Captain*kirk
Member
Does anyone have access to any documentation showing what the Texas Rangers paid for each of the original run of Walker revolvers? If so, I would appreciate you sharing the info and the name of the source. Thanks!
Yes, but they got to play with cool stuff. Like Patersons and Walkers.The Rangers were paid $1 dollar per day. Seven dollars per week and you supplied your horse. A decent wage around 1847 was $20 dollars per week. The pay for teenage labor was $1.00 per day.
A Ranger was doing a dangerous job for poverty level pay?
Did they get room and board (food) in addition to the $1 per day?
As I recall? He said, the "Cow Outfits" did not allow them to carry loaded firearms. They had to be stored in the supply wagons. That makes sense. One shot and a 1,000 head of Long Horns would scatter to Hell and back.
He never mentioned shooting the old Colt. I am sure that he did. However the .45 Colt rounds were very expensive. They often only bought maybe 2 or 3 rounds at a time. Saloons accepted .45 Colt rounds for cash. A .45 round bought a shot of cheap whisky.
Towns on the Texas trails banned the carrying of sidearms. It seems it was a problem not about gun fights. It was more about drunken drovers shooting and wounding their own horses. They would typically just take their saddles and leave the animals for the town to clean up. Like today the taxpayers complained.
He did mention shooting an Eagle in a tree top. He used a .40 Caliber Cap & Ball rifle made in North Carolina. The real cowboys were young kids. They were often barefoot and ragged. This was hard gritty work following the Civil War.
This is not connected but and example. The history of the Johnson County War in Wyoming notes this. The hired Texas gun fighters were caught in a blizzard. They did not own boots. Their bare feet suffered frost bite. The "B" movies and real life may have been very different.
This is anecdotal and a recount of family history. I am not claiming it is historically correct. If you enjoy it accept it for what it is.