Buffalo Runner

[Eric Kettenburg]

From Francis Parkman, The California and Oregon Trail, 1849.

"There are two methods commonly practiced, 'running' and 'approaching.' The chase on horseback, which goes by the name of 'running,' is the more violent and dashing mode of the two. Indeed, of all American wild sports, this is the wildest. Once among the buffalo, the hunter, unless long use has made him familiar with the situation, dashes forward in utter recklessness and self-abandonment. He thinks of nothing, cares for nothing but the game; his mind is stimulated to the highest pitch, yet intensely concentrated on one object. In the midst of the flying herd, where the uproar and the dust are thickest, it never wavers for a moment; he drops the rein and abandons his horse to his furious career; he levels his gun, the report sounds faint amid the thunder of the buffalo; and when his wounded enemy leaps in vain fury upon him, his heart thrills with a feeling like the fierce delight of the battlefield…  The chief difficulty in running buffalo, as it seems to me, is that of loading the gun or pistol at full gallop. Many hunters for convenience' sake carry three or four bullets in the, mouth; the powder is poured down the muzzle of the piece, the bullet dropped in after it, the stock struck hard upon the pommel of the saddle, and the work is done.  The danger of this method is obvious. Should the blow on the pommel fail to send the bullet home, or should the latter, in the act of aiming, start from its place and roll toward the muzzle, the gun would probably burst in discharging. Many a shattered hand and worse casualties besides have been the result of such an accident. To obviate it, some hunters make use of a ramrod, usually hung by a string from the neck, but this materially increases the difficulty of loading.”

This appears to be a true "PARTS GUN!" 

Barrel is a .69 cal 1816 US musket barrel probably decommissioned and chopped ca. 1820s-1830s.  Lock is a simple trade type lock, fairly large and stout with no internal bridle.  The cock is a more recent replacement and the frizzen is a very old replacement with one heck of a stout sole/facing brazed onto it.  I think the sole must be 1/8" thick at least, and while pan to frizzen fit is somewhat questionable, the lock sparks like crazy.  *** Never reconverted!  Neither lock nor barrel. ***. Frizzen screw is a newer replacement (with identical threads) to take up some slop but I do have the original frizzen screw although it's kind of useless.  The lock now functions extremely well.  Vent is still very serviceable but with 2F is somewhat self-priming; I would personally stick with 1F here.  Bore was rough but has been slicked-up quite a bit and I have been having a HUGE amount of fun popping this off with light loads (@50 gr) and a naked undersized ball (.672) tamped with tow.  Unless you are literally planning on running some buffalo, I'd call this one a "gong gun" now and keep it lighthearted with the loadings or consider a display piece as part of a larger display.

Overall it seems 1830s to my way of thinking and is very crude; it is clearly stocked either at a frontier trading post perhaps, or possibly may be native-stocked by a native with some gunsmithing skills.  Rough tool marks are everywhere!  What is most interesting is that the piece is clearly not cut down from a longer gun but was deliberately stocked with spare parts in this manner, apparently for a specific purpose.  Call it a canoe gun, or a blanket gun, or a buffalo gun.  I choose to view it as a buffalo gun as this function makes the most sense to me.

A great deal of secondary work/repair is evident.  I'm not going to go into it all here and much is self-evident but the gun displays a great deal of use while maintaining functionality.  Rammer looks old but not too old  and is clearly made from a random tree branch.

I think it would make a pretty wicked club, too... 

[Robert Wolfe]

Wonderful piece Eric. Just oozes forgotten stories of buffalo hunts and campfires. Inspiring work.

[Bob McBride]

Eric, you’re a story teller who uses gun making instead of a pen. Bravo again.

[Daryl]

Totally believable.

[Notchy Bob]

Wow... Eric knocked it out of the park with this one!  Just as he did the last one, and the one before...

