Buck Taylor: The True King of the Cowboys

If you run a quick online search for "King of the Cowboys" the results are packed with websites featuring Roy Rogers. This is helped, of course, by a film that Rogers made entitled "King of the Cowboys." Capitalizing on World War II, the 1943 film features saboteurs blowing up government warehouses in the United States, with Roy and some associates hot on their trail to foil them. Unfortunately, Rogers was not the first to bear this royal moniker. While Roy is worthy of a lot of praise, he hadn't even been born yet by the time the original King of the Cowboys was living the winter years of his life. That man was William Levi "Buck" Taylor, a Texas-born, real live ridin' ropin' cowpuncher who grew up in the life, and whose talents were so prodigious they pushed him to the very heights of stardom and helped forever change how the public would perceive the very word "cowboy."

Buck Taylor, as he is better known to history, was born in a small east Texas town called Fredericksburgh, located in Gillespie County, in 1857. They moved around Texas some, and his father fought several times to protect his homeland. William Cody in his book "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" wrote that Taylor's family "fought for its [Texas] independence with Crockett and Col Travis at the Alamo, where a grandfather and uncle fell" and "under Sam Houston at San Jacinto..." By the time Buck was born, only he, his father, and a younger brother were the sole surviving males of the family. He was still a child when his dad joined the newly-formed Texas Cavalry and died in one of its early engagements in the Civil War, almost certainly in 1863. Two years later Buck endured the worst tragedy possible for a child, when he was orphaned after losing his mother as well. He then fell under the protective wing of an uncle who owned a large ranch on the rolling Texas plains.

There Buck grew up in the hard life of a cowpuncher. He learned the tricks, the trades, the hard work, all the while growing stronger and more accomplished. Millions of boys growing up decades later would have given almost anything to find themselves in the exact position in which Taylor was thriving. He could ride like the wind, throw a lasso with uncanny precision, understood how to manage a herd, could bust nearly any bronco, and possessed what Cody describes as "general cow-sense." That may sound like a funny word, but it is no small compliment. Buck himself is quoted as saying,

"I was dependent on myself at an age when ordinary children are still in the nursery... There was only one thing to do; which was to be a cowpuncher... By the time I was 14 I was able to ride and rope with some of the best of them and was known around our section as the best cowpuncher of my age that had ever been seen."

He would soon take supervisory roles such as "boss of the outfit" and lead herds along the Chisholm Trail with his brother James Baxter "Bax" Taylor, to the cattle yards and slaughterhouses up north. Those trips would also take him to Nebraska where his skills and "remarkable dexterity earned the attention of Major [Frank] North and Buffalo Bill and they secured his services for several seasons on their ranch by the Dismal River." Cody Ranch (also referred to as "Scout's Rest Ranch") is located about 65 miles north of North Platte and was founded in 1877 when Cody reached out to Major North, then the leader of the Pawneee Scouts for the U.S. Army. The scouts were disbanded that year and Cody proposed a partnership with Frank North and his brother Luther to become cattlemen. Cody's first encounter with the Taylor brothers was when they brought a herd up the trail for Luther, who swore up and down that Bax, not Buck, was the best bronco buster he had ever encountered. Turns out good horsemanship ran in the family. Even their older sister Mary is written about in a local newspaper as apt to "ride the worst bronco, or rope the most refracting old sow in the county." Buck continued to impress Cody with "his feats of strength, easily throwing a steer by the horns or tail, lassoing and tying single-handed," and "his mastery of wild horses," The last of which earned him his nickname, "Buck." It was on the Cody Ranch he also learned to read and write and earned a infamous reputation to down large amounts of biscuits. Once having ate 24 in one sitting, he was enduring some ribbing by his mess mates before finally being sufficiently annoyed and threatening to eat 24 more.

When the Buffalo Bill Wild West show opened on May 19, 1883, Buck was a shoe-in to appear in the show. He had already been auditioning for Cody for several years by way of his performance, but his talents and skills on the range were only part of his appeal. Buck Taylor stood between 6' 3" and 6' 5" depending on what source you read, and was an imposing figure when the average cowboy stood but a scant 5' 8". In addition to skills he had honed nearly his entire life, Taylor was well known to pick up his hat off the ground at a full gallop. If that wasn't enough to impress the crowd, he would often follow it up by retrieving his handkerchief or glove in the same manner. Handsome and with long, curly hair, Buck played a perfect lead in Buffalo Bill's staged recreation of The Battle of Little Big Horn. Buck was also well-liked by his colleagues and those he met. He had a personality that Cody describes as "...a fine representative of his class. Amiable as a child," features Cody never failed to publicize, billing him as the "King of the Cowboys." It was this combination of talent, good looks, and a kind nature that set the stage for the Buffalo Bill Wild West show to rewrite history.

At that point in American history, cowboys were viewed quite differently than they are today. They were considered dirty, gritty, unmannered, uncultured, dangerous, hard men who lived hard lives in the dust, mud and rain with livestock. Even worse, they were sometimes synonymous with outlaws. In his 1881 message to Congress, President Chester Arthur describes a band of "armed desperadoes known as 'cowboys," as a violent faction disturbing the peace in the Arizona Territory. There were some writers who were making heroes of scouts and cavalry men at that time, but the cowboy remained the depraved prairie drifter. Period author Frederick Whittaker even went so far as to write damning articles about cowboys depicting them as unrefined, ruffians and barbarians, violent to all they encountered.

Thankfully, Cody's show was already doing its part to counter the unfavorable image of the cowboy. The Staten Island venue for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show held 35,000 souls with two performances a day. In later years, it would also play prominently outside the 1893 Columbian Exposition (after being denied a place inside the show) on the Midway where he would skim from the over 26 million visitors the World's Fair would attract during its six month run. Cody, ever the marketer, had seen his own stories enjoy immense popularity. What if he took the new-found popularity of the cowboys in his show and gave the people what they wanted? He had already increased their role in his shows with positive results, so why not take the next step? That role fell to the most likely choice: Buck Taylor.

