POTD: Colt 1878 Collow Row Bill Revolver – Champion or Ghost?

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Colt Model 1878 double action with a name on it that raises more questions than it answers. The factory letter shows it shipped on July 21st, 1883, to “Collow Row Bill” in 44-40 with a 7 1/2 inch barrel, nickel finish, and ivory grips. The backstrap is inscribed “Collow Row Bill/Champion Pistol Shot of America.” Only 25 Model 1878s reportedly left the factory set up exactly like this.

So who was he? Period papers spell it “Colorow Bill,” a nickname that seems to have been written down by ear. An 1880 Las Vegas, New Mexico paper described a scout and crack pistol shot at Fort Fred Steele, Wyoming, who broke 93 of 100 glass balls in seven minutes with a double action Colt presented to him by the factory. His real name was unknown, but the paper said the nickname came from the 1879 fight with the Utes at Milk Creek, where Major Thornburgh was killed. That tracks, since Thornburgh’s column marched out of Fort Fred Steele, and Chief Colorow helped lead the Utes in that battle.

Here is where it gets murky. A Cheyenne paper in 1879 tied the name to a 19-year-old Texan named James A. Drais, and in April 1882 the same paper reported Drais shot dead in an argument at Fort Washakie. That was over a year before this revolver shipped. Same man, different man, or a nickname that got passed around? Nobody can say for sure.

Thankfully some mysteries stay fun, and this is one of them.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“Historic Antique Colt 1878 Frontier Six Shooter with Ivory Grips.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/3158/historic-antique-colt-1878-frontier-six-shooter-with-ivory-grips. Accessed 29 Sept. 2026.

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