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LOT 1086
Historic Battle of the Little Bighorn Era Early Production, Serial Number 758,
Spencer Model 1865 Repeating Saddle Ring Carbine, Documented as Turned
in by Indian Police/U.S. Army Scout Fast Horse on September 5, 1876 - Serial
no. 758, 50 Spencer cal., 20 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened finish, walnut
stock. Spencer Repeating Rifle Co. manufactured the Model 1865 carbines between
1865-1866 in their own approximate 1-23000 serial range, with the first deliveries
in April 1865, chambered for use with 56-50 “50 Spencer” rimfire, per “Flayderman’s
Guide” (9th Edition, 9B-088). Spencers continued to be used by the U.S. Army in the
American West after the Civil War during various conflicts with Native American
tribes until they were replaced by the Springfield Trapdoor rifles and carbines. Many
also found their way into civilian and Native American hands, and saw use into the
20th century. This historic example is listed by its serial number, 758, on page 246 of
“Springfield Research Service, Serial Numbers of U.S. Martial Arms, Volume 4” with
the note “090576 FAST-HORSE (TURNED IN)” indicating it was captured and turned
in by known Indian Police/U.S. Army scout Fast Horse on September 5, 1876. The
date it was turned in is just over a few months after the famous Battle of the Little
Bighorn, also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass and Custer’s Last Stand, fought
between June 25, 1876-June 26, 1876.
This lot includes a scan of a period photograph of Fast Horse standing in uniform
holding a U.S. Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor carbine with the caption “Indian
Police Fast Horse.” Fast Horse is listed as part of the “Ogallalla” (possibly intended
to be Oglala) band of the Sioux tribe in the “Roll Call of the Friendly Indian scouts,
enlisted at Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies, for duty with General Crook’s
Powder River Expedition, 1876” on page 154 of the included book “The Diaries of
John Gregory Bourke, Volume Two, July 29, 1876-April 7, 1878” edited/annotated
by Charles M. Robinson III. Page 96 of the aforementioned book has a diary entry of
John Gregory Bourke, aide to General Crook, for September 5, 1876, that notes an
encounter between the U.S. Army scouts and the rear guard of the hostile Sioux that
Crook was pursuing where they “exchanged shots, pressing them into the bluffs.”
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