Matt,

Let me also welcome you to the Forum and congratulate you on your fine family heirloom...a real beauty.

I'll add one little bit about the company where your gun was first shipped. St. Louis was a major shipping point in the mid-west in the 19th and early 20th Century. (Some called it the "jumping off place".) The Norvell Shapleigh Hardware Co. was a significant distributor for Smith & Wesson and Colt handguns along with all sorts of other items which were necessary for the development of the Southwest and West. You can probably find a great deal more information about them on the web.

Bob