Eureka Moments Revisited, Part 7, A Gold Rush Gun Rig for a Colt Navy

     When I recently aquired an Uberti 1851 Colt Navy, it occured to me that the belt and holster that I made for it might make an interesting blog posting. This story starts several years ago, when I was researching the common use of web belts and military style buckles in Gold Rush California.

     Stamped or cast brass tongue and wreath (aka spoon and wreath) buckles are fairly common artifacts found in gold rush camp sites. I have several  friends with large and varied collections, which is strong evidence of their popular use in the period. Dagguereian scholars consider them a key element when trying to identify "Gold Rush" portraits. In fact, it was one of those incredible, documented images that actually inspired this project.

Image Courtesy Cowan's Auction

     What I love about this image is how it captures the spirit of the age. These guys knew they were making history and proudly left us a record of their part in it. I feel that the buckle on his belt is likely a stamped brass version, possibly Taussig - Pollack & Co., San Francisco, similar to the example below.

Image Courtesy of
findmall.com

     The belt in the image appears to be made of webbing and a clue to it's actual weave and color came from an associated artifact that I had previously blogged about. The contemporary "gold porter" below, has what looks like the same webbing to join the two buckskin halves of the vest, as you can see in the picture. The most compelling evidence that it's the same webbing, comes from the historic record that Taussig - Pollack & Co. were selling gold porters in San Francisco. The only flaw in my theory is that the original porter below is unmarked.

Photo by Lindy Miller

     With this evidence, I proceeded to make a facsimile of a classic miner's web belt and buckle. The buckle was the easy part as Hanover Brass has been casting copies of Gold Rush buckles for years. The belt on the other hand, would take some thought. I knew I wasn't going to weave a belt from scratch but instead settled on dyeing modern cotton webbing that had a similar pronounced woven pattern. After the webbing was dyed a dark indigo blue, I picked-out the woven threads along its borders to make room for the two white stripes. I carefully wove white cotton cord back into the webbing to simulate the stripes of the original. All in all, it didn't turn out too bad. To improve the overall appearance of the belt, I applied another length of dyed webbing to the back to hide where my white stitches came through.

My Facsimile Belt and Reproduction Buckle
Photo by Author 2013

     After I made a brass keeper slide, I assembled the belt around the repro buckle. It's not a perfect replica but I consider it a good impression. Before I had started the belt part of the project, I had made what collectors call a "Slim Jim" (no relation) holster for the Colt Navy. Using origninal examples form Richard Rattenbury's classic book "Packing Iron" for the pattern, I made mine in veg tan leather, sewn with linen thread. I like the look of the straight throat on many documented examples (including the one in the daguerreotype above) and left mine unadorned as many of the earlier holsters appear to be. One last detail was to wet mold it to the revolver.

Photo by Author 2013

    So there you have it. Now, if I choose, I can sport my shooting iron in a style not commonly seen today but very much a part of our California history.

I Never Knew I Could Inspire

Well, this certainly came out of the blue. Andrew of Victorian Tailoring has nominated me for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I am shocked. I never knew that I inspired anything except the wrath of the impatient. Thank you Andrew, you are one very inspiring self-taught tailor my friend. Keep it up !

To comply with the awarding process, you must

                                            - Display the award and link back to the nominator
                                            - State 7 things about yourself
                                            - Nominate 15 bloggers to the award
                                            - Notify the winners

                                        1.  I am a California native and love my State's

                                             rich history and natural beauty.

                                        2.  When people ask me if there's anything I can't make

                                              I reply, Yes.......money !

                                        3.   I'm happily married to a tolerant, like-minded woman.

                     

                                        4.   I'm not really expert in anything but I do have a great

                                              library.

                                        5.   I know a little bit about a lot of things.

                                        6.   I'll always be in awe of the accomplishments of our

                                              forebearers.

                                        7.   The older I get the more I realize there's not enough

                                               time.

