Colt Model 1860 Army Percussion Revolver, .44 Caliber, Manufactured 1863

The Gun that Killed Chief Yellow Hand!

"The First Scalp for Custer!"

This gun has an amazing history and was prominently featured in the Museum's brochures and promotional materials. Family records confirm that this is the gun that Buffalo Bill Cody, at the time a scout under Lieut. George M. Taylor in the service of General Carr, used to kill Chief Yellow Hand (also called Yellow Hair) in a bizarre confrontation. It occurred on July 17, 1876 just after the Custer Massacre within 8 miles of the Little Big Horn. Cody and his unit were out on patrol when they came upon a Cheyenne war party who were headed toward a rendezvous with Sitting Bull. Through field glasses, the detachment noticed that they were trailing and preparing to ambush a pair of army messengers who were delivering dispatches to the command. Cody and his group of 15 soldiers charged the Indians to intercept them before they attacked. When the two groups were within earshot, the chief yelled out to Cody, whom he recognized, to challenge him to a fight. Witnesses to the incident describe how Cody and Yellow Hand suddenly charged from each group. When they were 30 yards apart, Cody pulled his rifle and shot, killing the Chief's horse, while Cody's horse tripped in a prairie dog hole sending both men crashing to the ground. They rose with pistols not more than 20 paces apart, Cody pulled this 1860 Army pistol and in his own words, "we fired at each other simultaneously. My usual luck did not desert me on this occasion for his bullet missed me, while mine struck him in the breast", killing him. Unbelievably, Cody then pulled a knife from his sheath and scalped Yellow Hand raising it above his head and proclaiming it "the first scalp for Custer". Cody would later send the scalp home to his wife who was not at all thrilled to open it after the 4 weeks it took to get to her by overland stage.