In 1887 Cody's promoter and friend Prentiss Ingraham, who had produced a nearly ceaseless stream of stories on Buffalo Bill, published the first of several dime novels about Buck which was grandly entitled Buck Taylor, King of the Cowboys, or, the Raiders and the Rangers: A Story of the Wild and Thrilling Life of William L Taylor. He would go on to write six more on the King of the Cowboys, and 1887 was arguably the peak of Taylor's career. His dime novel had been released and he was currently on tour with the Wild West show in Europe, performing in front of various heads of state and even royalty. In fact, Queen Victoria herself came to enjoy a show with the public during her Jubilee of that year. It marked the first time she had attended a show in public since the death of Prince Albert twenty-five years earlier. Author and historian R. L. Wilson adds, "Further, the Queen paid homage to the American flag during the performance, the first time a British sovereign had done so since the beginning of the Republic." Unfortunately, Buck Taylor broke a leg or hip during a performance that year, allegedly during a quadrille when a horse collided with his leg while on horseback. The popularity of the show and of Taylor was so great that his recovery was frequently covered in the local newspapers.

Buck Taylor shown at far right. Photo copyright to the Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave

If this were a more tragic story, that might be the end of Buck's career, but it would take more than a busted leg to stop a real cowboy. He would reappear in the show and stayed with it until about 1890 when he would leave for reasons that appear to be undocumented to history. Whatever his reasons, Taylor moved to Wyoming, and worked on a ranch with his brother Bax before the two broke off and started one of their own in the town of Rongis near Long Creek. Even there he never stepped completely away from show business, serving as the superintendent for Denver's Cowboy Tournament and Wild West in 1890. In an unusual twist to any biography, while living in Rongis his death was incorrectly reported by the Ft. Worth Gazette on March 23, 1892. It was said he had been shot in a fight and that two other men had been stabbed, none of which was true. What was truly newsworthy that year was that Buck had started appearing in shows again.  He also found some time to meet a young lady that would eventually become his wife. On September 12, 1893 Buck married Emely Reynolds Allibone Laugton in Carbon, WY.

One of the shows Buck joined was the Wyoming Wild West, a curious name for a show located on the East Coast. The show had a nasty habit of allowing shell-game operators to follow their show and operate outside of it which caused no shortage of problems. In New Jersey swindled college students disrupted and eventually broke up the show. "Fire crackers and other fireworks were thrown under the orator's stand just as Buck was to make his appearance. The buffalo was set loose, steers were freed. Spectators fled the tent." Similar complaints arose from a show in Maine, and in Quebec the show folded so fast that many of the Native Americans working the show were left behind, causing a international question of who was going to pay to get them back home.

Little is known of any other shows, but they must not have been up to snuff for Buck because by 1894 he had started his own western show. Unfortunately, "Buck Taylor's Wild West" was one of no fewer than 242 other western shows that would ultimately attempt to replicate the success of Cody's legendary show. Buck's foray into the business would be a flop, and by 1897 he found himself briefly working in California before moving to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to assume duties as the superintendent  at the Betzwood Stock Farm. That same year, Buck's brother Baxter was killed when he was thrown from a wagon at their ranch in Rongis. For a man with little remaining family and who had partnered with his brother so frequently, the news must have been a tremendous blow.

The rest of Buck's life was surprisingly quiet, given how storied and exciting it had been to that point. The sole other occurrence in Buck's life that is documented is that he had his identity stolen by an impostor named Barry F. Tatum. A former actor, Tatum pretended to be Buck to the point where he gave a political speech endorsing Teddy Roosevelt, and even made some money by endorsing a 75 proof snake oil medicine called Peruna that claimed to help "catarrh, coughs, influenza, la grippe." Peruna withdrew Tatum's endorsements after he died in 1900 from tuberculosis. Of course, Tatum's death resulted in yet another false death report for the real Buck Taylor. In hindsight, all the identify theft and impersonation Buck endured in life seems an eerie foreshadowing of that which he would endure even after his death, thanks to the number of performers who not only assumed the title of "King of the Cowboys" but even used the Buck Taylor name for their own gains.

Buck Taylor would not pass away for another 24 years at 67 years of age. He died in Downington, Pennsylvania, still living on a ranch, albeit far from the American West he loved so dearly. While never taking part in the cowboy's rise to fame in the movies, Buck was one of the earliest faces of cowboys that the public could admire and embrace as a hero. He was the right man who came along at the right time. Hopefully he took some sort of personal satisfaction in that, though there is no way he could have anticipated the heights the Western genre would finally attain.

The Revolver

In September 2016, Rock Island Auction Company will be offering a Colt Single Action Army that has never left the descendants of Buck Taylor. The legendary cowboy acquired this revolver when he was 39-years of age. That puts it shipping date in 1896 - after his most colorful days in the western shows, but while he still had plenty of ranching and work to do.

The Colt letter for this beautiful sixgun confirms this shipment date and lists its original configuration, which it retains to this day: nickel plated, 5 1/2 in. barrel, and firing .45 caliber hunks of lead. While a true cowboy in every sense of the word, the flashy nature of the revolver likely appealed to Buck thanks to his time spent in the limelight. Judging by the condition of the revolver, it is likely not one that spent a lot of time bouncing around in a holster, but one that he treasured and saved for when the occasion called for some glitz.

Lot 3078: Documented Historic First Generation Colt Single Action Army Revolver Owned by the "King of the Cowboys" and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Performer Buck Taylor

The provenance of this gun was nearly lost forever. When Buck passed away in 1924, this Single Action Army came into the possession of his niece, Francis Taylor Hoffmeister, who was given the gun at Buck's funeral as part of her inheritance. She clearly was familiar with her famous uncle because she had kept many newspaper clippings about Buck's life events. Whether the two had any personal relationship is unknown. Francis Taylor had a twin sister, Ruth, who passed in 1926. When Francis passed away in 1984, just a year short of becoming a centenarian, the gun was not passed down her family, but down her twin sister's. Ruth's granddaughter has retained the pistol to this day. Francis was the last remaining relative who knew of the gun's remarkable provenance.  Had she not relayed this history to her grandniece, this might just be any other high condition Colt in our auction, its story permanently erased from memory.