                                            

                                   My 15 nominees for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award are : 

                                             :

                                  

 Fishing for History  Dr. Todd's entertaining look at out collective fishing heritage.

 Commitment to Costumes   A visit to Sara's work as a Museum Professional but with tips on managing

   a personal collection. Very helpful.

 Robin's Egg Bleu   If you are going to do one thing, then do it well. This lady's replica Izannah Walker

   dolls are amazing. A total dedication to details.

 The Reverend's Big Blog of Leather  Medieval and later leatherwork with more than the usual

    "history nut" take on things. No surprise from the UK !

 Ready to Wear ( 1640's style)  Just what it sounds like. The Vicar doesn't post often but when he does

   it's always interesting. More fun from the UK !

 A Woodrunner's Diary  Keith has a very active 18th Century Living History blog from "down under".

   Excellent research and lots of info.

Bear Flag Museum  Bill's very active blog on all things Bear Flag. Ties to his online Bear Flag

   Museum. The ultimate source for those that need to know.

 Contemporary Makers   A great way to keep up-to-date with the best of historical arms craftsmen.

  Lots of eye candy thanks to Jan.

 Dressing the 1840's   My friend Chandra's pesonal devotion to "getting it right". In love with

   the 1840's (give or take) and it shows.

 Frontier Carpenter  Ron proves that the homegrown, carpenter/blacksmith of the past,is alive  

   and well today. Great work that has inspired me !

 The Village Carpenter Kari is amazing ! When I want to be inspired, I go visit what a truly gifted

   woodworker is capable of.

 Steamboat Arabia: A Historian's Blog   Elizabeth shares her affection for one of the greatest

   treasures in America. The Steamboat Arabia Museum in Kansas City.

 Minstrel Banjo  Where early banjo geeks go to learn and share. All fun, with no fretting !

 Peter Follansbee, joiner's notes 17th Century joinery beautifully executed.

 The Van Buren Boy's Blog  Documents a truly incredible project.

                                            Thanks for looking !

How They Kept Their Clays Safe, Revisited

   I recently stumbled across an interesting example of an antique tin pipe case, on an online auction. You often see late 19th and early 20th century tin cases in the shape of the clay pipes they protect, but this one was different. Not only did it safely stow the pipe but housed the tobacco as well. There's even enough room in it for a match safe which suggests it might have been a sort of traveling smoker's kit. From the construction details, I would date it early to mid-19th century.

Picture Source Online Auction

   The design is pretty straightforward, so replication was not going to be a problem. Luckily, I had a nice English clay that I purchased from Columbia Booksellers. It was one of the last Pollock pipes that he had. I decided to build my replica around this pipe instead of copying the exact dimensions of the original.

    The original case is 6  1/2" long by 2" wide. It's an elongated box with one closed end and the other with a hinged lid. Under the lid, you find a compartment sized for the pipe's bowl. Inside, at the back of this compartment, is a panel with an attached and extended tube, to protect the pipe's stem. On the top center of the box, there is an opening for access to the tobacco etc. and a hinged lid to cover it. That's pretty much it, a simple yet effective way to keep your fragile clay pipe safe and your tobacco handy.

     In some of the pictures of the original case, you will notice a fire steel and flint. At one point in this object's history, it had been repurposed as a tinder box or..................was the smoker lighting his pipe with flint and steel, hmmm?

    Here you see the beginings of my replica with the shaped and tapered tube and the above mentioned panel. I had to keep in mind that the pipe shouldn't rattle, so my dimensions were determined by the space occupied by the pipe bowl, while it rested in the tube. Do you follow ?

Photos by Author 2013

    Further along now, you see the beginings of the case body. It ended up being 7" long and 2 1/4" wide.  Note the raised ring on the right, that will be the seat for the pending lid. You can also see the tube running along the inside back.

    Now we have the end closed and we are ready to craft a hinged lid. It's starting to look like something.

    The smaller hinged lid is in place and all that remains is the large, hinged lid on top, with its latching device.

     All finished and good for service and ready to claim it's place in my growing collection of replicated odds-n-ends  from our past.

