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Originally Posted by sc_rufctr
Just out of curiosity... Does anyone know what gun Hugh Glass would have carried at the time?
I do love these old Flintlock guns. (Assuming they have no rifling in the barrel)
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He would most likely have been carrying some form of half stocked, rifled, .50-.54 caliber muzzle loader firing a patched round ball. Sam and Jake Hawken made the ubiquitous "Plains Rifle" as the style was known. They averaged around .52 caliber. Up until the 1830's, most were flintlocks, but the percussion rifles made it out west for the end of the show.
The other ubiquitous gun of the time and place was the old "Indian Trade Gun", a short smoothbore flintlock of about .69 caliber. These were made by just about everyone who was making guns. Cheap, effective, versatile (doubled as a shotgun for small game foraging), many clung to these long after "better" firearms emerged. This is the gun shown in the picture. They usually were all "gussied up", most with the serpent on the left side (you can kinda make it out in the picture).
Glass could have had either. He was a "company" trapper, being employed by either the Rocky Mountain Fur Company or one of their competitors. As such, he was likely given the "company issue" firearm, which was most often the trade gun.
The most glorious position in the mountains was known as the "free trapper". Beholden to no company, he traded his pelts at Rendezvous with the highest bidder. Most of these guys went "full native", taking Indian wives and shunning "civilization" once and for all. "Company" men, like Glass, would typically spend a winter or two in the mountains, return home, and head out again - or not.
After his mauling and subsequent thirst for revenge, Glass pretty much went "full native" too, as I recall. I could be wrong - it's been decades since I read his story. Or maybe he turned Army scout, or Oregon Trail guide (Bridger did both). Can't remember for sure...