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Real Art • Real History • Real Iron
   He had previously been appointed a special investigator and had looked into the illegal trafficking of alcohol in Indian Country.
Like other performers, he wore flashy outfits and acted the part, but his charming nature and poetry contrasted with the popular image of unrefined western men and with “The Poet Scout’s”
own tales of battles and adventure. He regularly appeared armed with a Winchester rifle and a Colt on his hip while he spoke for hours about life in the West and of his many adventures. His speeches and writings are known to have more closely related
the very real dangers of frontier life than many other western icons but also reflected long standing popular beliefs in American exceptionalism, rugged individualism, and the pre-ordained victory of “civilization” over “savagery.” He wrote over one hundred stories, seven books of published poetry and untold unpublished poems, and four plays (in which he played the star roles). It was his friend Adams who wrote the foreword to Crawford’s book “Whar’ the Hand O’ God is Seen” when it was published in 1913 and who helped edit and publish much of Crawford’s other works.
Some poems by both men were widely performed as songs. When Crawford died in 1917, newspapers across the nation reported on the event, one writer paying tribute in these words: “[Crawford] was a real scout, and a real poet —a man with a warrior’s soul.”
The Winchester organization was obviously well aware of Crawford’s contributions to the U.S. Army, the opening of the American West and his national prominence as a writer and on the stage, thus their decision to present him with
letter from researcher Dena Hollowell
at the Cody Firearms Museum to C.W.
Slagle is included in which she explains that
Herbert G. Houze helped the museum provide
the interpretation of the records and illuminate
the history of this incredible rifle, and a copy
of a letter and detailed description from Houze
to Slagle are also included. A scan of the ledger
has also been provided. Also included is a copy of
a notarized letter from Robert E. Evans on January
14, 1998, that indicates the history of the rifle as he
was told by brothers Keith and Steven Adams who indicated the rifle was a gift from Capt. Jack Crawford to their ancestor James Barton Adams and was then passed down through their family to them. They decided to sell the rifle as they had no heirs to leave it to.
this impressive weapon, which was rarely done. Adams
was laid to rest a year after Crawford, in Colorado. This wonderful rifle is accompanied by two factory letters (one original from 2020 and one copy from 1998) confirming
the rifle’s configuration and complex history, including the many dates of shipment and return due to exhibition use and that it was “charged to factory presentation account” in 1902 and “returned and repaired” (representing the addition of the second plaque) on December 7, 1903. A copy of a
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 CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD, PAWNEE BILL AND WILLIAM F. "BUFFALO BILL" CODY











































































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