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This is how Robberts remembered the
events: “Marshal Short got the drop on Bryant
in Hennessey, Oklahoma, and arrested him and was taking
him to the Federal Jail in Wichita, Kansas, for safe keeping. He was
advised to take some one with him, but said he could handle it. Short
had Bryant in the baggage apartment, handcuffed, and as they neared
Waukomis they saw a bunch of horsemen racing toward the train and
Short feared they were friends of Bryant coming to release him and he
placed his sixshooter on the baggagemans desk asking him to keep
an eye on the prisoner and grabbed his rifle and went out on the car
platform. He had just reached the steps when Bryant seized the revolver
from the desk, ordering the baggageman to keep quiet, opened fire on
Short, using the weapon with his handcuffed hands. The first shot hit Short
in the shoulder knocking him down; but he raised up and shot Bryant with the
rifle. There were several shots fired. They were both killed...George Baldwin of Hennessey,
a boy helped Short capture Bryant...Billie Wilson, a relative of Mrs Baldwin, was a deputy Marshal
at the time and he said that he got the Short sixshooter that was used in the Waukomis shooting and after several years he either
gave or traded it to Delmar.” In addition to Robberts’s signature, the letter it is signed by Mrs. Delmar Baldwin. The revolver is also
accompanied by a letter from Brig Pemberton to True West Magazine dated July 9, 2007. He indicates he purchased the revolver and
holster rig at the 1969 Hartford, Connecticut, gun show for a total of $425 ($325 for the revolver and $100 for the holster, belt, and
badge). It was accompanied by the 1951 document from Robberts at the time.
The revolver features a blade front sight, the two-line barrel address on top, “45 COLT” on the left, the two-line patent marking and
circled Rampant Colt trade mark on the left side of the frame, matching serial numbers visible on the frame, trigger guard, and back
strap, checkered hard rubber grips with the Rampant Colt embossed on the tops, and five notches cut on the heel. It is accompanied
by a dark leather cartridge belt with several rounds of .45 Colt ammunition in the loops (“U.M.C.”, “REM-UMC”, and “WRA Co.” head
stamps) along with a small screwdriver, a Williamson Stamp Co. six-pointed “DEPUTY/MARSHAL” badge (c. 1900-1910), and a double
loop holster with “H.H. HEISER/MAKER/DENVER. COLO.” maker’s mark and “908.” The included factory letter lists this revolver in .45
Colt with a 4 3/4 inch barrel and blue finish when part of a shipment of three guns of this type sold and shipped to J.F. Schmelzer
& Sons in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 9, 1892. Colt’s serial number records also places the production of this revolver in 1892. The
Bryant-Short shootout took place on August 23, 1891. Clearly somewhere between 1892 and 1951, this revolver became attributed
as connected with the Short-Bryant shootout. It may have been the story told to Delmar Baldwin early on in that time frame. Delmar
H. Baldwin (1872-1951) died in Santa Monica, California, and had previously spent much of his life in Waukomis, Oklahoma. However,
the serial number and factory letter demonstrate that this revolver could not have been owned and used by Ed Short or Charley
Bryant. Regardless of the veracity of the story attached to it, this is a very solid and attractive Colt Single Action Army from the early
1890s that shipped to the West and has the real look of a western used gun complete with a Heiser holster and cartridge belt.
CONDITION: Fine with 75% original blue finish on the barrel, 30% original blue on the cylinder, strong original blue in the protected
areas of the grip straps, smooth gray and brown patina on the balance, and generally mild overall wear. The grips have aged to
an attractive chocolate appearance and have crisp checkering and embossing. Mechanically fine. The holster rig is fine and has
moderate wear appropriate for its age. Overall, a very sold western Colt Single Action Army rig.
Provenance: The Brig & Louise Pemberton Collection.
Estimate: 11,000 - 17,000
Black-Faced
Charley
Bryant
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