Wyoming State Museum Receives 19th Century Weapons and Accessories Donation

Thanks to the generosity of a local donor, the Wyoming State Museum recently acquired an outstanding collection of 19th century firearms, edged weapons, and associated accessories. 

The collection contains several one-of-a-kind artifacts such as an engraved and inlaid Sharps 1863 carbine, an Austrian Schutzen percussion target rifle possibly created for a royal family member, and an elaborately engraved and carved German Jaeger hunting rifle.

The donation also features several U.S. military firearms in pristine condition.  Springfield Trapdoor rifles and carbines represented here were in common usage on the Wyoming frontier after adoption by the military in 1873. Custer’s 7th Cavalry was armed with Trapdoor carbines at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June, 1876. 

An early version of the Allin Trapdoor Conversion in this collection was of the type used at the Wagon Box Fight on August 2, 1867 near present day Story, Wyoming.  In this incident, Lakota warriors encountered for the first time fast-firing, breech loading firearms using self-contained metallic cartridges.   

 A prototype rifle built by a California gunsmith was prepared for U.S. Military Trials and may be the only one in existence. A muzzle loading percussion rifle made in New York and sold in San Francisco may have crossed Wyoming enroute to its eventual owner. 

Edged weapons include variations of bayonets for the Springfield firearms, swords issued to infantry and cavalry officers, and a rare 1880 Springfield hunting knife.  

Accoutrements such as cartridge boxes and belts, reloading kits, scabbards and sheaths, and carbine boots are representative of items that would have been issued to individual soldiers or to military units in Wyoming during the Indian Wars or subsequent service in the 19th and early 20th century.

Evan Green, the Museum’s volunteer firearms historian, noted that all artifacts in the collection are representative of items in use in Wyoming in the frontier era. 

This major collection adds significant artifacts to the Museum’s mission of  preserving and interpreting artifacts from Wyoming’s past. 

While there is no plan for an exhibit of these artifacts in the near future, they will be featured in the Museum’s Firearms Friday video series which is available via the YouTube link on the Wyoming State Museum’s website at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4OOzXLvUE12qVLDHMWAIAQ. 

A video specifically about this donation can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3DRRqq1fA4.