Black Powder Mountain Woman
Back in 2018, I knew I would be having Sarah Ridge fire a long gun or a pistol. I wasn't that far into writing the story, but I anticipated such a scene at some point. I wanted to learn how weapons worked in the 1830s and '40s.
We've see the films—Davy Crockett and the heroes of the Alamo, Robert Redford as Jerimiah Johnson with his Hawken rifle, and the carnage of the Civil War when gray met blue and mowed down each other: pouring in the gunpowder, ramrodding the patch and ball down the muzzle, setting the copper cap. Aim and fire; a puff of smoke. A distant deer or soldier falls. Then reload.
It seems to take so long, such a complicated process requiring specific pieces of equipment to accomplish a pull of the trigger while carrying their powder horn and firing items in their "possibles" bag. I wanted to know how they did it, so I joined a nearby gun club and learned how to shoot muzzleloaders.
Now, growing up in Southwest Texas I was always around guns. My father and uncles were dedicated deer hunters. I have fond youthful memories of visiting their camp in the brushland near the Nueces River during wintertime: the smell of woodsmoke from the fire, the carcasses hanging upside down from a big mesquite tree. (Poor deer—but we ate every bit of the meat and we had the head and neck made into tamales.)
Daddy with a 10-pointer, early 1940s
My father taught my sister and me to shoot rifles and pistols, and during an era of my life in Texas, I trained for and received my concealed handgun license. I was a pretty good shot in my day, but I had never shot black powder muskets.
The experienced shooters at the gun club group were fun and helpful, and I watched a lot of YouTube videos. Within a short time I could load and fire. I joined in the gatherings for potluck cookouts around the campfire where we'd dress in 1800s outfits. Mine I pulled together from thrift shops: crocheted hat, calico blouse, imitation sheepskin vest, tiered skirt and laced boots.
For competitive shoots, we'd walk a path through the woods, taking turns firing at targets hanging from distant trees: a cast iron frying pan—Ping! A metal cutout of a bear—Ka-boom!
Me at the black powder campsite
But more so, I learned the process of how shooters of yore—and my pioneer ancestors who traveled across the Appalachians on their eventual route to Texas—loaded and cared for their precious muzzleloaders. Here's the complicated seven-step process:
How to load a cap-and-ball muzzleloader, courtesy of Texas Parks & Wildlife:
Just imagine performing each step under the pressure to shoot the deer so your family wouldn't starve! Or knowing YOU are the target of the opposing soldier!
Needless to say, I can't envision myself proficient under such pressure. I had a system that I silently used during a group shoot where I would move away and concentrate on each step of the process. But I'm sure in the terror of battle, I would have been the first to fall!
In my novel A Woman of Marked Character, the Sarah who I created is a skilled shooter. As you read the story, you'll come to a chapter where she fires a pistol. The weapon she uses is called a pepperbox, having six short rotating barrels. She would have had to load and prime each barrel—six times.
Pepperbox pistol
Pepperbox barrels
(Credit both: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Here's Sarah telling us how she loaded the pistol:
Chapter 40, Sarah Speaks, p 285
Several times over the past weeks I'd driven the buggy from home to a secluded ravine to practice loading and firing the small pepperbox pistol Stand had provided. I practiced to familiarize myself with the weapon, but more so to test my grit. The pistol was a six-shooter with revolving barrels, each requiring powder, patch and ball, and copper firing caps, so this process required precision and focus of mind.
This brief paragraph from the scene where Sarah relates her story to us is drawn from my imagination, but it is based on a premise that could possibly have occurred. My Sarah risks her life to avenge a brutal massacre.
~~~
I've given my muzzleloader and equipment away, but those were fun times "playing Sarah" and imagining myself stalking a deer in the Great Smoky Mountains. I'm proud of my accomplishment. I called myself Mountain Woman.
Mountain Woman with her muzzleloader and possibles bag.
(Credit: Deb Ort)
Further information:
Invented by the gunmaker Ethan Allen, the pepperbox was the most popular multishot firearm in America and Europe prior to the introduction of Samuel Colt's revolver.
A complete pepperbox kit for storage and maintenance.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/24941