buffalo powderhorn

[Grumpa]

Spence, that horn is beautiful.

The Heinz History Center here in Pittsburgh had a nice buffalo powder horn on exhibit, from the F&I War period. It was scrimshawed (as I recall) with the three rivers and Fort Pitt.

 

[LaBonte]

Chuck- I want to be as pc as possible. I don't like the big brass tacks around the base plug but it looks like they were common. I have had trouble finding any originals.
My issues: (I am trying to figure what was most common)
1. Wood for base plug? Pine? Walnut, etc.
2. Finial or staple in base plug.
3. Means to hold base plug- brass tacks, square nails, etc.
4. Amount of embellishment. I thought on some the front 2/3 towards the base plug was left very plain- overall the overall work much less than on a cow horn carried in the east by a long hunter.
As I said- I'm trying for "average" buffalo powder horn that might have been carried by a mountain man. Thanks for any help/advice.

Dave IMO the first question is did the average mountaineer carry a pro made horn brought west by a trading company or is the horn one made "on site/field expedient" so to speak by a mountaineer during the mid-winter shut down, which would also depend on their skills, inherent or learned?
I'll try and answer as best I can on our currently established historical database and my studies into that.
1) Base plug - if eastern made for trade it could be any typical wood from the area the horn was built. If a western wood, one of several types of western pines would be the most likely since it's easy to work with simple tools, but their also a few western hardwoods that could be used such as gambel's oak, cottonwood (very common), willow, and vine maple.
2) Finial: toss a coin - either would be used
3) Means to hold base plug: based on existing examples of western made horns whether pro or filed expedient, brass tacks were common in either 1/4" high dome or 3/8" low dome heads. To be totally proper pre-1870's thes would be solid brass, square shank tacks, but the much less expensive iron shank, solid brass head tacks can used in most cases as an imitation to the "real thing". Other than that there's not a lot of info so I would say any period style of attachment would be appropriate.
4) Embellishment - a tough one since the database is low on actual still existing examples, and the art work of the time is also limited that this could be a fairly broad field and could/would have depended as well on the ethnicity of the maker. The Indians/Metis/Spanish tended to be a bit more "flamboyant" than the run of the mill Anglo, but even that will depend on who they are and when they were.
I have somewhere in my image library I have several images of western horns from the pre-1850's era and if I find them I'll post them for you if desired?

 

[George]

crockett, here's a description of powder horn making by a Hidatsa Indian, mid-19th century.

"The powder horn was made of the horn of a three year old buffalo, the proper age of a buffalo to make such a container. One end of the horn was cut with a knob; the thong from which the horn was hung was looped around the horn on either side of this knob. The larger end of the horn was plugged with a piece of cottonwood bark. The horn was heated and the plug driven home; when the horn contracted, the plug fitted snuggly. To secure the plug further, some tacks were driven through the thin edge of the horn into the bark. A piece of iron was twisted into an eye and driven into the end to receive the thong. A pin of hard June berry wood was used as a stopper for the powder horn. When loading the gun, I withdrew the pin with my teeth and poured the powder into the palm of my hand."

Spence

 

[BrownBear]

...western hardwoods...cottonwood (very common)....

Might be an oversight, but cottonwood is really soft. It also goes "punky" real fast as it dries or ages. I'd be real suspicious of any staple applied to it unless the ends were bent over on the inside of the plug prior to installation.

Near the top of the list when it comes to easy to work with, but with precautions and eventual replacement. I've used it a couple of times when making horns from our own cattle, in the spirit of using local materials. Not real happy with it. Better alternatives for me were pinon (lots harder than the other pines) and juniper (or "cedar" as the locals call it). Of those three I've worked with, juniper sits right at the top of the heap.

If you're willing to consider the trappers working out of Taos and points south and west, you could probably add mesquite to the list of possibilities. But talk about tough and hard! Wow.

Just thought of one more: Tamarisk (aka salt cedar) is darned good, but it wasn't around until the USDA brought it in for soil stabilization in the 1930's.

 

[BillinOregon]

LaBonte, I would sure love to see those images of pre-1850 western horns if you happen to find them.
Brownie, if you want hard, but beautiful, find yourself some mountain mahogany and wear out your chainsaw.

:wink:

 

[BrownBear]

Brownie, if you want hard, but beautiful, find yourself some mountain mahogany and wear out your chainsaw.

Oh yeah. You reminded me of one other really hard wood in the coastal ranges: madrone. You can cut it green, but once dry....

 

[crockett]

Thanks Chuck, I'll have to think things over a bit- thanks to all others as well for the input. I'll probably use pine. On the mesquite- I thought that was a new arrival from Mexico, the cattle liked eating the seed pods and ended up "planting" the trees.
One thing I'm pretty certain is they weren't too fancy. I may go with a staple in the base plug. Not sure on the brass tacks. Maybe.

