This historic factory engraved Colt Single Action Army revolver was presented to Ralph V. Hitchcock, a close friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son Elliott, during a visit by the two men to Fort Worth, Texas, in March of 1933. While in Fort Worth, they were hosted to a private dinner by Walter B. Scott at the Texas Hotel and also attended the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show as guests of Scott and the event’s manager John B. Davis. Such a remarkable factory engraved revolver complete with pearl grips with a steer head carved into the right panel was certainly a befitting presentation piece from an important “Cowtown” civic leader to an influential friend of the son of the president of the United States at the famous stock show and rodeo which dates back to 1896 and has been held annually nearly without interruption save two exceptions, the first in 1943 while Elliott Roosevelt was serving as an aviator in World War II. 1933 was notably not the first time a Roosevelt had attended; former president Theodore Roosevelt was the guest of honor at the event in 1911. The revolver was notably presented to Hitchcock just six days after the first inauguration of FDR and Vice President "Cactus Jack" Garner of Texas. Brig Pemberton purchased this revolver from Peter Harvey in December 1985. The 1988 factory letter lists this revolver in .38/40 with a 4 3/4 inch barrel, nickel finish, factory engraving, and the type of stock not listed when shipped to Wolf & Klar in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 15, 1922, as the only gun of this type in the shipment. The revolver features highly attractive factory scroll and floral engraving without backgrounds creating a lighter feel to the engraving. The engraving was likely performedby Wilbur Glahn who was the master factory engraver at Colt in 1919-1950. The engraving has similarities with other Glahn engraved Colts. The revolver features a blade front sight, the one-line barrel address, "38 W.C.F." on the left side of the barrel at the breech, the two-line patent marking and Rampant Colt trademark on the left side of the frame, "3" and the "VP" proof on the left side of the trigger guard, the matching serial number on the bottom of the frame and the right side of the grip straps, the partial matching serial number "3042" on the back of the cylinder, assembly number "933" on the loading gate, and a pair of dots on the right rear of the frame. The grips are pearl and have "VIII" on the back and a carved long horn steer head on the right panel with inlaid eyes. The back strap is inscribed "RALPH V. HITCHCOCK/A FRIEND YOU CAN HITCH TO" along the back and "FROM WALTER B. SCOTT/FORT WORTH TEXAS" on the butt, and the front strap is inscribed "MARCH 10 1933 COME AGAIN." The revolver is featured on page 563 of "The Colt Engraving Book Volume Two" by Wilson who notes "Single Action number 343042 shipped in April of 1922; given on March 10th 1933 by Walter B. Scott, an attorney with an office on the 12th floor of the Sinclair Building, Fifth and Main Streets, in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, to Ralph V. Hitchcock..." Ralph Vincent Hitchcock was the son of Dr. Charles F. Hitchcock of Sodus, New York, and first married Isabelle Mary Betts, the only daughter of Charles H. and Albertine Rogers Betts, in 1926. Her father worked to compile the Betts-Roosevelt Letters from his correspondence with Theodore Roosevelt prior to his suicide in 1929. Hitchcock studied at the University of Michigan in 1922-1924 and then worked as an account executive at Albert Frank & Company where he worked with Elliott Roosevelt. Hitchcock received the position of manager of the commercial department in Kelly, Nason & Roosevelt, Inc. in 1931. The company, formerly Tucker Agency, Inc. reformed that year with John C. Kelly as president, Elliott Roosevelt as vice president, and James R.P. Nason as treasurer. The two friends were thus well enmeshed prior to heading to the West following Franklin Roosevelt’s first inauguration on March 4. As the son of the president, Roosevelt’s travels received considerable press attention, including rumors of his romantic ties to “society girl” Ruth Googins of Fort Worth. As his companion, Hitchcock naturally also received his share of attention in many of the articles. The press coverage of their adventures provides insight into the circumstances of the presentation of the revolver to Hitchcock. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram provided the best coverage. On Saturday March 11, 1933, the paper noted that Elliott Roosevelt and Hitchcock had left Washington at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and drove in a small coupe non-stop to Little Rock. Eleanor Roosevelt’s diary recorded their departure: “8:30 a.m. breakfast & saw Elliott & Ralph Hitchcock off for the West in a Plymouth roadster packed with bags so the top couldn't close! What a gamble it is, I wish I felt surer of Elliott.” Upon arriving in Fort Worth, "The visitors were greeted here by Walter B. Scott and Assistant District Attorney James C. Wilson Jr., and were guests of Scott at a private dinner at the Texas Hotel." Scott was a prominent attorney in Fort Worth and held various civic appointments, including as a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, an executive committeeman on the Trinity River Canal Association, and a member of the Texas commission for the state's exhibit at the A Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago that same year. Given the wording of the inscriptions, Scott evidently presented the revolver to Hitchcock after seeing what a steadfast friend he was to Roosevelt and to make clear he was welcome back. The Star-Telegram on March 12 featured a photograph of Elliott Roosevelt noting that he was making a cross-country journey to get a "taste of the real West" and attended the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show as a guest of Manager John B. Davis, including at its opening on Friday March 10, the day this revolver is dated. The paper also indicates that he made another appearance on Saturday riding on a pony and indicated he was accompanied by Walter B. Scott and Davis to visit the chutes. "He left for Dallas late in the afternoon in an automobile accompanied by Ralph Hitchcock, his companion." On March 14, 1933, the Star-Telegram in "A Page from the Datebook" by Nedra C. Jenkins noted, "Among those seen rodeoing: Walter B. Scott in a pink silk neckerchief and 10-galloner...Some of the young ladies privileged to meet Elliott Roosevelt here are still talking about his eyes and his 'cute' way of talking. He said the Stock Show was 'swell' and the horses 'just grand.' Roosevelt's companion, Ralph Hitchcock, also came in for his share of praise among the coterie of young ladies that prefer brunets." After leaving Fort Worth in 1933, the Roosevelt and Hitchcock took up residence for six weeks at attorney Samuel Platt’s residence at Lake Tahoe in Nevada so that Roosevelt could get a divorce from his first wife, and the two friends spent much of their time in outdoor pursuits during the trip. Rumors of the romantic relationship and potential marriage with Googins had already been swirling in the press but denied in June 1933, but just over a week after his divorce, he married Googins in Iowa on July 22, 1933. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram more recently on May 6, 2023, features an article by Carol Roark regarding the Roosevelt family’s time in Fort Worth in which she explains that when Elliott Roosevelt made his visit to Fort Worth in March of 1933, the local civic leaders “thought they might introduce him to opportunities in the Fort Worth Area…Walter B. Scott, an attorney involved with the Chamber of Commerce, hosted a private dinner there for the young Roosevelt. Probably that is where Elliott Roosevelt first met Ruth Googins, although some sources indicate that the future couple met at a dance in Dallas. Roosevelt apparently fell hard.” After their marriage, the couple made regular visits to Fort Worth, where their first daughter, Ruth, was born on May 9, 1934. The couple later made their home at the Dutch Branch Ranch where the Roosevelts raised Hereford cattle in addition to several Arabian horses. Elliott Roosevelt also worked in media and aviation, including as an honorary member of the air squad of the Los Angeles Police Department. His good friend Hitchcock had been similarly given an appointment as a Texas Ranger as an honor by 1934. Hitchcock also remarried in 1936 to Barbara Larkin and served on the Democratic National Committee that year. They lived in Flushing. "The Michigan Alumnus Index Volume XLV" from 1939 indicates he worked on the New York World's Fair that year, and he is listed as a salesman working in printing in the 1940 Census. In 1959, he and his wife are noted as moving from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. During World War II, Elliott Roosevelt resigned from the presidency of the Texas State Network and Transcontinental Broadcasting System and was commissioned as a captain in the Specialist Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army and with U.S. entry into the war serve as an aviator in the U.S. Army Air Corps flying approximately 89 combat missions. He also served as a connection between his father and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In 1944, he and Ruth divorced. He later remarried first to actress Faye Emerson, then Minnewa Bell, and finally to Patricia Peabody Whitehead. Provenance: The Pete Harvey Collection; The Brig & Louise Pemberton Collection

Excellent plus overall, nearly mint with crisp engraving, carving, and historical inscriptions. Mechanically excellent. This is an incredible factory engraved Colt presented in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1933 in association with the legendary Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show to Elliott Roosevelt's close friend Ralph V. Hitchcock less than a week after FDR's first inauguration.