Was puttering around on the computer today, and ran across this. As I recall, this was a Library of Congress image that I was able to use for an article on the Cody-produced Ballard Pacific. I just thought it was a great photo. 

Click the photo, then click again, and you can look at it in pretty good detail. 

Cheers...   Jim 

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Beautiful picture of the times and it makes one wonder where they were headed at the time to possibly start a new life.

My Pacific in .40-70 SS. The Cody team surely did nice work! 

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The young fellow on the right is wearing a cartridge belt full of some very LONG cartridges.  I wonder what calibre his Ballard was chambered in?

As many times as I've seen this photo, this is the first time I've had this "imagining".  The lady is wearing tight-fitting gloves.  Is she simply keeping the sun off her hands or is she at least sometimes driving the wagon?

As you said, old photos sometimes spark more than 1000 words!

Bill Lawrence

40_Rod wrote on Jun 16^th, 2019 at 9:38am:


My mistake. The #5 1/2 was not .45-120, but .45-100 Ballard. That's the .45 2 9/16", not 2 7/8" Sharps version.

I blew it up pretty big and I think its a Pacific. Also above woman's head is another Pacific. Its only a guess but in the cartridge belt is a 40-90 or 40-85 Ballard.
  Don

This is terribly crude, but enlarging the image and holding a piece of paper to the screen to mark it, I note that the vertical height of the butt of the Ballard in the wagon is very nearly the same as the length of the loaded cartridges in the belt. The young fellow is at a slightly different distance from the camera, but not much.

The butt of my Cody-made Pacific is about 4 3/8" in height. I'm in the middle of a move, so I don't have access to my loaded .45-120-550 rounds nor to my reference books. 

What I can say is that the rounds in the belt certainly appear to be patched. I know it was done, but that seems like a tough environment for a patched bullet. Wouldn't take much moisture or rough handling to make a patched round tough to chamber. 

Or perhaps I'm biased by the issues I had with my old Farmingdale Long Range Express Sharps. Its barrel had that cotton pickin' "paper patch throat" and was quite fussy about rolling the leading edge of the patch unless spotlessly clean. 

The original information with that photo stated it was from Nebraska. So many little details to ponder about!

Just Jim,
Did the original information say what they were doing. It seems more like a hunting trip than a move in a covered wagon. I wonder because the wagon does not seem to be very crowded nor does it have water barrels and such tied to the side.

The lady wearing gloves along with long sleeves and a wide brim hat were protection against the sun.  The men were likewise attired against the elements. My folks protected themselves similarly into the 1960's.  Somewhere in there we got stupid about the sun.

Bill, 
I have thought of that often, back in the day when people moved via wagon and even first automobiles, who would drag gear like that around.  But they were of a different sort, my grandparents had photos their parents had taken beginning when they first moved to a homestead in eastern Wyoming before the turn of the last century - and it wasn't just a couple of photographs.   
Greg

It's possible the family planned a hunting trip and a photographer from town came along to document it with photos.
A simple hunting trip with one or two men wouldn't likely be documented. But a trip that was long enough to involve hauling a wagon, gear, and the family, was a pretty big deal and they might have wanted it documented just for that reason. 
Wonder if they had other pictures taken of game harvested, and such? Would be interesting to see ....the rest of the story.

By the way, this image is pictured on page 164 of Dutcher's Ballard book and states it was taken in South Loop Valley near Broken Bow, Nb. in 1886. 
John's guess was a Montana with the young man, and a Pacific in the wagon. Broken Bow isn't a huge town today, and likely pretty small in 1886. But there are numerous small towns in the area, so not a big deal for a photographer to come out from town for the day, or days, to take some pictures of the hunt for the family.

When you get a chance use Sir Google and enter "Broken Bow Nebraska in 1886" check out images.  Somebody at the time was a busy photographer, there is a lot from that era.  It looks like they had a print shop among other things, so I can imagine the little blurb in the bottom corner of the local rag, 

"The Jones's left this morning on a month long hunting trip, loaded up with their Ballard rifles, wish them luck, they should have stopped by the General and got one of those new Winchester repeating rifles..."

I made my last comment somewhat in jest, but I grew up in very small community and when I was first learning to read, the local rag was published twice a week.  I remember reading stories used to fill up the pages, like "what was happening 50 years ago... so and so's sister, husband, kids 1-8 made the 14 mile journey in the wagon - had a wonderful afternoon, evening, and church the following morning, returning home by dark the following day"  This was news that was actually printed - it was a different time. 

That store, YES! if only we could.
Greg

marlinguy wrote on Jun 20^th, 2019 at 10:42am:


I bought an 1851 Navy Colt repro in about 1971 or so, and it was my introduction to the world of bullet casting. I knew pure lead was required, and I walked into the S.F. Travis hardware store in Cocoa, Florida. It was a WONDERFUL place, with shelves full of old stock, and rolling "library" ladders to permit access to the high shelving. I learned later they had been founded in 1885. 

I asked for lead, and a grizzled old fellow asked "how much?" while pointing to a pig of lead on the floor. He chopped off a chunk with an axe, and a few hours later, I witnessed the magical transformation of cold, gray lead into a shiny, mercurial pool. What fun! 

The closest thing to a hardware store nearest me is Home Depot! I usually avoid them because I leave there so frustrated or irritated that it's not worth it. I drive a bit farther to get to something closer to a real hardware store, just so I can not deal with idiots.
Went to HD to get "nailer strips" he other day to screw across two wood joints for extra support. I asked the guy stocking shelves in the lumber area for them, and he tells me they're in the "carpet area". I told him that couldn't be right, but he insisted it was. Went to carpet and the lady there tells me he's nuts, they don't have them.
I finally decided to leave, and as I was walking out I walked past them at the end of the row where the guy was stocking shelves. Must have been a whole 30' away from him.

rkba2nd wrote on Jun 21^st, 2019 at 11:51am:


I told him exactly what they were used for. He didn't even know what a "nailer strip" was until I told him how they were used.
I have no idea what they get paid, but I'd think a guy working in a specific dept. like lumber would know the area he stocks. Now if I'd asked about paint I'd expect he might be lost.