Touring The Jim Gatchell Museum
Buffalo, Wyoming
Frontier Rifles - 1860 to 1894

The period from 1860 to 1894 was an especially turbulent time in the frontier West. The U.S. expansion westward was nearly completed - all of the western land to the Pacific Ocean had been purchased, ceded or annexed and by 1894 only four of the original 48 states remained to be admitted to the Union. Transcontinental railroads were completed in 1869 and 1881. Gold had been discovered in Montana, first in 1852 and then again in 1862 with the subsequent migration of miners seeking their fortunes. The early land claims by the cattle barons and foreign cattle investment companies to enormous areas of open range on the high western prairies were being challenged by homesteaders and settlers. The great buffalo herds of tens of millions were virtually annihilated.

This growth and development did not take place without conflict and controversy, especially between the newcomers and the region's inhabitants - the Native Americans. The majority of the Indian wars took place during this interval and culminated with such events as the defeat of Custer and his Seventh Cavalry in 1876 and the shooting death of Sitting Bull in 1890.

All of this activity - migration, homesteading, ranching, mining, development of towns and railroads and battles with the Indians - involved the daily use of firearms. Among the guns used were Colts, Winchesters, Sharps, Springfields, Spencers and others less well known. These firearms, said to have "tamed" or "won" the West, are now found in private collections and museums.

The Gatchell museum has an especially good frontier firearms collection and each gun has its own story to tell. The 160 individual pieces include 74 muzzle-loading and breech-loading rifles, 54 pistols and revolvers, 16 shotguns and 16 foreign weapons. In the following we will describe several of the more important of these rifles that date from the 1860 to 1894 time period and discuss their rolls in the area's history.

This piece is an excellent example of one of the most significant firearms in American history. Utilizing the basic concept of a self-contained metallic cartridge, as patented by Smith and Wesson, the 16-shot Henry was the first truly practical repeating rifle. It was perfected by B. Tyler Henry for the New Haven Arms Company and its principal stockholder, Oliver F. Winchester. Only about 14,000 were manufactured by this Company between 1860 and 1866. Because of the turbulent times and the superior firepower offered by this weapon, a very high percentage of the Henry rifles saw active service, either in the Civil War or on the western frontier. With slight modifications it would, in 1866, evolve to the famed "Yellow Boy" Winchester.

Public acceptance of the Henry was instantaneous. Although the cartridge itself, the .44 caliber rimfire, was low-powered, the capability of being able to fire 16 shots rapidly constituted an enormous advantage. When used in early skirmishes these new rifles demonstrated overwhelming firepower. The factory was never able to catch up with orders and only one model was manufactured on a regular basis. During the Civil War, some Northern volunteer units bought their own Henry rifles and ammunition and considered it money well spent. The Confederates referred to the Henrys as "that damn Yankee rifle that can be loaded on Sunday and fired all week." Considering they were using single-shot Springfields versus 16-shot Henrys their comment is understandable. The cost of a Henry ranged from $42 in the East to $75 in California. A contemporary advertisement claimed the Henry to be "the most effective weapon in the world" - and at the time it was the truth.

The arrival of the Henry on the frontier revolutionized the fighting tactics of both Indians and whites. Previously, when attacking a small party, the Indians strategy was for a few warriors to charge and draw the fire of the riflemen's single-shot rifles. Then the remainder of the Indians would rush before their opponents could reload. The first Indians to encounter the new Henry rifles were obviously in for a very rude surprise. Such an incident occurred in 1865 when some 40 Blackfeet warriors attacked two miners in Montana and, to their surprise and horror, the Indians were completely defeated by the guns "that wouldn't stop shooting." Thereafter they referred to the Henrys as "Spirit Guns."

The Henry found early and enthusiastic acceptance in Wyoming. Travelers through this volatile country knew full well that they passed through on the thin tolerance of the hostile tribes. The prudent secured the best firearms they could get. One of the most notable uses of the Henry in the Powder River area was the 1866 Fetterman Battle. Two Civilians, Isaac Fisher and James Wheatley, were armed with Henrys and by all accounts inflicted numerous casualties on the Indians before running out of ammunition and being overwhelmed.

Model 1873 - The springfield 'Trapdoor' Rifle - The Gun that Really Won the West.

The Gatchell Museum has seven of these rifles and three carbines ( a short-barrelled version of a rifle). The Springfields owe their name to being manufactured at the governments arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 'Trapdoor' nickname was given by veteran soldiers to the gun's hinged breechlock which was raised to load a metallic cartridge into the chamber. These weapons are classic examples of the U.S. Army's standard issue rifle from 1873 to 1892. In its earliest 1865 form it was an expedient conversion of the Civil War musket - of which the country had a decided surplus. It evolved from a .58 rimfire to a .50-70 centerfire to the definitive .45-70 version of 1873 and served through the Spanish American War.

In 1866, by some miracle, .50-70 models were sent to exactly where they were needed on the Bozeman Trail's isolated Army forts. In July 1867 they proved their worth at the Wagon Box fight near Fort Phil Kearny located some 30 km. North of Buffalo. The new breech-loading, single-shot rifles allowed a small number of soldiers to defeat a far superior number of Native Americans--the same ones who had overwhelmed Fetterman only months before. A detachment of 32 wood-cutting soldiers armed with these new breechloaders made a successful stand against some 1500 of Red Cloud's warriors primarily using bows and arrows with some muzzle-loaders they had captured or aquired in trade. The name of the fight derived from the fact that the soldiers fought behind the upturned wagon boxes which they had removed from their long-hauling wagons - those heavy wooden boxes provided effective cover and concealment from Sioux arrows and lances.