A Replica Artifact To Illuminate Young Minds

     As Education Coordinator of the Angels Camp Museum, it's my job to translate and present information about the past in an interesting and informative way. For my money, one of the best ways to enhance the learning experience is through the use of replica artifacts. While developing the gold mining lesson for our 4th grade education program, I realized that our interpeter could use a special prop to help with a critical point in the story.

Classic Combination
An Original Cap and Lamp, Circa Late 1800's
Image Courtesy lebint.com

    During the early phase of the California Gold Rush, most of the mining activity involved surface deposits of Placer Gold.  As these deposits grew scarce, some miners began exploring for Lode or Vein Gold deposits below the earth's surface. Miners literally had to change hats and that simple fact lead to my idea for the perfect prop.

A Original Cap Sans Lamp
Note the Leather Peak and Metal Part to Secure the Lamp
Image source inknown

      I'm familiar with the classic cloth cap of the late 19th century underground miner, as we have a nice example in our Museum's collection similar to the one above. We also have a rather comprehensive collection of the lamps that were worn on the front of these caps, from oil burners to later battery operated versions. After studying several examples of caps online, it seems that a generic style with a cloth covered peak, might have been most common.

My Version of a Miner's Cap and Lamp
Ready for Work
Photo by author

    Most of the original caps seem to be made of canvas or some stout cotton, in colors ranging from tan to grey or grey/green. For my version, I chose blue denim. The fixture that affixed the lamp safely to the cap's front, seems to vary more in materials than in shape.  Some examples are leather only, others are metal and some appear to be metal and composition (?). I decided to laminate several layers of leather for stiffness in making my lamp mount and riveted it to the cap's peak and body with copper harness rivets.




Original 1885 Bill of Sale
Showing Classic Miner's Cap-Lamp
Image source unknown


    Now came the fun part, the minature oil lamp, apparently (by one period account) called a "pet" lamp. These little lamps are highly collectable and well documented as untold variations exist in form and materials. To see an amazing collection, go visit miningartifacts.homestead.com . For the most part, these lamps have the appearance of tiny teapots with there spouts functioning as wick guides. They also universally have a hook device on the rear, to engage the mount on the cap.

Another View of My Cap and Lamp

      For my close copy, I went with a basic style lamp in tinplate, with a moderately long spout. The important thing to me was to create a functioning authentic version of the miner's cap, rather than an exact replica of a known example.




Photo by Lindy Miller 2013


   Speaking of function, as you can see, I couldn't resist trying the darn thing out. Contrary to my wife's opinion, having a flame coming out of your head was the least risky part of a hard-rock miner's life.


This is my 50th post and with that in mind, I would like to thank all of the viewers who have found my ramblings of some interest. I appreciate your curiosity and positive comments too.

"Flags of California History Project" Revisited One More Time

    One of the great things about pursuing historical topics is that the subjects are rarely exhausted. Just when I thought my California Flag Project was complete, I rediscovered one more historic banner, begging to be reproduced and blogged about. There are enough books written on the Gold Rush to fill a small library but near the top of the list of "must reads", is the celebrated Shirley Letters written by Louise Clappe.

The Shirley Letters
1949 Edition

     "The Shirley Letters" were first published in a San Francisco periodical called The Pioneer, starting in January of 1854. They continued as a series of 23 letters written by Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe to her sister, under the pen name Dame Shirley. Louise Clappe had followed her husband Dr. Fayette Clappe to California in 1849 in pursuit of his heath and their fortune. By 1851 the Clappes found themselves in the remote mining camp of Rich Bar on the American River at the height of the "Rush". Dame Shirley's accounts of life in a mining camp, rank as one of the most incomparable documents of that rustic and wild society. Thanks to Shirley's keen powers of observation, it's also an invaluable primary resource for reconstructing mining camp culture.

