The origin story of this fascinating historical rifle from its recipient's own writing reads like something from a classic Wild West novel: two experienced frontier scouts, Henry "Ranger Hank" Wormwood and Harvey "Arapahoe Harve" S. Faucett, guide a pair of Eastern intellectuals, Professor Henry Newton and his young assistant "the college kid" Zechariah "Zack" Chafee, in the Black Hills in 1877 during a time of Native American raids following the Great Sioux War. The professor searches for gold and studies the geology of the region with the help of the kid who is also drawn to hunting and fishing. The scouts rescue the kid after he gets lost hunting deer and then together fight off a voracious pack of wolves that surrounded their camp eying the fresh venison. Soon, the professor gets sick and dies in the legendary frontier town of Deadwood, Dakota Territory. Heartbroken at the loss of their companion, the three remaining men agree to travel together with the professor's body some 300 miles in order to get his body to the railroad at Sidney, Nebraska. They are armed to the teeth with revolvers and Winchester lever action rifles. Comically, the kid's sidearm is a .22 revolver, presumably a Smith & Wesson No. 1. They watch for Native American raiders as they make their way east through the inhospitable Badlands towards Nebraska. Again they are faced with a wolf pack, but they withhold their fire to avoid announcing their situation to other hostiles that might be on the prowl. After 8 days of travel, they reach the safety of Sydney and see the kid and the professor's remains off to complete their journey to New York by train. Ranger Hank and Arapahoe Harve set off back to the West to continue their rugged lives on the plains and later both become respected lawmen. Arapahoe Harve soon receives a letter from the kid, Chafee, asking if they wish to have anything to remember the professor by. They ask for only his photograph if possible but instead are sent two beautiful Providence Tool Co. Peabody-Martini rifles inscribed to them from Chafee. Arapahoe Harve keeps his rifle for his remaining years and continues to correspond with the Chafee who goes on to be a successful businessman in the East. Decades later during World War I, Arapahoe Harve, now an old man, writes to his old friend and requests a replacement peep for his trusty rifle's rear sight in case he needs to use it to do his part should the Germans come. Both rifles exist today and remain incredible artifacts from the West connected to this exciting tale. Arapahoe Harve's is now available at auction. It is accompanied by an extraordinary amount of documentation and information related to Harvey S. Faucett and his exciting life in the American West. The rifle itself is a scarce example of a "Kill Deer" variant of Providence Tool Co. Peabody-Martini rifle. These innovative rifles were only manufactured from c. 1875 into the 1880s. Like the famous "Killdeer" Pennsylvania longrifle of Hawkeye in James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans," these rifles were specially designed for hunting. They featured either 28 or 30 inch part octagon barrels chambered in the popular frontier cartridge .45-70 Government, the same cartridge as the Springfield trapdoors, and have "Kill Deer" inscribed on the right side along with simple scroll and border designs and "PEABODY & MARTINI PATENTS." The barrel has a combination blade and folding globe front sight, notch and folding ladder rear sight (sliding aperture absent, more on that below), and "MANUFACTURED BY THE PROVIDENCE TOOL CO. PROVIDENCE R.I. U.S.A." on top ahead of the rear sight. The bottom of the barrel at the breech is marked "280." The serial number is also marked on the inside of the forend and on the frame under the lever. It has a straight stock with a smooth shotgun buttplate. The left side of the frame of this rifle has the historical inscription "H.S. Faucett/From Z. Chafee for Services/1877" surrounded by light scroll patterns. The rifle is discussed in several of the included primary source documents. For example, the story discussed above written by Faucett noted that after returning to Deadwood, "We each received a Peabody Martini rifle with one hundred cartridges of 45 calibre and seventy grains of powder for the guns. The rifles were expressed from Providence R.I. A present from Mr. Zack Chafee, Jr. and were suitably engraved. My rifle bore the following inscription: H.S. Faucett for services, 1877. From Z. Chafee. Jr. Providence. R.I. The engraving on Mr. Wormwood's rifle was similar. This rifle I still have and hold it dearly as an old faithful friend that has been with me on man a long journey laid beside me at the camp-fire and I trust that we will continue so until the red current of life ceases to course my veins, and death ends the hunter, and my varied and eventful career." He notes that around June 20, 1913, Chafee visited with him at the City Market House in Kansas City, Missouri. The first time they had met in person since 1877, but copies of many of the numerous letters they exchanged over the years show they had remained in touch. These letters too occasionally reference the rifle. A letter by Faucett addressed from Deadwood, Dakota Territory, on September 2, 1877, to Z. Chafee Jr. that begins with "Dear Friend Zack" discusses Chafee having asked if they would like anything of Newton's to remember him by and states that they would like a photograph of Newton if possible and also noting that the ramrod and wiper of Chafee's