Since the early interactions
between Europeans and Native Americans, flintlock weapons were always a major
commodity. They provided an easier method to hunting for the Native Americans
and for the colonists, it created new markets of trade for those weapons. In
1624 The French and Iroquois signed a treaty for trade between themselves (essentially
guns for fur) and thus made Montreal a new trade capital for the French in the
new world. In 1639, unsupervised trade caused the Dutch to pass a law
prescribing the death penalty for bootlegging guns to the Native Americans
(Hamilton). These weapons were not all the same though. Most firearms were made
by individual blacksmiths or gunsmiths. This meant that all of these flintlocks
had individual designs on the side and butt of the rifle. Some with patterns of
the crown, others with a serpentine figure that wrapped around and some with
depictions of hunting dogs chasing game. These designs can help tell us a story
about who the firearms belonged too. Lots of the materials used for these
designs came from French furniture. This tells us that not only were these
materials recycled from other things but the raw materials needed to make the
gun parts were scarce and not easily obtained, even with the extensive trading
going on.
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| Flintlock side plate. (photo by John Cardinal) |
Last week at the Fort St. Joseph site I found what we
believe to be a piece of a side plate of a flintlock. It depicts a dog running
towards something, similar to that of a piece found in a book published by T.M.
Hamilton. The piece itself appears to be made of a copper alloy and is very
well preserved. When copper oxidizes, which happens a lot in archaeology, it
turns a greenish color. Since this piece was found in a swamp, and has been
sitting in wet ground for years yet there is not one spec of green corrosion on
it. Originally I had no clue to what the piece was and thought it wasn't
anything, but when I dropped it accidentally on my trowel it made a
distinguishable sound that made me know it was not just a random piece of iron.
I showed my professor and he knew what it was and was surprised at how well the
condition of the side piece was in. Normally there’s much more corrosion and/or
damage. This piece is almost intact, no corrosion and has a brilliant depiction
of a hunting dog on it. Personally, it makes me want to find the other side of
the piece, it's like I've been given a jigsaw puzzle but with only one piece
missing. It's exciting but frustrating
at the same time. But I haven't given up and I know I'll find the piece or
others similar to it by the end of the field season.
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| An exciting find! (photo by John Cardinal) |
After conducting further
research at the library I found a match to the side plate. Hamilton's second
book, Guns of Fort Michlimackinac, provided what is almost an exact match of my
side plate. Following the end of the French and Indian War (1754-1763),
Britain’s control of the former lands of New France created an escalated demand
for hunting/trade firearms. The growing Hudson’s Bay Company helped to fill
this need by expanding production of its “Northwest” or “Mackinaw” trade gun.
During
the colonial era over 73,000 of these firearms were built and distributed all
over the new world (Servin). Making this the "Model T" of firearms
for the colonial era. The design on the firearm is of Fort Michilimackinac,
which narrows down the search of the gun designer, which was more than likely a
French Blacksmith by the name of Jean-Baptiste Amiot. He designed most of the
side plate designs for this region and more than likely was distributed to Fort
St. Joseph. Finding the other side of
this side plate could possible provide further information of who made it and
where it possibly came from. This could provide further data on how the French
fur trade worked around Michigan and the Great Lakes.
-Stephan
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