There is historical precedent.  Below is a piece that was displayed and sold by Ambrose Antiques several years ago.  Fortunately, I had sufficient presence of mind to save some pictures.  Here is a lock-side view:



And the reverse:



Detail of the lock, which was converted from flint:



...and a detail view of the tack work, in a design very similar to that used on Eric's gun:



Ambrose described this one as having a 12-3/4" octagon to round barrel in 24 gauge, likely recycled from a trade gun.  However, they stated the lock was from a Long Land Pattern Brown Bess, and the triggerguard is "sheet steel."  So, the original was also a "parts gun," as Eric described.  Ambrose indicated there was no sideplate, and there is obviously no buttplate.  I don't see any provision for a ramrod, but with a barrel that short, you could easily carry a loading rod stuck in your belt.  They stated the "percussion bolster" was of brass, oxidized to a dark color.  They did not provide any information with regard to the gun's provenance.

Eric described his gun as being "somewhat self-priming" with FFg powder. This was actually an advantage in some circumstances, buffalo running being one of them.  Here is a short excerpt from John Palliser's Solitary Rambles and Adventures:



This preference for a self-priming flintlock for that type of hunting was also mentioned by others, so it was not unique to Palliser.

I believe there were several practical reasons flintlock trade guns "held on" for so long in the far north.  Not only could the spark be used to ignite a fire for warming up (this, too, has been described in the literature), but priming a flintlock might be easier than handling percussion caps in extreme cold weather.  In addition, if the gun was "self-priming," it would save a step in the loading procedure.  That's just a hypothesis on my part.  I'm a southern boy, and have no practical experience hunting in that kind of cold.

In any event, I would like to thank Eric for showing his "Buffalo Runner."  Well done!

Notchy Bob

[Frozen Run]

I'd love to purchase a book by Eric Kettenburg, showcasing his different projects along with his thoughts on what inspired him for each piece or anything else he felt like writing about. I can't be the only one here on this?

[Eric Kettenburg]

Ha!  That is extremely kind of you to say, and humbling.

Inspiration is easy:



And yeah, a box, forget the bottle...

[Tim Crosby]

 What Bobby said and the book idea...put me down for two.

   Tim

[Robert Wolfe]

Oh yea, I'm in for a copy.

[Notchy Bob]

I'd love to purchase a book by Eric Kettenburg, showcasing his different projects along with his thoughts on what inspired him for each piece or anything else he felt like writing about. I can't be the only one here on this?

Count me in, too!

Notchy Bob

[Greg Pennell]

Notchy Bob, regarding the gentleman in the Pallister article you provided...I’d imagine that a waistcoat pocket full of black powder could make for some interesting moments around the campfire, after the hunt was done...

Greg

[Panzerschwein]

Seems some say the canoe guns “never existed” or are not period.

I’m sorry but this (and others) makes me say “piffle!”

Amazing work Eric! Dandy doesn’t begin to describe it. I can just imagine them running bufflers with this or using it as a small defensive weapon during native attacks. Wonderful and stirs the imagination!

[t.caster]

 "Taking the bullet from the mouth is both the quickest and safest method of...."

I wonder if this has any correlation to men having shorter natural lifespans 200+ years ago!

I don't think my 4th gr-grandfather used this method though. He served in the Rev War in upstate N. Y., (9th Albany Militia) and lived to be 88 yrs old and fathered ten healthy children.

[Panzerschwein]

"Taking the bullet from the mouth is both the quickest and safest method of...."

I wonder if this has any correlation to men having shorter natural lifespans 200+ years ago!

I don't think my 4th gr-grandfather used this method though. He served in the Rev War in upstate N. Y., (9th Albany Militia) and lived to be 88 yrs old and fathered ten healthy children.

Lead poisoning hadn’t been invented yet LOL.

[Mike Brooks]

Seems some say the canoe guns “never existed” or are not period.

I’m sorry but this (and others) makes me say “piffle!”

  You have no idea of what you're talking about.  That gun never saw the inside of a canoe, nor did it ever kill a canoe. What you're seeing was rather common out west and used exclusively on horse back. Do some research on Indians running buffalo. Fascinating stuff and I won't have to hear the term canoe gun in the future because you will be educated about actual 19th century history instead of popular late 20th century nomenclature..

[Bob McBride]

Seems some say the canoe guns “never existed” or are not period.

