Serial no. 141805 for 1891, .45 caliber 5 1/2 inch barrel with single line address. Crescent ejector rod. Hard rubber rampant colt grips. Exhibit A scratched on bottom of backstrap. Condition. Good. Generally no finish with traces of blue on ejector housing. Well worn/rubbed grips with small chip on right grip at toe. Provenance: John Selman (photocopies of court documents from the trial, citing this gun by serial number as "Exhibit A," "taken from John Selman by Carr"); purchased from the courts by Mannen Clements, 1908 (bill of sale, see lot 234); sold to Tom Powers of the Coney Island Saloon (bill of sale, see lot 234; appears in his "Inventory of Important Guns in My Collection;" appears in his probate); Ron Peterson Collection; sold to Jim and Theresa Earle (through Jack Funderburgh), March 14, 1974. Literature: Garavaglia & Worman, Firearms of the American West, 1866-1894, Albuquerque, NM, 1985, p 321; Marohn, Richard, John Wesley Hardin: The Last Gunfighter, College Station, TX, 1995, p 299; Wilson, R.L., The Peacemakers, New York, 1992. THE GUN THAT KILLED FAMED GUNFIGHTER JOHN WESLEY HARDIN. Constable John Selman led a long and varied life as both a lawman and an outlaw, but will most famously be remembered as the man who killed John Wesley Hardin (see previous lot 19). Selman served in the 22nd Texas regiment in the Civil War but faced charges of desertion. During the Lincoln County Wars, he was the leader of "Selman's Scouts," also known as the "Rustlers," for which exploits he was captured by Texas Ranger Joe McKidrict and jailed to stand trial. He escaped and fled to Mexico, returning to the U.S. in 1888 in El Paso. By 1892, he was elected constable, and served a short but tumultuous four years. On April 5, 1894, he killed the famed but unstable Texas Ranger Baz Outlaw, after a drunken Outlaw shot Joe McKidrict. On August 19, 1895, inside the Acme Saloon, Selman used his "remarkably good judgement" when he shot John Wesley Hardin in the back of the head with this Colt Single Action serial number, 141805, taken into evidence as Exhibit A during the resulting trial. The killing ended the career of one of the West's most dangerous gunfighters, and immortalized Selman, forever after referred to as "the killer of John Wesley Hardin." On April 6, 1896, just about two years to the day he had killed Outlaw, he got into an argument with Texas Ranger George Scarborough, the same Scarborough Hardin had drunkenly declared as the hired killer of Martin Mrose. According to Scarborough at trial, Selman had asked him to help break his son out of jail across the Mexican border. When Scarborough refused to head back in to drink on it, Selman, not renowned for his quickness, had pulled his gun. Scarborough shot him dead before he could get off a shot.
Serial no. 141805 for 1891, .45 caliber 5 1/2 inch barrel with single line address. Crescent ejector rod. Hard rubber rampant colt grips. Exhibit A scratched on bottom of backstrap. Condition. Good. Generally no finish with traces of blue on ejector housing. Well worn/rubbed grips with small chip on right grip at toe. Provenance: John Selman (photocopies of court documents from the trial, citing this gun by serial number as "Exhibit A," "taken from John Selman by Carr"); purchased from the courts by Mannen Clements, 1908 (bill of sale, see lot 234); sold to Tom Powers of the Coney Island Saloon (bill of sale, see lot 234; appears in his "Inventory of Important Guns in My Collection;" appears in his probate); Ron Peterson Collection; sold to Jim and Theresa Earle (through Jack Funderburgh), March 14, 1974. Literature: Garavaglia & Worman, Firearms of the American West, 1866-1894, Albuquerque, NM, 1985, p 321; Marohn, Richard, John Wesley Hardin: The Last Gunfighter, College Station, TX, 1995, p 299; Wilson, R.L., The Peacemakers, New York, 1992. THE GUN THAT KILLED FAMED GUNFIGHTER JOHN WESLEY HARDIN. Constable John Selman led a long and varied life as both a lawman and an outlaw, but will most famously be remembered as the man who killed John Wesley Hardin (see previous lot 19). Selman served in the 22nd Texas regiment in the Civil War but faced charges of desertion. During the Lincoln County Wars, he was the leader of "Selman's Scouts," also known as the "Rustlers," for which exploits he was captured by Texas Ranger Joe McKidrict and jailed to stand trial. He escaped and fled to Mexico, returning to the U.S. in 1888 in El Paso. By 1892, he was elected constable, and served a short but tumultuous four years. On April 5, 1894, he killed the famed but unstable Texas Ranger Baz Outlaw, after a drunken Outlaw shot Joe McKidrict. On August 19, 1895, inside the Acme Saloon, Selman used his "remarkably good judgement" when he shot John Wesley Hardin in the back of the head with this Colt Single Action serial number, 141805, taken into evidence as Exhibit A during the resulting trial. The killing ended the career of one of the West's most dangerous gunfighters, and immortalized Selman, forever after referred to as "the killer of John Wesley Hardin." On April 6, 1896, just about two years to the day he had killed Outlaw, he got into an argument with Texas Ranger George Scarborough, the same Scarborough Hardin had drunkenly declared as the hired killer of Martin Mrose. According to Scarborough at trial, Selman had asked him to help break his son out of jail across the Mexican border. When Scarborough refused to head back in to drink on it, Selman, not renowned for his quickness, had pulled his gun. Scarborough shot him dead before he could get off a shot.
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.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