rifle were left at the stable in Sydney. The end of the letter is marked "Z.C. Providence 9th mo 11th 1877 The best presents will be two 'Providence Tool Co Rifle' properly engraved" with the last two words underlined several times followed by "Burough." On November 22, 1877, from Deadwood, Faucett again wrote to "Dear Friend Zack" telling him he had received the guns. "I am well pleased with my gun and must congratulate you on our good judgment in choosing a gun for the frontier more especially on account of the calibre amount of powder &c. I am unable to express my feelings of regards to the giver, for such unmerited tokens of friendship, but suffice to say I will ever keep my gun in in grateful remembrance of the giver and trust Hank will do the same...I have not had any photos taken yet, but as soon as I get rested and cleaned up a little, (get some of the ruff off) I will have some taken, hand , and I went to get some taken together before he left but the artist was only taking ster view. The one Hank sent was taken at RC agcy, but in a short time I will send you one. I don't want to get any unless they are good ones, and the artist here now is not good. But there is a new gallery fitting up as soon as tis done, I will sit for a negative." A copy of a photograph of Faucett dressed in buckskins with a cartridge belt, knife, revolver and this rifle presented across his legs is included. This is likely the same portrait he had taken to send to his friend Zack in the East. The rifle is also mentioned in a letter from April 27, 1913, when Faucett was working on writing about his frontier experiences he wrote to Chafee noting that "I still have the old rifle you sent me and love it as a true and tried old friend." Another letter in 1918 requests Chafee send him a replacement peep sight for the rifle noting that "I am now 73 years of age, but there is a betting chance that we will yet have to fight the Germans here at home, and in this event, I am ready to go and help the boys. My great grandfather served in the Revolution. My grandfather fought the British and Indians under Genl. Harrison, 1811-1812 and I am ready to do my bit. What are you doing? Suppose you are turning out guns and ammunition by the ship load; we of the West know but little what is being done in the East." He ends, "P.S. The peep sight I want is for the back sight. I have all in place but the peep or thumbscrew sight." His drawing shows that he was looking for a replacement for the absent peep from the ladder of the rifle. Later letters indicate some of Faucett's family members were killed in World War I, and Chafee noted that his company had produced machinery and tooling for manufacturing rifles, airplanes, trucks, tractors, turbine engines for destroyers, and more during the war and also noting that about 18% of the men from his shops enlisted and 10% of those were killed. Professor Henry Newton (1845-1877) and Walter P. Jenney led the Newton–Jenney Party of 1875, a scientific expedition sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey to map the Black Hills of South Dakota after Custer's expedition into the Black Hills and the subsequent Black Hills Gold Rush. The Newton-Jenney Party was escorted by government troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Richard I. Dodge. Calamity Jane was with the party. Newton and Jenney confirmed the presence of gold in the Black Hills fueling the gold rush and the tensions that lead to the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 which included the famous Battle of Little Bighorn. After the expedition, he continued to study the geology of the region. As discussed above, Newton died in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, on August 5, 1877, from disease, reportedly "mountain fever." The "college kid" Zechariah "Zack" Chafee (1859-1943) was part of a long line of Rhode Island family line of men to bear the name "Zechariah Chafee." His father (1815-1889) was a prominent businessman from Providence, Rhode Island, who ran the Builder's Foundry in Providence, which produced artillery and ammunition during the Civil War and was the treasurer of the Quidnick Company in 1877, the trustee of the A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company, and the president of the Bank of America in Providence in 1880. He may have also been involved with the Providence Tool Company although the family's connection to the company is not clear aside from it being based in their hometown where they were prominent business men. His grandfather (1785-1840) was a master mason. His son Zechariah Chafee Jr. (1885-1957) was a professor at Harvard Law School from 1916-1956 and drafted the Federal Interpleader Act of 1936, was on Senator Joseph McCarthy's list of the seven people "most dangerous to the United States," and also had a son named Zechariah (1912-1997). After returning home from the West, Chafee became a businessman in Providence like his father, including as a president of the Builder's Iron Foundry whose products included mortars and gun carriages as well as Rice & Sargent engines. He was also a director and vice president of the Providence Board of Trade and director of the Mechanics Savings Bank. Harvey Sanford Faucett (1845-1930), aka "Arapahoe Harve," was born in Butler County, Ohio, and ran supply trains based out of St. Louis for the U.S. government during the Civil War. In 1863 he was part of General Bank's expedition of the Gulf of Mexico which was shipwrecked when the steamer Nassau struck a sandbar at