Engraved Silver Plated Colt First Gen SAA Revolver Inscribed "E.V. Empire Ranch" and "Tucson, AT" with Steer Head Relief Carved Ivory Grips

This classic western Colt Single Action Army revolver was manufactured in 1897 and features stunning flowing scroll engraving with beaded backgrounds along with wavy line and fan motifs. The "45 Colt" caliber marking and two-line patent marking on the frame are in engraved banners, the Rampant Colt trademark is in an circle, and the two-line address on the barrel has a wavy line border terminating in an intricate entwining line finial. The period engraving shares many of the characteristics of the high quality factory engraving under Master Engraver Cuno Helfricht who spent his nearly 50 year career exclusively with Colt (1871-1921). Matching serial numbers are visible on the frame, trigger guard, and back strap. Assembly number "428" is on the loading gate. The right ivory grip is has a raised relief carved steer head, and the left grip is smooth. The back strap is inscribed "E. V." in Gothic script followed by "Empire Ranch" down the back and "Tucson, A.T." at the butt. The included factory letter lists the revolver as one of five in .45 caliber with 7 1/2 inch barrels, blue finish, and rubber grips in a shipment to Colt's San Francisco Agency on January 22, 1898. Information on the famous Empire Ranch of Arizona is included. The ranch was operated from 1876 until 1928 by the Vail family and was formed by Walter L. Vail and his business partners. The initials on the revolver are almost certainly for his older brother Edward Lang Vail who joined the venture in 1879 after buying out Walter's partners. Together the two Vail brothers vastly expanded their holdings in southern Arizona. Both were also Pima County Supervisors, and Walter Vail was a member of the territorial legislature and president of the Livestock Ranchman's Association. Their expansion was fueled in part by their Total Wreck mine in the early 1880s. In the early years, the ranchers had to face the Chiricahua Apaches, and the hands remained well-armed and on alert. Clearly the Vail's were not risk averse. As recorded in his diary in the special collections of the University of Arizona's library, in 1890, Edward Vail, foreman Tom Turner, and six vaqueros drove 900 head of cattle across 500 miles to California after the Southern Pacific Railroad hiked their rates. Their route took them across the Sonoran Desert, and the dealt with stampedes and horse thieves along the difficult trail. The family continued to operate the Empire Ranch until 1928, and under the ownership of Frank Boice, it was used to film several westerns in the 1950s and 1960s. The ranch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and the land is now part of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Edward Vail remained active in his family's other ranching operations until his death at age 87 on October 14, 1936, in Tucson, Arizona.

Condition

Very good with a crisp engraving and markings and a beautifully well-used but well-maintained appearance of a western rancher's side arm. The revolver displays some older refinished silver plating mixed with attractive silver-gray patina along with areas of light pitting and mild wear. The age shrunken grips exhibit attractive natural aged patina and grain, faint age lines, a distinct raised relief steer head on the right, small flakes at the edges, and mild wear. Mechanically functions. This is a beautiful engraved Colt Single Action Army revolver attributed to one of the Arizona Territory's most historic ranches: the Empire Ranch.