What gear would an 1860 Californio carry with him?

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Tsalgidave.

Here is the Lyman Plains pistol ... a stock shot I got from the Lyman Website:



Same with the Pedersoli Scout (my camera is kinda fuzzy):



These are pics of the Bridger Bag from October Country:





These are very similar to the ones I got for the Justins ....



These are a pic from the internet of the Justin Ropers:



Here is a pic with the bag in Action  ... doing the Squatter's Riots last summer:

[Nortekman]

Hello everyone, this is my first post; I came across this thread while researching about the typical costumes Mexicans wore in the 19th century, specially the Charros/rancheros and hacendados (land owners). I wanted to make my own vaquero costume or possibly buy one; I am doing some historical work here in Texas about the original cowboy, i.e., the Mexican cowboy and I wanted to look the part. I searched for paintings that might depict Mexicans of that era to give me some idea of how they dressed. I also went to some San Antonio charro shops but they only sold post 1800's charro suits and I want the pre 1800's suits.

While searching I befriended a Mexican man from Monterrey, who told me to search for "chinaco ranchero" or "traje chinaco," and told me the names of a few painters/artists from the era who depicted Mexican life in the 19th century. Well the info was great and I was able to find some Flickr groups/sets that specialized in Mexican cowboy culture: http://www.flickr.com/groups/927225@N20/
My problem, though, is that I need some info on how to make my own suit based on those pictures or find a place where I can buy the suit exactly as it is portrayed in those pictures. I found an online Charro store from Mexico where they make them the traditional way by hand, but they only ship withing Mexico

Here are some pictures I found in that Flickr group:

"Ataque a la Diligencia" from mid 1850's. Just outside Mexico City


"Asalto a Diligencia" by Manuel Serrano, circa 1855


"Portal del Coliseo Viejo" from Casimiro Castro y J. Campillo's "Trajes Mexicanos" book 1855-1856.


A lancer fighting a French Zouave during the French invasion of Mexico in the 1860's


El Ranchero from the book "Los Mexicanos Pintados por si Mismos" from 1842


Just killed a Frenchman or gringo


My friend also gave the name of a few Mexican movies that depict the era. I was only able to find 5 of them on Youtube. i dont understand Spanish very well, but they show how it was back then

"El ahijado de la Muerte" set in late 1840's early 1850's (scroll to 0:28)

"Bugambilia" set in the 1860's

"La Feria de las Flores" set in 1852 (check minute 13:00 if you dont want to watch the whole thing)

"Camino de Sacramento" set in the early to mid 1840's (scroll to minute 4:06)

"Historia de un gran amor" set in the late 1830's

[flyingcollie]

. . .I'm thinking that a person might have carried a small tin in a pocket with some paper cartridges, common at that time . . .

A little nit-picking, paper cartridges were made up with conical balls . . . the '51 Colt doesn't have enough clearance to allow for loading other than a round ball, much less a conical ball with a paper cartridge attached . . .

[El Tio Loco]

A little nit-picking, paper cartridges were made up with conical balls . . . the '51 Colt doesn't have enough clearance to allow for loading other than a round ball, much less a conical ball with a paper cartridge attached . . .

Every 1851 Colt I have seen accepts paper cartridges with a conical ball attached. Colt issued a two cavity bullet mold (round ball and conical) with every pistol sold.  Colt produced envelope (paper) cartridges for most of their percussion revolvers.  In 1851 the army bought 393,304 paper cartridges for use and the soldiers preferred them over loading with a flask.
Ken

[flyingcollie]

Maybe I got my head up where it's dark and hard to breathe ?  I have a couple of Uberti '61 navies that take a paper cartridge with a conical ball jes' fine, plenty of clearance under the ram. I have not been able to manage to get a conical ball loaded in the Colt 2nd gen. '51 Navies I have, much less with a paper cartridge attached. I'd appreciate some tips, sincerely !!

[Skeeter Lewis]

I've heard those Californio jackets wore like iron. What were the originals made of? Wool? Wool and cotton?
Also are there any photos of original 19th century examples?
Skeet

[Professor Marvel]

Maybe I got my head up where it's dark and hard to breathe ?  I have a couple of Uberti '61 navies that take a paper cartridge with a conical ball jes' fine, plenty of clearance under the ram. I have not been able to manage to get a conical ball loaded in the Colt 2nd gen. '51 Navies I have, much less with a paper cartridge attached. I'd appreciate some tips, sincerely !!

Ah My Good Collie -
No, you are not sufferring from a cranial inversion. What you are experiencing is one of the problems with Replicas vs Originals.

Most of the 1851 Replicas do not have sufficient space for a conical, and amongst the common mods for "more better historicity" is to open up the clearance.

yhs
prof marvel

[Mickey Lugo]

Sorry to resurrect a zombie thread here, but I'm pretty new to the CAS thing.

I'm building a persona based on my actual Californio ancestors, and this thread has been massively illuminating

[Mickey Lugo]

This is a photo I've always loved, as it shows some actual ancestors of mine, the Lugo family of Southern California, though this was taken after they has sold off or lost most of their ranchos

[Dave T]

Mickey,

That picture is awsome. What a great heritage to portray.

Dave

[Tsalagidave]

This is a photo I've always loved, as it shows some actual ancestors of mine, the Lugo family of Southern California, though this was taken after they has sold off or lost most of their ranchos

That is a great legacy you have there. The Lugo family played such a huge role in the development of Southern California. I think of Horace Bell's account of meeting "Old Man Lugo".

"Soon after my arrival at the Angels it was my good fortune to visit the home ranch of possibly the most , eminent Spaniard in California, Don Antonio Maria Lugo, by the Spaniards designated as "El viejo Lugo," by the Americans as " Old man Lugo," the patriarch of the numerous Lugo family, once so rich, powerful and influential. Don Antonio Maria Lugo was eminent, not as a politician or as a man of learning, but as a man of princely possessions, of great generosity and unblemished honor. To be a kinsman of old man Lugo, in the remotest degree, was an assurance of an ample start in lands and cattle with which to commence the battle of life. To give the reader an idea of his great importance, it was always said, and I believe truthfully, that old man Lugo could ride from San Diego to Sonoma, a distance of seven hundred miles, sleep every night on his own land, change horses every day from his own herds, and eat beef slaughtered from his own cattle on the entire journey. As a man of vast possessions, of unbounded generosity and strict integrity, old man Lugo was without a peer on the whole California coast."

Bell eulogized him in later accounts as well.

-Dave