Old Belt, Knife, Knife Scabbard, Pistol Holster With Twenty-Two .44 Caliber Bullets Still In The Gun Belt

Outlaw Gear

Publication: np, nd, 1870

According to a facsimile typed letter dated August 21, 1920, that was signed by Historian and Author E. A. Brininstool, "this old belt, knife, knife scabbard and pistol holster were carried by a notorious horsethief who was shot and killed in South Dakota by Capt. George Bartlett, U.S. Deputy Marshal, in the early '80's. They were presented to me by Capt. Bartlett, and in turn are herewith presented to my good old pard, L. H. Spragle, to hang in his den as a memento of wild days on the frontier of Dakota. It will be observed that one shell is nicked on the head. Bartlett's bullet struck the shell, glanced off and went through the thief's body. The shells in this belt have never been taken out since the man was shot. E. A. Brininstool." In a second facsimile typed letter from Brininstool dated March, 21, 1921, the first paragraph says "Yep, you're right. You got that belt, holster and knife and scabbard. I did have the saddle, but had no place for it and sold it some years ago. I helped bury Bartlett here when he died some ten years ago or so, and my Indian stuff is the dope he had. Better hang on to this story and you have the goods to show along with it." L. H. Spragle and E. A. Brininstool first met in Reno in 1910 or so when they each were in the process of divorcing their wives. While the process was running its course they roomed together in a tent city and apparently had quite a time together. Spragle returned to Pennsylvania and he and Brininstool carried on a life-long friendship and correspondence. We find in an article by Jeff Gill some comments about Capt. George Bartlett, "... a fascinating character named George E. Bartlett, a U.S. Marshall for Pine Ridge and a city west of there already infamous as Deadwood, South Dakota. Bartlett also ran a small trading post of his own on a creek through part of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Also included here is an original photograph of U.S. Deputy Marshal George Bartlett, circa 1891. It is a Boudoir Cabinet Card, issued by Northwestern Photographic Co., Chadron, Nebraska. Image: 7"x4.375". Mount: 8"x5". Bartlett stands at the left edge of the photograph in long winter coat, boots, and hat. Photograph includes 3 well-known hostile Brule Sioux chiefs; Two Strikes, Crow Dog, and High Hawk, identified as "Leaders of the Hostile Indians at Pine Ridge Agcy. S. D. During the Late Sioux War." All 3 were vocal advocates of the Ghost Dance movement, which incited hostility and threats to the army and other whites. Additionally, copies of photographs of Bartlett, held in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and originating in the Earl Alonzo Brininstool Collection, are included. On the back of one Cabinet Card photograph is a hand-written notation by Brininstool: "Capt. Geo. E. Bartlett, a prominent figure in the Ghost Dance War near Pine Ridge reservation. Interpreter and scout. Known to the Sioux as "Wounded Knee" because he walked with a slight limp occasioned by a wound he received in a fight with a bunch of horse thieves while acting as U.S. Marshal at Pine Ridge reservation. E. A. Brininstool. Handwritten along the bottom edge: "I have his complete outfit shown here-E.A.B. Died in Los Angeles 1910." All of which supports Brininstool's letters to Spragle Identifying the origin of outfit that we are offering.

Inventory Number: 31971