Brazos Bay, Texas, and then worked as a scout and courier from Brownsville to various posts. In 1864, he returned to St. Louis and then headed to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he joined a party headed to the gold fields of Montana. In 1870, he traveled to Elwood, Indiana, and worked as a druggist briefly before returning to the West and worked as a surveyor in Nebraska. By 1873, he was working in real estate and shipping grain with William Leese before heading to Texas with Canadian frontiersman William G. Milner. He returned to Seward in 1874 and worked as a merchant before joining George Armstrong Custer's expedition into the Black Hills and stayed behind after the soldiers left to prospect the streams and reportedly found a great deal of placer gold on the Indian land. The following year, General Crook kicked Faucett and the other trespassers off the Indian reservation land but returned with the next geological survey. In 1876, he worked for the government as a courier, scout, and guide during the Great Sioux War that resulted from the gold rush. He was reportedly captured by the Blackfoot during this period and was present with General McKenzie's troops at the Battle of Crazy Woman Creek in the fall. He is said to have fought off a wolf pack attacking the mortally wounded Cheyenne warrior Riskohonge and was given his scalp jacket and blanket which he later posed with. He reportedly learned of the massive Lakota and Cheyenne encampment and rode off to warn General Crook but did not arrive in time to prevent the massacre at the Battle of Little Bighorn. He continued to work for Crook as a courier, guide, and scout. In his full account of his adventures he indicates Professor Henry Newton first hired Henry "Ranger Hank" Wormwood and later Faucett as guides as he continued to study the mines and mountains of the Black Hills in 1877 accompanied by his assistant Zechariah Chafee. He notes that Chafee hunted and fished during the expedition and once got lost after going out to hunt deer and was rescued by Ranger Hank and Faucett. Wolves reportedly surrounded their camp hoping to get some of the venison which the men fought off with their revolvers and Faucett's "King patent Winchester rifle" (Winchester Model 1866 or 1873). Coyotes then came and ate the dead wolves. The next day, Faucett claims "a hundred or more wolves followed us" and indicates Chafee used his own Winchester to wound several which were then attacked by the remaining wolves. He notes that Newton complained of feeling ill shortly after this time but continued on for a week or more until he was convinced to return to Deadwood for medical attention. Ranger Hank and Faucett remained at the camp as Newton and Faucett returned to Deadwood. While they were away, Ranger Hank led a party of men to help an immigrant train that was attacked by Indians near Spear Fish Stockade and helped them drive off the attackers and guided them back to safety before returning to the camp two miles from the stockade where Faucett remained with the livestock. On August 5, 1877, Ranger Hank went to Deadwood and learned of Newton's death the same morning. They then returned the government livestock to Deadwood and purchased two horses and wagon to take Newton's body 300 miles east across the Badlands and plains to Sydney, Nebraska, so that it could be sent to his family in New York for burial. Chafee joined them for the journey during which they were again beset by wolves and feared being attacked by Native American raiders but made it safely to Sydney, Nebraska, without any serious issues. From there, Chafee and Newton's body went East while Ranger Hank and Faucett headed back across the badlands. Faucett worked with a partner named Holden as Faucett & Holden Freight running freight between Bismarck and Fort Pierre later in 1877 while Wormwood went to Miles City and became a city marshal and died in 1882 from pneumonia. In 1878, Faucett became an Indian trader at the Red Cloud Agency and worked for the Indian Department until the spring of 1879. In 1870, he headed to Leadville, Colorado, to prospect for silver. There he joined the 3rd Colorado Volunteers as a lieutenant and later became the captain of F Company. They were involved in the miners' strike in Leadville. He soon became a special policeman and later a detective in Leadville under the gunfighter Mart Duggan who served as the town's marshal. In 1880, he became a full-time policeman. The following year, he became the city marshal of the nearby town of Robinson with William G. Milner as his deputy. In 1882, he was elected as constable of the 1st Ward and married Mary Young of Leadville. In 1884, he was appointed city marshal in Leadville and became known as a tough lawman that helped clean up the town and was presented the gold badge of the following lot on July 11th. Mark Boardman on the True West Magazine blog wrote on January 13, 2022,: "Harvey Faucett is little remembered—and that’s a shame. He was a lawman in Colorado, Montana, Seattle, and even Indiana. Faucett was known as a tough but fair officer, and the towns in which he served cleaned up, fast. He’s probably best known for his work in Leadville. In August 1884, Faucett arrested Doc Holliday in the shooting of Billy Allen. It was the last gunplay for Doc. He was tried and found not guilty by reason of self-defense. For Faucett, it was just another day’s work in a remarkable career." He was also a Deputy U.S. Marshal and owned a produce business in Leadville. In 1887, he was made Deputy