Dead Man's Gun

Or dead woman's gun...the 1873 38/40 in my arms belonged to Calamity Jane...it might have been one of her prop guns, that she had her picture taken with, then sold to newbies in the Black Hills...easier than whoring, I suspect.



This is one of Wild Bill's guns, an 1860 Colt conversion that I was privileged to hold, albeit with gloves.




I don't mean to go all metaphysical here, but for those of us in this culture, the gun culture, these guns carry the weight of history, much like one of the legendary "named" samurai swords. The swords are called the "soul of the samurai" and are considered national treasures in Japan. Perhaps a gun like this conversion should be thought of as the "soul of the frontiersman" and be considered a national treasure in America.

When I hefted the gun and bought it to a firing grip. I felt...something. Sure, it's all in my head, but all I could think of was that this gun was the working tool of a man of honor, in a time when honor mattered. It was the working tool of a man who chose to life not only of adventure, but ultimately of service...a man who helped open the West to civilization while closing it for men like himself. It was a gun with stories it can never, would never tell. Ultimately, our history is written in steel, and I fear we have forgotten the language.

-- Post From The Road