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Texas Rangers were mustered in to respond to Indian attacks on the frontier. They were led by Captains John J. Grumbles, John S. Ford, and J.B. McCown, and Klein indicates these men were issued part of the 500 remaining Walkers which were issued from the Baton Rouge Arsenal. These 500 revolvers are identified as sn. 61-220 marked “B COMPANY,” 1-220 marked “D COMPANY,” and 1-120 marked “E COMPANY.” When the Texas Rangers left the federal service, they were not required to turn in their revolvers, and Klein indicates “there is no record of any of the ‘Colt Six Shooters’ being returned to the Arsenal.” He also indicates that the “JG” marking on this revolver may be fore Captain John Grumbles or Private James Gardner of McCown’s Company. He found little on Gardner aside from that he was from Massachusetts where the revolver later turned
up in the late 1930s at Kimball Arms Co. Grumbles, however, lived in the Austin, Texas, areas and was well-known on the frontier and served in the Texas Rangers along with his brothers. Klein concluded that the revolver was likely owned by Grumbles and indicated that he would have had
the connections to have the conversion done and to have the cylinder replaced through the Baton Rouge Arsenal.
Captain John James Grumbles (c.1805-February 25, 1858) was originally from South Carolina but came to the Republic of Texas in 1837 from Tennessee and settled at Fort Wilbarger and then moved to Webber’s
Prairie in Travis County in 1840. In 1845, he
purchased the home and mill of William
Barton at Barton Springs outside of Austin.
During the Mexican-American War, Grumbles
was a private in Company K of the 3rd regiment of Texas Volunteers under Captain Samuel Highsmith and Colonel William C. Young. Just
two days after mustering out of federal service, he was elected captain of a company of Texas Rangers in Major Thomas J. Smith’s battalion and served on the Texas and northern Mexico frontier until September 23, 1847. In 1849, he was the commander of a company of Texas Rangers on the Nueces River north of Corpus Christi. His gravestone indicates he was killed at San Saba in Central Texas on February 25, 1858, but does not list a cause. The Southern Intelligencer in Austin, Texas, however on March 3, 1858, indicates that he was killed by Sennett/Sinnett Mussett with whom he had “an old quarrel.” Mussett shot Grumbles with a “six shooter” in the local saloon, possible with a Walker given Mussett had also served as a Texas Ranger. Mussett was wanted but appears to have remained a free man. He died on December 23, 1894, in Austin.
CONDITION: Very good. The revolver displays primarily smooth gray patina overall and has some mild pitting and general moderate wear indicative of real period use. The brass front gripstrap has attractive aged patina.
The rear of the barrel lug, forcing cone, and arbor pin were modified/
filed to tighten up the barrels fit to the frame. The cylinder has a fracture in the wall separating one chamber and the arbor pin hole, and two
of the distinctive oval cylinder stops have small holes worn through. Wilson indicated the crack is “the only instance the author has on record of a Walker cylinder which is complete, and on the verge of bursting.” The markings are mostly distinct with the exception of the cylinder as discussed above. The very good original grip is undersized and has a thin crack on the upper left, small chips at the heel and toe, and mild overall wear. A removable foil shim is currently fitted in the back strap mortise, and there are splices visible at the toe sections that may be from the period of use. Mechanically fine. This is both a very solid original and attractive B Company Colt Walker revolver. Even most advanced Colt collections lack a Colt Walker, let along one this fine. Do not miss you opportunity to get your hands on this rare documented example! Provenance: Kimball Arms Co.; The B.J. Thompson Collection;
The Phil Cornett Collection; The Dale and Eileen Strong Collection; The Glenn & Maria Klein Collection.
Estimate: 140,000 - 225,000
He also notes that 500 Walkers were still in the New
York Ordnance Depot, including 220 marked
“B Company.” Lt. Thomas Clairborne of C Company received the last 100 Walkers from the first order which were a mix of late
“A Company” and early “B Company” marked
revolvers. Meanwhile the 500 noted before
remained unissued in New York. In 1848
and 1849, federalized