Renault Beauvais, St Louis

[HighUintas]

I visited the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, WY last weekend. My wife let me visit even though we were visiting Pinedale for her birthday.

I'd been there a couple of years ago, before I started learning about the fur trade era and longrifles and Hawken rifles, and mistook the Jim Bridger rifle that is housed there for a Hawken! It is not. It was gifted to him by Louis Vasquez and the builder is from New York, by the name of W Ogden. 40cal, 11.5lb, 49" overall length. 1853










I also found another half stock rifle maker in St Louis. His name is Renault Beauvais. A rifle made by him is below. Doing a quick search, it looks like he was active in StL for a long time in the mid-1800s. 1845 is the date for this rifle.









When searching for other riffles he's made, I found this. It is interesting that is has the earlier Hawken snail shaped breech.

  https://www.bidsquare.com/online-auctions/cowans/half-stock-iron-mounted-percussion-rifle-by-r-beauvais-from-the-jim-richie-collection-482087   

[Notchy Bob]

I think Beauvais was primarily a jeweler, silversmith, or watchmaker, and gun dealer.  While there are some firearms out there with his name on them, it is my understanding these were probably built by contract gunsmiths, L. Grimes and A. Sherington.  However, that should not diminish the significance of the rifles.  They are fine old St. Louis guns.

This one was in Gary Hendershott's The Old West 2019 catalog:







The cowhorn war club and the buffalo powder horn (which appears to have an attached tip, maybe screwed on) were evidently collected with the rifle by a soldier at Sand Creek. 

If you click that link to Mr. Hendershott's catalog, scroll about halfway through it to find this rifle and a pretty good description and discussion.   Beauvais is also mentioned several times in the chapter about St. Louis riflemakers in Charles Hanson's book, The Plains Rifle.  In addition, there are little paragraphs about him in Victor Paul's Missouri Gunsmiths to 1900 and in the second edition of James Whisker's Gunsmiths and Allied Tradesmen of Missouri.  Both edition's of Dr. Whisker's book list Gemienien Beauvais and Jules Beauvais as gunsmiths.  Renaud and Jules were brothers, and Gemienien was their father.  Renaud (or Renault, or Reno... spelling varies) is briefly mentioned as a silversmith in the first edition of Dr. Whisker's book, under the entry for Jules, but he was listed separately as a gunsmith and silversmith in the second edition.  There was also an Augustus Beauvais listed as a gunsmith and silversmith by Dr. Whisker.

In any event, rifles made or marked by R. Beauvais were pretty well regarded.

Notchy Bob

[Craig Wilcox]

Really like that "Union Rifle Works" lock.  It appears to be both well-made, and well used.

[HighUintas]

Thanks for that information, NotchyBob. It's very interesting