Gun - Winchester Model 1866 Carbine, said to have belonged to Sitting Bull
date: label: Accession Date
content: 16 Sep 1946
name: label: Collector
content: Maj. David H. Brotherton
label: Donor Name
content: Mrs. Ruby K. Brown
notes: label: Notes
content: PROVENIENCE NOTE: FROM ACCESSION RECORDS: THIS GUN "SAID TO BE THE GUN SURRENDERED TO COL. BROTHERTON BY SITTING BULL AT FORT BUFORD, JULY 17, 1881." COL. BROTHERTON WAS IN COMMAND OF FORT BUFORD, JULY 20, 1880 TO AUGUST 30, 1881. SEE ANTHROPOLOGY COLLECTIONS LAB ACCESSION FILE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
label: Notes
content: From card: " Winchester, King's Improvement Patented March 29, 1866. Serial No. 124335 F.S. Stock ornamented with brass tacks, and carved letters S .B. Said to be the gun surrendered to Col. Brotherton by Sitting Bull at Ft. Buford, N. Dakota, July 17, 1881. Round barrel, 19 1/2" L., no caliber marking on it. Letter from E. Hartshorne, Asst. Director of Research and Development, Winchester Repeating Arms Co., New Haven, Conn. of March 23,1949, to John C. Ewers, Assoc. Curator of Ethnology: ...'the gun about which you inquired, # l24335 F.S., is a Winchester Model 1866 Caliber .44 R.F. (rim fire) in carbine form. The magazine held 14 cartridges and the gun was nickel finished when it left the factory. The gun was made in 1875 and shipped on Nov.5, l875 but we have no record as to whom it was sold. The letters "F.S." after the serial number may stand for "Fancy Stock"; i.e., a stock of extra fine wood. The model 1866 was manufactured from 1866 to 1891. From 1891 to 1898 a few guns were assembled from parts on hand. In 1873 the list price of the Model 66 carbine was $40.00 plus $2.00 for nickel plating. The 1875 catalog does not give a price for this gun.' Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 4, Fig. 13, p. 179."
label: Notes
content: Reference: pp. 175-181, "When Sitting Bull Surrendered His Winchester", Chapter 14 in Ewers, John C. 1968. Indian life on the Upper Missouri. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Pp. 179-181 in this publication particularly talk about this Winchester.
label: Notes
content: In 1995, Dr. Dennis Stanford dry-fired ammunition from the Winchester in a study for the National Park Service. The cartridge cases were collected to compare to some found at the Battle of the Little Bighorn site, with special attention to the firing pin impressions. No matches were found.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 28 May 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Fort Buford, Williams County, Dakota Territory / North Dakota, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Sioux (Oceti Sakowin), Hunkpapa Lakota
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 173740
label: USNM Number
content: E384119-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Gun