The Patriot powder horn

[G. Elsenbeck]

Anyone know who built the powder horn Mel Gibson used in the movie, The Patriot?  If I recall it was basically black with white rings and a silver inlay in the body and not much of a curve. 

[art riser]

I stand corrected.  Frank and Roland did indeed collaborate on the horn.  Lally made the strap.

[G. Elsenbeck]

Thanks Art

[Tanselman]

I thought I'd heard that Roland Cadle made the "Patriot" horn, and Frank did the finishing touches. Did anyone else hear that story?  Shelby Gallien

[Randy Hedden]

I believe you are correct Shelby, Roland and Frank collaborated on the horn that Gibson carried. I just don't know what each one's part was in the making of the horn.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[Lee]

As I recall, Roland told me he made the powder horn from some junk horns that Frank had laying around in his shop.  Frank finished the horn by engraving and attaching the oval silver plate. 

The real question is whether any southern banded horns can be definitively dated to the F&I War or even the Rev. War.  I've always thought they were probably Rev War or later, but have never seen one with a date on it.  Someone enlighten me!

[G-Man]

Hey Lee!  I don't know the answer but it's good to see you on here!

Guy

[mbriggs]

Another item to consider is that the Character the Mel Gibson played in the movie was supposed to have lived in Eastern South Carolina along or near the Santee River.

Powder Horns of this style have always seem to come only from the Piedmont Area of North Carolina, and only from the following Counties, Alamance, Randolph, Moore, Guilford, Davidson, and Forsyth.

I have never seen a Piedmont North Carolina Banded or Bee-hived Horn that would date to the Revolutionary War. Most seem to date between 1800 and 1820. They do show up in enough quantity and different styles that I believe there was a professional horner in each County listed.

Here are a few of my favorite original horns from my collection. This first horn was found in Northern Moore County along with a David Kennedy Longrifle.

 

This horn features two carved bands and a Pewter band on the horn, a raised plug with rings, and a applied tip made from Bone and Pewter.

 




The next horn is from Alamance County. It features three applied bands, a raised bee-hived plug, and a applied bone tip.









This last horn is one of three nearly identical horns from the Snow Camp Community of Alamance County. Each horn features a single applied band near the raised plug base and a applied tip made from bone.

This horn has a beautiful color and pleasing shape to it.







I hope you enjoyed these photos of these original horns.

Michael Briggs

[Tim Crosby]

 Great horns and pics. Thanks for posting them.

Tim C.

[ottawa]

WOW the color on them is out standing

[Lee]

Hi Guy! Good to hear from you as always. Hope all is well.

Hi Michael, Good point - even the region is wrong for the Patriot horn.  I'm with you on the dating.  It doesn't mean there isn't a banded horn out there with a Rev. War date or proveanance, but I've never seen one.  I probably shouldn't share this but, I remember at the end of my conversation with Roland, he laughed and said that he had single-handedly pushed back the date of southern banded horns by at least twenty or more years with the Patriot horn.  I cringed at his comment.  BTW, I picked up a copy of your booklette on southern banded horns at the CLA Show and was the guy who called you about the Berks Co. screwtip horn.  Hope I didn't set you off too badly.  The book is a great resource.   Like I said, check with Art DeCamp and, yes, my good friend Roland about Berks County horns.
Lee