A fascinating Wild West auction features rare items from Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and General Custer.
A sale highlight sees an 1885 contract signed by Sitting Bull for his appearance in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. It is estimated at $125,000.
The document is part of Boston-based RR Auction’s Western Americana auction of Jochen Zeitz, a dedicated single-owner sale featuring approximately 170 artefacts assembled over several decades.
The May 21 auction spans frontier-era manuscripts, early photography, and historical relics — an unusually broad cross-section for a single-owner Western Americana offering.
The material includes artefacts associated with figures such as George Armstrong Custer, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, and Davy Crockett.
Highlights include an original glass negative of Butch Cassidy’s mugshot taken at the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie in 1894, the first and only time he was arrested. It is estimated at $50,000.
Also up for auction are garments from George A. Custer, including a navy blue wool bib-front shirt worn during the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition, as seen in one of his most famous photographs. It is estimated at $60,000.
According to RR Auction, a portion of the proceeds from the sale is intended to support conservation initiatives connected to the ZEITZ Foundation in Kenya, including wildlife protection, habitat restoration, education, and community-based conservation programmes.
“Jochen has approached collecting with the same long-term perspective that defines his conservation work,” said Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction. “The collection brings together a wide range of material that speaks to the complexity and enduring fascination of the American West.”
The Western Americana auction of Jochen Zeitz by RR Auction will close on May 21.