History buffs and any number of knowledgeable Western enthusiasts owe these two ladies a debt for preserving the remarkable provenance behind this piece of irreplaceable Americana. The only other firearm in existence tied directly to Buck currently resides in the Autry Museum of the American West. The revolver at RIAC represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a classic piece of a bygone era and a connection to a man who forever changed the reputation of the American cowboy. It will be auctioned in Rock Island Auction Company's 2016 September Premiere Auction held September 9 - 11.

- Written by Joel R. Kolander







SOURCES:

Harris, Charles W., and Buck Rainey. The Cowboy: Six-Shooters, Songs, and Sex. Norman: U of Oklahoma, 1976. Print.
http://codyarchive.org/memorabilia/wfc.prog.1884.html

http://www.wyomingtalesandtrails.com/cody4taylor.html

Murdoch, David Hamilton. The American West: The Invention of a Myth. N.p.: U of Nevada, 2001. Print.

Slatta, Richard W. The Cowboy Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1994. Print.

The Self-Made Cattle Baron

If there is one man that better symbolizes the American West and the American Dream simultaneously than A. B. Robertson, I have yet to read about them. From rags to riches, this man learned the ways of the cowboy before blazing a trail in Texas history as one of the preeminent cattlemen of the era. Yes, "Sug" Robertson, as he is more commonly called, lead a charmed and exciting life, but it didn't begin that way.

A. B. "Sug" Robertson

A.B. (Andrew Briggs) was born on January 14, 1855 as the sixth of eight children.  He was known to
his friends and family as "Sug" because as an infant that had yet to cut any teeth, he allegedly bore a close resemblance to a superannuated country doctor also lacking his pearly whites known as "Dr. Sug." His father, also named A.B., was a doctor who moved the family frequently, leaving A. B's birthplace of Indiana for Mississippi and eventually Arkansas just prior to the Civil War. A native Virginian, Dr. A.B. enlisted in 1863 as a Confederate surgeon in that great conflict.  Arkansas in the early 1860's saw a great deal of chaos as a slow-moving Union Army crossed the state foraging and requisitioning supplies along the way. A channel of devastation lay behind them that quickly filled with bushwackers, bandits, and citizens reeling from the total war policy implemented by the Union troops. In a time the state was already seeing a mass exodus of citizens, Dr. A. B. sent word to have his family moved to live with relatives in Texas until his return. Leaving their home yet again, the family traveled southwest in a covered spring wagon to Hood County, TX on the Brazos River.

The war would end two years later, and accounts vary on the fate of Dr. A. B. Some have him returning home and continuing his practice after the war before moving to Louisiana.  However, more reliable sources (and genealogical records) point to him never returning home from the Civil War. His family had not received word from him from several years, nor did they receive any notification that he had died in service. It was some time before Dr. A. B. would surface in Louisiana with a new wife and family.

Regardless of what happened to A.B. Sr, it still leaves Sug in Texas at the tender age of 10 by the end of the Civil War. Thousands of returning and displaced soldiers flowed into Texas and brought about the birth of the cattle industry in the state. The demand for beef had increased back East thanks to a growing economy - courtesy of an Industrial boom and the beginning of a huge influx of immigrants that would continue through the turn of the century. Until it busted in the 1880s cattle was king and it gave rise to much of the romantic imagery we have today of cowboys, cattle drives, and life on the prairie. Sug was at the heart of it when it all started.

He took his first job in 1865 as a cowhand for R.K. Wylie at a wage sources cite as anywhere from $7.50 to $10/month. He was given a cow pony and learned how to operate a ranch by seeing and doing it firsthand. The boy was a natural. Sug was no stranger to learning on his own volition. With only 6 months of school under his belt, he taught himself to read using newspapers by the light of the campfires, and practiced his writing on his own boots with only the ranch's bills of sale as models. It was a life that few grown men undertook, let alone a young man, but Sug was no ordinary boy and his life was full of adventure.

His aptitude was noticed quickly by Mr. Wylie and within a year Sug had been sent to neighboring Coleman county to assist in starting another ranch. With knowledge and skills that continued to grow, by 1873 at the age of 18, he was considered by many to be a "top hand." This reputation afforded him an opportunity to lead his own trail drive of 1,000 head from Coleman County up the Chisholm trail to Coffeyville, KS with a crew of eight men. The drive went off without a hitch and the young man's star continued to rise. Sources differ on the exact year, but give or take a year from his 18th birthday, Sug took his first step from cowhand to cattleman. He purchased a heard of 5,000 head of cattle from Wylie. The partnership lasted for five years before Sug would sell that ranch back to Wylie, and begin a long chain of acquisitions and sales, that by 1882 would result in the sale of the Robertson TX Ranch for $50,000. Just several years earlier he had married Emma Lenora Smith, and one can be certain that she was extremely pleased with her husband's business savvy.

The boldness he displayed in his business dealings were matched perhaps only by his exploits on the plains. As a hand, interactions with Native Americans were frequent, though his final  experiences with them date to 1875. One story states that he was out with an acquaintance hunting for bison. Now bison were an even larger problem than Native Americans for ranchers. While the Native Americans could steal horses and threaten lives, the bison could scatter an entire herd and destroy grazing lands for miles in any direction. Sug and his friend had hitched their horses in a creek bed, crept slowly up a ravine, and silently came within range of some bison grazing on a ridge. As they closed on their quarry, Sug looked back and saw five Native Americans beyond the creek bed riding on a beeline for their horses. Undetected, both the hunters rushed back to their mounts and charged the would-be horse thieves. The pursuit continued for two miles before the chased men dismounted their rides and escaped into a thicket. With that the two men took the newly riderless horses back to their ranch, found they had once belonged to their neighbors, and returned them.

