Genuine Indian War fired 45-70-500gr bullets for sale, used during the Apache Attacks of the ongoing Indian Wars. These 5 spent bullets were found on private property with the permission of the owner, in Arizona from 1995 to 2003. They were found on an old Army-Indian battle-skirmish site.
The 5 bullets are in various degrees of condition. The bullets are from excellent to fair shape. The lead bullets are in different stages of wear. Some are full length, and some have been partially flattened from striking objects when fired. These collectables are genuine, untouched by human hands, and are getting harder to find.
The picture is a representation. The actual bullets may look slightly different up close.
Add these historical collectables to your collection, as they are getting harder to find. I strive to describe the items to the best of my ability, and remember these items are historical items, and won’t be in perfect condition as when new.
History:
The .45-70 rifle cartridge, also known as .45-70 Government, was developed at the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873 .45 caliber rifle, known to collectors (but never to the Army) as the "Trapdoor Springfield." The new cartridge was a replacement for the stop-gap .50-70 Government cartridge which had been adopted in 1866, one year after the end of the American Civil War.
Indian Wars
Apache Attacks
1861-1900
Relations between the six Apache tribes, whose lands lay in the Southwest, and white settlers, progressively deteriorated with the ebb of Spanish domination in Mexico. By the mid-1800s, when the United States took over the region from Mexico, Apache lands lay open to the relentless American westward movement, which is sometimes referred to as Manifest Destiny.
Like elsewhere on the continent, the U.S. government's policy was to relegate Indians to reservations, but the Apaches rebelled. The natives' fierce, but ultimately hopeless resistance that persisted until the turn of the 20th century brought national notoriety to several of the Apache leaders, among them Geronimo, Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, and Victorio.
Apache terror ravaged settlements in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico for nearly four decades. The warlike Apaches detested reservation existence. They resolved to lead their lives as they had in pre-European days, or die in the attempt.
In the 1860s, they took advantage of frontier army post closures because of the Civil War to step up their forays. Leaders headed small parties of audacious, merciless braves in hundreds of surprise assaults on white outposts.
A classic instance occurred in 1885 when approximately a dozen Apache braves fled from a reservation. In a month they covered an estimated 1,200 miles on horseback, slew nearly 40 persons, and stole more than 200 mules and horses. U.S. soldiers chased them, but the renegades eventually made it to the relative safety of Mexico.
The government ultimately opted for a program to cripple the tribes. Soldiers' marching orders were to "kill every Indian man capable of bearing arms and capture the women and children." Some leaders and their people survived, capitulated and went on to live peacefully on reservations, but other little bands fought on until the turn of the century.