Great discussion. Some reason that mountain men probably all wanted the latest technology, of course!
Flintlock rifles were being taken west through the 1830s and into the 1840s in large numbers. The top end, the free trappers, the brigade leaders, the fort booshway probably were more likely to have the latest, best, and most costly equipment. But the trappers who signed up for a season or two with a grade probably could afford or were supplied with durable, functional equipment like flintlock trade guns.
It’s not clear what class or price range a very early J&S Hawken in flintlock would fall into, but if we could go back with a time machine, my money would be on it being a simple, rugged, fullstock rifle not all that distinguished from others going west. I’d not expect it to resemble later Hawken rifles all that closely.
I agree with what you say. You cover a fair range of issues, though.
I don't think that human nature has changed much in the last couple hundred of years and may not have changed much in the last few thousand years. The people that went to the mountains to trap were diverse and would have had as varying opinions, likes and dislikes, and preferences as the people that post on these forums today. Some would have gone as cheap as they could and been satisfied with a Northwest trade gun. Some probably brought to the mountains what ever they already owned in the way of arms. Some would have wanted the best they could afford. And some would have wanted the latest and greatest and the most expensive, even if they had to go into debt to get it. We see this in people today. I'm sure it was the same back then.
There is some data, meager as it is, that may shift our paradigm a little concerning what trappers, particularly company trappers were willing to pay for a gun.
The article and book I referenced earlier by Jack B. Tykal about Etienne Provost also has information concerning the "Invoice of merchandise sent to Lucien Fontenelle in charge of Etienne Proveau to be sold in the Rocky Mountains for account and risks of U.M.O. 1834." As the title of the invoice states, this is a list of trade goods that Etienne Provost was in charge of taking to the 1834 rendezvous for the AFC brigades led by Lucien Fontenelle and Andrew Drips. Tykal reports that included in the list of goods were "6 steel mounted rifles, Hawken" at $20 each. In addition, there were 10 other "steel mounted rifles" at $17.50, and 30 Northwest trade guns. There were 3 other rifles listed "in use", but no values given. The 10 other rifles at $17.50 match the prices paid JJ Henry for steel mounted American rifles in 1832 and 1833 and are probably some of the same rifles. Absent from the list are any brass mounted American rifles that normally cost around $10 to $11. Even though Tykal didn't give a price for the Northwest trade guns, they usually were valued at $4.50.
The AFC had been trying to compete with the Rocky Mountain Fur Co. since 1830. They never won the race to the main rendezvous and sometimes didn't even find it. By 1834, they were looking to supply only their own brigades, so these numbers do not represent all the guns needed or taken to the mountains that year. In addition to the supplies that Etienne Provost was taking to the mountains, Nathaniel Wyeth had made an agreement with Thomas Fitzpatrick and Milton Sublette to take supplies for the Rocky Mountain Fur Co. Wyeth had rifles with him that he had purchased back east, but I don't know any details about them. Captain Bonneville also had trappers in the mountains and Michael S. Cerre was leading a caravan to supply him. Then there was William Sublette who was racing with his caravan to beat Wyeth to the rendezvous and supply the RMFC and collect on the debts owed him by that company. I list out all these because we don't know how many and what type of guns/rifles they took to the mountains that year.
At the 1834 rendezvous, the RMFC was dissolved and a new partnership was formed with Fontenelle, Fitzpatrick, Milton Sublette, Bridger, and Drips. The new company had no capital and little credit. Fontenelle used his relationship with the AFC to get supplies on credit from them. By 1836, most of the other competitors had left the field and the AFC was supplying nearly all the American trappers in the mountains. At the end of the 1836 rendezvous, Fontenelle, Fitzpatrick and Company sold out to the AFC who now only had the Hudson Bay Co. to compete with.
The website
http://www.mtmen.org/mtman/bizrecs.html has information on the items taken to the 1836 and 1837 rendezvous. As stated before, these are all the goods meant to supply the American trappers at both rendezvous.
The 1836 Invoice included (prices in parentheses from another source):
2 Am Rifle (@ $17.50 each)
7 " " (@ $11.00 each)
8 Hawkin " (from $20 to $26 each)
84 N. W. Guns (@ $4.50 each)
30 N. W. Guns (@ $4.50 each)
2 Rifles Hawkin (@ $24 each)
10 Boxes Percussion Caps (no price info)
2 Rifles Hawkens (no price info)
The 1837 Invoice included:
36 N. W. Guns best quality @ $4.50 each
5 Am. Rifles steel mounted @ $19 each
10 Hawkens Rifles @ $24 each
12 N W Guns @ $4.50 each
In 1834, one third of the rifles the AFC were sending to their trappers were Hawken rifles. The other two thirds were slightly less expensive steel mounted American rifles (made by JJ Henry). In 1836, 57% of the rifles taken to rendezvous were Hawken rifles, 10% were the slightly less expensive steel mounted American rifles, and the remaining 33% were the more affordable brass mounted American rifles. Interestingly in 1837, two thirds of the rifles were Hawken rifles and one third the slightly less expensive steel mounted American rifles. This is exactly reverse of the 1834 ratios.
These numbers seem to indicate that trappers that wanted a new rifle at rendezvous tended to have expensive tastes. And that trend may have increased through the mid-1830s. Only 1836 included the least expensive brass mounted rifles, but they made up only one third of the rifles supplied.
NW trade guns seem to have always been available if one didn't want or couldn't afford a rifle.
It may be worth pointing out that percussion caps were on the list for the 1836 rendezvous. I'm not sure how many caps were in a "box", but think that it was 1,000. If so, then 10,000 percussion caps were available for trade.
POST SCRIPT: Does anybody have a source for mountain prices for trade guns and rifles? The prices above are the prices paid by AFC in New York and St. Louis. They are wholesale prices with transportation costs added in some cases for the St. Louis prices. I would expect the prices charged to a trapper at rendezvous would be a multiple of these prices, but can't find a source to confirm. I have found mountain prices for commodities such flour, coffee, tobacco, powder, lead, blankets, etc. Two sources said these prices were 2,000% of "first cost" back east. I believe "first cost" is same as wholesale today and back east was places like Philadelphia and New York. The figure of 2,000% would mean 21 times the wholesale price. That means a $10 rifle from JJ Henry would cost a trapper $210 in the mountains. If beaver prices in the mountains are $3.00/lb and an average beaver pelt weighs 1.5 lbs, then a basic trade rifle would cost about 47 pelts. Both the dollar amount and the amount of pelts seem too much to me for a rifle, but I don't know.
