pip.^fo.'S'f" INVESTIGATIONS AT FORT STEVENSON — SMITH 233 



The cartridges and bullets from the occupation by the U.S. Army 

 reveal that two principal military rifles were in use : The .50-caliber 

 Springfield rifle introduced into the service in 1866, improved in 1868 

 and 1870 and discarded after 1873, and the .45-caliber Springfield 

 rifle introduced in 1873, improved in 1884 and 1888 and discarded after 

 1892. The .50-caliber Sharps and Remington arms may have been 

 present too. One or more, already obsolete, muzzle-loading rifled 

 muskets of the Civil War were also in use. A Henry rifle, or a Model 

 1866 Winchester, using the .44 Henry cartridge was present, along 

 with .45-caliber Colt revolvers, a .54-caliber Burnside carbine and, 

 possibly, a 12-gage shotgun. 



The specimens pertaining to the military occupation of the site fur- 

 nish the following dates of manufacture : 1855-65, 1861-65, 1866-1880, 

 October 1866 to March 1868, 1868-1880, May to December 1871, 1873- 

 1890, 1873-1900, June 1880, February 1881, April 1881, April 1882. 

 Discounting the extreme time spans based on typology, the dates 

 conform with the documentation remarkably well : ca. 1865-1885. 



The cartridges dating from after the military occupation indicate 

 the use of a .22-caliber rifle, lever action hunting rifles of moderate 

 power, high-power bolt action rifles, a .38-caliber revolver, and some 

 shotguns. Most of the weapons were designed for the use of smokeless 

 powder, which did not come into general use until after 1900. The 

 dates of manufacture are less satisfactory than those pertaining to the 

 military occupation of the site because they fall within the period 

 when technological change in firearms and ammunition had reached 

 a more static level and also because old designs persist in use longer 

 among civilians. Most of the cartridges are indistinguishable from 

 those manufactured and sold today. The dates are as follows : 1886- 

 1901, 1887-1940, and from 1890, 1900, 1902, 1906, and 1913 to date. 

 The specimens may have been dropped on the site at intervals from 

 1886 to 1951 or the bulk of them may pertain to no more than two 

 hunting parties, one about 1900, the other after 1913. The presence 

 of both shotgun shells and rifle cartridges, however, suggests seasonal 

 hunting for birds and larger game. 



In the detailed analysis below, the specimens belonging to the sec- 

 ond group are marked by asterisks (*) in front of the paragraph 

 numbers. 



Separately primed cartridge : 



1. .54 Burnside, brass. Case tapered to rear and perforated to receive the 

 flash from a separate percussion cap placed on the nipple mounted in 

 the breechblock. Manufactured by the Burnside Rifle Company, Provi- 

 dence, R.I., for use in the Burnside cavalry carbine ca. 1861-65. The 

 U.S. Ordnance Department purchased 21,819,200 of these cartridges for 

 use in the Civil War. 

 Catalogue No.: 1236 Total 1 