Sheriff of Lake County. In 1888, he was appointed City Marshal of Virginia City, Montana, and then moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1890 and worked as a U.S. Deputy Marshal, Detective for the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad Co., and Seattle police department, including capturing Kid Donnelly in 1891 after a pistol duel with Donnelly and his partner during a burglary attempt and wounded Donnelly and sent him to prison. In 1895, he left Seattle, visited Colorado, and moved back to Elwood, Indiana and worked as Superintendent of Police until 1896 when he moved with his family to Kansas City, Kansas, and was mostly retired although he sold produce at the city market. By that time, he was well-known. A more fantastic version of the Professor Newton tale was reported in a newspaper on December 19, 1913. Faucett sent his friend Chafee the clipping and noted that if he knew it was going to be published, he would have provided the "proper data." The newspaper account has the three men fighting for their lives against numerous Native American warriors in a prolonged running fight over the course of nearly 200 miles with Faucett and Wormwood firing on their assailants with their rifles and revolvers, killing many of their ponies and some of the warriors, including a deadly shot by Faucett at 500 yards before U.S. troops came to their rescue. It notes "When the college 'kid' and the long haired scout parted there the 'kid' pledged Fawcett his lifelong friendship. His father was then president of the Providence Arms company and a magnificent rifle, bearing the 'kid's' name and that of Fawcett, was given Fawcett by the elder Chafee." "Hunter Trader Trapper" magazine in June 1918 included the article "Harvey S. Faucett, Celebrated Scout and Indian Fighter" by John B. Carhart which provides a more accurate account of the story, but other accounts were also published about Faucett's supposed escapades in the West, with varying degrees of honesty. For example, The Kansas City Post on January 2, 1916, claimed he slayed Chief Dull Knife during the Powder River campaign prior to the Battle of Little Bighorn and that the scalp coat and regalia he owned were the chief's rather than Riskohonge's. Dull Knife, also known as Morning Star, was not killed in that battle, and partnered with the Lakota after the Battle of Little Bighorn and also survived the Dull Knife Fight and died in 1883. This article and others also claim Faucett was but a few hours from successfully warning Custer of his doom at the Little Bighorn. In 1922, a newspaper reported that "Arapahoe Harve, Eagle of the Trail" of Kansas City was the "only man in the world who angered Calamity Jane and did not get shot, or at least shot at..." which claimed he riled her and instead of shooting, she threw sweet potatoes at him out of "respect for Faucett's ability as a marksman." The article continues on to tell a bit of his story. In 1930, he was the watchman of the market and died that year after a fall and possibly pneumonia. It is reported that his body bore five scars from arrows, tomahawks, and knives. His death was reported widely across the country, from LA to New York City. Some obituaries include versions of the Professor Newton story with varying degrees of accuracy. The L.A. Times, for example, claimed Newton was killed in battle and that "'Arapahoe Harve,' with an arrow in his shoulder, kept the Indians back with his rifle." After his death, Faucett's rifle remained with his family. In letters from John Connors to Greg Lampe accompanying Faucett's gold presentation badge, Connors indicates Faucett's badges, documents, guns, and other effects were left to his daughter Edith, and that by 1973 she had given "her son Charles a rifle bearing an engraved presentation to Harve Faucett and a few other items." Noted collector and dealer Michael Simens indicated he "was contacted by family members who offered his gun, documents and history to me..." He subsequently sold the rifle several years later to collector Greg Lampe. In addition to the letters discussed above, the extensive document file includes additional letters from the 1870s, 1880s, and 1913-1918 discussing various events in the West and within Faucett's life. Some are addressed from his time as City Marshall of Leadville, Colorado. More details from Faucett's career as a lawman can be found in the following lot with his gold presentation badge from 1884. Various photographs, biographies, newspaper articles, and more are also within the document file along with a framed print of Faucett holding his treasured rifle from his dear friend Zack Chafee. Provenance: The Faucett Family Collection; The Michael Simens Collection; The Greg Lampe Collection

Fine with distinct inscription and markings, a very attractive frontier used appearance, 30% original blue finish, traces of original case colors, gray and dark brown patina on the balance, mild oxidation, and general moderate wear appropriate for a beloved rifle used for many years in the American West. The wood is also fine and has some minor scratches, dings, and small surface flakes and general mild wear. The safety does not work, but the rifle is otherwise mechanically fine. This rifle is certainly an incredible artifact and is connected to a truly fascinating tale from the American West. It was owned and adored by frontier scout and lawmen Harvey S. Faucett for decades following its presentation in 1877 as he rubbed shoulders with many other notable figures of the West.