I know that some folks have issues with Cremony, but I've always appreciated what he has to say in his book. Interestingly enough he was one of the founders of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco, which is now of course considered by many to be the front for the Illuminati. I've seen his portrait in the entry hall to the Club's building in SF, and it's quite nifty. Sadly it shows him in his "street wear" rather than in either his rough clothing he would have worn while on the Border Commission in 1850, or while a Captain in the 1st California Cavalry during the Civil War.
Cremony's claim that he was packing two pairs of big Colt Dragoons during his time with the Border Commission is of course up to debate, as we only have his word for it. However his other information about both the Border Commission and the various exploits during the "Late Unpleasantness" can be verified elsewhere, so it's probably fairly sound. Whether or not he was chased by Apache's for 75 miles across the Jornada del Muerte is of course another story. Could be, but there's no outside verification that I'm aware of. However, lots of things happen where the participants are the only ones to verify, and most of them aren't talking... And it certainly could be that these things happened to someone, just not him.
As far as having a Sharps goes, they became available (albeit in small numbers) as early as 1848, with a strange circular primer, so it's not at all impossible that a gentleman from the East, wishing to be as well armed as possible with the latest high-firepower weapons (witness the Colts inside the carriage as well) would have availed himself of one or two. The Commissioner certainly had the funds available to him to make such a purchase.
Per Jamanta, it's perfectly reasonable to believe Cremony in this instance, since there were a number of Colt's revolvers (aka Patersons) taken from the Texian Santa Fe Expedition of 1841 and put into use by the New Mexicans who confiscated them. From there into the hands of a Comanche isn't much of a stretch, be it by fair means or foul. Of course Cremony doesn't state whether or not the Colt would actually work or not. My guess is that it was more a symbol of being cool than a working weapon, but you never know. Maybe this Comanche was a bit more cognizant of weapons care than most of his fellows.
At any rate, I have always loved Cremony's book, and it has a wealth of information in it. Whether or not you chose to believe what he has to say is up to the reader of course. On my part I like to look at it as a wonderful adventure story with a fair amount of good information in it, but not as an historical document per se. However, it IS a great piece of historical literature, and worth reading. And even if Cremony didn't actually have four Dragoons on him when he traveled the Jornada del Muerte, or was chased half of the length of it by Apache's at a gallop, it's still a rip-roaring story full of nifty information about dealing with Apache's and other Natives, from the viewpoint of the day and age. Good stuff, I say.
Cheers!
Gordon