This is a fabulous 19th-century Apsaalooke Crow of Montana buffalo hide knife sheath with red ocher paint and rare horse stealing / horse theif track beadwork collected by railroad worker Gus Singel in Montana circa 1880-1900; ex-Museum collection. The piece exhibits thick Great American Bison Buffalo parfleche rawhide sewn with sinew and held together with hide glue covered in red ocher mineral pigment paint along with sinew sewn beadwork. The beadwork shows classic Montana Crow pastel coloring showing a rare Crow Horse Stealing horse track and Maltese cross four-tab geometric design showing all old glass trade seed beads. The beadwork shows colors of cobalt, greasy butterscotch yellow, semi-transparent Cheyenne pink, light sky padre blue, greasy blue, semi-transparent green, Cheyenne pink, and greasy chalk white. The sheath also shows a border of brass metal trade tack border. This example is a large example with triangular cutout for use on a belt. Provenance: From the renowned collection of Gustav Singel (1837-1923), also called Gus Singel, who was a railroad worker in Montana. Gus Singel assembled a wonderful collection of Native American antiques between circa 1880-1900 while working on the railroad in Montana. He moved from Montana to New York and his collection has been passed down through the family. Later donated to a Museum in Montana in the mid-1900’s which was later closed. Sheaths with buffalo or horse track designs are increasingly scarce and highly collectible; see the Apsaalooke Crow Beaded Sheath with Horse Track Design sold by Hindman Cowan’s in June 2022 for $14,190 and the Sioux Knife Sheath with horse stealing tracks which sold at Altermann in August 2006 for $5,290. Measures overall 13.5-inches long by 4.25-inches wide.