"The Hawken Rifle" A history from the National Park Service.
People today are fascinated with many of the common tools used by settlers in the American West. This fascination is most evident with the firearms used by people who served in the military, explored the West, or journeyed to the rugged mountains in search of beaver and other fur-bearing animals. One of the most famous firearms of all time was the legendary Hawken Rifle. A myth has grown up around the Hawken, which infers that every fur trapper and trader carried this particular brand of firearm into the Rockies, and felt that any other type of rifle was second-rate. It is fitting that the Museum of Westward Expansion should display a Hawken rifle, since these firearms were manufactured in St. Louis; but the Hawken rifle is not displayed to give the impression that it was the only weapon of the mountainman era.
When Jacob Hawken arrived in St. Louis in 1818, the town was still a tiny fur trading outpost on the edge of the wilderness. St. Louis was just starting to be known as the logical supply point for people headed west, due to its excellent location along natural overland and water routes. Hawken came to St. Louis from Harpers Ferry, Virginia (today's West Virginia), where he, his father and brothers were gunsmiths in the federal armory. It is probable that Jacob learned his gun-making skills during his years in the armory, skills he brought to St. Louis in 1818. A commercial hub such as St. Louis provided Hawken with the supplies he needed to repair and manufacture firearms. Hawken befriended James Lakenan, another local gunsmith, who, according to local records, operated a shop at the corner of Hickory and First Streets
People today are fascinated with many of the common tools used by settlers in the American West. This fascination is most evident with the firearms used by people who served in the military, explored the West, or journeyed to the rugged mountains in search of beaver and other fur-bearing animals. One of the most famous firearms of all time was the legendary Hawken Rifle. A myth has grown up around the Hawken, which infers that every fur trapper and trader carried this particular brand of firearm into the Rockies, and felt that any other type of rifle was second-rate. It is fitting that the Museum of Westward Expansion should display a Hawken rifle, since these firearms were manufactured in St. Louis; but the Hawken rifle is not displayed to give the impression that it was the only weapon of the mountainman era.
When Jacob Hawken arrived in St. Louis in 1818, the town was still a tiny fur trading outpost on the edge of the wilderness. St. Louis was just starting to be known as the logical supply point for people headed west, due to its excellent location along natural overland and water routes. Hawken came to St. Louis from Harpers Ferry, Virginia (today's West Virginia), where he, his father and brothers were gunsmiths in the federal armory. It is probable that Jacob learned his gun-making skills during his years in the armory, skills he brought to St. Louis in 1818. A commercial hub such as St. Louis provided Hawken with the supplies he needed to repair and manufacture firearms. Hawken befriended James Lakenan, another local gunsmith, who, according to local records, operated a shop at the corner of Hickory and First Streets
