Description:

RIFLE GIVEN TO FROG LAKE MASSACRE SURVIVOR WILLIAM B. CAMERON BY CREE CHIEF BIG BEAR
Single-shot percussion rifle, 28 1/4"barrel, 45" overall, with a cut-down sporting-style forearm, and with a rib attached to the underside of the barrel, bearing two hoops securing the steel ramrod, the end of which is housed in a cavity in the forearm. The lock plate is marked "Williamson Brothers & Co.", likely a contractor rather than the manufacturer of the finished rifle. No other manufacturer''s markings are present. The metal fittings all bear simple but decorative floral engravings, and the wrist and forearm retain a faint checked pattern. Most interestingly, the right side of the butt bears the stamped inscription: "Gun Given to W. B. Cameron 1885 / by Mistai Maska - Big Bear on his Release N. W. T. [Northwest Territories]". WILLIAM BLEASDELL CAMERON [1862-1951] was a clerk with the Hudson''s Bay Company, posted to a store at the Cree settlement at Frog Lake in the Northwest Territories, now part of Alberta. On April 2, 1885, Cree warriors belonging to the tribe of Chief BIG BEAR (c.1825-1888) massacred nine settlers while attempting to gather supplies for an uprising in protest of unfair treaty conditions which placed the tribe on reservations. Friendly Cree captured Cameron and helped him escape the massacre, giving him this rifle after his captivity. Cameron later testified in Big Bear''s defense at his trial, in which the chief was sentenced to three years in prison. Accompanying the rifle is a T.L.S. from a John C. Price, 1p. oblong 12mo., Battleford, Ontario, June 22, 1968, setting forth provenance, in full: "This British Officers Carbine was purchased from the estate of William B. Cameron in May of 1952 in Sasskattchewan, Canada. [sic] The rifle was bought by my father James C. Price Agent for the Hudson Bay Company in North Battleford. Cameron was captured by Cree Indians in 1885 and given this gun by Chief Big Bear when he was released." The left side of the stock is badly cracked just forward of the trigger guard, and a second crack, showing an old repair, appears on the right-hand side of the stock beneath the lock plate. The barrel and metal fitting show oxidations overall with some attendant pitting. The rear sight has been removed, but the front sight is present and intact. The bore is thoroughly oxidized but still shows signs of rifling, and the hammer, while slightly loose, still cocks and fires properly. An interesting relic of a lesser known facet of the Indian Wars in Canada.

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December 19, 2017 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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