Gunslingers

08/07/2026

Top 12 Guns that Tamed the Wild West

True West considers these the most significant workhorses of the frontier.

C**t’s 1836-patented, five-shot Paterson revolver was the handgun that revolutionized revolvers for all time. The .36 caliber long-barreled model, like this pristine example, was known as the Texas Paterson, and earned its fame for its deadly use against the Comanches by the early Texas Rangers.

READ MORE: https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/top-12-guns-that-tamed-the-wild-west/

08/02/2026

Wild Bill

07/24/2026

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07/21/2026

07/21/2026

Our post about Johnny Ringo's su***de on July 13th created a lot of interest in the actual gun found in his lifeless hand. The 1873 C**t single action army was auctioned in 2021 for more than $362,000. The price is a reflection of provenance that leaves no doubt that it is the actual gun. Here's the provenance, and it starts with the coroner's inquest that recorded the gun's serial number...

Owner 1: Johnny Ringo, found in his hand, serial number logged in the original coroner's inquest

Owner 2: Mrs. Prigmore by descent after it was recovered from Ringo's hand

Owner 3: Mrs. Prigmore sold to Allen Erwin (bill of sale, signed by Erwin and by Mrs. Prigmore's son Donald Wilson, on her behalf)

Owner 4: Francis Huffstadter by descent from Allen Erwin ((signed Power of Attorney, May 2, 1979)

Owner 5: Sold in the European and American Fi****ms, Sotheby Parke Bernet, Los Angeles, 1980, to Jim and Theresa Earle

The auction in 2021 was from the Jim and Theresa Earle collection that included many historically significant fi****ms. This kind of provenance is how we connect authentic items back to western icons, not by combing flea markets and working backwards on assumption, theory, facial recognition, etc.

07/15/2026

On this day… July 15, 1881

07/14/2026

The Bucket of Blood Saloon - Virginia City, Nevada
In 1876, Virginia City had over 100 saloons for 25,000 people. The roughest of them all sat at the bottom of C Street, so close to the mines that miners walked in still wearing their helmets. It was officially called the Delta, but everyone called it the Bucket of Blood.

The name came from the floor. Fights were so constant and so bloody that the owner, it was said, would throw a bucket of water mixed with blood out the front door each morning. Inside, no questions were asked. A man could be a murderer in California and a mine superintendent in Virginia City by noon.

Mark Twain wrote that Virginia City had "the most wonderfully gifted set of human beings" and the worst whiskey in the world. At the Bucket of Blood, a miner who had just discovered the $30 million Big Bonanza vein could be drinking next to a Cornish boy who would die in a cave-in the next day. The Comstock Lode made millionaires of janitors and beggars of bankers, and the Bucket of Blood was where they all ended up equal - drunk, dusty, and desperate for luck to hold.

06/18/2026

Ouch! This one hurts. It seems it's always one step forward and two steps back. Someone or something broke some significant pieces of our marquee neon. So, we will be dark for a few weeks while the parts get replaced. It's a significant financial hit we did not account for, so if you're feeling generous, we'd certainly welcome the help to get the repairs made. Thank you!

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Online donations can be made on our website: gempioche.com. Donations are tax deductible under section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

06/18/2026

This Saturday !!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR, GET THOSE BADBOYS READY.......