I have included a picture of the gun with a El Paso Policeman's badge, but don't have documentation tying the two items together. Any hints of where I should start? I reached out to the El Paso Historical Society years ago but they weren't any help.
More pictures can be viewed here -
Smith & Wesson - Google Drive
Here is what I found on line about the gun:
Model Number One:
These are always in .22 caliber with 7 shot cylinders and small frames. There are 3 different Issues of the Model One.
1st Issues have 6 different variations...but all have octagon barrels and silver plated brass frames that are rounded behind the recoil shield...they also have pivoting hammers and round sideplates. They have squared off pistol grips You won't see these very often because they only made about 11,000 of them. I'm going to cut corners here and not go into the 6 sub-variants but just so you know...the early ones are quite rare and valuable. Almost always found with blued barrels/cylinders and silver plated frames. S&W's very first revolver...and historically if I'm not mistaken, the first modern American cartridge gun. Made from 1857-1860. Numbered from 1 to 11,671.
2nd Issues look like 1st Issues except they have squared frames and squared pistol grips. The side plates aren't round...but a much improved large oval shape. They still have brass frames with silver plating and the hammers are a solid one piece design. Almost always blued barrels and cylinders with silver plated frames. Made from 1860 to 1868. Numbered from 11672-128000.