CUSTER BATTLE 1873 TRAPDOOR CARBINE, DOCUMENTATION

Springfield Model 1873 Trapdoor Carbine, SN 34745, mfg. between October and December 1874, 45.70 caliber, 22" round barrel, the front sight a copper blade made from a cut U.S. Indian head penny (no date visible), the lock marked "Model 1873 over eagle, arrows and US", the lockplate marked "U.S. Springfield 1873" on three lines in front of the engraved eagle, the saddle ring on the left rifle side opposite of the lockplate, a solid buttplate with upper tang marked U.S. (removal of buttplate shows stock was not drilled for cleaning tool door), a later repair at the wrist of the stock, carved at the left stock the name "W. Reed" and before it a pictographic symbol appearing as an H with a hooked angled line across it, said to be the mark of White Shield, a Cheyenne who took part in the Custer led battle, according to Wendell Grangaard (see below),
Provenance: Our consignor from Joe L. Hayes (1930-2018) speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives 1981-1983.
Note 1: W. (William) Reed (Baltimore, Maryland, 1843-June 25,1876), enlisted January 2, 1872, Private, Company I, 7th Cavalry, Killed on "Last Stand Hill”, buried in place and reinterred at the Custer National Cemetery, Crow Agency, Montana in 1878.
Note 2: White Shield was the son of Chief Spotted Wolf who led the Cheyenne against General Crook at the Battle of the Rosebud and was a leader of the Cheyenne at Little Bighorn. The pictographic symbol carved into the rifle stock is a togia representation and said to be that of The Shield. White Shield who participated in the battle was interviewed by anthropologist George Bird Grinnel in 1908. His memory of the battle was memorialized and is available online. Note 3: Records show that the 1875 carbine late issues were scattered throughout the 33,000-43,500 serial number range and were issued to the 2nd and 7th Cavalries. Among those were 122 regimental identified serial numbers, of which 25 carbines were identified with the 7th Cavalry and fall within the serial number ranges of 12,000 through 43,000. Companies A, I and K of the 7th Cavalry were re-armed in the 2nd quarter of 1875 and seem to have carried mostly higher serial numbered carbines from the 1874 production in the ranges of 33,000 to 43,700.
Note 4: This firearm has been examined by Wendell Grangaard, of The Guns of History, Inc., author of "Documenting the Weapons Used at the Little Bighorn," and lecturer on The Little Big Horn. Grangaar states that it is his written belief that the carbine belonged to William Reed and was taken by White Shield. Grangaard's complete report is part of this lot.
Note 5: A "Letter of Authentication" by David J. Palmiter, Firearms Consultant & Appraiser states that this carbine #34745, falls between #34723 and #35847, and of 58 known carbines with battlefield association. Further, "all of the facts point to this gun having been in Custer's Co. I, having been lost there and retrieved by Hostiles."
Note 6: The August 7, 1879 report of the U.S. Chief of Ordinance states that the above mentioned carbine #34723 (in note 5 ) was "taken from Hostiles" at the Battle of Slim Buttes, that took place about three months after Little Big Horn on September 9-10, 1876.
Note 7: Regarding the carved stock: U.S. Army Regulations at the time stated "All arms..will be kept in the state in which they are issued by the Ordnance Department” However, troops in the field apparently did not follow this directive. Two sales at Morphy Auctions involved carved stock carbines, These include the forensically identified carbine belonging to John Martin who carried Custer's message "Benteen, Come On. Big Village. Be Quick, Bring Packs (ammo)". Martin's name was carved into the stock. Another sale at Morphy's was the sale of a 1873 carbine carved with initials M.H. identified as trooper Marion E. Horn. A forensically identified battlefield carbine carved with initials W.W. likely belonged to private William Whaley of Company, although there was a Willis Wright in Company C. Rock Island Auction offered a carbine with carved initials, possibly M.C.
Note 8: Both the Grangaard and Palmiter reports, together with copies of the U.S. Ordnance report of 1879 accompany this lot. A substantial number of reference sources are cited together with Mr. Grangaard's photos of the rifle. Start Price: $10,000
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