Revolutionary War Bison horns ?

[kje54]

I think I'll carry a 'French horn.'

Brass?

 

[jonathan butcher]

Tin

Brass?

 

[nbforestiv]

Given the census here it would be reasonable to assume that, though there were Bison in the east, the Western buffalo and it's much larger horn ( ie powder horn) is a Western expansion thing. Post Lewis & Clark era.

I don't know if the Eastern Bison horn was smaller, I do a living history on the Natchez Trace, and a friend dug the top half of a Bison skull out of a creek bank and the outside horn of course was gone, but the inside core was larger than my Western horn I made into a powder horn back in 1962!

 

[nbforestiv]

Don't get me into this or I might start talking about the Longhorn powder horn. Now, that's something you don't see every day.
View attachment 41500

Is that supposed to be a powder horn in the picture?

 

[nbforestiv]

As stated above, we do know there were bison in the east, and it seems logical that some of their horns would have been used for powder. It would be pure speculation on my part, but I would think that horns from domestic bovines would have been in more common use, and I believe there were probably professional "horners" to provide them. I believe wild bison try to avoid people when they can, and I'm guessing home-made buffalo powder horns would have been more likely to appear on the frontier than in the settlements.

I found this horn, attributed to the Cherokee, on the Peach State Archaeological Society website:

View attachment 41448

You do see brown bison horns sometimes, and I've heard they are more frequently associated with eastern bison, but I haven't seen any solid documentation of that, the assertion above notwithstanding. There is also some confusion regarding "woodland bison." It is my understanding that the eastern bison were genetically the same as the plains bison. "Wood buffalo" are a different species (although they will interbreed with plains bison), and native to the far northern boreal forests. In any event, the information above is submitted for consideration.

This 1732 painting of a Tunica family, from the lower Mississippi Valley, shows what looks like a buffalo powder horn, slung on the gentleman's side:

View attachment 41452

That's about the best I can do. I'm looking forward to reading some of the other responses.

Notchy Bob

When I was a young man in 1960, my family went to Niagara Falls, there was a museum on the Canadian side that had a Woods Bison head hanging on the wall and it was twice the size of our Western Bison! Don't know if it is still there or not,it's been 60 years ago!

 

[Belleville]

Use of Eastern Buffalo horns for powder horns appears to have been more common at one time, esp in Canada and Illinois country. This subject has come up before; so went out searching for surviving examples and found several.

Peter Kalm's (Swedish botanist) observation when he was in N, Am. in 1747: "The Indians and French in Canada, make use of the horns of these creatures (buffalo) to put powder in."

Eastern buffalo horn is not black however, more brown to green. Eastern buffalo powder horns in the British colonies seems to be less common and the species was going extinct in the British colonies by the Am. Rev. They did not go completely extinct, as there are still some wild Eastern buffalo in Canada.

 

[tenngun]

Most people made ‘fancy’ in the eighteenth century. There is molding on muskets that was there just to look good. Small coastal traders and fishing boats often had gingerbread. And internal stantions were carved piller like and fluting added to mast. Common men’s houses often had carving around the doors.
Surviving eighteenth century horns are often scrimshawed and carved.
So I wonder did many frontiersman make plain horns in the style of nineteenth century horns?
Would he waste a good horn off a buff?
Would a plain horn survive.
Would a man outfitted in Pennsylvania, Virginia, or the Carolinas need a new horn when moving west, except as an emergency. Or would he have a well made horn from a horner?
Boone made two horns he traded for an ox.
Curly maple was chosen for gun stocks simply because it was pretty. Would people have wanted a plain black horn vs something that could be made to look very nice or should I say fancy.
Just thinking here.

 

[tenngun]

Tin

It’s great as you can carry powder or use it to call an elk.

 

[Brian Anderson]

l know of several pre 1750 eastern buffalo powder horns from western conetticut - they have a brown cast rather than black

 

[Notchy Bob]

l know of several pre 1750 eastern buffalo powder horns from western conetticut - they have a brown cast rather than black

Are there any pictures available? Are they in a museum?

Thanks,

Notchy Bob

 

[oldwood]

I'm convinced , a look-a-like , Rev. War Eastern Bison powder horn might be possible , if the right bovine horn can be found. Luckily , I have two hunting buddies that are very talented horn meisters. Time to call in a couple markers for some past m/l gun work . If it's possible , one of them can do it.........oldwood