powder horns

[onefeather]

if any of you read the documentaion back then was that there was alot of under growth in the forest of kan tuc kee and i was posting this for the people on the kan tuc kee frontier and i havent heard of any natrual medows or openings and i think deer could have survived in mature forest because animals adapt very well and there would have been plenty of nuts and berries for them to eat :youcrazy: :curse:

 

[dlemaster]

One feather
When Daniel Boone and company first came to the spot where Boonesboro was built, in 1775 they looked across a meadow and saw a herd of 30 to 40 buffalo which promptly ran off. Buffalo are more grazing animals than browsers like elk and deer and can't survive in deep virgin forest.
Also in Kentucky at the location of Eskitapthiki an abandoned Shawnee village. Simon Kenton said it was a large field and that indians had planted their corn in very large hills that they had made, and the hills were still visible.
Kentucky and Southern Ohio had large Cane Breaks. While cane grows to a height of 15 feet it requires a lot of sun light and does not grow in deep forest. There was a very large cane break in Kentucky which started near Maysville and ran inland for many miles. Around the many salt licks such as at "Blue Licks", and "Big Bone Lick" there were large open areas where buffalo, elk, and deer came to graze and lick the salty earth.
In Ohio at the location of the Shawnee villages of Cornstalk's town and the Grenadier Squaw's town were both located on the "Pickaway Plains." The plains started in the area of present day Circleville and were in a large oval shape being 2 miles wide East to West and 5 miles long North to South, with a few trees and tall grasses. East of Columbus was located what was called the "Great Buffalo Swamp" in the 18th century it was surrounded for miles by plains. The swamp was dredged out in the 1930s and became Buckeye Lake.
In 1976 the Ohio Geological Survey published a map of Ohio of the original forest, bogs, fens, meadows, swamps,ect. as it appeared in 1776. There were vast areas of meadows and openings scattered over the whole state. It is a mistake to think that everything East of the Mississippi was one vast forest with no breaks.
For good description on Kentucky's original vegetation state please see Ted Beleu's (sp) "The Long Hunt, Death of the Buffalo East of the Mississippi River."
Hope this helps you.

Regards, Dave

 

[dlemaster]

I'm sorry I didn't make the connection to thin powder horns in my previous post, but my point was there was plenty of sunshine for viewing through powder horns. I think thin horns were more for aesthetics than a necessary function, and may be from slightly later period. Look at horns from the F&I through the Revolutionary War period that were made by professional horn makers they are fairly substantial in thickness, there are few translucent horns. I know an argument can be made that because they were thin they didn't survive. But if you were out in the blue you would want your hunting tools to be sturdy and able to take some knockin' around. The original horns I have seen that have rawhide or leather repairs don't seem to be any thinner than the original undamaged horns.

Regards, Dave

 

[gordy]

I too,have made horns both thick and thin walled.I like mine to be thin.As was said,the thin walls have stood up to abuse as well as thicker ones.I rub mine downn with beeswax and lanolin every so often and this keeps them quite flexable.I've looked over several vintage horns of the Rev.War era and found most to be of thicker walls.The horns that seem to work well as thin walls turn out to be almost silver in color.I also use rellief carveing that I've seen on some French horns.I would think that after carrying a horn for a long period,You can tell about how much powder is left.Just don't use a match to see in the pour spout :nono:!!!