I know this thread is a year old, but I just found it.
The subject gun has been posted for sale on the Collector's Armory website for quite a while. A couple of years, at least. Here is a link:
Blanket Gun Used to Shoot Crazy Horse [https://collectorsfirearms.com/170737-blanket-gun-used-to-shoot-crazy-horse-ah8052.html/I guess I've forgotten how to post links properly, but that ought to get you to the website. I think the Gunbroker seller probably
is Collector's Armory. I have no personal experience dealing with them, but as far as I know, they are legitimate. As noted in the gun's description (see post #1 as well as the writeup on the Collector's Armory website), this weapon was illustrated and described in an article in the May 2000 issue of
The Gun Report, in "The Alteration of American Indian Firearms," by Bill Ahearn. I have that issue, and the article is open in front of me as I type. After a pretty thorough description of the gun and the modifications done to it, Mr. Ahearn wrote this:
An old note which came with the gun states that at some time after the percussion conversion it was cut down to the pistol form of Blanket Gun it now has and became the property of an American Indian named Bad Heart. Apparently, Mr. Bad Heart also had a bad temper, as this pistol was confiscated from him after he tried to shoot the local Indian agent. Just when this happened is uncertain. We do know that there was an Ogalla [sic]
Sioux named Bad Heart Bull, and his favorite weapon was a pistol. It was the weapon used to wound the famous Sioux Chief Crazy Horse, in what was a very nasty family dispute. Whether or not that weapon and this firearm are one and the same will never be known . [Bold text mine]
. The note that came with the pistol is type written and appears to be quite old. It is not dated and is unsigned. It reads "The old pistol was taken from a bad Indian by the name of 'Bad Heart,' who had it loaded pretty full and carried it over his left arm in plain sight. Father saw him try to kill the agent with it but was frustrated by grandfather who jumped in and threw him down and took his knife and gun away from him. Father says it is probably an old 'flint-lock,' and when it was taken it was indeed loaded very heavily and primed with a great big old percussion cap. He does not think it had ever been shot by the Indian, who carried it around to scare people" (pp.23-24).
From this, I think it is a bit of a stretch to state that this is definitely the gun that wounded Crazy Horse. It
might have been, but Mr. Ahearn was unconvinced, and that's good enough for me.
I think it may be possible to track down the name of the Indian Agent, just to round out the story, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. It might also be helpful to know from whom Collector's Armory acquired the piece, as that may assist in identifying the "father" and "grandfather" characters in the story. I also wonder if the gun might still be loaded... stranger things have happened.
Regarding Wendell Grangaard, I'm not aware of his involvement with this particular gun. I've never met the man, but I have his book,
Documenting the Weapons Used at the Little Bighorn. There isn't really much about "togia" in the book, but Mr. Grangaard's name was all over the auction sites for a while. People would evidently send him guns to be examined and he would find togia symbols, construct a story from them regarding the weapon's provenance, and write a letter documenting what he found. His letter would accompany the guns when they sold. Guns and artifacts "lettered" by Mr. Grangaard apparently brought a real premium.
As near as I can determine, the "togia" symbols were used primarily to indicate ownership, society and/or tribal or band membership, and sometimes to document events in which the marked weapon was used. Not just scratched markings, either. Mr. Grangaard maintained that tack patterns, and the use of brass versus iron tacks, also had similar meanings. I looked for everything I could find on this, and even made lists, drawings, and interpretations of the togia symbols which were shown and described, just because this sort of thing interests me. I haven't counted them, but they fill up about five somewhat disorganized pages. However, if you look at the photographs of the guns Mr. G. has examined, the markings are frequently very, very faint. Only he can say for sure that they are intentional markings.
So, this "togia" business is intriguing, but when a single white guy claims to be the trusted repository for, and sole authority on, an ancient and esoteric native practice of any kind, I'm a bit skeptical. Also, some of the artifacts are questionable. For example, one reportedly togia-marked tomahawk I've seen offered for sale is obviously African. However, from reading about Mr. Grangaard and his collection, it is important to know that he has his defenders, too, and he is evidently very knowledgeable regarding native and military weapons of the Indian Wars era of the American west. His book is very well done, and it is an interesting read, giving a plausible native perspective on that famous battle.
Getting back to the original subject of this thread, I'm not aware of Mr. Grangaard's having examined the subject gun, but I would be interested in his take on it. I have no doubt he would find some togia marks, given the time and place of its usage. It is an interesting old gun, regardless.
Notchy Bob
