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LOT 1079
Extremely Rare and Desirable S. Hawken St. Louis Signed Full-Stock Percussion Rifle - NSN, 54 cal., 41 3/8
inch octagon bbl., blue/brown finish, maple stock. This extraordinary Hawken rifle’s barrel is distinctly marked
“S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS” on top of the breech section of the barrel for legendary St. Louis rifle maker Samuel
Hawken (1792-1884). The “S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS” marking was used following his brother Jacob’s death in 1849.
Samuel Hawken retired in 1855 and passed the shop onto his son William. William Hawken and Tristram Campbell
had been partners since at least 1853 but split by early 1856. The Hawken shop was sold in 1860 to a group of
gunsmiths, including J. P. Gemmer who eventually took over. The shop also marked some of the rifles “S. HAWKEN
ST. LOUIS” after 1862, but by that time the full-stock rifles would have been out of fashion. The barrel has a slightly
tapered profile and measures approximately 1.13 inches at the breech down to 1.09 inches in the mid-section to
muzzle and has seven-groove rifling, a nickel silver blade front sight with dovetailed copper base, a tall handmade
replacement buckhorn rear sight, and a hooked breech plug with a sculpted bolster. The standing breech has a
fence and a long tang that extends most of the way down the wrist. The lock has no visible markings. The lock
screw washer has a finial pointing down. The adjustable double set triggers are fitted in a long trigger plate with a
pointed rear finial and squared front. A screw from inside the trigger plate secures the scrolling tail of the trigger
guard. The barrel is secured by four wedges in addition to the hooked breech. The forend is also fitted with a iron
forend cap, two iron upper ramrod pipe, and an iron entry pipe. The butt has a beavertail cheekpiece as is more
commonly found on the Hawken half-stock rifles rather than the straight “Tennessee” style cheek piece, and is
fitted with as a crescent iron buttplate with pointed heel, rounded heel tang, and an iron toe plate with pointed
finial that coordinates with the trigger plate finial.
Jacob (1786-1849) and Samuel Hawken (1792-1884) remain among the most famous names in American
muzzleloading history and were active together in St. Louis starting in 1825 and have long been associated with
the 19th century mountain men. Some of their early rifles are known to have been used by the mountain men
active in the fur trade in the 1830s, including by General William Henry Ashley and the American Fur Company.
After the end of the Rocky Mountain fur trade, Hawken rifles continued to be in demand as migration to the West
increased with the opening of new territories for settlement. In this period, famous scouts like Jim Bridger and Kit
Carson depended on their Hawken rifles both to put meat on the table and for protection against their foes. Many
continued to use their Hawken rifles into the late 19th century, with a few like Tom Tobin photographed with their
trusty Hawken rifles near the end of the century. These full-stock Hawken rifles are highly sought after but less
well-known than the half-stock rifles thanks to fewer surviving examples. A J. & S. Hawken marked full stock rifle
was chosen by John D. Baird to be in his portrait on the back of his books “Hawken Rifles: The Mountain Man’s
Choice” and “Fifteen Years in the Hawken Lode” and on the first page of his “Full Stock Hawken Rifles” chapter in
the former. Also see page 2 of the first book for another similar “J. & S. Hawken” rifle attributed by Baird to the
1830-1840 period. The Latter Day Saints Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, also has a full-stock J. & S.
Hawken rifle attributed to Mormon pioneer John Brown and shown on pages 38-40 of Bob Woodfill’s recent “The
Hawken Rifle” book. The “S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS” marked full-stock rifle in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is also
a noteworthy reference for this rifle and is shown on the museum website and pages 77-80 of Woodfill’s book.