This 1849 Colt has been loaded for a LONG time - my grandfather plowed it up in a field here around 1941, and it still has five of its six chambers loaded with one completely intact cap on one nipple, and remains on a couple others.
There's a scratched inscription on the butt that reads: C Smith April 29 1861
I've actually found some letters from a C Smith in museum archives and the signature is a spot on match to the scribing on the gun butt. There is almost -0- doubt that they are the same C Smith. It appears he was some sort of stage station agent in present day southwest Montana in the 1860's, as the letters are written from, or refer to, three station locations in that area in 1865. The hammer, trigger, and ram are still free, but the cylinder is rusted solid on the base pin, and springs have rusted away, except for the latch spring for the ram, which still functions, go figure.