Day-by-Day / May 21, 1803

May 21, 1803

Pocket pistols

Israel Whelan, Purveyor of Public Supplies, pays for a pair of pocket pistols with hidden triggers from Philadelphia merchant Robert Barnhill. Meriwether Lewis would acknowledge his receipt of the pistols on 7 June.

Israel Whelen for Capt. Lewis May 21st 1803
  Bot. of Robt. Barnhill
1 Pair Picket Pistols, Secret Triggers $10.  

[Endorsement:] June 7. 1803. The within Pistols were delivered by me to Captn. Meriwether Lewis. Robt. Barnhill.[1]“Supplies from Private Vendors,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), … Continue reading

These small flintlock pistols, which were usually sold in pairs, were about six inches long, fired a single ball of .40 to .50 caliber, and could be had either with a normal outside trigger or a concealed trigger. Lewis chose the model with a concealed, or “secret,” trigger. This feature made the gun more streamlined and less prone to snag when withdrawn from the pocket. Small pistols are mentioned by Clark during a court martial on 30 March 1804.

 

Notes

Notes
1 “Supplies from Private Vendors,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 91.

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