The rifle is also shown in Jim Johnston's "Accoutrements" book (Volume 1). The rifle is a just an outstanding piece in architecture and decoration, and I agree - it is my favorite Dickert rifle as well. It hung for many years in Jim's "Golden Age Arms" shops in Delaware, and later Ashely, Ohio and I was lucky enogh to be permitted to pick it up and handle it once along with a great Shroyer, a Verner, and several other great rifles all in the same day. I don't recall it being very heavy. If I recall correctly, in "Accoutrements" Jim describes how his father and he bought and sold it several times over the years.
The gun is believed to date to the early 1780s. There are few pieces that are known to have "been there" on the Ohio Valley frontier - add that to the fact that it is just an exceptional longrifle by one of the greatest makers, puts it in pretty rare company. The gun has a history tieing it to a western PA militiaman on Crawford's Campaign in 1782, which ended in a disastrous retreat after the Battle of Sandsuky - according to the information in "Accoutrements" it was used in the battle and fired the shot that killed "The Half Moon", a Shawnee chief. The militia were outnumbered and surrounded so they split into small groups to make their way out and many were killed, captured or later killed in gauntlets or burned at stake. The militiaman who carried it served with Col. Williamson, the leader of the troops at the Gnadenhutten (Moravian) massacre, who made it back from the Sandusky campaign unscathed, while Col. Crawford was captured and burned near present day Bucyrus, Ohio.
Guy