Undoubtedly still stinging from their last experience, the Native Americans visited the ranch four or five days later and raided it of every last horse. In a risky and dangerous gamble, Sug and another hand set off on foot to track the band and recover their horses. It was only several miles before they encountered a pair of jaded horses that had been left behind. They snatched the unlikely opportunity, and now pursued the thieves on bare horseback. The culprits again eluded capture, but the two young men did come across five horses that had escaped and so led them back to the ranch. The bareback ride being quite uncomfortable, Sug had a mind to fix that situation as well. It wasn't long before the men and their regained horses came across a herd of bison. Sug dismounted, "hitched" his horse by standing on the end of a rope he had tied to it, and shot a bison. Right there the two skinned and dressed the beast and used its hide to improvise a saddle and saddle blanket that the two then used to return home.

Though perhaps both of those accounts pale in comparison to the way Sug dealt with cattle rustlers. White thieves were much more prevalent than the Native Americans, so in 1874 after Sug had purchased a herd of 3,000 at Horse Head Crossing of the Pecos, he quickly set in his mind to nip the problem in the bud. He set out on his own to confront the leader of the rustling ring that was the source of a headache for many a rancher in the territory. He would wait until nightfall to approach their camp, and the story is best recounted as such,

"Soon after arriving (at the ranch) he located the headquarters of the rustlers in a secluded spot in a bend of the Pecos River. Mounting his horse and armed with a rifle and revolver he rode into the camp (where) half a dozen of the ugliest men as one would meet in a year on the frontier, sprang to their feet and threw their rifles down on him."

He then dismounted his horse "with no haste whatsoever."

"Robertson was not long in making known the object of his call. He sat down on his haunches before the fire and delivered himself of two sentences:  'I'm telling you boys,' he said, 'that there'll be no mavericking of calves out of my herd. Anybody that cares to try, I'll guarantee will go to hell on a shutter, pronto.'

The astonished leader of the gang invited Robertson to stay the night and share some beef.  The invitation was accepted and in the morning when Robertson rode away he had a pledge that was never broken that his animals would be as safe as babes in cribs."

One may have questioned Sug's wisdom in such an action, but no one ever questioned his grit. Stories such as these surround the young man. He met John S. Chisholm in 1871, founder of the legendary Chisholm Trail, and once helped him prevent a disastrous stampede, forging a lifelong friendship. He has documented correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt.  By age 21 he was foreman of one of the largest ranches in Texas.  In 1882 he moved to Colorado City, and by 1889 he was the President of the bank there (and also a silent partner of the local saloon). Once there he continued to conduct business with cattle and shipping, with one source stating that, "within the last ten or twelve years has bought and shipped more cattle to Northern markets than any other man, in the same time, in Texas."

The move to Colorado City is far from the pinnacle of Robertson's career, in fact, it could be argued as the beginning of its next level. It was in that fine city that he met Mr. Winfield Scott of Fort Worth and the two became partners in many business ventures. Scott provided much of the capitol, especially in the earliest ventures, while Sug provided the knowledge and experience. Their first venture was a ranch in New Mexico renamed by them as the Hat Ranch due to its brand of a semicircle with a bar underneath it that closely resembled a bowler hat. It was 100,000 acres, employed nearly 100 men, spanned two states, and after several expansions and acquisitions, gave the Hat Ranch brand instant recognition in every significant cattle market in the country.

After the pair sold their interest in New Mexico, Sug bought 35,000 acres from the St. Louis Cattle Company in Yellow House Canyon. Known as the RH Ranch, Robertson again set his powers of reorganization to work, just as he had done at the Hat Ranch. He renamed it the "V" and stocked it with Hereford cattle, a breed he vigorously advocated. The ranch specialized in the breed and eventually the bloodlines from his ranch were considered a premium.  The ranch and his newly constructed 2-story brick house known as "Stockland" were run with the most up-to-date methods and modern conveniences.

Sug set up the V to be the land he would settle down on. After establishing it, it received almost his entire attention, though he did continue his work and lifelong friendship with Winfield Scott until Scott's passing in 1911. The two were so close that Sug was named to head his three million dollar estate without any bond.

Sug was the face and pioneer of the West Texas cattle industry. He was leader that served on the boards of numerous organizations including banks, the Texas Cattleman's Association, the Cattle Raisers Association of Texas, and even the National Livestock Association.  He was asked numerous times to run for public office such as the state senate and governor. The man was also an interesting personality. Characterized as: honest, quick to criticism & praise, a fantastic storyteller, shrewd, and generous. His forthright nature and strong will may have turned some people off, but largely the man was respected and admired.  He was not social outside of his family, but his reputation of generosity still lives.

"In one case a man bought a quarter section of land from him and could not make good on it, so instead of just reclaiming the land as was his legal right, Sug returned the man's $600 to help him get by until he could get situated elsewhere."

He had also donated to found a local church, donated land to developers to help build up his city of Slaton, and helped establish its first bank, literally helping found the town. The V Ranch would be the last home Sug would own. After falling ill in early 1921, doctors recommended he move to a "lower climate" so he moved to Abilene and continued to run his business. Unfortunately, one evening after dinner with his wife at one of his children's house, he moved to the parlor to sit and read the paper when he suffered an attack of "acute indigestion."  Medical staff were summoned, but by the time they arrived the pioneering cattleman had passed.

Sug Robertson lived the American Dream. He wrote his own story through hard work, determination, honed skill, bravery, a love for education, and a fire inside him that wouldn't be extinguished. From a 10-year old cowboy to a business mogul, he worked hard to get the results he wanted. He had chased Indians on foot his entire life. Both he and the industry experienced their early years, growth, and incredible success as if they were one and the same.