The Trapdoor series rifles were well-made, powerful and accurate. Many of the soldiers of the 1870's had very little training with the result that operator failure with firearms was often the problem. When used correctly, the carbine made a formidable weapon. There is a little known account of an Army enlisted man, caught in the open near Crazy Woman Creek, south of Buffalo, by three mounted Native Americans. With no nearby cover the soldier dropped to a sitting position, fired, hit one attacker; reloaded and dropped a second. The third Indian retreated and the soldier made his way safely back to camp.

Model 1874 The Sharps Buffalo Gun

The classic Sharps rifle, patented in 1848, was only produced in great numbers during the Civil War and its rifles and carbines were unquestioned successes during that conflict. Colonel Berdan formed a unit armed exclusively with Sharps which became famous as the 'Sharpshooters,' thereby coing a term still in use today to refer to excellence in markmanship.

Had it not been for the opening of the western plains to large scale buffalo hunting the Sharps company would have closed its doors much earlier than it actually did in 1881. Buffalo hunting created a demand for a simple, powerful rifle to kill beasts virtually immune to the less powerful repeating rifles. The Sharps, with its massive artillery-breech mechanism, could be adapted to the largest cartidges available. Thus was born the 'Buffalo Sharps' legend. Although much is made of the 'Big Fifties' (.50 caliber) in western fromtier history, most of the actual buffalo shooting was done with the .45 caliber cartidges, particularly in the later years.

In the East, the Sharps rifle also developed a reputation for long-range accuracy. For example, in 1877 a British team was defeated in a markmanship contest at ranges up to 1000 yards by Americans using Sharps rifles. Although public interest in long range rifle shooting faded quickly, 1000 yard matches were won by Sharps rifles as late as 1900.

The legendary Sharps has become an integral part of United States history through its Civil War and western frontier exploits. The elegantly simple, robust action can be rebarrelled as needed which means that guns over 100 years old can be (and are) used today. Beginning in 1972, new Sharps rifles became available. The principal difference - other than inflation - is the long wait due to heavy demand. The 1880's management of the Sharps company would be very envious. It is entirely possible that there are more people shooting Sharps rifles today than there were in the 1880's.

The Gatchell Museum has a total of ten Sharps rifles. The collection is comprised of characteristic buffalo guns; .45 caliber, heavy barrels and double-set triggers. Most of them are also conversions of Civil War guns, done by various dealers to capitalize on the opportunity to profit from surplus rifles. The quality varies from crude to quite good. As a group they document clearly the weaponry used during the latter years of buffalo hunting and frontier battles on the northern Great Plains.

Model 1886 - The Winchester 'Large Caliber' Rifle

After the introduction and subsequent success of the Model 1860 Henry Rifle, the New Haven Arms Company, under the control of Oliver Fisher Winchester, a successful men's shirt manufacturer, changed the company name to Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Using the year of introduction as the model number, improvements to the lever-action Henry repeater were introduced as the Winchester Model 1866 or simply Model 66. Winchester's subsequent evolution of its lever-action rifles involved the introduction of new models in each of the following years (with the number of the Gatchell Museum's rifles in parentheses): 1873 (3), 1876 (3), 1886 (5), 1892 (2), and 1894 (2). The Gatchell still lacks a Model 1866, the first Winchester, and would like to acquire that firearm to complete its collection of the Company's frontier lever-actions.

The Winchester development of rifles and cartridges accounts for a very significant part of that entire field - the name 'Winchester" came to be and remains a synonym for 'rifle'. Throughout the frontier period the lives of western pioneer men and women depended on rifles for meat and protection. The vast majority of those rifles were Winchesters. An example of this fact occurred in west-central Idaho in 1888 or 1889. A group of men met in a store near a small hamlet to decide on a name for their forthcoming Post Office. Everyone was carrying a gun at the time and they decided to name the town and its new Post Office after the gun with largest representation. Winchesters were the most numerous and so Winchester, Idaho received the name it bears today.

In 1884 the Browning Brothers of Odgen, Utah designed a lever-action, repeating rifle designed to handle the larger, more powerful center-fire cartridges that were then becoming available. Prior to that time one could have either a powerful rifle or a repeating rifle - but not both at once. John Browning's strong new rifle action became the Model 1886 available in the most powerful American calibers. The action was fast and smooth, contributing to its popularity. It was manufactured until 1922.

Model 1894 - The Winchester .30-30 Carbine
The Perfect Saddle Gun.

This is the first Winchester repeater adapted to handle smokeless powder and was destined to become the most famous of the Winchester line. The lever-action Model 94 is yet another Browning brothers design. Although the first model 94's used black powder cartridges, it was chambered for the new smokeless powder .30-30 in 1895 and quickly became known simply as the 'Winchester .30-30.' The faster, flatter-shooting .30-30 was such a radical improvement over the oder black powder loads that within a short time the rifle and its cartridge became a new standard.

This rifle also became a particular favorite with Western pioneers, hunters and ranchers for use off horseback. Packed in a scabbard on the saddle, such a rifle must be short (20 inch barrels maximum), flat, with no protuberances (as, e.g.. in a bolt-action rifle) and possess a set of rugged sights that will withstand very rough usage without being broken easily or losing alignment. There are only a very few rifles that meet these criteria and the Model 94 is far and away the most popular of them. It is still being produced today, over 100 years since its introduction! Serial number 1,000,000 was presented to President Calvin Coolidge in 1927 and serial number 1,500,000 to President Harry Truman on May 8, 1948. Number 2,000,000 went to President Eisenhower and present day manufacture continues on past 5,000,000.

Concluding Comments

The preceding discussions highlight just a few of the Gatchell Museum of the West's firearms. In addition to more rifles of all types there are also many shotguns, pistols and revolvers that were not considered herein. All of the pieces in this collection are on exhibit daily in our Buffalo, Wyoming, Museum - come see them.