An Undated Lithograph of Rich Bar
on the Feather River

     In "Letter Eighteenth", from her log cabin on Indian Bar, July 5, 1852, she writes:
"Dear M:- Our Fourth of July celebration, which came off at Rich Bar, was quite a respectable affair. I had the honor of making a flag for the occasion. The stripes were formed of cotton cloth and red calico, of which last gorgeous material, no possible place in California is ever destitute. A piece of drilling, taken from the roof of the Humbolt, which the rain and sun had faded from its original, somber hue, to just that particular shade of blue, whcih you and I admire so much - served for a Union. A large star in the center, covered with gold leaf, represented California. Humble as were the materials of which it was composed, this banner made quite a gay appearance floating from the top of a lofty pine, in front of the Empire, to which it was suspended."

The Canton Finished

      So now I had my challenge. What did Dame Shirley's 4th of July flag possibly look like?  In previous letters, she remarks about the overuse of red calico for finishing the interior walls of the temporal, ramshackle canvas and stick shanties that passed for boarding houses, saloons and restaurants. For my flag's red stripes, I decided to use classic mid-19th century cotton prints (from my wife's stash) and plain muslin for the white. To reproduce the canton, I dyed a piece of canvas light blue, simulating the faded scrap Shirley had secured from the roof of the canvas covered building named the "Humbolt".

My Version of Dame Shirley's Flag
Finished Dimensions 60" x 48"

    What set this project apart from my previous flag replications, was the lack of visual clues. In order to manage the conjectural elements, I relied on my basic knowledge of flag history. When considering the time constraint of making a flag for the occasion, I feel that Dame Shirley may have just painted the stars on the canvas, rather than sewed them on. Even though she doesn't mention the full field of 31 stars (official after July 4, 1851), a lone, gilded star would have been a little odd. For my rendition, I chose to run the painted stars in circles, surrounding the dominant "large" star in the center. This arrangement was very popular in antebellum America. Her mention of "gold leaf" came as no surprise as it's a documented fact that even in remote camps, the saddest excuse for a building, might still sport a beautiful sign, supplied by a journeyman signpainter. She no doubt secured some "leaf" from a local craftsman to decorate that dominant, proud star. I used pigmented shellac for the white stars and 23 karat gold leaf for the center star. When assembling the elements by hand, I used a running stitch and decided not to turn any of the seams. All in all, I think it turned out swell and can now takes its place in the collection as an honest reconstruction,  celebrating the lost folk traditon of homemade flags.
    

Sad Day for California

     It's a sad day for California, as we have lost one of our beloved promoters. Huell Howser did more  to bring our State's history and culture to light than anyone else, with his "California's Gold" TV series. I'm  really going to miss his folksy style of journalism and honest enthusiasm. He was amazing!

                                              Rest in peace.

                                              Huell Howser
                                                1945 - 2013

Historic Costume Recreations, Part 5, Some New Thoughts on a Miner's Overshirt

      When I start a project to recreate something historical in nature, I make an effort to gather as much information as I can. Over the years, I've created many different interpretations of men's mid-19th century overshirts and based on my level of knowledge at the time, some were better than others. Even though these shirts were a staple commodity during the California Gold Rush, no documented original examples of actual "miner's shirts" have surfaced. What we are left with, is the contemporary photographic record of a very popular shirt.

Classic Overshirts on the Job
image source unknown


     One of the best collections of Gold Rush daguerreotypes is found in the book "Silver & Gold" by Drew Johnson and Marcia Eymann, University of Iowa Press, 1998. I highly recommend it for anyone who is serious about studying California Gold Rush clothing.

     From Gold Rush era advertisements to personal journals, I've gleaned only bits and pieces about overshirts with few details of their construction or ornament. The best period catalog illustration with decriptive text I've ever found is the REED, BROTHERS & CO. catalog of 1853, plate 19.




From My Copy of the 1853 Reed Catalog
Showing the Miner's Frock and Descriptive Text
photos by author 2012


  
      So, even though none of the thousands of Gold Rush overshirts seem to have survived to the present day, you have to wonder, have any mid-19th century overshirts survived anywhere ? Yes indeedy......read on.

