Powder Horns
As with most inventions, the creation of the powder horn was born out of a basic need, to convey small amounts of gunpowder by a soldier or hunter in the 18th century. The craft of creating a powder horn was born in the French and Indian War and eventually was adopted by those involved in the Revolutionary War. By the mid-eighteenth century every man who owned a firearm owned a powder horn. One of the earliest known powder horns was crafted in 1756 and some have been found as far North as Southern Canada. Powder horns were usually made from the horns of cows or oxen. There were many people who used the powder horn for several different reasons. Mostly pioneers, Indians, soldiers, mountain men, miners, travelers, and hunters found a use in the powder horn either as a means of holding gun powder because it was safe, holding explosives, water, storing different things, or simply using them for decoration. As society advanced and more modern conveyances were made available, powder horns were no longer needed and their use became more sentimental and people began to carve different things on their horns such as battle scenes, initials, and several other things. Today, powder horns are only crafted for use in historical
In their day, powder horns played an important role as an inexpensive, durable, and readily available conveyance for gunpowder, liquids, and other spices carried by the soldier, hunter or pioneer. As society and technology advanced and more modern ways of carrying liquids and powders were made available, the powder horns that remained were used as expressions of art or sentimental reminders of important moments in their owners’ lives. Today we use these historic pieces as a window into the thoughts and lives of the people in our history. For those who have carried on the craft, they are still very personal possessions and are used as a way of artistic expression, communicating the artist’s message to the world around them. Because they were hand crafted, easy to make, and the end product resulted essentially in a non-breakable, refillable, bottle that also acted as a funnel, powder horns were used for more than just carrying gunpowder. Pioneers used them to store and transfer salt, tobacco, snuff, rum and other goods because powder horns were waterproof and could be handcrafted. Miners used powder horns to hold explosives. Travelers often used them as a canteen to hold water while traveling. And to show how creative early Americans were they were even recycled. When not useful anymore, the powder horns were boiled and separated into layers to make sword grips, combs, snuff boxes, and window panels. A cow or oxen horn crafted into a powder horn had to fill two basic needs of the user. A powder horn needed to protect its contents from moisture or the spark from a fire or gun, and needed to act as a quick delivery device for transferring gunpowder to the intended gun. Creating a powder horn wasn’t all that difficult and the techniques were very simple. To start, the inside and out of a cow or ox horn was scraped out and polished up until it became transparent so that one could see how much black powder was left in the horn. Then a wooden butt plug was made to fit into the larger end of the horn. The butt plug could then be easily removed to add gunpowder to the horn. Next, at the smaller end of the horn, a hole was made which allowed the horn to act as a funnel. The plug in the smaller end could be removed and it acted as the spout of a funnel allowing gunpowder to be quickly transferred to the gun. Then, ridges were carved into the horn allowing the attachment of a carrying strap. Straps varied depending on the
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Approximate Word count = 1652
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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