Butch Cassidy's Gun and Auctions

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Butch Cassidy’s gun, the Colt .45 he’d surrendered to the governor of Utah while seeking amnesty sold last fall at auction for $175,000. 

Robert Leroy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy was born in April 1866 and robbed his first bank in his early twenties. I took this picture of a plaque on the door a very old building in Telluride, Colorado. It says: “Mahr Building 1892 Site of the San Miguel Valley Bank Butch Cassidy’s first bank robbery. June 24, 1889”

Butch’s gun, a .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army Revolver, known as the ‘amnesty colt’ intrigued collectors. Along with a strong paper trail proving it was the famous outlaw’s gun, numbers scratched inside the gun’s grip are said to have been the combination for a safe in a bank in Denver.

It’s said Butch was getting tired of living on the run and in 1899 or 1900 turned his gun over to Sheriff Parley P. Christison. Huber Wells, the Governor of Utah, considered granting Butch amnesty until he discovered one of Butch’s crimes had been murder. When all else failed, Butch and his side kick, The Sundance Kid, escaped to South America. The gun however, remained with the local sheriff and along with receipts of authenticity, was passed along to associates over the years. Butch had also surrendered a Winchester rifle and his holster.   

Auctions date back to 500 B.C. and all sorts of unique and historical items come up for auction around the world regularly. 

Right now there is a large online auction happening in the romance writing world. Brenda Novak’s Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research. 

I'm part of Sweethearts of the West which has a category that includes several items. If you have a chance, please check it out at: 

 http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/AuctionHelp.taf?S=N&R=2&C=2&m=3&sort=1&ST=1&days=10&category_id=14289&skipkw=1&status=&_start=1