Original 1856 Overshirt
Image Courtesy Steamboat Arabia Museum

      I recommend that eveyone who is interested in mid-19th century American History visit the Steamboat Arabia Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. The museum houses the recovered cargo of a sunken Missouri River steamboat, lost in 1856. It is a rare opportunity to have a full-immersion  material-culture experience, second only to time travel, as the collection is literally a moment frozen in time. When I first visited the Museum, many years ago I was a bit overwhelmed by the scope of the collection. The Hawley family has accomplished an astounding feat of preservation and continue to add to the exhibits. 

     Years ago, during a visit to the Arabia Museum, the late Greg Hawley told us that they still had several untouched wool overshirts in frozen storage. You can imagine how excited I was, when I later heard that several of the shirts were being carefully conserved and would soon be available for public view. and that the museum's conservator Dr. Judy Wright, had posted before, during and after pictures on Facebook. The shirt, now designated as the "Border Ruffian Shirt" is also featured in a Youtube teaser promoting David Hawley's future Preservation Series of film shorts.

Inside View of Neck Slit During Reconstruction
(note the gussets)
Image Courtesy of Steamboat Arabia Museum and
Dr. Judy Wright

     There were so many things to be discovered from  Dr. Wright's pictures. I was first struck by how casually the garment was constructed. I'm not sure if this represents "cheap" ready-made goods or what but it gave me cause to reflect on my previous replica shirts, with their tiny careful stitches. It appears that a running stitch was used for much of the construction and the seam allowances were just turned over once and left with the raw edge.  I also discovered  that the narrow braid trim only suggested a plastron with its outline. There was also an absence of underarm gussets in the original shirt. Another detail that caught my eye was the straight neck slit, rounded by the insertion of two small gussets at either end and no shape to the front of the slit. You will notice in the photo that opening down the front begins at the neck gusset. In the picture, the narrow, tapered facing hasn't been reattached yet. There appears to be no facing on the other side of the front slit as the edge is just turned back.

My Inspiration for the Latest Shirt
Image Courtesy John McWilliams

     Excitied about all of this new-found evidence, I decided to replicate another Miner's Overshirt incorporating some of these "details" I had just discovered.  True to my Gold Rush interest, I would base my shirt on an unpublished image of a young miner,shared with me, years ago by John McWilliams.

     I already had some madder red, wool flannel,  purchased from Burnley and Trowbridge.  I'm really glad that Needle and Thread of Gettysburg PA still carries the Wooded Hamlet line as they had a perfect narrow wool soutache, that I dyed a royal blue. Remember the "bright colored braid" in the REED cataloge description?  My wife is still my best source for small white china buttons, thank you very much Lindy.

My Replica

      Another thing worth noting in the Arabia shirt (and my replica), is that the front and back body are all one piece. This eliminates the need for a shoulder pieces to re-enforce a shoulder seam found with a two piece body.

Close-up Showing Faux Plastron ala Arabia
 and Patch Pockets

      The Arabia shirt's front slit-facing was quite narrow. At the top, it doesn't match with the end of the collar, leaving the collar end as an extended  tab. For my interpretation, I decided to have mine match, as you can see in the picture,

Slit Opened, Showing Tapered Facing
on the Left

    I also turned all of my seams twice to hide the raw edges, contrary to what the original shirt appears to have had. I felt the wool would contiue to unravel if it was left raw. Perhaps that wasn't a concern in the past. I did use a running stitch for the entire construction, even where I would have normally backstitched.

Small Gusset at Shoulder

    What I learned from this exercise was that maybe there is a place for simply constructed garments in the "Oh so carefully " reconstructed Living History world.  I'm not sure if the Arabia overshirt is typical or atypical but it taught me to think about historic shirts in a different way as there's always "new" information to be discovered.  My shirts will always be interpretations but hopefully reflective of a progressive approach to recreating history.

Close-up of Closed Neckline