The first firearm to be forensically proven to have been at the Battle of the Little Bighorn sold for more than a quarter of a million at the 27th annual Brian Lebel’s High Noon Auction.
Nearly 800 people were in Mesa, Arizona, to attend the 27th annual live auction of authentic Western art and artifacts. By the end of the night, total sales topped $1.5 million, with the historic Indian-used Custer Battlefield Sharps Rifle bringing in the top dollar. The rifle brought in an impressive $258,750 from a bidder on the phone. The rifle has bee forensically proven to have been used by Native American warriors during the defeat of George Armstrong Custer at the Battle at the Little Bighorn.
Other notable sales at Brian Lebel’s High Noon Auction included an Edward Borein watercolor, which sold for an estimated $51,750, and a World’s Fair Exhibition saddle, which earned well over its estimate at $115,000.
Brian Lebel’s Old West Events will be hosting another auction in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 10.
Read about more historic firearms.