[Jeff Higgins]

Western folklore tells us that the Winchester was "the rifle that won the West". Hogwash. Aficionados of the big single shot "buffalo rifles", like the 1874 Sharps, Remington Rolling Block, et al will try to tell us that these big single shot breach loaders were the rifles that did it. Hell, I even have a ball cap that says "Sharps made the West safe for Winchester". More hogwash.

The rifle of America's westward expansion was the "plains rifle", a generic term applied to a style of muzzle loader that was initially developed during the fur trade era, the era of the "Mountain Man". Eastern, or "Kentucky", or "Tennessee" rifles were long of barrel and small of caliber, typically running .40-.50 caliber with 40"- 43" barrels. These proved to be both inadequate and unwieldily to the fur trappers, plying the Missouri River in keel boats and the Rocky Mountains on foot and on horseback.

They needed something both easier to carry, and far more powerful. Distances were greater and animals were bigger. As a result, barrels got shorter and bores got bigger. The average barrel length shrank to about 33" - 34", and the bores grew to average about .54". Thus was borne the "Rocky Mountain Rifle", or the "Plains Rifle".

The rifles produced in St. Louis by the brothers Hawken ("Hachen" in their native Dutch) proved to be the ultimate expression of the breed, and the most desirable by far. Such luminaries as Kit Carson, Hugh Glass, Jim Bridger, Marriano Medina, and others would carry nothing else. A common misperception, however, is that every Mountain Man engaged in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade carried one. We can thank Robert Redford's Jeremiah Johnson for that, I guess. The truth of the matter is that the fur trade had pretty much played out by the time Samuel and Jacob really got into full rifle production. We date their production to having commenced in the early 1830's, in earnest anyway, but the last Rendezvous - the annual "trade fair" on the Green River at which the trappers sold their wares and resupplied was in 1840.

No, the Hawken was really, more than anything, the rifle of the Oregon Trail. By the time they had actually acquired theirs, the old Mountain Men such as Carson, Bridger, Medina, and others were now guiding settlers' wagon trains across the Great Plains. They knew the country like the backs of their hands, and proved to be an invaluable resource to these westward bound pioneers. And, of course, the Army took full advantage of their knowledge of both the terrain and the locals as well.

Four of the most famous of these Hawken rifles survive today in various museums. The Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Marriano Medina, and John Brown rifles are all still with us, and very well (indisputably) documented. The rifles produced today by the Hawken Shop are of the later pattern, similar to Carson's and Bridger's rifles. These were produced by Samuel after his brother Jacob had died. The Medina and Brown rifles are of the time in which Jacob was still alive, and represent a much more "custom" kind of a build. After Jacob's death, in order to ensure the company's survival, Sammuel adopted a more standardized "production line" approach. Far more of his rifles, stamped "S. Hawken St. Louis" survive than those built with his brother and stamped "J. & S. Hawken St. Louis".

Mine will be of the later "S. Hawken St. Louis" pattern, as continued by J.P. Gemmer. These are actually the more refined, more practical "shooters", so they are the ones that have carried through at the Hawken Shop. They have not really changed, however, from those produced in the 1850's - 1870's by Samuel himself and then J.P Gemmer. No real reason to mess with success, I guess.