Interesting quote from Col. Carrington's Wife, Margaret from Ft. Kearny, 1866

[Jake MacReedy]

Found this quote from Margaret Carrington, wife of Col. Carrington, at Ft. Kearny on the Bozeman Trail from 1866.  Mrs. Carrington was an astute observer of things around her at this fort on the frontier.  I found the quote in Charles E. Hanson Jr.'s fine book on THE HAWKEN RIFLE.  In it, she states:

"Rifles, both English and American, abound.  The Hawkins (sic) is a favorite, carrying what is called the trade ball and requiring a patch; but many of the old guides, trappers, and half-breeds still cling to their use as in the days of Pathfinder and other heroes of Cooper."

So we can see that muzzle-loading percussion rifles were still in abundance on the Frontier after the Civil War, and they stayed popular for a long period afterwards, even with the advent of cartridge firearms.  And this is no surprise to those of us interested in this period!  There is another picture on page 105 in Garavaglia's & Worman's book FIREARMS OF THE AMERICAN WEST: 1866-1894.  This shows Harry Yount, the first Yellowstone National Park Ranger somewhere north of Berthoud Pass in Colorado in 1874 carrying his over-under double-barrel percussion muzzle-loading rifle.  On that same page, there is another picture of two frontiersman/plainsmen, both carrying half-stock percussion rifles in the late 1860's.

I thought you all might find these interesting as well!

Regards,
Jake