The photos of the revolver that have permeated this story are those of a Colt Single Action Army that once belonged to Sug. It was a single gun shipment in 1917, factory engraved by none other than Cuno Helfricht in a Colt's "Style 2." The master engraver's work remains crisp and deep. The revolver is in all original condition, including its 99% nickel finish. The pearl grips glow and glint attractive iridescent hues of pink and teal. It has only been fired during its factory test, and has remained in the family its entire life. They have lovingly referred to as the "Unicorn" thanks to its one-of-a-kind nature. The beauty of this Colt alone would be enough to send collectors scrambling, but its rich Texas history and direct provenance to one of the 19th century's most prominent cattleman only sweetens its appeal.

Sug would approve of the determination that will be required to own his stunning six shooter.

---

-Written by Joel R. Kolander








Sources:

Cox, James. Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory. Saint Louis: Woodward & Tiernan Print., 1895. Print.

Farber, James, Those, Texans, Unidentified Newspaper Clipping. Collection of Martha Robertson

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth316709/m1/1/zoom/

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fro22

The History of Merwin Hulbert

Surprise!  This week we didn't write a blog, but we did make a video for you.  Not only is it a nice change of pace, but it's also going to be much easier to see how these revolvers function than to imagine it while reading.

Enjoy some firearms history and several really neat features of a high quality gun that didn't quite make it.

-Video & blog by Joel Kolander

The Revolver of Clyde Barrow

Clyde Barrow, the latter half of the infamous 'Bonnie & Clyde,' is one of most recognizable names from the Depression Era's list of unsavory characters.  As remembered for his relationship as his life of crime, Barrow began a humble Texas boy, but in his short 25 years on this earth, he grew into a part of American history.  One of Clyde Barrow's guns will be sold at Rock Island Auction Company's May 2014 Premiere Firearms Auction.  This Colt Army Special double action revolver is chambered in 38 Special and comes with three documents of provenance all signed by Texas lawmen.

Lot 1206: Historic Documented Colt Army Special Double Action Revolver Belonging to Public Enemy Era Outlaw Clyde Barrow

As mentioned Clyde Chestnut Barrow (whom the FBI labels "Clyde Champion Barrow," an alias provided by the outlaw himself) didn't exactly have the most illustrious of beginnings.  He was born on March 24, 1909, the fifth of seven children on a poor Texas farm.  The family allegedly lived under their wagon in a move to an impoverished area known as West Dallas, and had to save money just to buy a tent.  He and his brother would help provide for the family by stealing.  His life of crime began rather comically: his first arrest coming for failing to return a rental car on time (charges were dropped, but remained on his record) and his second arrest was for stealing a truckload full of turkeys with his brother Marvin.  He would eventually find gainful employment beginning at 18, but would supplement that income with robbery and stealing cars.  In an attempt to turn his life around, young Barrow attempted to enlist in the Navy, but was rejected for medical reasons, likely the aftereffects of a childhood disease.  This would have been devastating for the young man who had already tattooed "USN" on his left arm.

This Dec. 3, 1926, mug shot from the Dallas Police Department files shows a dashing teenage Clyde Barrow. He was charged with auto theft, but according to later records the indictment was dismissed.

1930 was an interesting year in the life of Clyde Barrow. While sources vary on the specifics, it is credible that Barrow met one Ms. Bonnie Parker early that year. Unfortunately for the "star-cross'd lovers" their romance was almost doomed from the start. Clyde's life of crime would continue and eventually catch up with him, landing him a 14-year stretch in Eastham Prison Farm in April of 1930.  It was a notoriously rough prison, not only for its "guests," but also for its brutal work load on prisoners.  Prison changed Barrow, allegedly due to a sexual assault (or several) at the hands of Ed Crowder, who was serving a 99-year sentence for bank robbery. Barrow would have his revenge by splitting Crowder's head open with a pipe wrench - his first homicide.  The story that went to the outside was that Crowder had gotten in a home-made knife fight with a man named Aubrey Scalley, a friend of Barrow's who was already going to be inside for a long time and had little to lose.

Knowing he had to get out of prison, Barrow elects to cut off two of the toes on his left foot with an ax - the big one and part of the second.  Self mutilation and amputation was a surprisingly popular way to get out of work in that prison; sometimes with as many as fourteen men having "accidents" in a single week.  It could be self-performed, but most men knew certain inmates who would perform the task for them.  This mutilation would leave Barrow with a limp the rest of his life.  Unfortunately, Barrow had no idea that his mother Cumie had been petitioning for his early release.  His mutilation would be in vain as Barrow would be paroled days later by Governor Ross Sterling on February 2, 1932.  He would leave the prison on crutches.

The sexual assault, the murder, the horrible conditions, the work, the desperation so great that a man would have his own toes cut off, all changed Clyde Barrow.  Those who knew him best, his family and fellow inmates, say that he changed, "from a schoolboy to a rattlesnake."  He immediately resumed his life of crime, but his end game was much different.  It was no longer the money, guns, and cars he had sought before, although he certainly still needed those.  Now Barrow was after those items so that he could launch a raid on Eastham Prison.  After all, he owed a big favor to Scalley who took the fall for his murder while he was still doing time.  But helping Scalley was just the icing on the cake.  Barrow wanted revenge on the institution he felt had wronged him and to reunite with Ms. Bonnie Parker.

However, life had a way for not going as planned for Barrow.  His early string of robberies, more often gas stations and stores than banks, resulted in several murders and from April to August in 1932 the gang of Barrow, Bonnie Parker, and several other individuals had killed five people including two law men.  As the murder of innocent people and law men continued, public opinion began to turn against Bonnie & Clyde.  Once the darlings of a daring romance who defied the banks and big businesses (a popular notion during the Depression), even their most fawning admirers could no longer turn a blind eye to their violent ways.  This is not to say the gang was always violent.  In fact, several scholars of Bonnie & Clyde believe that the gang only used violence when necessary to avoid capture.  Several victims, including law men, were kidnapped as opposed to killed and would be eventually let go, sometimes with money to get home.  An interesting disparity against the myth that surrounds them as nothing but cold-blooded killers.



