Research Assistance Requested – Remington-Keene Frontier Model “U.S.I.D. 221” Indian Police Rifle

[jgraysEFS]

Hello everyone,

My name is John Gray, and I am the Owner and Founder of JGray’s Estate Firearm Services based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We work with collectors, estates, and families handling historic and collectible firearms, helping document, research, appraise, and navigate firearm collections.

I am new to the forum and excited to start scrolling through and learning from the knowledge base here.

I wanted to share and hopefully gather additional information on a particularly interesting Remington-Keene Frontier Model rifle currently in our collection.

The rifle is a Remington & Sons Keene-system Frontier Model bolt-action chambered in .45-70 Government with a 24” barrel, marked:

“U.S.I.D. 221”

From our research, the marking denotes U.S. Indian Department / Indian Police issue. As many of you know, these rifles are believed to have been part of the relatively small group of approximately 500 rifles acquired for Native American police forces during the late 1870s–1880s period.

This example retains strong markings throughout, including:

* Remington barrel address and patent markings
* U.S. inspection marks including “P”
* Henry Nettleton (“HN”) inspection

What makes this rifle especially intriguing is that it is accompanied by what appears to be its original matching government-approved sale tag reading:

“U.S. Dept. of Indian Affairs
Approved Sale
No. 221
Rifle & Ammo
Indian Police
1888”

The number on the tag matches the rifle.

This rifle comes from the collection of a longtime collector currently dealing with Alzheimer’s, and we are helping the family navigate the firearm assets in the collection. While we have handled many historic and government-issued firearms over the years, this is the first Indian Police Keene we have personally encountered with an original matching sale tag still present.

From our research so far, we have not been able to find much additional information on these rifles or surviving records. One thing we would especially like to determine is whether this rifle may have been issued within Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, or if there are any known records showing which reservation or agency these rifles were originally shipped to.

We are also trying to determine:

* Whether additional documented examples survive in collections or museums
* Any known issue records tied to U.S.I.D. numbers
* Any known serial number ranges associated with the Indian Police contract rifles

I know the Keene rifles, particularly the Indian Police examples, are an obscure corner of Remington collecting, but I figured this would be one of the best places to ask.

Any information, archival references, photographs of comparable rifles, or leads on surviving records would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for any information or direction the members here may be able to provide.

Thank you,
John Gray
JGray’s Estate Firearm Services
Tulsa, Oklahoma

[jgraysEFS]

Here are some pictures of the Remington Keene Rifle

[dpg06va]

Hello John. First let me say I appreciate you helping a collector and his family. I'm not an expert on the Remington Keene USID rifles but I own #160 and have read everything I can find. In Nov and Dec, 1992, the late Slim Kohler and Don Ware published two articles in the magazine, The Gun Report. The first article was about the USID Keene rifles, the second on the Remington Model 1875 revolvers purchased by the USID. The E. Remington & Sons records were lost when the family owned business went bankrupt in the mid-1880s. But, Kohler and Ware researched the National Archives and found much of the correspondence between the USID and Remington. The Keene rifles were being inspected, packed and delivered in the period April-October, 1880. The totals in the letters are confusing and the authors present the total as being 4x160=640 or 5x160=800, but my personal interpretation is that there were three shipments of 160, totaling 480 rifles. The USID specified to Remington where to send the shipments and how many to each named Agency. The instruction letter on Oct. 1, 1880 listed the Union Agency, Indian Territory (which is Muskogee, near Tulsa) to receive 21 rifles.

Correspondence on March 7,1883 shows Remington proposing to sell additional rifles to the USID but the Commissioner replied on March 10th that the Secretary of the Interior "decided to purchase no more rifles for the Indians, and to take away all those now in their possession." This letter explains the sales tag on USID 221 and shows the time frame. That tag I believe is unique and an important piece of history.

RSA researchers have been tracking the survivors that appear in gun shows and on line auctions. I believe the number is approximately 25 known survivors with USID numbers ranging from #3 to #479.
Only one survivor I've seen has an Agency mark; USID 109 with P R 34 (Pine Ridge). Pine Ridge is the only Agency known to definitively stamp their Model 1875 revolvers with P R and an inventory number. Pine Ridge. I have no explanation why USID 109 was in the last shipment with 50 guns for Pine Ridge.