Death in the Desert

This Colt .45 “Peacemaker” was found out in the desert in historically one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

- William P. Mapoles

The end of the barrel was spotted sticking up out of the dust in the middle of nowhere, 17 miles from Tombstone, Arizona, 16 miles from Fort Huachuca, and only nine miles north of the Mexican border. It was made in 1884, based on the serial number of 111,506. The gun has one empty chamber, two fired shells, and three live rounds in it. The hammer is frozen in the first click or notch. Given the clockwise rotation of the cylinder, it had been carried on the empty chamber, then two shots had been fired, and the owner was in the act of cocking the hammer for the third shot, when it fell to the ground. You get an eerie feeling that the guy died violently when he dropped this gun, because he was in “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.”