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His act of heroism saved the two scouts, but soon his life was again
endangered, this time by Yellow Hair. A firefight ensued that quickly devolved
into hand-to-hand fighting. When the dust settled Buffalo Bill was victorious, holding in
his hand the scalp of his assailant. This is one of many contradictory telling’s of not only the
duel but of Buffalo Bill’s life in general. When it came to dime novels, truth was the first causality.
Dime novels helped propel Buffalo Bill to legendary status and his Buffalo Bill’s Wild West touring
show made him world famous. Ned Buntline published a highly successful story and later novel
loosely based on Buffalo Bill’s adventures. From the 1870s through the early part of the 20th
century, many sequels, which were written by Buntline, Prentiss Ingraham and others, followed.
CONDITION: Extremely fine. The rifle retains 90% original blue finish showing some minor
thinning. The buttplate has a smooth brown patina. 85% of the original nickel finish remains.
The lever catch and top half of the lever screw are missing. The highly figured wood is excellent
showing some minor handling marks. Mechanically fine. Do not miss your chance to own a very
fine Evans lever action rifle presented to legendary Wild West showman Buffalo Bill that would
greatly enhance any antique American arms collection!
Provenance: The Robert M. Lee Collection; Dr. Chespa Carrara Collection.
Estimate: 70,000 - 110,000
Mounted with a nicely figured smooth walnut forearm and straight grip stock. The
left side of the forearm has a silver factory presentation plaque, that reads, “This Rifle
Presented to/William F. Cody/May 12, 1877/By the Evans Rifle Co./Mechanic Falls,
Me.” Although there is no documentation at the time of this writing, author Dwight
Demeritt, Jr. provides interesting historical context that connects this rifle to the
legendary showman. In “Maine Made Guns and Their Makers,” Demeritt explains, “The
[Evans Company] followed the lead of other arms companies and presented specially
made rifles to well-known personalities of the day. One such presentation made by the
Evans Company was to William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) on May 12, 1877. A rifle, allegedly
the rifle that was presented to Cody, still exists and is what the author has described as
the transitional model gun. It has the old model action with the two-piece buttstock”
(page 138). Demeritt cites a Maine newspaper, the “Lewiston Journal” (no issue date
provided), as his source of information. Note the similarities between the rifle Demeritt
detailed in the aforementioned description and the rifle offered here: Transition Model
rifle, presentation date of May 12, 1877 and Old Model action. The Evans rifle was one
of the more novel repeating arms of the 19th century and had the largest capacity of
any repeating rifle ever mass produced. Notable Western hero’s such as Texas Jack and
Buffalo Bill used Evans repeating rifles. In at least one highly embellished retelling of
Buffalo Bill’s scalping of Cheyenne warrior Yellow Hair, which has been called “the first
scalp for Custer,” found in popular period dime novels, Buffalo Bill carries an Evans rifle.
The prequel to the epic duel began with Buffalo Bill spotting two scouts on horseback
about to be attacked by Indians. As it is told: “Instantly Buffalo Bill dashed over the ridge
of the hill that concealed him from the view of the Cheyennes, and rode directly toward
the band going to attack the two white horsemen. They halted suddenly at sight of him,
but, seeing that he was alone, they started for him with wild yells. But still he kept on
directly toward them, until within range, when he opened upon them with his matchless
Evans rifle, a thirty-four-shot repeater, and a hot fight began, for they returned the fire.”