Manufactured in 1849. Matching serial numbers are located on the loading lever, wedge, barrel, cylinder, arbor, frame, trigger guard, and back strap. Includes receipts from C.W. Slagle from 1987/88 and an appraisal from Douglas R. Carlson from 1991. Approximately 7,000 First Model Colt Dragoons were manufactured. Most of these were marked "MODEL U.S.M.R." (U.S. Mounted Riflemen), but an undetermined small quantity were marked "U.S. DRAGOONS" like this example. 1849 was the same year the 1st U.S. Dragoons engaged the Pawnee in multiple battles along the Oregon Trail and the 2nd U.S. Dragoons established Fort Worth. The U.S. Dragoons served in multiple posts on the western frontier in this era and remained loyal to the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War.