Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-09-14
Made the Revolver a Success

Colt put aside all idea of making his
fortune out Of the invention, wooden
model of which he had made willis
crossing the ocean as a youth aboard a
cattle vessel, and turned his attention
to other means of earning a liveli
hood
"A few years later came the war
with Mexico, and in the second year
of the war Colt was surprised to re-
ceive communication from Gen. Zach
airy Taylor, in which Old Rough and
Ready stated that he had heard that
the revolver had been used in the
Seminole war and that it had done
more to frighten the Indians than any
other weapon employed by the whites;
the Indians could not understand how
pistol could be fred six times with
out reloading; they thought there was
magic in it. So General Taylor had
come to the conclusion, he went on to
say in his letter, that the revolver
might prove of good service in the war
then being fought with Mexico. and he
would like to have thousand of them
as soon as possible, and was willing to
pay any price within reason that Mr..
Colt might ask for them.
Let me state again that when Mr..
Colt received this letter he had long
since dropped all thought of making
the revolver commercially a success.
But with General Taylor's communica-
ton before him he was shrewd enough
to realize that If old Rough and
Ready could use with good effect the
revolver in the Mexican war, that
would be sure to make a widespread
demand for the weapon. So Colonel
Colt set about to fill the order,
but when he began to seek for a
revolver from which to prepare q mod
Ell he was actually unable to find
one anywhere in the whole United
States. He even didn't have one him
self, so completely had he put the re-
volver idea from him
There was only one Of two things
he could do. Either he must decline
Taylor's offer to buy a thousand re-
7olvers, or he must put himself to
work on new model. He decided to
make new model; and it was a most
fortunate thing. Colonel Colt told me,
that he was compelled to do this. for
in making this model various i'm
provements occurred to him and when
the model was completed he saw at
once that he had the perfected
weapon.
AS speedily as possible after the
II AZ,
made at a little factory in New Eng
land the revolvers that old Rough
and Ready wanted, and it is my recol
lection that the inventor received $50.
600 for them. Sure that the use of the
revolver by General Taylor would
bring the revolver into permanent pop.
ularity and use, with this capital Colo
mel Colt began over again the man.
ufacture of his first invention. and
within ten years thereafter he was the
richest man in Connecticut and one
of the richest in New England. a
great future was before him when. in
1852, he died in his prime. I remem-
Der that short time before his death
he confded to me that he had in mind
an improved musket or rife which, he
thought, could be so manufactured as
to fire five or six shots without re-
loading. I am certain that, had he
lfveG, such rife he would have per-
fected, and SO have become known as
the inventor Of the modern repeating
rife as well as the inventor of the re-
volver'
Copyright. 1911, by E. ]. Edwards. All
Rights Reserved.)