Collector acquires gun used in Little Bighorn battle

Interest is continuing to build in the 2023 rendition of the Lady Vestey Victorian Festival as area residents consider what they can do to assist the festival.

This week Steve Werner, owner of the Cowboy Corner Museum, confirmed the museum would be open during the festival and that it would have a new exhibit which he expects will generate considerable interest.

In recent days the museum obtained an 1863 Sharps SSRC rifle with serial number C8281, The rifle is thought to have been used by the Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn which is known as Custer’s Last Stand.

Engraving on the gun help to authenticate the belief that a Blackfoot Indian named Bull was with another Indian named Kill Eagle. Battle marks indicate the two were part of the Indian army that took on Custer.

Bull was born in 1824 and grew to be a great warrior. He joined the John Grass Band of Sihasapa Blackfoot. He married and had one son, Fast Cloud. After his wife died from measles, Bull moved in with Fast Cloud and the Fast Cloud family which included his wife and her White baby and sons Sword and Iron Hawk along with daughters, Aunt and Elk Tusk.

In 1872 Sitting Bull made a treaty with Metis (Slota) to obtain weapons to fight the White settlers. The Sharps rifle now in Superior is believed by appraisers to be one of the trade guns.

Bull fought at the Little Bighorn alongside his son and the pair rode with Kills Eagle and the Wazhazha Band of Blackfoot. Bull and his son went into Canada with Sitting Bull and surrendered in 1881 at Ford Buford with the John Grass Band of Sihasapa Blackfoot. He eventually settled on the Standing Rock Reservation located on the Grand River.

With the gun are several pages of documents which attest to its origin and claim to have been used at the Little Bighorn battle.

Werner, a retired cattle buyer and businessman, said it is important for Superior to support the festival and its goal of attracting people to Superior. If that effort stops, he fears Superior could fade away.

For those wanting to learn more of Superior’s history and claim to be the Victorian Capital of Nebraska at least two videos have been posted on the internet. Both are slightly more than 30 minutes in length. In Lady Evelyn Brodstone Vestey, Beverly Beavers shares the Lady Vestey Story. The second entitled “The Victorian Homes Tour, is just that. A tour along the streets of Superior with stops featuring many of the community’s Victorian homes.

Before the week is out, it is anticipated a video interview with Steve Werner about his Cowboy Musuem will be available. We expect to post the addresses on our web site at http://www.superiorne.com.