Skip to content
The Colt Single Action Army 'Peacemaker' saw action in the Spanish-American War. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.

John Moran to auction historic ‘Rough Riders’ Colt 45 July 24

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

The Colt Single Action Army 'Peacemaker' saw action in the Spanish-American War. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.

The Colt Single Action Army ‘Peacemaker’ saw action in the Spanish-American War. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.

PASADENA, Calif. – When Col. Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill in a decisive battle of the Spanish-American War, they wielded Colt “Peacemaker” revolvers . One of these legendary Colt 45s—actually carried into that battle by an American soldier—will be sold by John Moran Auctioneers on July 24.

LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the antiques and fine art auction, which will begin at 3 p.m. PDT.

The Colt Single Action Army revolver was carried in the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898 by Sgt. Albert P. Wright, Regimental Color Sergeant of Roosevelt’s 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, better known as the Rough Riders.

Originally from Yuma, Ariz., Wright served with Roosevelt in Cuba from May 1, 1898 until September 1898, when the regiment was mustered out.

Wright kept the revolver after the war, and it then passed to Herbert D. Lore, proprietor of the Painted Desert Inn and Lore Trading Post in the Four Corners region. Handed down in the Lore family by descent, the revolver remains in as-found condition, and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Colt Archive Properties.

The certificate from Colt states that that this gun was originally sold to the United States government and delivered to the U.S. Government Inspector at the Colt plant on Feb. 17, 1891. It was one of 200 Single Action Army revolvers in the shipment. Its serial number is 138236.

Moran’s estimates the gun will bring $7,000-$9,000.

The July 24 auction comes on the heels of Moran’s record-shattering June sale of a Navajo chief’s blanket for $1.8 million, by far the highest price achieved at auction for a Native American textile.

For details call John Moran Auctioneers Inc. at 626-793-1833 or email info@johnmoran.com.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

The Colt Single Action Army 'Peacemaker' saw action in the Spanish-American War. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.

The Colt Single Action Army ‘Peacemaker’ saw action in the Spanish-American War. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.

Sgt. Albert P. Wright, Regimental Color Sergeant of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, 1898. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.

Sgt. Albert P. Wright, Regimental Color Sergeant of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, 1898. Image courtesy John Moran Auctioneers Inc.