Great Britain’s role in America’s early history has been one of both adversary and ally. From the fight for our nation’s independence in 1776 to Great Britain’s attempt to invade the United States during the War of 1812 (including the capture and burning of Washington, D.C., in August of 1814),
The Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, exhibits a remarkable collection of famous Western firearms. This includes a cased pair of heavily engraved, gold- and silver-plated, elephant-ivory-gripped, .36-caliber Colt Model 1861 Navy revolvers believed to be owned by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. A marshal superstar in his time, Custer is
One of the most useful and versatile guns in the Old West was the side-by-side double-barreled shotgun. It usually had a prominent place behind the front door of a pioneer’s cabin or “soddy,” putting meat on the table or keeping four- or two-legged predators at bay. The double gun was also
It began with a patent, an unbreakable patent belonging to Samuel Colt since 1835 that kept E. Remington & Sons at arm’s length from the late 1840s until the day Colt’s seven-year patent extension expired in 1857. As an American arms manufacturer, Remington was much older than Colt, founded in
A lot of Old West mythology surrounds handguns and the speed with which they could be drawn and accurately fired. This is especially true of large-caliber percussion pistols like the Colt Walker and Dragoons in the 1840s and 1850s. These were the guns Samuel Colt needed to build to get government
Gold watches, gold coins, gold teeth and gold guns are all status symbols to own and show off with pride. For over 4,000 years, gold has been used to decorate personal possessions and bodies, not to mention for trade purposes in the form of money and other liquid assets. Gold
