Dead real and very handsome. The scrimshaw is trying to tell a story but I'm not quite able to make out what it is saying. The main artwork is the owners initials GFW and date of 1863 and a standing armed Indian. The date of 1863 likely corresponds to the military response to the Sioux uprising in Minnesota, and the subsequent appointment of General Pope by Lincoln to quell the uprisings and murders. Minnesota and Iowa spent 1863 eliminating Indian threats. There were three major Indian battles fought in 1863: the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake on July 26, 1863, the Battle of Stony Lake on July 28, 1863, and the Battle of Whitestone Hill on September 3, 1863. The horn is incised with an Indian armed with a Bow & arrow and a knife. It is also decorated with a camp or fort scene a with army wall-tents behind a barricade. Above the Indian is -No X-. This likely references an outpost 10, or a block house 10, or stage stop 10... etc... Also present is a fish, a rectangle, and faint remnants of artwork on the inner contour of the horn long ago worn away. I just noticed to the left of the tent, in a worn area, is a very small rendition of an Indian with feathers. About ten inches long. Great color, great patina, and absolutely genuine.

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