Piece Of History

There is a piece of history about to be auctioned in Fredericksburg, Texas on November 10th and 11th. In fact several pieces. As in historical pistols once belonging to Pancho Villa and Calamity Jane among others.

SAN ANTONIO - Item No. 1, for him: a Remington single-action revolver engraved with a scroll pattern and "Doreteo Arango" — Pancho Villa's real name.

Item No. 2, for her: a pocket pistol in a leather case that bears the name Martha Jane Cannary — the true identity of Calamity Jane.

Weapons that belonged to the Mexican revolutionary and the hard-living frontier scout were expected to be the stars of a weekend auction in Fredericksburg that includes about 1,000 Old West objects.

The barrel of Villa's revolver is marked "Chih_1914," around the time he became governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The gun was made about 40 years before that and was expected to fetch at least $30,000, auction managers said.

The Frontier Times Western Auctions website (the auction house is Randall Hill) says that a full catalog of pictures will be available today, but it is not as of this post. But if you're in Texas - or want to bid on a real piece of the Old West, here's your chance. More about Martha Jane Cannary-Burke, aka Calamity Jane at Wikipedia. She was somewhat colorful. Which is a nice way to say a big-time serial liar.