I’m sorry but this (and others) makes me say “piffle!”

  You have no idea of what you're talking about.  That gun never saw the inside of a canoe, nor did it ever kill a canoe. What you're seeing was rather common out west and used exclusively on horse back. Do some research on Indians running buffalo. Fascinating stuff and I won't have to hear the term canoe gun in the future because you will be educated about actual 19th century history instead of popular late 20th century nomenclature..

Hey Mike, I defer to you guys who know much more about this stuff than I do and no doubt 'Canoe Gun' is a modern term as I alluded to in a post above, but, I think the point he is making is, as with the 'Sleigh Guns' (That are actually named 'Sleigh Guns' mind) in the other thread, and this cutoff 'Buffalo Running' gun, so handy to reload from horseback, the idea of a cutoff gun, handy in tight quarters was obviously understood, as proven by this type gun, the coach type/blunderbuss guns, and the sleigh gun. We might bristle at the term but the concept was common enough.

Edit: To further clarify my point, though a short gun of this general type might be called a canoe gun, a sleigh gun, a Buffalo Runner, or a coach type gun, the argument is about nomenclature and its application to a specific gun, not about whether the gun with the name applied existed. If a feller spent most of his day in a canoe, or a sleigh, Buffalo hunting from horseback, or guarding a coach on the road, he might have chosen a short cutoff gun, and if one guy chose one because he spent all day in a canoe, then the Canoe Gun existed in precisely the same way this gun did.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Gentlemen, gentlemen!!  Can only speak for myself but many of us may be quite on edge today, not for any reason pertaining to short musketoons but perhaps for different unmentionable reasons altogether.

BTW, it's been a long time since I heard an expression like "piffle."  Now that's certainly interesting.

Actually I spend an awful lot of time in the shop where this likewise may be useful in the event of unwelcome intrusion, so I shall now ordain it as "The Shop Gun." 

[Bob McBride]

Gentlemen, gentlemen!!  Can only speak for myself but many of us may be quite on edge today, not for any reason pertaining to short musketoons but perhaps for different unmentionable reasons altogether.

BTW, it's been a long time since I heard an expression like "piffle."  Now that's certainly interesting.

Actually I spend an awful lot of time in the shop where this likewise may be useful in the event of unwelcome intrusion, so I shall now ordain it as "The Shop Gun."

A 'Shop Gun' forsooth. Double piffle.

[Mike Brooks]

"and if one guy chose one because he spent all day in a canoe, then the Canoe Gun existed in precisely the same way this gun did."
 I have spent extensive time in canoes on 18th century hunting trips sometimes for a week or more at a time. My "canoe" gun was a type G with a 48" barrel. Maybe I should have cut it off at 12"? I NEVER had a problem loading a gun with a 48" barrel while in a canoe....I wonder why that is? Maybe it is because of my genius classification....

I would however choose either of the above cut down guns to hunt buffalo from horse back. Large caliber percussion colts were used as well.

 I also recall the archeological discovery of a canoe that was sunk in MN in the early 1800's. It had a case of trade guns still in it. None of them were cut down. I wonder how they even justified carrying a standard gun in a canoe even if they were freight ..... Very odd eh?

[Bob McBride]

"and if one guy chose one because he spent all day in a canoe, then the Canoe Gun existed in precisely the same way this gun did."
 I have spent extensive time in canoes on 18th century hunting trips sometimes for a week or more at a time. My "canoe" gun was a type G with a 48" barrel. Maybe I should have cut it off at 12"? I NEVER had a problem loading a gun with a 48" barrel while in a canoe....I wonder why that is? Maybe it is because of my genius classification....

I would however choose either of the above cut down guns to hunt buffalo from horse back. Large caliber percussion colts were used as well.

 I also recall the archeological discovery of a canoe that was sunk in MN in the early 1800's. It had a case of trade guns still in it. None of them were cut down. I wonder how they even justified carrying a standard gun in a canoe even if they were freight ..... Very odd eh?

No odder than the picture I saw with the two guys on the coach with long barreled guns. Or the famous one of Indians hunting Buffalo from horses with what looked like 50” barreled guns, I suppose.

