early homesteader

[Rifleman1776]

This is Daniel Freeman, ca. 1865. He reportedly was the first homesteder. He settled in Nebraska. Great pic. I gulp at the way he is carrying his axe and knife but it may have been just a pose for the picture. Wish the breech of his rifle was clearer. It looks to me to be a flintlock.
Shucks and phooey. The picture is in a format that will not post. I'll try to change it an post later.

 

[TrapperDude]

This is Daniel Freeman, ca. 1865. He reportedly was the first homesteder. He settled in Nebraska. Great pic. I gulp at the way he is carrying his axe and knife but it may have been just a pose for the picture. Wish the breech of his rifle was clearer. It looks to me to be a flintlock.
Shucks and phooey. The picture is in a format that will not post. I'll try to change it an post later.

Please do. I'm curious to see it.

If you have the picture on your computer, do a "save as," and when the window pops up with the file name and a folder, you'll see another thing below the file name with the type of file. Just use the drop-down to pick another format. '.jpg" is a good format to use.

 

[BallBoy]

Here you go!
Derek

 

[TrapperDude]

You know, I hate to say it, but I'm not seeing the side hammer protrusions indicating that his rifle is even a muzzle loader. The only thing I see extending from the sides are the lighter raised sections of his jacket sleeve, which catch the light more prominently than the lower sections of the wrinkles.

It looks like the butt of the rifle stops above his knee, while the muzzle goes only to his shoulder from there, making the rifle also shorter than a muzzle loader would be. That might very well be some sort of rolling block rifle.

 

[smo]

TD,
I zoomed in on it , it appears the stock is on the ground by his left foot .. But I’m not sure if it’s flint of percussion..

 

[TrapperDude]

TD,
I zoomed in on it , it appears the stock is on the ground by his left foot .. But I’m not sure if it’s flint of percussion..

View attachment 155845

You're right. When I zoomed it in, it kept popping back to the original size when I took my fingers off the screen, so I couldn't look at it well enough. That part below his knee wasn't very clear when I looked before.

But is this part a wick? I don't think match locks were used in the 19th Century, but I can't think of anything else on the side of a muzzle loader that looks like that:

And this right here--is that one of those lever-like triggers match locks use?

It has quite a gap at the rear of it, and it's too thick to be a conventional trigger, while it also doesn't look like a conventional trigger guard.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Looks like an oar lock to me

ADK Bigfoot

 

[PathfinderNC]

It's a flintlock.

 

[D.Summers]

Hard to say. Blowing up the pic seems to make it harder to see. I think PathfinderNC is right, it's a flintlock. But what struck me about the photo is that it looks a lot like my departed, dear old Daddy!!

 

[TrapperDude]

It's a flintlock.

What is that thing in the too photo I circled that's protruding below the wood? A flash pan doesn't usually hang below the wood.

 

[smo]

If the area you’re talking about is the one I circled, I think that’s the trigger guard..

I can’t tell for sure in flint or percussion…

I can’t see a shooting bag either…

 

[D.Summers]

That old feller is clearly posing for a photo! And a nice one it is!! (I swear it looks like my old daddy!)

 

[D.Summers]

It seems almost impossible to tell about his long gun. Just not clear enuf! But is that a flap holster there on his belt, possibly holding an old revolver?

 

[D.Summers]

He sure looks like a tough customer!!

 

[deerstalkert]

he had to be a tough customer. his neighbors were the toughest!
that device at the breech sure looks like an oar lock. wonder if it was used as a swivel gun on a boat?

 

[JEBMs]

Had to be a posed picture, with that pig sticker slung in that area it he were to take a tumble he’d be able to sing in the girl’s choir come Sunday

 

[TrapperDude]

Had to be a posed picture, with that pig sticker slung in that area it he were to take a tumble he’d be able to sing in the girl’s choir come Sunday

I don't know. It's in a sheath at least. At the worst, he might get a slap on the head.

 

[French Colonial]

I wonder if that's a cows knee?

 

[Nor'Easter]

I think his shooting bag might be on his left side between his elbow/fore arm and body. It looks like the strap is hung on his left shoulder instead of cross-body. I am also in the camp of 'it looks like a cows-knee over the lock', and that sure looks like an oar-lock - I just don't understand why it is just hanging in mid-air like that. Maybe it's just tied there with the ends of the lacing used to tie on the cows-knee. As heavy barreled as some of those old rifles were, he might use it as a shooting brace, like they did with the old arquebuses.

 

[Steel Hayes]

Maybe something like this?