What gear would an 1860 Californio carry with him?

[Major 2]

Wadd

When I chimed in early on suggesting a 51 Navy (or a 49 pocket Dragoon ) I did not do so lighty.
The simple answer is found in this book
Colt: The Making of an American Legend
by William Hosley

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Major 2,

I did not take your post lightly, and respect your studies.

In fact, with all the many fine books that have been suggested to me, I have started a WORD document listing all the titles and authors so that I can start reading them .....

And from all the work that I have been able to lightly scratch up, i.e. Wickipedia on 1851 Colts, it appears that they were first in production in 1850, and were a factor (in 1851-52) if not the primary weapon that they became during the later Gold Rush....

[St. George]

Wikipedia is a 'do-it-yourself' affair.

Always double-check any information gleaned from that site.

Incidentally - the California Gold Rush is generally considered to have ended in 1858, when the New Mexican Gold Rush began.

The 49ers who stayed found the land unbelievably productive, and ultimately California's great wealth came not from its mines but from its farms.

Remember too - the large, 6"-rowelled 'Espuelas Grandes' were designed for use by a mounted man, and not for town use.

The slightly smaller versions are often referred to as 'Chihuahua' spurs, because of their purchase at the big Trade Fairs in that border region.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

St, George,

First, I would like to thank you for your kind help and guidance .... without it I would be much less knowlegeable than I am today.

Yours and the other voices in hear have pointed where to look.

As I have said before, I am fortunate to live in a capital city ... I have already been to the California Room for a talk on Dashielle Hammett (way out of our historical era), so I know where I need to go next ... I see me having my nose in books for the next three months ... which in itself is good; it gives me a direction.

Like any massive movement (the Oklahoma Land Rush comes immediately to mind) it always seems it was not the participants, but the people who supplied (sutlers) and moved the particiapants (railroads) that became the Leland Stanfords and Charles Crockers ... in fact, if I remember right all of the Big Four who pushed the railroad through gained their wealth through supplying the '49ers; Huntington and Hopkins were partners in a hardware company; Stanford operated a grocery business with his brothers; and Crocker was a dry goods merchant. Kind of the supply chain coming full circle ....

Regarding spurs, I talked to one of the the Lindholm Brothers who is going to supply me with 'Chihuahua' style rowels to go in my normal spurs at a quarter of the cost of new spurs ....

So now I am just looking for a pair of inexpensive Botas de Alas ,,, an oxymoron if I ever saw one .... LOL

[Mogorilla]

While Chuck Burrows of Wild Rose Trading Co. makes the best looking Botas to be found (in my opinion), they can be made fairly inexpensively.   Chuck kindly posted historically accurate patterns on the leather forum, just look in the back pages.   A trip to tandy's can get you semi-accurate leather or Crazy Crow can get you simulated smoked brain tan, that is really close looking to the real thing.  (I have both real brain tan and the simulated, hard to tell them apart).   

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Mogorilla,

I have always felt that it is far cheaper to buy the very best that can be had ... I have done otherwise in times past, and by the time that I paid for the postage to send the product back for repair and paid for said repair, I could have bought the original ... as it was, all I had was the 'fixed' cheap product and the manufacturers 'word' that it would never happen again....

Reminds me of a quote from the astronaut Alan Shephard ... "It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract." ...


Kind of the same idea ....

Get the best. If you can't afford it, wait and save until you can.

[Major 2]

Major 2,

I did not take your post lightly, and respect your studies.

In fact, with all the many fine books that have been suggested to me, I have started a WORD document listing all the titles and authors so that I can start reading them .....

And from all the work that I have been able to lightly scratch up, i.e. Wickipedia on 1851 Colts, it appears that they were first in production in 1850, and were a factor (in 1851-52) if not the primary weapon that they became during the later Gold Rush....

  What I meant was...In the book there are references to California Shippments..

However here you will find an orginial document...
 http://www.prices4antiques.com/autographs/documents-signed/DS-Colt-Elisha-for-Samuel-Colt-Gold-Rush-Firearms-Shipment-1851-B181582.htm

 

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Another person sent me the same post on the 'When did the 1851 Colt begin to reach California' thread ... so now I can look recieved weapons using the San Francisco Agent's name ...

Thanks!

[Major 2]

Can't imagion who that other person was 

your welcome

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Okay,

The 1851 Navy Colt has arrived ... just waiting for something to put it in ...

The jacket, pants, shirt, holster and gunbelt are all on order; supposed to arrive about Friday 2 October.

The sash, and hat will be bought when the jacket arrives.

The Calzoneras is on Chuck Burrows 'dance list' just waiting for the influx of 'fun tickets" to seal the deal...

And when I get all but the Botas, I hope to go back to Fat City (where the pic in my profile was taken; the bar and barback are over 150 years old), and get another pic... which will end up on my profile at that time ...