The same observation you had about canoes could be just as easily be argued in regards to coaches, shooting from horseback (carbine?), or any other confined space. If someone spent a week at a time in a canoe would he bother? Surely not. The question is did traders or folks who otherwise spent months in a canoe at a time and the particular scenario called for it? Maybe. I’m not saying it was done, I’m saying it’s no less likely than a coach gun, which was not carried by a guy who rode in a coach for a week a year, but by someone who spent a career in one and the particular scenario called for it. I could be wrong, and probably am.

[Notchy Bob]

"Taking the bullet from the mouth is both the quickest and safest method of...."

Sorry I didn't post more of the quote, but I had to cut it off somewhere!  Earlier in the text, Palliser said, "... you then take a bullet wet out of your mouth, and throw it down upon the powder; by which means you avoid the necessity of using the ramrod, a most inconvenient process when riding fast on horseback."  I think what Palliser meant by "safest" was that you take the bullet from your mouth and throw it down on the powder with your fingers, rather than using the technique demonstrated by this guy:




 

I guess "safety" is relative...

Notchy Bob

ADDENDUM:  The painting was done by Frederick Remington in 1892, and is entitled "Buffalo Hunter Spitting a Bullet into a Gun."  Remington was a little late to have witnessed this sort of thing, and he was also a little too... "well nourished"... to have ridden a galloping buffalo pony even if he had been there.  However, he did meet old-timers who regaled him with tales of the early days, and fueled his creativity.

John Palliser (1817-1887) was an Irish explorer, geographer, and adventurer who came to the United States in 1847 for an extended hunting trip on the northern plains.  He wrote about it in a book originally published in 1853, Solitary Rambles and Adventures of a Hunter on the Prairies.  In his book, Palliser had plenty to say about guns and hunting, not to mention the native and Metis people, the traders, and the flora and fauna of the time and place.  He was a keen sportsman and a very knowledgeable shooter. It is a wonderful book, easy to read, and you can access the whole book online for free, courtesy of Google Books:  Solitary Rambles

[Pukka Bundook]

Bob, 
If that horse threw its head back, that ombre would do quite the swallowing act!.  :-)

FWIW,
I have seen a couple of these short buffalo running trade guns up here, found fairly recently on the prairie.   ( In the last 20 -30 years  I'd say)
The metal -work would clean up to usable, and the stocks were really checked , but still seemed solid.   Looked a bit like driftwood.
They were flintlocks , and more popular for the reasons posted above.
These were likely lost when running buffalo.   Lose your gun, and by the time you work out of the herd, all is trampled and you may be a mile or two from where you lost it.  Would make it hard to find.
I know of another full length musket found on the prairie east and south of here.   Believe that one was percussion.
This is short grass dry prairie I am talking about.

[Panzerschwein]

I wonder if ‘ol Jackie Brown still makes his canoe guns?

While I have little use for a canoe in my home in the Mojave, a canoe gun would certainly be useful against snakes and just “fer fun” imagine that? Think I’ll go hunt me up a canoe gun soon. Bet the old timers enjoyed their canoe guns even if not used in a canoe at all times. There’s always been a need for a light handy yet powerful firearm be it guys with their canoe guns in the 18th and 19th centuries. ( edited to fit ALR rules)

[Bob McBride]

Panzer, it’s enlightening to do a Google book search of “Indian, Canoe, Short gun” or combinations of two out of the three terms. ‘Short Gun’, which was, amazingly, just a short gun, is a term often seen in period accounts in conjunction with the term ‘canoe’ from 1700 through the western expansion, when it’s more often found alongside the term ‘buffalo’. I’ve downloaded a dozen references today alone. A short gun was a thing, as was a canoe. As was, it seems, an ‘Indian’.




Perhaps the purpose of a ‘short gun’ on a canoe was concealment and not convenience....

[Pukka Bundook]

Bob,
Interesting read.

Don't know if I missed it in this thread, but Blanket gun was a real item.
It came in, in the reservation period.  A short gun that could be carried concealed under a blanket.