North America, Mexico, ca. 1900 to 1913 CE. One of the deadliest guns in the history of the northern Mexican / Texan borderlands, this is a Colt Single Action Revolver that once belonged to General Pasqual Orozco. This revolver holds six metallic cartridges and was originally designed for the US Army in the second half of the 19th century, with its appearance - aside from a few changes in barrel lengths and calibers - essentially remaining the same from 1873. This example is the style known as "Peacemaker" with a 7.5" barrel. It includes the iconic Colt logo on both sides of the grip. Inscribed on the back of the grip is the name, "Gral Pasqual Orozco". This comes accompanied by a leather holster with two brass snaps and a light floral decoration on its borders. Size: 13" W x 5.1" H (33 cm x 13 cm)

The peacemaker is the iconic gun of the West, used during the shootout at the O. K. Corral in 1881 and in thousands of other less famous firefights in the years before and after it. Sheriffs, outlaws, scouts, and cowboys used them; Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, Bat Masterson, and Annie Oakley each had at least one. Pascual Orozco was another famous person to use this model of gun.

Born to a middle class family in Chihuahua in 1882, Orozco objected to the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz and became involved in the Mexican Revolution. In 1909, he and others purchased various weapons - perhaps including this revolver - in the United States and shipped them to Mexico on behalf of freedom fighters. In 1910, Orozco joined the uprising against Diaz. In October of that year, he took command of the revolutionary forces in Guerrero and led them to a series of victories against Diaz loyalists. He had become a hero in Chihuahua, and 30,000 people lined the streets to see him when he returned. In 1911, now promoted to Brigadier General despite no formal military training, Orozco and his colonel Pancho Villa seized Ciudad Juarez. At this point, Juarez became the capital of a rebel state, but Orozco turned against its leader and began a rebellion within the rebellion. Several other events transpired over the next few years as Orozco's alliances shifted, he fled to the US, returned to Mexico, fought against Pancho Villa, went to New York to finalize plans to retake Mexico with other exiled generals, successfully escaped US house arrest by fleeing to Sierra Blanca, and was eventually killed in 1915 by Texas Rangers on possibly trumped up charges of horse thieving. Three thousand people attended his funeral in El Paso. Presumably his trusty gun - this gun - accompanied him for all of these adventures!

Provenance: private Glorieta, New Mexico, USA collection

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#149337

Rich patina on surface. Missing one screw from underside. Serial number is very worn and can only partially be read. Inscribed on the back of the grip is "Gral Pasqual Orozco". The gun still has very fine motion with the barrel able to spin fully and the trigger able to be pulled.