I have heard some versions of the origins of the "Going South" phrase, wish I knew for certain. Very insightful details as to the "backers $ wise" of the Washington D.C. based career of Mr. Buck. None of what you have detailed here detracts from Nash Buckingham's being a Southern Gentleman, whose loyalty to his friends and devotion to his wife are hallmarks of Southern gentility to the nth degree.
I am sure there were others from his time that found their career paths perhaps "re-routed"- gambling, bad investments, poor choice in business partners or even friendships gone with the wind- I don't anything about Mr. Henry B., but he wouldn't have made serious $ during the depression by not being a good judge of character, ditto Nash's friend Edgar Queeny, president of Monsanto Chemical, or John Olin and others with "deep pockets'.
I am just guessing here, but I think they sensed something in Nash that made them, each in their own way and for their own reasons, support their friend. How many of us that might have lost a treasured firearm would have the calibre of friends that would want to "step up to the plate" and get a replacement built by an aging master gunsmith, to not only have their friend equipped with a similar fine shotgun, but to also let him know how much they valued his friendship?
If we lived in a perfect world, and we most assuredly do NOT- the gentleman who buys that HE Fox 12 bore in Mid-March (and bewaring those Ides of course) must know the controversy this single shotgun carries with it. Not the case with the Czar's Parker that Julia's sold a few years ago to Mr. Puglisi,
it is my understanding that as it wasn't paid for by the Russian Counsel and the Colonel who had apparently ordered it, it was returned to Mr. Parker and he rightfully and legally sold it to a friend in New York City.
No question of ownership, authenticity or anything else, a straightforward business deal that enabled Mr. Parker to recoup his Company's costs in producing such a fine high grade shotgun.
I also agree with the 'skunk" analogy presented here. The engraved or stamped name of Nash Buckingham on the barrel breech area, the reward and efforts by the law enforcement folks in that area of Arkansas back then, I firmly believe that some passerby found the gun in the case, possibly with the broken stock from the fall from the front fender as the car pulled away after the CO's check of birds, duck stamps, etc--and did the old 'losers weepers, finders keepers' bit and kept it hidden away.
Now it resurfaces and is in the hands of a organization that stands to make 30% from the over-hyped sale- so let's say it goes out at $300,000 even when the hammer drops and the deal goes down- that puts about $90,000 in Mr. Julia's pockets for a stolen gun with questionable provenance, IMO.
Yes, Wes Dillon has apparently "authenticated" this Fox 12 bore- Of course he has, he works for Mr. Julia. What is he going to do, counterdict his boss, the man who signs his paychecks. I think NOT.
This whole sad business stinks- like the skunk analogy, and I am grateful for many things: good health, good vision and physical strength,a few good shotguns and a few good friends to enjoy shooting with on occasion, and for the fact that I don't have the 'depth of pocket" to even enter the bidding ring for 90% of the items Julia's offers in their catalogues--
One of Nash's best friends was the late Captain Paul A. Curtis, and he once wrote these timely words: "The field is the touchstone of the man"--Nash Buckingham lived up to those words all his 91 years, and I am saddened by the circus the pending sale of a Fox gun that might have been his prized possession being hawked by profiteers.
