ROCK ISLAND, ILL. – Billed as a historic Texas “National Treasure,” a company No. 50 Colt Walker percussion revolver with holster elicited a six-figure result at Rock Island Auction Company’s Premier sale that closed on June 7. Documented as passed down through multiple generations of the celebrated Darst family of Texas, the weapon sold for $431,250. The Darsts were a storied family with ties to the Mexican American War, Daniel Boone, the Alamo and Terry’s Texas Rangers. The Colt Walker itself has long been the single most essential and necessary piece for many, if not all, of the iconic, important and influential Nineteenth Century American arms collections over the last century. Their appeal stems from their place as tangible pieces of the American spirit – grit, vision, conquest and expansion – physical embodiments of Manifest Destiny. Watch for a more expansive review of this sale in an upcoming issue.