I am hoping at some point DEADLIEST WARRIOR will pit a Frontier Gunfighter against some worthy adversary. As a career California peace officer, my own area of interest is law and order in the first decade of California history, essentially 1850-1858. I collect and shoot percussion firearms, including a .58 caliber Hawken muzzle-loading rifle and Colt's Navy pattern 1851 revolver [below].
.58 Hawken muzzle-loading rifle, percussion ignition.
1851 Colt's Navy .36 caliber revolver, percussion.
Immediately following the Mexican-American War, California was a very tumultuous place. The California Gold Rush drew thousands of immigrants, many of them the worst kind of people, who remained when the Gold petered out. Outlaws such as the infamous Joaquin Murrieta roamed the countryside, robbing and pillaging. Bands of wild Indians still raided the ranchos for horses and cattle. This was the situation facing the lawmen of the era.
Reliable, cartridge-fed firearms were still experimental and had not yet been improved. Consequently, muzzleloading firearms were the only choice available to the outlaw and lawman alike. Revolvers such as the mammoth .44 caliber Colt's 1848 Dragoon and the .36 caliber 1851 Navy revolver were found riding in holsters on the dusty streets of Old California.
The U.S. military realized that California would be pacified a lot faster if everyone was armed. Consequently, soldiers who mustered out were allowed to retain their military arms. .69 caliber Springfield muskets and .54 caliber Model 1841 ["Mississippi"] rifles were found everywhere. Indeed, the deadly outlaw "Rattlesnake Dick" Barter carried an Model 1841 rifle on his adventures on the outlaw trail.
Another common weapon was the Bowie knife. The photo below is of a Bowie which was recovered from an Adobe brick at the Dana Adobe in Nipomo, California [how it came to be inside a mud brick we will never know]. The Bowie offered protection in an era when firearms were unreliable. The motto back then well could have been, "Don't forget to bring your knife to the gunfight!"
An authentic Gold Rush Bowie knife, Sheffield England made.
Surprisingly, one of the most feared weapons found in Early California wasn't a gun or a knife at all. It was "La Riata" [The Lariat] the braided leather rope used by Vaqueros [Californio Cowboys] for roping cattle. These cowboys were so good that they could lasso a man in an instant and then drag him to death. One early Frontier account read, "When I encounter [a Vaquero] I cover him with my rifle until he has passed", such was the fear of the riata's lethal abilities.
Shooting these old firearms is a hoot. I make my own paper-cartridges for the Hawken. A paper tuber tube filled with 60 grains of FFg Black Powder, the .562 Round Ball is paper-wrapped in one end and the paper serves as the patch. Bite the end off, pour the powder into the barrel, reverse and ram the patched ball home, cap the cone and you are ready to shoot. I have good results on targets set at 25-50 yards with this load.
The 1851 Navy is an especially favorite weapon of mine to shoot. There were about 325,000 of these weapons made between 1851 and 1873. When first introduced, the U.S. Army had tested it and fired one for 1,500 consecutive shots without failure. Sighted for 60 yards, it was the favorite weapon of the legendary Wild Bill Hickok who carried a brace of Navies. The Navy was also used by British Officers in the Crimean War, and Captain Sir Richard Burton carried one while seeking the source of the Nile. I load mine using 20 grains of FFFg Black Powder and a .375 Round Ball, and it does good execution on paper targets at 25-50 yards!
- Hei Lung
You can read more articles on Early California Law & Order at:
http://morro-bay.com/morsels/manny-silva/index.htm
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