 

[LaBonte]

Dave it's true cattle spread the mesquite beans, but back as far as the Ice age mesquite was spread over a very large section of the SW USA and Northern Mexico. One note from the Texas/Santa Fe expedition in 1840 mentions feeding their livestock the beans.
As for the butt plug I generally use pine as well. It was a common wood for such use. I generally use pinon pine since I can find lots of them standing dead and well dried due to the pine beetle infestation. Other pines available in the west would have been lodge pole and ponderosa.
I reckon that whatever you use to pin the plug in place would be good - I use brass tacks, but also use the square shank iron tacks from the hardware store. They come in different sizes. On some I will clip the head off so the tack is flush, and other times I leave them as is.
Here's one I did with the idea that it was built in camp over the long winter season, by someone with at least basic skills.

Butt Plug is pinon pine held I place with iron tacks (which show up on RMFT trade lists) and the finish is scraped and then hand rubbed with bear grease. Because this particular horn wanted to "fuzz" at the two ends I covered those areas with mule deer rawhide well finished with spar varnish to keep the horn from splitting/fuzzing.
The strap is sewn on the small end, and the for the ******** finial I used a carved piece of a Pinion branch and screwed/hide glued it in place.

Bear I agree that cottonwood may not be the best but a lot was used for making all kinds of things including furniture and the carretas used by the Mexicans. I have also used a fair amount over the years for various projects and found the heartwood to be much more useful with out problems than the sap wood.

 

[BrownBear]

...and found the heartwood to be much more useful with out problems than the sap wood.

Good distinction. I'm kinda wondering too, if there is some difference in cottonwood within the range, or maybe several species of cottonwood at work. I know the cottonwood we had down on the border was tougher and heavier than what we have on our place in southern CO. That stuff reminds me more of balsa, it's so soft and light when it dries. Big load of ash left in the wood stove too, while not giving out much heat.

BTW- That last horn you pictured is about the best version from buffalo I've ever seen, for my tastes anyway. Great.

 

[crockett]

Thanks Chuck- that horn is just about what I want to do and the curve is about the same as what I have. I have used steel upholstery tacks on other horns because they have square shanks (I cut off the heads). I think I might do a couple of rings near the throat/tip to hold the strap, scrape the rest, use pine for the base plug, maybe a finial of some sort.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Interesting horn. Not what I would call attractive. It looks heavy. Is it?

 

[Rifleman1776]

A pin of hard June berry wood was used as a stopper for the powder horn. When loading the gun, I withdrew the pin with my teeth and poured the powder into the palm of my hand."

I don't know what June Berry is. But hard is not my choice. Softer woods compress slightly when seated in the hole and hold tighter. Plus, a hard stopper can split horn if forced. And, during it's life, some idjit might just try forcing the plug. And, I also pull with my teeth, softer is easier to grip.

 

[LaBonte]

Interesting horn. Not what I would call attractive. It looks heavy. Is it?

No heavier than any other horn of comparable sis (about 13" around the curve) and I reckon beauty is in the eye of the beholder - it came out the way I wanted which is similar to some other RMFT era horns and not like an eastern commercial horn

 

[BillinOregon]

Chuck, that horn is just magic in my eyes. Seems everything you touch turns to gold.

:hatsoff:

Regarding cottonwood, it was also widely used for making large bowls. I have seen a number very large dough bowls made of cottonwood that must have had a capacity of five or more gallons.

 

[crockett]

Not attractive compared to the fine Pennsylvania Screw tip styles but the whole thing is to re-create the gear that was used.
That is....the gear used by mountain men in the Rocky Mountains.

 

[BrownBear]

Not attractive compared to the fine Pennsylvania Screw tip styles...

Certainly a case of beauty in the eyes of the beholder. I've always found the eastern style you reference and many others too overdressed or pimpy for the commoner, no matter their historic antecedence to the plainer western horns. But I'm a westerner. Chuck's buffalo horn is to my eye an example of the ultimate beauty in horns.

 

Not attractive compared to the fine Pennsylvania Screw tip styles but the whole thing is to re-create the gear that was used.
That is....the gear used by mountain men in the Rocky Mountains.

So you're saying that everyone that came to the Rockies discarded the "cow" powder horns they brought with them and created new horns from buffalo?

 

[omarick1948]

All but three and they bought theirs at Cabela's!

:metoo:

 

[crockett]

When did I say that???? All I said was the buffalo powder horns made and used by mountain men in the Rockies were not fancy like the Pennsylvania screw tips but if you like mountain man gear, then that's what you'll want even if it is plain.

 

[BillinOregon]

Crockett, if you need a base plug staple I'd be happy to send you one, gratis.
Made up a right smart o' these little dudes on the charcoal forge a couple of years ago.
If you want one, PM me name and mailing address and large or small or both.
Bill