Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-08-13
OLD POWDERHORNS.
They'Were Once important i'm
plements of Warfafe.
TREASURED AS HEIRLooMs.

A ranoed Down From Father to Son and
From Friend TO Frisnd-Ensrsvsd
and ornsmented, They Were Used N
Gifts instead Of Jsweisd Swords.
| Modern inventions have robbed war
fare Of much OF its romance and the
soldier OF much OF his old time pictur-
esqueness- Although the powderhorn
as an implement of war disappeared
long before the magazine gun OF today
was dreamed OF. II wasn't SO very long
ago, as matter OF fact. that men
were carrying powderhorns. Some OF
the soldiers In the Mexican war, for
example. used them.
The powderhorns carried by the
fighters In the early days OF this ccun-
try were often OF comparatively sim
pie workmanship. but they were cher
ished and handed down from father
to son and from friend to friend.
Strange TO say. though cherished I'm
this manner. collectors have had a
4, very hard time In locating any great
number OF the powderhorns used In
this country. and this in spite OF the
! large numbers used In the seventeenth
, and eighteenth centuries.
In the French and Indian war the
English and Americans carried 10000
| powderhorns, 1t has been estimated,
! to say nothing OF the number carried
/ by those on the French side. In the
Revolution there were, according to
/ the best estimates. about 10000 pow
derhorns In use In the American
army without counting those on the
British side. The European troops had
! long discarded them, OF course, but
their colonial allies naturally were
equipped with them.
A few years ago Isaac ]. Greenwood
presented to the New York Historical
society collection of water color pic
lures Of powderhorns be had found
still I'm existence.
Although the search was prosecuted
with great diligence. the number OF pow
derhorns actually located and sketched
was not much more than 400, showing
how quickly the horns have been dis
appearing.
Powderhorns are supposed to have
come into use almost simultaneously
with the invention OF gunpowder. A
way had to be found to carry the DOW
der and keep Il dry. and men quickly
found that there wasn't anything bet
ter or cheaper In medieval times for
this purpose than the horns OF an ami
NAL
They were In general use In the six
teenth century and were brought to
this country by the first settlers. The
Oldest horn whose picture appears in
the collection was found near Science
tady. n. Y. and bears the date or 1898
1t YVES generally the horns OF their
own cattle that the farmer fighters OF
America used. The loss Of a horn in
nowise impaired the usefulness of the
animal. and bulls frequently were
called upon TO make the sacrifice. Such
horns were easily obtained and
wouldn't rust aud could be carried I'm
the rain and through streams without
the powder In them getting wet.
They were always worn under tho
/ left arm by a strap that went over the
right shoulder. the curve In the horn
| conforming to the shape of the body
i and serving to keep It out or the way
! OF the wearer. There was a stopple In
the small end. and without being un-
slung the powder could be poured into
the right hand and thence into the gun.
Boiled. scraped and cleaned and col
ored with an orange or yellow dye.
| which was the way most Of the DOW
derhorns were prepared. they lent
themselves more readily TO Ornamental
ton 3y the owner than did any other
pare OF his equipment. aud Ii Is this
1z.t which has made them particularly
interesting as historical relies. Admir-
Ing friends In the days when powder
horns were In general use instead OF
presenting hero with an engraved
sword gave him a finely decorated
| powderhorn.
Sometimes the horns were made to
order and the engraving done by pro-
fessionals. Many or these horns were
beautifully colored. the most popular
shade being sort OF orange tint.
Perhaps the most remarkable exam
Piles OF the engraving are to be seen
on the geographical horns whose pic
lures appear In the Greenwood collec-
tion. These geographical horns took
the place OF pocket maps for the early
, pioneers. They were the work OF pro-
fessionai engravers In places like New
York and Boston.
Some OF the horns In the collection
contain practically complete maps Of
the old trails and waterways. One of
the best OF these bears the date OF
1857 and shows New York with its
harbor fllled with ships and New York
state as far as Lake Cha npisin and
Ontario. The Hudson valley. with it's
settlements. appears on most of the
geographical horns discovered. One
horn shows the country between Eiix-
abethtown and P;ttsburg. each little
settlement being carefully noted
The horns thus filed a double pur-
pose. supplying the traveller with
map and carrying his powder for him.
One OF the best specimens In the col
lection shows Havana. as wei, as the
trail from Albany to Oswego. Ii Is
believed to have been owned by sol.
der IN the English army which cap
tured the Cuban city and who later
served In the colonies. - Washington
Post.