However, killers they were, and even with the law well aware of their life of crime, the Barrow Gang seemed incapable, or apathetic, to avoiding the law.  Raucous behavior, gun play, drinking, and more all captured the attention of locals who would contact the law.  Many times the gang would get itself cornered and shoot its way out courtesy of Clyde's appreciation for the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle).  Even with Thompson sub-machine guns and armored cars, the law was outgunned.  The Barrow Gang's firepower combined with Clyde's skill behind the wheel of the new Ford V8 engine was a combination that permitted them several miraculous escapes, despite being surrounded and often heavily outnumbered.




From 1932 to 1934, Bonnie and Clyde had changed from petty thieves with a goal to murderers who would never be taken alive.  The couple knew that if they were captured they would certainly be executed, which lead to a desperation to always escape.  Clyde had no intentions on returning to any prison.  The group circled the Midwest and southern states, traveling from one member's family to another and performing robberies along the way.  This appreciation and love of family, even while ruining so many others, is another unexpected contradiction posed by the Barrow Gang.  This predictable method of travel would prove to be their end.

Their ways would turn steadily more violent, removing any remaining romance they may have had with the public and attracting even more attention from the law.  On April 13, 1933 Joplin, Missouri police responded to what they thought were noisy bootleggers.  They got more than they bargained for.  One lawman was killed and another wounded as the gang made their escape. Having been caught by surprise, the gang left behind many of their belongings including a small arsenal, several legal documents belonging to members of the gang, some of Bonnie's poetry, and a several rolls of undeveloped film.  It's from this cache of personal belongings that we have many of today's existing photos of Bonnie & Clyde.  The pictures show a more playful, whimsical, and loving side of the two killers and when they were plastered on newspapers everywhere it rekindled the public's affection and catapulted their notoriety from the Dallas area to across the nation.

That year, more robberies and kidnappings led to being even more wide spread notoriety and forced the gang to more extreme measures to avoid capture. Seldom could they rent houses and cabins. Now they were often forced to stay in campgrounds, cooking their meals over campfires and bathing in rivers. To make matters even worse, while driving on June 10, Clyde had missed some "Bridge Out" signs, smashed through the barricades at 70 mph, and crashed their car into a ravine. Sources differ on whether or not Bonnie was trapped under the car, or whether the third-degree burns on her leg that went down to the bone were caused by a gasoline fire or from leaking battery acid, but the result was the same. The gang would have to lay low while Bonnie healed. Some say that she could never walk again after that day, but more likely she walked with a terrible limp, alternated by hopping around on her good leg or being carried by Clyde.

The downward spiral continued for the Barrow Gang.  On July 29, Clyde's brother Buck, a member of the gang, was mortally wounded during one of Clyde's miraculous esacpes.  Buck's wife Blanche was captured that same day. In August, the gang managed to burgle the armory in Plattville, IL, giving them a fresh supply of ammo, handguns, and three new BARs.  In November, police also captured Clyde's protege and Barrow Gang member W.D. Jones in Houston.  The couple was now on their own.  They managed to escape yet another trap set for them by the Dallas sheriff and his deputies on November 22 and continued carjacking and robbing.  Even with all this heat on the duo, Clyde had not forgotten about his time at Eastham and on January 16, 1934 five prisoners escaped with help from Barrow.  He had planted two pistols in a ditch that the prisoners used to kill two guards (not enough in Barrow's mind) and then escape under bursts of BAR fire from Barrow.  Clyde finally got some pay back, but it came at a huge cost,  The escape was a huge embarrassment for the law and in response, they would turn on the heat higher than ever.

In 1934 things became even more increasingly desperate for the pair - killing two young highway patrolmen on April 1, before killing another constable and kidnapping/wounding a police chief on April 6.  Forever after the prison breakout and these killings, Bonnie & Clyde would be pursued by former Texas Ranger Captain Frank A. Hamer.  He had retired, but accepted the special assignment of hunting down the Barrow Gang.  It was Hamer's idea not to chase the gang, as so many had done before, but to use their predictable travel patterns to surprise them.  Using the family of escaped convict and gang member Henry Methvin, Hamer and his posse of 5 men waited for the gang just outside Methvin's parent's residence.  Sure enough, Barrow's Ford quickly approached, yet slowed upon seeing Methvin's father's (Iverson or "Ivy") truck in the road.  It had been planted there to force Barrow to one side of the road, but also to slow Barrow who would be looking for Ivy Methvin.  The Methvin's cooperation with the authorities would end the lives of Bonnie & Clyde.

At approximately 9:15 on May 23, 1934, the posse, who had allegedly been waiting concealed for two days, opened fire on the Ford with an undetermined number of rounds.  Some sources say as few as 80 and others say no fewer than 168 rounds were fired.  Two of the posse gave the following quote to the Dallas Dispatch,

"Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle and pistols. We opened fire with the automatic rifles. They were emptied before the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns ... There was smoke coming from the car, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us and ran into a ditch about 50 yards on down the road. It almost turned over. We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. We weren't taking any chances."

In footage taken at the time, Bonnie can be seen in the passenger seat slumped on Clyde.

After members of the posse went into town to call their bosses and tell them the gruesome news, word spread fast and a crowd quickly formed at the scene.  Many members of the crowd were scrounging for souvenirs; one woman cut a piece of Bonnie's bloody hair and dress (these were later sold), others scooped up shell casings, pieces of broken glass, and one man was caught trying to cut off Clyde's ear and another man was stopped from amputating Barrow's trigger finger.

The car was an arsenal itself, containing a dozen guns including several shot guns, three BARs, and  several thousand rounds of ammunition which included 100 20-round BAR magazines.  Hamer and his posse would later take some criticism over not giving the couple a chance to surrender, but the car's deadly payload made it clear to all the men there that day that they had made the right decision.

Only some of the firearms and ammo recovered from the vehicle.

