at the ceremony, even holding the gun, which had an engraved plaque on the stock. Speaking to Buffalo Bill’s generosity, former Senior Curator of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center Dr. Paul Fees stated, “[Buffalo Bill] is known to have made several gifts after 1895, all Winchesters.