Wild Frontier Skills

When U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered a mission of exploration westward from St. Louis, Missouri, he inspired the emergence of a nation in a momentous century of migration and settlement. Thousands of explorers and hunters, settlers and opportunists, lawless and law-abiding turned into millions joining the spread into the new territories of the American Frontier. This book examines the fighting skills employed by the men who came to this region of danger and opportunity. The Frontier communities faced both internal and external threats. American Indians engaged the white settlers in a series of battles and sporadic skirmishes over hostile terrain. The American Frontiersmen and the regular army became seasoned fighters in the campaign to safeguard their fledgling communities. Meanwhile, the American Frontier also faced robberies, rustling and violence from the criminals that were drawn to the riches and opportunities of the West. Law-enforcement became a central feature of the American Frontier and those responsible for safeguarding life; liberty and property in these turbulent communities came up against a series of notorious criminals.;This book also considers the weaponry used in the American Frontier. During the period - close on a hundred years - there were great advances in weapons technology, particularly in development of repeating-fire handguns and longarms, of which Colt.45s and Winchester '73s are the most famous as "The Guns That Won The West". These and many other weapons, including early rifles and muskets, cowboys' carbines, buffalo hunters' big-bore weapons, single-shot and multishot pistols and revolvers (along with tiny "deringer" and close-protection pocket models), are described in detail in this colourful book which is illustrated with specially taken close-up photographs of the weapons.