A used copy. Stock photo shown. The gun like the axe and the plow, was an essential tool in the exploration and settlement of the trans-Mississippi West. It provided food for the cooking pot as well as protection against two -or four-legged marauders. As the century progressed, firearms also provided various forms of recreation for both men and women, primarily target and competition shooting.
Of course the employment of the gun, whether for good or evil, depended upon the user. The men and women who lived the nineteenth-century western experience sometimes described in detail the role firearms played in their lives. Such accounts included a trapper in the 1830's, a woman crossing the plains by wagon in the 1850's, a drover ("cowboy" in modern terminology) enduring the dangers of a long cattle drive, a professional hunter engaged in the slaughter of the once seemingly endless herds of bison, or a soldier campaigning against American Indians.
Each account adds to our knowledge of firearms and our awareness of the struggle faced by those who were a part of the western experience. Gunsmoke and Saddle Leather describes the gun's impact on the lives of those in the West - men and women, whites and American Indians - using their own words to tell that story wherever possible. Hardcover 9-1/4 by 12-12" format, 522 pages, black and white photos.
The Table of Contents includes the following:
Same day shipment, when you click ADD TO CART and complete shopping cart check out. Inspect the item, return it for same day refund if not delighted. You will be pleased with your choice. You pay postage, your only risk.
Of course the employment of the gun, whether for good or evil, depended upon the user. The men and women who lived the nineteenth-century western experience sometimes described in detail the role firearms played in their lives. Such accounts included a trapper in the 1830's, a woman crossing the plains by wagon in the 1850's, a drover ("cowboy" in modern terminology) enduring the dangers of a long cattle drive, a professional hunter engaged in the slaughter of the once seemingly endless herds of bison, or a soldier campaigning against American Indians.
Each account adds to our knowledge of firearms and our awareness of the struggle faced by those who were a part of the western experience. Gunsmoke and Saddle Leather describes the gun's impact on the lives of those in the West - men and women, whites and American Indians - using their own words to tell that story wherever possible. Hardcover 9-1/4 by 12-12" format, 522 pages, black and white photos.
The Table of Contents includes the following:
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Trappers, Traders, and Other Travelers
- Chapter 2 The Army Moves West, 1803-1865
- Chapter 3 Across the Plains by Foot, Handcart, and Wagon
- Chapter 4 Goldseekers: Rushes to California and Elsewhere
- Chapter 5 Guns and Travelers from Abroad
- Chapter 6 Sharps: The "Old Reliable"
- Chapter 7 Colts and Their Competitors
- Chapter 8 The 1860's: A Decade of Advancing Technology
- Chapter 9 Trailing Cattle
- Chapter 10 Small but Deadly: Derringers and Other Pocket Protectors
- Chapter 11 The Slaughter of the Bison
- Chapter 12 Shotguns, Versatile and Deadly
- Chapter 13 Pistols and Petticoats: Women as Shootists
- Chapter 14From "Trapdoor" to Krag: The Post-Civil War Army
- Chapter 15 Hunters' Choices: The '73 Winchester and Others
- Chapter 16Artillery in the Frontier: Civilian and Military
- Chapter 17 Guns of the Native Americans
- Appendix AOpportunities to View Antique Firearms
- Appendix BChronology
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Same day shipment, when you click ADD TO CART and complete shopping cart check out. Inspect the item, return it for same day refund if not delighted. You will be pleased with your choice. You pay postage, your only risk.