Antique Store Find

[Enfield1]

Hello smoke makers. Years, ago, I got a reprint of John Baird’s book, “Fifteen Years in the Hawken Lode”. If you have this book, turn to page 50 and you will see a black and white depiction of some mountain men at a rendezvous shooting at a target posted on a tree. The caption says that you can get this print from the NMLRA In Friendship, Ind for $3.00.

I contacted them and they did not know what I was talking about. I have been wanting that picture for a long time. Today, my wife and I were browsing in an antique store over in Montgomery and I found it in a booth. I love the image. It is in color. The men depicted have both flintlocks and cap locks. You can see both buckskin clad men and men with capotes. It now has a place on a wall in my man cave. I can be pretty technically challenged. I hope that the photo shows up well for you.

 

[Bob McBride]

Great find. Very cool print.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Maybe at Fort William (later fort Laramie) in Wyoming.

 

[Doc Ivory]

A very cool find!

 

[ny griz]

Very nice pic and good find.Looks like a Rondezvous. NY Griz

 

[Squatch84]

Very nice!

 

[FishDFly]

Hello smoke makers. Years, ago, I got a reprint of John Baird’s book, “Fifteen Years in the Hawken Lode”. If you have this book, turn to page 50 and you will see a black and white depiction of some mountain men at a rendezvous shooting at a target posted on a tree. The caption says that you can get this print from the NMLRA In Friendship, Ind for $3.00.

I contacted them and they did not know what I was talking about. I have been wanting that picture for a long time. Today, my wife and I were browsing in an antique store over in Montgomery and I found it in a booth. I love the image. It is in color. The men depicted have both flintlocks and cap locks. You can see both buckskin clad men and men with capotes. It now has a place on a wall in my man cave. I can be pretty technically challenged. I hope that the photo shows up well for you.

It's available from NMLRA in Muzzle Blasts December 2020 for $100 plus shipping, limit one per member.

 

[Enfield1]

It's available from NMLRA in Muzzle Blasts December 2020 for $100 plus shipping, limit one per member.

Goodness. I can see now that I got a much better deal, frame, matting and all.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Thanks for posting this, Enfield1. I never met Mr. Barsotti, but I sure did love his writing and artwork in my dad's Muzzle Blasts when I was growing up. And Fishdfly is right; the NMLRA uncovered a trove of the original prints, which they are offering for sale.

I believe Mr. Barsotti owned an original Hawken rifle, and he was certainly one of the original Hawken enthusiasts. He wrote and illustrated a two-part article for Gun Digest, I believe for their 1954 and 1955 editions, entitled "Mountain Men and Mountain Rifles." My dad had saved one of these, I think the issue with part 1 of Mr. Barsotti's article, and I discovered and devoured it when I was about ten years old, which would have been about 1964. John Baird's series, "Hawken Rifles: The Mountain Man's Choice," started shortly thereafter, and I was hooked!

Mr. Barsotti was not solely interested in Hawkens, though. He illustrated several articles in Muzzle Blasts about old-time shooting matches and hunting escapades in his native Ohio, and he also illustrated a memoir by Dr. George Duncan, about growing up and hunting in east Texas in the 1890's. Bear in mind, when Mr. Barsotti was most active in writing and illustrating, in the 1950's and 1960's, there were plenty of old-timers still living who had actual memories of the 19th century. Mr. Barsotti listened to what they had to say, and committed those memories to paper with his artwork and writing. I once wrote to the NMLRA, years ago, and suggested they put together a special publication, an anthology or "treasury" of Mr. Barsotti's articles and art, which had been published in Muzzle Blasts. Nothing came of it. Maybe I'll try again... I think a publication like that would be well received by the membership, and by blackpowder shooters in general.

Sorry to ramble, but that picture of the mountain men opened up some happy memories for me. It was a better world back then, in many ways. Congratulations on a great "find"! You have a real treasure there.

Thanks for posting!

Notchy Bob

 

[user 48679]

It seem to me that there's a preponderance of full-stock rifles depicted in the pic, and not the "usual" half-stock guns we think of as "Hawkens"

 

[Notchy Bob]

It seem to me that there's a preponderance of full-stock rifles depicted in the pic, and not the "usual" half-stock guns we think of as "Hawkens"

I agree, but I think the picture may be accurate. I associate half-stocked Hawkens with plainsmen more than the true "mountain men," so more of the half-stocks have survived because they are relatively "younger." You see mention in the period literature of "whole stock" rifles, and there are at least a couple of existing Hawken half-stocks that show evidence of having been cut down and "half-stocked." James Josiah Webb, a Santa Fe trader, actually described having this done in his memoir, although his rifle was not likely to have been a Hawken. Plenty of old-time mountain men carried half-stocked Hawkens, but later in life. We also know half-stocked Hawkens cost more than fullstocks from the Hawken shop, so I suppose they may have gotten better care because they were more valuable. Just speculation on my part, though.

We assume those are Hawken rifles in the picture because of the title of the original painting, which is Mountain Men and Hawken Rifles.

Notchy Bob

 

[rickystl]

Congratulations. Nice find.