The couple wished to be buried side-by-side, but Mrs. Parker would have none of it, insisting that her baby girl be brought home.  She is quoted as saying, "He had her for two years. Look what it got her. He's not going to have her anymore. She's mine now."


"They don't think they're too smart or desperate
 they know that the law always wins. 
They've been shot at before;
 but they do not ignore, 
that death is the wages of sin. 

Some day they'll go down together
 they'll bury them side by side. 
To few it'll be grief, 
to the law a relief 
but it's death for Bonnie and Clyde."

- Final stanza's of "The Trail's End" by Bonnie Parker

---

The revolver appearing in Rock Island Auction Company's May 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Premiere Auction was formerly the property of Clyde Barrow.  It was found by Navarro County, Texas Sheriff Rufus Pevehouse on May 6, 1930.  Now for those of you paying attention, you'll know that Barrow was in prison at the time the gun was found.

However, the revolver was found inside a car previously impounded by the sheriff's office and the pistol was overlooked in the vehicle's glove compartment.  In fact, the stolen vehicle had been left at the home of Frank barrow, Clyde's uncle, who called Sheriff Pevehouse to come pick up the vehicle.  Later, when the gun was on display, it was recognized by Texas Ranger M.T. "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, who stated that the gun had been stolen from his car and that its modifications had been made while it was in Gonzaullas' possession.  Long story short, when Clyde left this stolen car at his uncle's, he forgot the stolen gun in the glove box.  This revolver is accompanied by a contemporary case and three documents which attest to its provenance, two signed by Pevehouse himself and one signed statement from another Texas Ranger attesting to its authenticity.

The gun is a Colt Army Special double action revolver with several distinct features.  It has been customized in the Fitzgerald Special style, which includes a short barrel, bobbed hammer, and cutaway trigger guard.  The nickel finish remains excellent with only minor indicators of wear.  The revolver has also been fitted with finger grooved, yellow phenolic grips.

This revolver will provide some lucky collector a fantastic opportunity to own a piece of "Public Enemy" era history.  Bonnie & Clyde remain one of the most famed outlaw couples of all time, spawning movies, literature, and countless documentaries.  Though before you know it, this historic firearm will be just like Clyde's succinct epitaph, "Gone, but not forgotten."

This revolver is just one example of the many history-laden items in Rock Island Auction Company's May 2014 Premiere Firearms Auction.  There is also signed correspondence from George Washington, two letters signed by Richard Jordan Gatling, the inventor of the Gatling gun, a Civil War autograph book filled with autographs from Union Generals that were acquired by Spencer Meade, son of Gen. George Meade, many Civil War photographs from the same collection, Samuel Colt's Henry rifle, a LePage shotgun given from the President of France to the President of Mexico, an 1897 Gatling gun with Spanish-American War history, plus firearms belonging to William Loeb Jr., Ed McGivern, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Heinrich Himmler, and Fritz Sauckel.  Browse our catalog by clicking here and see what historic artifacts you can find to add to your collection.




-Written by Joel Kolander






SOURCES:

http://bonnieandclydehistory.blogspot.com/

http://texashideout.tripod.com/bc.htm

http://www.biography.com/people/clyde-barrow-229532

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/bonnie-and-clyde

From the Barrett Firearms Archive

Rock Island Auction Company is fortunate enough to enjoy a friendly relationship with Barrett Firearms.  In fact, last year a handful of RIAC executives headed down to Murfreesboro, TN to Barrett Headquarters and were given more than just the 25 cent tour.  A tour of the factory was involved, but so were some "behind the scenes" glimpses.  This included several memorable experiences such as being shown around certain R&D areas, and some fun range time which included handling and firing the (then) brand new MRAD.  It would later be named Shooting Illustrated Magazine's 2012 Rifle of the Year as well as receive the NRA's prestigious Golden Bullseye Award.  They truly extended their hospitality to us that day.  We were even more honored when Barrett contacted us earlier this year to sell some of the items residing in the Barrett Firearms Archive!

This week's article highlights a pair of Barrett rifles.  Both are the famous M82A1 that has enjoyed immense success with numerous law enforcement agencies, tactical groups, and over 73 different governments!  That success didn't come easy.  Founder and President Ronnie Barrett, then a professional photographer with no engineering education, personally hand-sketched the designs of every single part of the weapon at his dining room table.  What parts didn't yet exist, he would work with a local tool and die maker to create.  He then marketed and mass-produced it out of this own pocket.  Some of the production work would take place in a gravel-floored garage with the finished products resting on gun racks made in his father's cabinet shop.  All the hard work would, of course, pay off.  It would be a gun that no one thought possible: a shoulder-fired, .50 caliber rifle.  It could be used to disable and immobilize vehicles, as a sniper/counter-sniper rifle at extended ranges, as an explosive ordinance disposal tool, and potentially to fire through/breach barriers.  With standard .50 BMG ammunition, the M82A1 can engage man-sized targets over a mile away (as we will soon discuss), armored objectives from 2,000 meters, and can penetrate up to 30mm of of steel plate.  It is a behemoth of a gun, weighing in at around 30 pounds and firing cartridges with an overall length of 5.45".  Lest you think this gun will dislocate your shoulder upon firing, the semi-automatic action, double chambered muzzle brake, dual barrel springs, heavy weight, and long mainspring design keep the recoil quite manageable despite its awesome power.

These two rifles aren't your typical, wildly-acclaimed Barretts.  Each one has a feature or story all its own, which is bound to drive collectors' interest as our September 2013 Premiere Auction nears.


Desirable Barrett Firearms M82A1 Semi-Automatic Anti-Material Rifle with Experimental NP3 Nickel-Teflon Finish

The lot description above is far from saying it all.  First of all, the nickel-teflon finish is applied in an unexpected manner.  The NP3 method uses an electroless nickel coating with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, a.k.a. Teflon) co-deposited.  In simpler terms, instead of impregnated Teflon which is applied afterwards as a protective overcoat, co-deposited Teflon is mixed throughout the entire depth of the nickel, providing greater wear resistance, easy cleaning, and an attractive, deep silver color.  The finish is applied inside and out and thus, the rifle is self-lubricated.  This same finish was applied to the Barrett 30th Anniversary "One of One" tribute rifle, a one-of-a-kind rifle patterned after their M107A1.  Any Barrett is bound to get you attention when you bring it out, but this one is guaranteed to earn some envious looks even among fellow Barrett owners!