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Just got word that the Vaqueor jacket has arrived and is at Sacramento Dry Goods

I found some matching calaveras pants at Hamilton Dry Goods, but when they arrived they were much too long. So Sacramento dygoods is removing the placquet with the button holes , shortening the pants, and then splitting the seam higher and sewing  the placquet back on ... I will lose a button, but Hamilton Dry Goods is snding me extra buttons (For free; great people!) so it will work out.

Got the 1851 Colt, the holster, Belduque and sheath. Chuck Burrows had an old belt that was never paid for, and he is shortening it to fit my waist (at a 44" waist I never thought I would be able to say something was being shortned for me ...LOL).

I bought a 'Gamblers Shirt' from Hamilton Dry Goods that has the full collar (as opposed to banded collar) that a Californio would wear ... and it has ruffled cuffs that will 'shoot'out of the Vaquero jacket much in the original fashon. It is pumpin colored and matches the pants and jacket ... ought to give it a bit of a 'dandy' looke ....

So now all I have to get to be in personna is a red sash and a really wide brimmed straw hat ... both available at Sacramento Dry Goods...

And to repeat I will send a pic whehn I finally have everything all together...

[WaddWatsonEllis]

As of this date:

I have the Vaquero Jacket, the calaveras (pants) with blood red sash, pumpkin colored Gambler's Shirt
I now have the 1851 Colt and Slim Jim holster, got a square trigger for it, have found a jewerlry shop who will silver plate the trigger guard and backstrap ...

Waiting on a pistol belt from Chuck Burrows as well as a pair of Botas De Alas ...

Sacramento Dry good turned me onto a Mexican Dance Supply company in San Antonio that had a red bowtie to match the sash.

Their website is:

http://www.larosadancesupply.com/Home_Mariachi.html

Again, once I get the whole outfit together I will add a pic ....

[kflach]

After waiting all this time I want more than just a picture. You got any friends with a cell phone who can shoot videos of you doing one of them Mexican Dances (as in the movie "Zorro" starring Catherine Zeta Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta Jones, Antonio Bandaras and Catherine Zeta Jones)? I'm guessing they might have 'How-To' videos at that Mexican Dance Supply Company in San Antonio.

You could get promoted from "WaddWatsonEllis" to "WaddWatsonEllis - The Dancing Docent"

<grin>

[WaddWatsonEllis]

KFlach,

After all this time I want more than pictures, too!

But you have obviously never seen me walk, 'cause after a cross country ski injury left me with bone-on-bone on my right knee, penguins have a more graceful gait ... but I am really good at doing an impression of Dennis waver as Chester in Gunsmoke .... "Mr. Dillon, Mr Dillon; wait up Mr Dillon!"

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Help ...

I have come down to the point in becoming a docent that I have to find a person who actually existed  .....

Due the time I have chosen, I think it would be very possigle to find a Californio who might have already lost his land, and has turned to the only thing he knows, i.e. ranching.

I am guessing tht there should be several people who, after they lost their own haciendas, went to work as a foreman for another Califonio ... or maybe even a Yanqui

If I could find such a fellow, he would be in a place where he has seen the best and worst of the change from the old California to the Gold Rush Era ....

Has anyone run accross such a person in their own research?

[FriscoCounty]

Here is a list of California history books available for free or close to it from Amazon.com as Kindle editions.  A version of the Kindle software is available for the PC -  http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311


California Four Months among the Gold-Finders, being the Diary of an Expedition from San Francisco to the Gold Districts
http://www.amazon.com/California-Gold-Finders-Expedition-Francisco-ebook/dp/B001OI3G4Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1258766059&sr=1-2  99 cents

California, 1849-1913; or, the rambling sketches and experiences of sixty-four years' residence in that state (Kindle Edition)
http://www.amazon.com/California-1849-1913-experiences-sixty-four-ebook/dp/B002RKT5FC/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1258766059&sr=1-9  Free currently

California and the Californians
http://www.amazon.com/California-and-the-Californians-ebook/dp/B000JQUKSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1258766370&sr=1-1  Free currently

The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco
http://www.amazon.com/March-Portola-Discovery-Francisco-ebook/dp/B000JQULP4/ref=kinw_tu_recs_3?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2  Free currently

The Mountains of California by John Muir
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountains-of-California-ebook/dp/B000JMKVZS/ref=sr_1_110?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1258766604&sr=1-110   Free currently

Frontier service during the rebellionor, A history of Company K, First Infantry, California Volunteers (Kindle Edition)
http://www.amazon.com/Frontier-rebellionor-California-Volunteers-ebook/dp/B002RKRXU6/ref=sr_1_65?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1258766549&sr=1-65  Free currently

[WaddWatsonEllis]

FriscoCounty,

When it comes to a computer, I am a definite neo-Luddite ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite

Although I am aware of the Kindle revolution, I would be much more readily use that noun to describe small bits of wood used to start a campfire ...

