Relic Spencer Found in Central Wyoming!

[Two Flints]

The following email and photos were sent to me by Pvt Bill for posting on SSS.  Two Flints

Howdy to camp!!

The Spencer in the picture was dug up somewere near the Pumpkin Buttes in central Wyoming. Our Curator here at Fort Phil Kearny believes that may have been lost during a fight with indians during the Sawyer expedition in 1865. The shoulder stock and magazine tube have been broken off. The lock screw is sheared off at the action and the screw at the front of trigger group is also sheared off. With the action open.the stock broken and the screws sheared off my guess is that it was used as a club as a last desperate attempt to stay alive. My friend looked for other parts to the weapon but didn't find any. This was found about 1970.

The Evans Rifle is a 1877 model this rifle was given to him and no other information is availble.







Pvt Bill

[mtmarfield]

  Greetings!

   You can almost hear them... Imagine the stories! The Evans, too!

   Be Well, All!

                  M.T.Marfield:.
                     2-15-07

[Harve Curry]

The Evans rifle looks like it had a cartridge explode in the magazine, just behind the breech. If that's the what happened it's not very encouraging.

[St. George]

Could also be the result of a fall from a horse or a deliberate destruction of a broken weapon to render it completely useless.

The 'burst' Evans may've been the result of a grass fire causing remaining rounds to explode as they consumed a dropped and lost weapon.

Not everything is evidence of long-ago drama - though it does make for more interesting stories...

In Nebraska, back in the '60's - a couple of farmer brothers found the remains of an Army mule who'd evidently wandered off and eventually died, or had drowned in a swollen stream.

No one's certain, but there 'was' an old stream bed on their property, so I'd go with that possibility, since a loaded mule'd be easy to spot and could be tracked, and besides - the Indians'd've stripped the panniers and eaten the mule if they'd found it.

He had full panniers of Spencer ammunition, and for years, the guy who'd bought the whole affair had rounds to sell in varying conditions.

I still have a couple...

The 'best' stories involving dug-up weapons also feature the skeletal remains close by.

'Those' stick in your mind, and one of the gun magazines did a couple of articles on them, way back when - before the ugly dawning of the assualt rifle and 'shoot-faster' cults and the proliferation of plastic.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Bead Swinger]

I might well be wrong - but the two-band Spencer rifle, which the relic above appears to be, wasn't issued until the 1867-8 time frame.  I'd have to check Marcot to be sure.  Were this the case, the 1865-loss timeframe is probably unlikely.

It'd be interesting to know the SN off the barrel & receiver. That might say a lot more.

[matt45]

Another 
Is the extractor visible, or is the weapon in decent enough shape to determine extractor type?

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Good point!

If it is a central Lane Extractor, it would have to be an 1867 model.

There is also a possibility it was a three band, but one was lost (just to stir the pot<g>)

[matt45]

 ...
And something else not mentioned.
What is the caliber

[Pvt Bill]

Hello to all:
The serial number is 6497. The bore is rough enough to be tough to measure. this weapon has a Lane extractor and left side blade extractor.
Pvt Bill

[matt45]

Alrighty then.   
Does anyone know if any of the re-furbished carbines were fitted with the Lane extractor?  And what is the length of the barrel.
It would seem that the drop date of circa 1865 is incorrect, but I'm not a doctor- I don't even play one on T.V.

[Bead Swinger]

Did a quick lookup on that SN.  I wonder if the SN on the barrel matches the SN on the receiver.
6484 - C - 012265 - CO B 1ST KY VOL CAV -
6502 - C - 012265 - CO B 1ST KY VOL CAV -

'Would guess that if that SN is correct, this critter was firmly in the hands of some KY trooper in '65. I'm thinking this would make great sense if the SN is a receiver SN, not a barrel SN.

Here's a link to the 1st Kty's <i>Dyer's Compendium</i> entry... http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unkycav.htm#1stcav

Based on what's here, and some guesswork on the SN, by the time they got these Spencers in '65, they were down to 3 companies. The bulk of the reg't was mustered out December 31, 1864. Veterans and recruits were consolidated into a Battalion of 3 Companies and on duty at various points in Kentucky, operating against guerrillas and quieting country, until September, 1865. They were finally mustered out on September 20, 1865. My guess is that the carbine in question was reissued (I can't believe that one of the early 1860 Carbines would have NOT been issued prior to Jan 1865) to the 1st KY Veteran Volunteers in Jan '65, and they carried them until September.  Then their lot went back to the Arsenel for refit.

I'm pretty sure the post-war 2-band rifles were fitted with the advanced extractors, and it was my impression that they were built from recycled 1860 Carbines.  It's been 18 or 20 years since I've had one in my hands, but I thought they did.  I'd suggest another date for that rifle being dropped in Wyoming.  'Surprised there isn't a record of who was issued the rifle after it was rebuilt.

[Pvt Bill]

Hello All
after closer inspection what I thought was a lane extractor is not the lane extractor. There is a blade extractor on the left side of the breech block. There are accounts that soldiers from Fort Reno on the Powder River had a number encounters with Indians around the Pumpkin Buttes. These soldiers were relieved by Col. Carrington when he was moving north to establish Fort Phil Kearny.
Regards    Pvt Bill