Barrett Firearms M82A1 Semi-Automatic 50 BMG Anti-Material Rifle Factory Used By Steve Reichert, U.S.M.C., Bronze Star with V Device Winner and One-Mile Sniper

While our first gun is special for what happened to it at the factory, our next gun earns its collectability for what happened once it left the factory grounds in Tennessee.  Upon its return to Barrett it was adorned with its current mixed green and brown camouflage, with the initials "SR" applied to the right side of the upper receiver and magazine, and the magazine also marked with an arrow passing through a stylized "S."  Information from the Barrett Firearms Archives attribute these markings and paint job to Staff Sergeant Steve Reichert U.S.M.C. (Ret.).  Steve received the Bronze Star with V Device for his actions in Lutafiya, Iraq on April 9, 2004, while serving overwatch for a Marine patrol.  The events that happened that day are well documented and have even been featured in a segment entitled "One Mile Kill Shot" on History Channel's sniper special "Sniper: Inside the Crosshairs."

Date: 2009-04-09
Location: Lutafiya, Iraq

Fourteen Fox Company Marines are patrolling the roads outside of Lutafiya (loot-ah-FEE-yah) for IEDs and insurgents.  25 year-old, S Sgt Reichert is providing overwatch with a Barrett M82A3 from an observation post set up on top of an oil tank roughly 1,000 yards away.  The A3 is different from the A1 by having a detatchable bipod and carry handle, long Picatinny rail atop the receiver, slightly lighter barrel and mechanism, and a slightly redesigned muzzle brake.  His spotter, Cpl Tucker, noticed a dead animal in the road that had not been there the night before.  The carcass appeared to be "glinting" in a spot and so the Marines cordoned off the area around the potential IED.  30 seconds later, in the midst of setting up a perimeter, in Reichert's words, "Everything erupted."  Insurgents attacked the Marine Company with a volley of RPGs, followed immediately with AK fire.  Dirt and dust clouds exploded with machine gun fire as the sniper team watched the action unfold.  With not a second to spare, Reichert begins "doping the scope" and looking for targets of opportunity.  He sets his scope to 1,000 yards +2 MOA (minutes of angle).  In this brief amount of time the Marines have fought their way into the town and have hunkered down in an abandoned school house.  As the gunfire continues more and more insurgents, hearing the chatter of automatic weapons, come running to join the action.  The situation is rapidly escalating out of control and insurgents already outnumber the Marines.

Reichert sights up a target.

At this time in the battle Reichert spots his first targets, men on rooftops firing down on the Marines, about 1,350 yards away.  In his words, "That's when we went to work."  His first shot is a miss, the fighting having moved several hundred yards away since he last adjusted his scope, but after a quick readjustment, the second shot slams its way home and all the sniper team sees remaining is a, quote, "pink mist."  Remember, this is a weapon known more familiarly as the Special Application Scoped Rifle or SASR (pronounced: "sasser").  The SASR was intended by the Army for use as an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) tool and anti-material targets.  In other words: shoot it into explosives, engine blocks, armored vehicles, parked planes, and various other large, heavy, METAL targets.  When this weapon engages personnel, the results are catastrophic.

With the Marines pinned down, the sniper team notices 3 insurgents duck behind a wall with a belt-fed RPK machine gun.  An RPK fires the same 7.62x39 round as the AK-47, but utilizes a stronger barrel designed for continuous firing.  This is bad news for the Marines fighting for their lives inside the schoolhouse.  Reichert immediately switches targets and swings the crosshairs to a point on the wall where he feels the group will be, over 1,600 meters away.  The insurgents are preparing their weapon for use on the Marines, but Reichert has already prepared his.  In his M82A3 are Raufoss M211 .50 caliber rounds.

After adjusting his scope a third time, Reichert takes his shot.  The Raufoss round hits the brick wall at over 2,500 feet per second and makes a .50 caliber-sized hole.  The RDX inside the bullet then explodes, sending a tungsten-steel core punching through the wall, while Zirconium sparks and deadly brick shrapnel shower its opposite side.  Reichert calls it "basically a shotgun blast of shrapnel and a penetrating dart flying through."  The shot lands true and the ensuing explosion instantly destroys the insurgents taking cover there, painting an opposite wall red.  No insurgents were seen leaving the area.  Despite the powerful Raufoss round, only one of the attackers was killed and both other men were severely injured.  All were out of the fight.

Shrapnel pattern of a Raufoss MK211 round.

Reichert provides sniper support for the next 12 hours and saves Marines' lives.  He even continued to fight after a communications failure put him and his spotter under friendly fire from another unit also attempting to assist Fox Company.  For his actions and performance, Reichert received the Bronze Star with V Device (for Valor).



After taking medical retirement from the Marines, Reichert entered the private sector as a military consultant and trainer, and in that capacity received this M82A1 from Barrett Firearms (circa 2011-2012) for use in his training courses.  When the rifle was returned to Barrett, it sported quite a different look than when it had left.  It was wearing warpaint.

Once again, Rock Island Auction Company is selling the tools of a legend!  Not only is this model of firearm revered by firearms users world wide, but each of these guns has its own unique details that truly set it apart from the pack.  You can see all the unique firearms that RIAC has to offer, by ordering a catalog or by viewing our Online Catalog; each one is full of gorgeous photos that are sure to please collectors of all levels.  Enjoy!

SOURCES:

"One Mile Kill Shot." Sniper: Inside the Crosshairs. History Channel. Dec. 20, 2009.

http://www.barrett.net/firearms/model82a1

http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=25833