But I will write up your list (by hand) and see if the library can order them for me ...

Thanks!

[Grogan]

This is the area I grew up around.

It seems there was an interesting mixture of Spanish Land Grant lands interspersed with Yanquis even back before the days of the Gold Rush.

Maybe you'll find something or someone here that you could latch onto?

http://www.portolavalley.net/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1986

Also research "Ormondale Ranch"

Happy researching!

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I am more of a "technophobe", and I suspect that is more like you feel about computers;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technophobia

At one time my supervisors took a computer away from me because
1. I wasn't using it, or couldn't
2. One of our support staff actually required one to work for us.

Since then I have found computers ever more useful and much easier to use.  I probably spend waay too much time on them!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Sir Charles,

The last job that I had was working as a registration clerk for a very busy Emergency Room. I noticed that while I was concentrating on control/F8/enter, the teenage clerk (who grew up with computers) was typing twice as fast as I was and not even looking at her keyboard, keeping a running conversation with the next clerk that went something like, "Well, I saw Johnnie at the bar, and I told him yadayadayada ... and do you know what he said? He said yadayadayada.

And where I was admittting 60 in an 8 hour shift, they were admitting 90-100 and taking up my slack ... my manager finally said, "You know, you're just not gonna ever learn this ... '

So I am thinking something like a Walmart Greeter or one of those seniors who demonstrate foods at Costco....

Grogan, the area I am thinking of would be within a days ride on horseback from Sacramento. So that my character can be just riding in to check on  an order at Huntington and Hopkins .... which would give me a plausible reason to be in Old Sacramento even if I was a foreman/Jefe ...

But I will research the two sources you gave ....


http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/684/files/hardware.pdf

[Mad River Frank]

I'm with the Luddites.  My favorite book, Mark Twain's Roughing It --the Bancroft Library edition, is a good source for what most Yanquis wore and carried.  Californios were vaqueros, and had their own style of dress and tack.  Their sombreros were not quite as broad as worn my Mexicans, but the rest of their dress was similar.  If you're looking to recreate a Californios of Spaniard or Mexican background you could try Wikipedia or Google it.  If an Anglo, I'd look through Roughing It.  It's a great read, too.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Mad River Frank,

I carelessly said I would be a living docent as a Californio, thinking I could just buy a Vaquero Jacket and use my Ruger Old Armys ... was I wrong!

Now, $1400 later for a volunteer position, I now have an 1851 Colt, California Slim Jim holster on a period Chuck Burrows black powder belt, a beltline 5 1/2" bladed Belduque, a pair of Calveras and matching Vaquero Jacket. I have a 10" blade damascene Belduque being made for me to tuck into the Botas de Alas that Chuck Burrows is making for me. For now I will be wearing an old pair of cowboy boots, but if this position works out, I may be looking for the over-the-ankle-boots that Californios wore. But for now, all that I am waiting for is the red brocade tie to match the red waist sash that I already own ... the Botas and Belduque will be this spring, and when the Californio boots will be made is anybodies guess ....

But what I am looking for is a particular person that actually lived in the Sacramento area ... someone who might have had a rancho at one time but lost it, and has become a foreman/jefe to another ranchero. That way I could introduce myself as a particular person from the area, and explain that I had ridden in from the rancho to check on an important shipment that was expected, staying in character as I gave my tour.

I have had a state park person do this for a tour of the Ehrlman Estate in western Lake Tahoe, giving the whole tour of the house and estate as the actual butler from the 1920's (dressed as the majordomo would have). He treated us as Great Gatsby-era arriving guests, and it made the tour make far more sense than if it had been just a guy in a park ranger uniform.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Sir Charles,

I often think of the headmaster of my military high school. I went through the circuitous route of getting face time with him ....

Explained that I had a 3.5+ grade average, and asked if I could take a typing class during one of my evening study halls.

He did a Nikita Kruschev and did everything but pound the table with his shoe .... told me in no uncertain words that I was being trained to be a leader, 'and would always have someone to do my typing for me (his words, not mine)...

Contrast this with the average kid that I am competing with for a job ... who was playing games on a computer at least by the second grade ... where I didn't learn to type until my late 40s ... As the words to one of Jimmy Buffet's classics so aptly puts:

Yes I am a pirate,
200 years too late,
Cannons don't thunder,
There's nothin' to plunder,
I'm just an over 40 victim of fate

I mean, at least the dinosaurs got to die before they became relics ... LOL

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Wadd;  My grade 11 Science class got the same lecture, only that we would ALL become rich engineers!

I have become fairly handy with the HP method of typing.  HUNT & PECK

My work mates would pause by my office door and shake their heads in amazement.

[Russ T Chambers]

I prefer the Columbus Method of typing:  (Note historical reference)

I find a key, and land on it!