Capt. Dillin & Simon Kenton

[WKevinD]

I have been re reading The Kentucky Rifle and have been reminded of a rifle that has been a question for years, his "Simon Kenton" rifle.
I have never seen another reference to it or about it. Is there any more info about it available?
Kevin

[WKevinD]

Was this just an imagined attribute? Was it ever proved or disputed?
Kevin

[ohiostate]

I have always been surprised that a Boone or Kenton rifle never survived.

[Tanselman]

I think perhaps two Boone rifles with some degree of provenance have survived, but they remain in private hands where they are not seen by collectors, and perhaps not shared with others due to fear of theft. Several years ago a bag & horn set with some degree of provenance to Boone briefly showed up [I saw pictures of it, and it looked like it had some possibility of being legitimate], but then it "disappeared" within the family when other members realized how much it might be worth. Unfortunately, items that disappear like that, often disappear for good.

One of the big problems is that, with famous people such as Boone or Kenton, a lot of "wanna be" items get attributed to them, which makes people more suspicious of other items with a claimed connection. A lot of old provenances have verbal rememberances as part of them, and other small holes in the linage that might be questioned if closely examined. So real items at times can't stand the scrutiny of today's questioners. We seem to give a little more "slack" to provenances on items belonging to less famous people.  Shelby Gallien

[Bob Roller]

Here in Huntington WV we have the Huntington Museum of Art and there are two
long rifles that are supposed to belong at one time to Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton.
There is no provenance on the Boone rifle but I have had it out of the case and it has
a 45 caliber tapered and flared barrel that is 51 inches long and the lock looks similar
to the current L&R Durs Egg.It is not heavy and points well when brought up to level.
The Kenton rifle looks like any SMR but has a large military lock.The late Tom Dawson made
a copy of it and used a big lock.The gun in our museum has been seen in books on old guns
and it may be authentic but I never inquired about it.This collection has been in place since
1952 and I have or maybe DID have a privelige to get a gun out for examination and I have
used it twice.
Bob Roller

PS;
My old friend who is now deceased,Marshal Ralph Hooker said he owned a longrifle that could be traced to Daniel Boone
and he did make copies of it over the years.I made the locks and triggers  for them.I never saw it but have no reason to
doubt it either. Who knows how many rifles Boone and other famous people owned?

[vanu]

Here ya go:

https://hmoa.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/E236AD52-A7BD-489F-B12D-494681880393

I'm sure there are doubts that this was actually Daniel Boone's gun, but who knows; maybe it was acquired later in his life since he died in 1820, the inscription looks 1880's-ish ...opinions?

[mr. no gold]

To add to what Shelby said: No doubt there are some historic rifles that are still held quietly in descendent families. Then, a few may actually be known, but most likely the greater number are out in the pubic among collectors, and are now unknown as to provenience. This has been a complaint of mine from the start: few if any pickers, dealers, buyers have ever asked a seller what is known of the history of the rifle. Many of the early day dealers purchased rifles right out of the families and never asked for data about the history of the gun. I have one rifle out of many that I do have some history on: it was owned by a PA land surveyor in Berks County in the 1820s. It is a John Gonter rifle and was an 'on the job' gun, it's my favorite. Money always seems to push everything else aside, leaving history kicked to the side of the road.
Dick

[WKevinD]

The gun that Bob Roller describes as being in the Huntington Art museum sounds like the rifle pictured in Dillins book. The link posted by vanu shows the"Boone" but a search for the Kenton comes up empty.
Kevin