Old photo of Indian with lever.

[rangerider7]

[76/444]

One fancy Indian, right there!!!

[Buck Elliott]

I'd say a '76, by the length of the carrier...

[KirkD]

Well I won't bet the farm on this, but I'll go with a '73 rifle, for the following two reasons:

1. I just took my original '76 rifle off the wall here and looked at it. It seems to me that the brass carrier in the photo is too short for its width to be a '76, but I'll admit it's a bit of a tough call.

2. I stood my '76 butt on the floor to see where the muzzle of the standard 28" barrel comes. That is either one very tall Indian or he's got a '76 short rifle. I'm 6' 0" and the muzzle of my '76 comes up to my sternum, well past where the muzzle in the photo is. If that rifle in the photo is a standard length '76, that Indian would have to be at least 6'6" tall. Of course, he might have a short rifle, but then the barrel would have to be no longer than 24" if he was as tall as me, and more likely 22".

3. To me, those cartridges look too short to be for a '76, but 44 WCF (44-40) would not be out of line. Compare those cartridges with his thumb. My .45-60 cartridges are longer than the inside of my thumb (if I don't really shove them in there). The Indian's cartridges are quite a bit shorter than his thumb.

So, as I said before, it's a bit of a tough call, and I won't bet the farm on this, but I tend to lean toward it being a '73.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I'll go with Kirk and the "stumpy Indian" theory.

[Buck Elliott]

Maybe, if we turned the picture sideways, we could see the side-plates,,,?!?

[rangerider7]

What I want to know is what happen to the other Indian under the war bonnet to his right. He is either real short or looks like a tree stump. Kirk sorry to make you work so hard.

[KirkD]

What I want to know is what happen to the other Indian under the war bonnet to his right. He is either real short or looks like a tree stump. Kirk sorry to make you work so hard.

I think the other Indian is hiding behind the stump. The first Indian is just a decoy. When you get up close enough, the other one pops up and .... well ..... yer done fer!

[Buck Elliott]

I think I was seeing the reflection off the bottom of the receiver, just ahead of the carrier, which made it look longer than it really is. I'll have to revise my estimate downward to a '73...

[adirondakjack]

Just the cartridges in his belt alone say 73. the rifle also SEEMS to be a 73.

[Gun Smith]

He's not real old, and it's a '73. Next guess, is he a real indian, or is this another of the studio pictures we see here from time to time.

[rangerider7]

He's real.

[Hobie]

Likely he was attending or going to attend the Indian school at Carlisle, PA.

[JerryB]

That's what I was going to say Hobie. My dad knew a couple of Indians that went to school there, they told him it was really bad, they tried to make white men of them.

[Ysabel Kid]

York, PA? A bit far east for that attire, wouldn't you say?

[RIHMFIRE]

hes a real injun...in rented duds!

[willygene]

just a gut feeling but i would say real Indian but im a an Indian too, Osage one of the civilized tribes so they say.

[Buck Elliott]

If those ARE his duds, I'm kinda thinkin' Crow or Blackfeet...

[shdwlkr]

Well guys I am indian from two sources Seneca and Oneida and I am a short guy now only 6' 1 1/2" since I broke my back a few decades ago before that I was 6'-4" I am bald, full beard and blue eyes.
I am also part german, english, irish, Welch, and scotish. In my younger days that really messed things up when the fire water and I got together.
As to how tall the indian in the picture is we need something of known height which I don't see any and from what I can see he is an eastern indian.
Some of the tribes back east were sort of peaceful from time to time but some just plain hated white men and dealt with them accordingly.
Just a small history lesson the Onedia sided with the british and the Senecas sided with the colonists in the war for creation of this nation. Nothing personal just who they felt was the side to be on/with. In later years they both disliked the foreigners and liked the colonists and then hated even the colonists when their numbers got larger and they wanted more land.

[piller]

I think that the short one is a master of disguise. Thanks for posting this picture Rangerider7.