I wonder what tang sight was mounted on Mrs. Curtis's rifle? The Savage tang sight does extend a fair way back. The Marbles Special Base sight was available for the M1899. It wasn't a popular sight and I don't know that I've seen one on a Savage. Here's one I have on a Marlin M1893 carbine. As you can see, it sits way back:

https://imgur.com/lcJ8Cy0