FEATURE/Old West: Alive and Well in Your Living Room? Firearms from Buffalo Bill, Outlaw Cole Younger Go to Auction.

SHINER, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--Oct. 26, 1999--

Buffalo Bill Cody's single-action pistol just could end up in your living room. Outlaw Cole Younger's could show up in Timbuktu.

As collectors of Old West artifacts ride off into the sunset, many of their treasured possessions are being sold at auctions around the country.

Earlier this year, Doc Holliday's whiskey flask, out of the public view for more than 100 years, sold for $130,000 and Annie Oakley's lucky penny sold for $5,200 at auction.

One such antique firearm and western collection, to be auctioned Nov. 13-15, is that of the late Dr. Patrick J. Wagner, renowned Texas historian. His 3,000-piece collection includes more than 100 single-action pistols, the most desirable collector revolver in the world.

Two of the most notable of these belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody and outlaw Cole Younger.

A notorious bank and train robber, Younger's single-action Colt pistol sports three notches on each side of the grip and is documented with letters from the factory and his family. He joined forces with Jesse James forming the James-Younger gang that made the first daylight bank robbery in U.S. history on Feb. 13, 1866, in Liberty, Mo. The loot they got away with exceeded $57,000 -- a fortune at that time.

Accompanied by a Colt factory letter, Buffalo Bill Cody's 7 1/2-in. barrel pistol with pearl grips and engraved back strap was probably presented to him by a town mayor, a common occurrence at his Wild West Shows that toured across the United States and abroad from the late 1800s to the turn of the century.

"Buffalo Bill romanticized and popularized the Wild West around the world," said Tommy Harkins, researcher and long-time close friend of the Wagner family. "That's one reason why there is such an interest worldwide today in this type of memorabilia."

A third gun of note is the extremely rare .45 calibre Wells Fargo 5 1/2-in. barrel pistol, with its original papers, factory stamped and shipped to agent William Ashton in 1906. The Wells Fargo and Company, founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo, began by hauling gold out of the gold mines in California, and later became the largest transport company in the world.

The remainder of the collection consists of cowboy and Indian artifacts, spurs, Bowie knives, badges, antique stoves, furniture, 300 other antique firearms, and thousands of related items. The auction will be held on Nov. 13, 14 and 15 in Shiner, Texas.

"Pat Wagner was such a noted historian, collectors know each item is genuine or he wouldn't have it, period," said Scott Franks of A & S Auction in Waco, Texas, the company handling the sale. "Dr. Pat," as he was called, is best known for the discovery and preservation of the famed Gonzales "Come and Take It" cannon which fired the first shot for Texas independence on Oct. 2, 1835.

Recognized by the Smithsonian, the cannon is of such historical significance that each time it is moved for exhibition, it is transported by the National Guard. According to Marlene Wagner, the doctor's wife of 40 years, the cannon was donated by Dr. Pat to be housed in the Gonzales Memorial Museum "because it would be historically correct."

Dr. Wagner started collecting guns when he was about 12 years old. According to Marlene, his dad took him to the house of an elderly relative, Antone Wagner, who bought, sold and traded guns, and the passion began. "He was a born trader," she said.

Past the lean years in medical school, he and his wife began antique collecting in earnest. "We went to gun shows, antique shops and began collecting other things than guns," said Marlene. She added her interests to the collection such as an unusual key-wound brass cylinder that hung in the fireplace and turned for cooking sausage, unique scales, washtubs and even slave irons with bells in the handle to alert the mistress of the house when the ironing was not being done.

"There is so much interest in Western artifacts," said Franks. "We are not only getting calls from every state in the U.S., but other countries such as Mexico and Japan as well."

So don't be surprised to see the Old West come alive in a home near you, or anywhere else in the world.

Photos of the Wagner collection and auction can be viewed by visiting www.collect.com/asauction. More information, including a catalog, is available by calling A & S Auction Company in Waco, Texas, at 915/938-5646.