Excerpt from 'Up the Missouri with Audubon"

[Mark]

From the journal of Edward Harris at Fort Union in 1843. Commenting on Alexander Culbertson's exhibition of loading and firing while on horseback.

"They generally put five or six bullets in their mouth, and when they fire they pour a charge of powder into the left hand from the powder horn which hangs over the right shoulder, throw it into the barrel, which is hastily struck on the saddle to shake down the powder so as to pass into the pan to prime it, then throw in a bullet wet with saliva of the mouth which causes it to adhere to the powder and prevents it falling out when the muzzle is depressed to fire. In this manner these gentlemen fired from 12 to 14 times each in riding about a mile. but without ball. It will be readily seen that a percussion gun cannot be fired with the same facility on account of the inconvenience of putting on the caps."

Interesting documentation of the preference of flintlocks over percussion in this particular intense. Note also the mention of the self priming ability.

Enjoy,
Mark

[Rod]

A few years later, Kurz said much the same thing, also at Ft. Union.

"When running buffaloes the hunters do not use rifle-patches but take along several balls in their mouth; the projectile thus moistened sticks to the powder when put into the gun. In the first place, on buffalo hunts, they do not carry rifles, for the reason that they think the care required takes too much time unnecessarily when shooting at close range and, furthermore, they find rifle balls too small. The hunter chases buffalo at full gallop, discharges his gun, and reloads without slackening speed. To accomplish this he holds the weapon close within the bend of his left arm and, taking the powder horn with his right hand, draws out with his teeth the stopper, which is fastened to the horn to prevent its being lost, shakes the requisite amount of powder into his left palm, and again closes the powder horn. Then he grasps the gun with his right hand, holding it in a vertical position, pours the powder down the barrel, and gives the gun a sidelong thrust with the left hand, in order to shake the powder well through the priming hole into the touchpan (hunters at this place discard percussion caps as not practical).
Now he takes a bullet from his mouth and with his left hand puts it into the barrel, where, having been moistened by spittle, it adheres to the powder. He dares never to hold his weapon horizontal, that is, in position taken when firing, for fear that the ball may stick fast in its course, allowing sufficient air to intervene between the powder and lead to cause an explosion and splinter the barrel. So long as the ball rolls freely down there is no danger. Hunters approach the buffaloes so closely that they do not aim but, lifting the gun lightly in both hands, point in the direction of the animal's heart and fire. They are very often wounded on the face and hands by the bursting gun barrels, which, especially when the weather is extremely cold, are shattered as easily as glass.



Rod

[sean]

Running bison was not a sport for the faint of heart. Even veterans were occasionally injured or killed by exploding barrels, wounded animals, or were trampled by bison after a pony fell in the chase. However, one of my favorite greenhorn buffalo hunting stories comes from McGaw's book on Jim "Santiago" Kirker. After his stint with Doniphan in the Mexican War, contracted to guide a party from Peoria, Illinois across the plains to the mountains in search or gold. When they reached their first bison herd, they raised a group to pursue them. The men became so excited that one man shot and wounded himself in the chase, another shot and killed his own horse, and a third was thrown from his horse and lost the horse and all his equipment. Kirker brought down two buffalo, and I'm sure he walked from the field muttering about useless greenhorns and shaking his head.

Sean

[jeffp]

Custer also experienced an "accident" while running buffalo on the Texas plains
during the late 1860s. While riding his horse "Custis Lee" and running a bull buffalo; Custer was taking aim with his colt army revolver when suddenly the
buff lunged sideways at the horse, meaning to gore it, Custer's pistol discharged into the horse's brain, killing him. Custer was thrown headlong and dumped unceremoniously on the ground, just as the buff turned. Custer regained his feet and was prepared to defend himself on foot with a pistol against the charging bull, the bull however simply pawed the earth, snorted and turned and ran off.

This event is documented in Custer's book "My life on the plains"

Captain Marcy also mentions Buffalo running on horseback with pistols in the 1850s, in his book the "Prairie Traveler". Marcy notes that those men with Colt Army revolvers would shoot the beast and drop them, where as those individuals who were using the Navy .36s, simply wounded the buffs, and stood the chance
of having themselves or their horses gored.

[Lloyd]

The "Prairie Traveler" was originally published in 1859....

Due to that date, the Army Revolver would have been the Colt Dragoon... Or he could be talking about the U.S. Pistol-Carbine Model 1855. Both pistols were a pretty big handful... Especially when you consider that the Model 1855 was a .58 caliber....

I don't know when the Army started using the Remington, but I don't think they had them early enough to have been referred to in 1859.

[jeffp]

Marcy definitely mentions "army revolver", so he could be referring to a 3rd model Dragoon, but not the 1855 pistol carbine (useless item that it was) that the dragoons were later issued, and I'm not sure if he was talking about US military personell or civilians hunting with revolvers. 'll take a look...

Well this particular incident I was thinking of, referred to a Grizzly bear, not buffalo,
and he definately states that they were Colt's army and Navy revolvers, but whether
it was the Dragoon or Army revolver I can't say. I know the Navy revolver was available on the civilian market, as early as 1849. I'm not sure about the .44
Army revolver. The Bear incident took place in 1858 near Medicine Bow Butte.

Marcy does give an interesting and detailed version of running buffalo,
using both revolver, rifle and shotgun. I'll post that later.

[Lloyd]

Jeff,
I have the book, but I have to admit that I have never read it...

I was deep into the 18th century when it was gifted to me by "Tinsnip" Jim Richmond..

I have only recently got back into studying the 19th century fur trade...

Lloyd

[jeffp]

Lloyd-

it's a good read, and worth the time to do so.
Marcy makes interesting & detailed observations, since he's a
military man, plus Black Beaver was his guide. There's an excellent
chapter on tracking, along with illustrations. Good book, and some
good usable info for fur trade & overland trail stuff.

[sean]

I like Marcy's books a lot. I need to pick up a copy of his Red River Expedition.

Sean