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Those California Rifles, Again

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The topic of California rifles comes up on this forum now and then. We had a pretty good discussion in a thread started by @BP Addict a couple of months ago (see What is a California Rifle?), and more recently @sequoia started a thread and posted a photo of a really cool old California bear rifle (see "Grizzly Gun"). The discussion on that thread has wandered a bit off topic, so I thought I might start a new one based on this old photo I found on the web:

California Pioneers.png
It is my understanding that this picture was taken in 1888, and it shows members of the San Bernardino Society for California Pioneers. The fellows in the image are (left to right) Bill Holcomb, John Brown Jr., John Brown Sr., George Miller, and B.B. Harris. While membership in the Society had very stringent requirements, male descendants of men who qualified were also allowed to join. This explains the presence of the two younger fellows.

The three older guys were the real deal. There is a nice newspaper write-up on William F. "Pappy" Holcomb online right here: San Bernardino County's Early Days. He gained fame as a bear hunter, evidently using his muzzle-loading rifle.

Looking at the weaponry, we definitely see three muzzleloading rifles, and possibly four. John Brown Jr. appears to be holding a Colt-style cap and ball revolver, although I can't see well enough to positively identify the model. Three of the gentlemen are wearing shot pouches and powder horns. The two visible rifles held by Holcomb and Brown Sr. look like half-stocked "plains" rifles, while George Miller is holding what appears to be a full-stocked Hawken-style rifle. I think this may actually be the Hoffman & Campbell rifle carried by mountain man Jim Waters, who was also a member of the Society of Pioneers. His rifle is rumored to be in a museum in San Bernardino County, and if any of you California boys can track it down and show us some pictures, it would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, the best we can do is this:

Hoffman & Campbell.jpg

Jim Waters played an active part in the Rocky Mountain fur trade, and I believe he may have been mentioned by R.L. Wootton in the book Uncle **** Wootton. His fullstocked rifle was reportedly made by Hoffman & Campbell, a subsidiary of the Hawken shop, and therefore essentially a Hawken rifle. The historian, Arthur Woodward, wrote a piece on Jim Waters which has been republished on the City of San Bernardino website, right here: Jim Waters

Getting back to the group photo, there is a lot to see. I blew the image up to get a better look at some of the accoutrements:

California Pioneers - Detail.png
You can see Bill Holcomb's pouch and horn pretty clearly here. However, we also see how he carried the greased patches for his rifle... Strung on a cord and hanging from the front strap for his shot pouch. That circular device higher up on his chest is probably a leather percussion cap holder. I think I see a Bowie knife under his left hand. He may have been a geezer like most of us by the time this photo was taken, but by then he had a number of grizzly kills under his belt, taken with a single-shot muzzleloader, and he was likely not a geezer anybody would want to tangle with.

Anyway, this picture gives a good look at some old guns and accoutrements, and it tells us a lot about how the gear was carried. If any of you reading this see any more details that I missed, that might be of interest, by all means point them out!

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
I just love old pictures like this, particularly when the backstory is known and shared. Kudos to you Sir!

One thing I notice in this pic, there is one Winchester repeater in the group held by the younger man, can't be sure if it's a '73 or a '76... But it makes me wonder and can imagine the banter back and forth between the older gents with the muzzle loaders and the younger man with his "new fangled repeater". What an interesting time it must have been to be alive then
 
Blew the pic waaayy up. The Colt is a "51 and the "Winchester" ain't. The rifle is probably either a Burgess design or a Marlin, both of which were available in the early 1880s. Also the gent at the far left, is holding a TC "Hawken".;)
 
The full stocked rifle George Miller is holding has a piece of the fore stock missing ( the top edge along the barrel) that’s visible just above his hand. The rifle you posted from the museum has that same piece of wood missing. Looks like a match in that regard at least.
Great photo and write- up. Some cool history right there.
 
The full stocked rifle George Miller is holding has a piece of the fore stock missing ( the top edge along the barrel) that’s visible just above his hand. The rifle you posted from the museum has that same piece of wood missing. Looks like a match in that regard at least.
Great photo and write- up. Some cool history right there.
You have a good eye, @PathfinderNC ! I thought it was the same rifle in both photos, but details like that defect in the forestock (which I had missed) help confirm it. To my knowledge, this rifle has never been properly evaluated and written up. I keep hoping someone in southern California who knows a little about Hawken rifles will take an interest and track it down. Meanwhile, these two pictures are about all we have.

Thanks for your comments!

Notchy Bob
 
I know this thread is two months old, but I was reminded of some more old photos which may be of interest.

This one is from the collections of the San Bernardino Public Library. It is simply captioned "Man With Rifle":

Man With Rifle - San Bernardino.jpg
I had seen this picture before but forgot where, and did not save it, until I found it again this morning. What a great old picture! I like everything about it. The firearm appears to be a relatively straightforward percussion longrifle, but with a "beavertail" cheekpiece. The man's shot pouch looks like it may be canvas, maybe with a leather flap and a narrow, nonadjustable strap of leather. Hard to say. I think I see two powder measures, maybe (?) one for a light target load (recreational competitive target shooting was popular in the western states in the late 1800's) and one for a heavier charge for hunting.

Evidently, someone took a boatload of photographs of local people in the San Bernardino area in the 1880's, and they were all carefully catalogued. Then, maybe in 1897, there was a terrible fire which destroyed the photographs and the records, but firemen were able to save a boxful of negatives. These are apparently in the possession of the San Bernardino Public Library now, but the identities of a lot of the subjects are lost. While I only know of two images that show guns (this one and the one in post #1), it is still fun to look at the images of people as they were back then.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
I know this thread is two months old, but I was reminded of some more old photos which may be of interest.

This one is from the collections of the San Bernardino Public Library. It is simply captioned "Man With Rifle":

View attachment 205168
I had seen this picture before but forgot where, and did not save it, until I found it again this morning. What a great old picture! I like everything about it. The firearm appears to be a relatively straightforward percussion longrifle, but with a "beavertail" cheekpiece. The man's shot pouch looks like it may be canvas, maybe with a leather flap and a narrow, nonadjustable strap of leather. Hard to say. I think I see two powder measures, maybe (?) one for a light target load (recreational competitive target shooting was popular in the western states in the late 1800's) and one for a heavier charge for hunting.

Evidently, someone took a boatload of photographs of local people in the San Bernardino area in the 1880's, and they were all carefully catalogued. Then, maybe in 1897, there was a terrible fire which destroyed the photographs and the records, but firemen were able to save a boxful of negatives. These are apparently in the possession of the San Bernardino Public Library now, but the identities of a lot of the subjects are lost. While I only know of two images that show guns (this one and the one in post #1), it is still fun to look at the images of people as they were back then.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

That is a neat photo, has his tie on with what looks like a stickpin in it and a patch on the knee of his trousers. What does that tell us about this fine old gentleman.
 
NOTCHY...great photos...notice the trigger guard has a spur on it...i read in an interview with james clyman with a newspaper man he was asked why he moved to california when as a trapper he had been in the most beautiful places in the united states...??? he replied that he always wanted to live in a place he needed only one blanket. love those old pictures too...thanks for posting...fred fellows
 
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