J.B. Farr's 14K Gold Presentation Sheriff's Badge. An important piece of Colorado history and a magnificent example of a presentation badge. A highly detailed, elegant and ornate eagle-topped shield badge. The lettering is executed in blue enamel on three chiseled-edge, silver banners reading: "J. B. FARR / SHERIFF / HUERFANO CO COLO". The scroll topped shield has tassels on each side and the edge is finely detailed with fancy drop elements around the rope frame. The back is engraved with flourishes and the inscription: "From / J.D. Montez / M.A. Vigil / P.L. Sanchez / A.D. Valdez / New year 1903". A newspaper clipping of the era states in regards to the presentation of the badge: “The sheriff is justly proud of his handsome pin.”
Includes a packet of photocopies of newspaper articles, magazine articles and other research relating to J.B. Farr in general, and also some with photographs or mentions of the badge in particular. References include a 1911 “Walsenburg World” newspaper article; a 1914 “New York Times” article, contemporary book references and others.
Also includes the book "Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West," by Scott Martell, 2007. Farr was a key player in the massacre.
From the Walsenburg World, April 27, 1911 (which shows a photo of Farr wearing the badge):
“It is but fair to preface this brief biographical sketch with the statement that no citizen of Huerfano county has been the recipient of more honors of trust and responsibility than Jefferson B. Farr... Western pluck, enterprise and intelligence are rightly accounted for on the theory that it was the strongest of mind and heart as well as of body, that pushed out from the older communities to the Western frontier. It was a sturdy roll of men who came from the Eastern states to found an empire in Texas in 1855, and D.H. Farr, the father of J.B. Farr, was one of them.”
American Socialist, July 8, 1916
"Jeff Farr Dethroned. JEFF FARR, for twenty years the Sheriff (King) of Huerfano County has been kicked from his throne by the Supreme Court of Colorado. For twenty years Farr’s gang of deputy sheriffs (mine guards) has been the terror of the county.”
Lot 204, Sold $22,420
Brian Lebel's Cody Old West Auction - June 26th, 2021, Santa Fe, NM.