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COLT, SAMUEL. 



Indians were easily disheartened and defeated 

 when they found that their enemies could fire 

 six or eight times without reloading. This 

 triumph of his arms was, however, a misfortune 

 to the ingenious inventor, for the speedy con- 

 clusion of the war deprived him of a market. 

 In 1842, the Patent Arms Company were forced 

 to suspend, and from that time till 1847 none 

 ofthe repeating firearms were manufactured. 

 Meantime, the market was entirely drained of 

 them by the demand from Texas and the Indian 

 frontier. In 1847, the Mexican war having com- 

 menced, Gen. Taylor, who knew their value 

 from his experience in the Florida war, sent 

 Captain Walker, of the Texan Rangers, to Col. 

 Colt to procure a supply. There were none to 

 be had ; the colonel had parted with the last 

 sample to one of the Texan Rangers, and when 

 the Government ordered one thousand more, 

 on his offer to make them for $28,000, after 

 advertising in vain for one to serve as a model, 

 he was compelled to make a new model, and in 

 so doing, incorporated into it some improve- 

 ments which the experience of military officers 

 suggested. This first thousand were made at 

 an armory temporarily hired at Whitney ville, 

 near New Haven, Conn. Other orders follow- 

 ing immediately on the completion ofthe first, 

 Col. Colt procured more commodious work- 

 shops at Hartford, commenced business on 

 his own account, and filled the orders with 

 promptness. The extraordinary emigration to 

 California and afterward to Australia greatly 

 increased the demand for the revolvers, and 

 assured the permanency ofthe business. Find- 

 ing that more room and greater facilities for 

 manufacturing were required, he planned in 

 1852, and subsequently executed, the gigantic 

 project of erecting an armory, unequalled in the 

 world in extent and perfection of machinery, 

 and under circumstances which would have de- 

 terred most men from the effort. Within the cor- 

 porate limits of the city of Hartford, and south 

 ofthe Little or Mill river, lay a tract of meadow, 

 of about 250 acres in extent, which, owing to its 

 being flooded by the annual freshets of the 

 Connecticut river, was available only for graz- 

 ing purposes, and even for them only at certain 

 seasons ofthe year. This tract he purchased, 

 and surrounded with a dike or embankment, 

 about two miles in length, one hundred and 

 fifty feet wide at the base, from thirty to sixty 

 at the top, and from ten to twenty-five in 

 height. The strength of this dike having been 

 tested by a severe freshet, and it having been 

 further protected by covering the sides with 

 willows, he erected within it hL armory, of 

 Portland stone, consisting of two main build- 

 ings connected by a central building, the whole 

 being in the form of the letter II. The front 

 parallel is 500 by 60 feet, the rear parallel 500 

 by 40, and the central building 250 by 50 feet ; 

 the front parallel and central building are three 

 stories in height ; connected with these are 

 other buildings for offices, warerooms, watch- 

 men's houses, &c. In 1861 a second building 



ofthe same size as the first was erected, the 

 great increase in the demand for his arms ren- 

 dering more room for their manufacture indis- 

 pensable. In this establishment there is ample 

 accommodation for the manufacture of 1,000 

 firearms per day, being more than double the 

 capacity of the national armories at Springfield 

 and Harper's Ferry united. The number made 

 the present year is about 120.000, while the two 

 U. S. armories together, in 1860, made abotit 

 35,000. A part of the establishment is devoted 

 to the manufacture of Col. Colt's machinery for 

 making these firearms elsewhere, which has al- 

 ready supplied a large portion of the machinery 

 for the armory of the British Government at 

 Enfield, England, and the whole of that for the 

 Russian Government armory at Tulin. On the 

 land enclosed by the dike he also erected nu- 

 merous dwellings for his employes, and ware- 

 houses for other kinds of business, the entire 

 expenditure upon the grounds and buildings 

 amounting to more than $2,500,000. On the 

 first terrace beyond the river valley, overlook- 

 ing this busy hive, he erected his own palatial 

 residence. After establishing himself at Hart- 

 ford, Col. Colt repeatedly visited Europe, and his 

 arms being extensively used by many of the 

 European Governments, especially those of 

 Russia and Great Britain, he was received with 

 great attention, and several times had occasion to 

 explain his views respecting firearms before the 

 most eminent military authorities, and even the 

 crowned heads themselves of those countries. 

 In 1856 he visited Russia, with his family, and 

 was present, as an honored guest, at the coro- 

 nation of Alexander II. 



Soon after the Mexican war, the suggestions 

 derived from the use of these arms by the mil- 

 itary forces, led to extensive improvements in 

 their construction, which were then patented, 

 and to their adoption by the Government ofthe 

 United States as a regular weapon for the 

 army. Subsequently, long service in the field 

 in the Crimean and Indian campaigns suggested 

 still further improvements and simplifications 

 in the construction, which were also secured 

 by patent, and which render the arm compar- 

 atively perfect and certainly superior in effi- 

 ciency to any other firearm in existence. From 

 almost all the Governments of Europe, as well 

 as from several of the Asiatic monarchs, he 

 received orders of merit, medals, diplomas, 

 rings, and other tokens of their esteem and ap- 

 preciation of his great invention. 



All the accessories of these arms, balls, 

 cartridges, bullet moulds, powder flasks, lubri- 

 cators, &c., &c., are manufactured at the ar- 

 mory, and most of them, as well as the 

 greater part of the machinery for manu- 

 facturing the arms, were the invention of 

 Colonel Colt, or the development of his 

 suggestions, by some of his skilful workmen. 

 Amid his other cares, the intellectual and social 

 welfare of his numerous employes were not 

 forgotten. Few mechanics are favored witli as 

 convenient residences as those he has erected 



