I know that some smokeless powder .45 Colt ammunition was purchased by the government in the early 20th Century specifically for the Colt Model 1909 revolver (actually a military grade New Service). The cases for these had larger rims than those made previously, in part for more reliable extraction in the Model 1909, and in part to prevent their use in Colt SAAs. I would very strongly suspect that smokeless powder .45 Colt cartridges with lighter charges were procured by the government for use in Colt SAA revolvers early in the century, but I don't know that for sure. I'm pretty certain that at least some military issue Colt SAAs were still in use in the Philippines as late as 1913, when combat operations there largely ended and Model 1911 pistols began to become more generally available. I think it's a pretty safe bet that black powder .45 Colt cartridges were still being used in that conflict just because they were available.
The .45 Colt cartridge loaded with black powder is indeed very potent. I?m occasionally bemused by those who state they want to use "light loads" in their Colt SAAs and indicate they will therefore use black powder. It's generally accepted that .45 Colt loads using 40 grains of black powder did exist, but the Army quickly decided it didn't want anything to do with them. Neither did most civilians. The reason usually given for adopting 35 grains of black powder under a 250-grain bullet as a standard maximum load is that the early iron-framed Colt SAAs couldn't withstand continued use of the heavier load. While that's very probably true, I think another significant factor must have been that the shooters couldn't withstand continued use of the 40-grain charge.
I very much like shooting Colt SAAs and clones thereof with black powder loads, but I have found the standard 35-grain .45 Colt load (I use Swiss 1-1/2 or 2F) produces unpleasant recoil, at least for me. I found it quite accurate, however. I did try 35 grains of Swiss 3F, and of course the recoil approached the level of "violent." For match shooting, I've switched to a Colt Frontier Six Shooter--.44/40, of course--using a 33-grain load of Swiss 1-1/2 under a 216-grain bullet. Even that has an "attention getting" recoil. In the 19th Century--or even now, for that matter--if I had to stop a particularly large and mean assailant--human or otherwise--I'd rely upon a black powder loaded .45 Colt to get the job done.