Kaylee
Member
On another thread I mentioned a weapons collection of a local gentleman here who, upon his death, was donated to a museum. Since I was asked for more details.. here they are:
Mr. Earl was a delightfully eccentric man. In his prime he owned a couple gold mines and imported machine guns for Hollywood. He owned a brass Gatling gun that as I hear tell rested outside his home in the Boise foothills, aimed at the Capitol building. I think I would have liked him.
Anyhow, his collection is something to behold. The bulk of it is WWII era weapons, up to and including a couple small field pieces. Of course, every major long arm worth mentioning by any power is there. Yes, even the original Sturmgev.guv..um.. assault rifle. And a Reising, and a Johnson, and all kinds of other goodies. About half a dozen Thompsons of various configurations.
Stepping back in time we get to his WWI collection -- Mausers and Enfields and Springfields and such, including a walk-through trench exhibit with a machine gun you can play with, pointed out into a painting of No Man's Land.
Stepping back a bit more, the aforementioned Gatling, an Krag, a flop-top Springfield, a Colt SAA... then the Civil War pieces, spanning from a pressed into service flintlock musket straight through to Henry and Spenser carbines.
From there things get spotty.. there's a Bess, a couple brass-barrelled blunderbuss-es (blunderbi?) and some flinter pistols. Add to that a rack of swords, mostly 15th-19th c. I think. And some bronze age pointy things even!
More modern... let's see, an M16A1, a couple SMGs, Idaho's Very Own Linda, and.. get this.. Stoner's PERSONAL Stoner rifle.
Oh.. and a sighting exhibit for the kids, where they can try out several little .22s and a pistol mockup, demonstrating irons, scope.. even a laser (when they replace the battery)
A few other bits and pieces, but those are the highlights. They're still trying to get Mr. Earl's Mig up here from Arizona.. seems by the time they found a pilot who could read Russian, the hoses and such had deteriorated to the point he wouldn't fly it.
So come on down and take a look sometime! It's located in the Old Idaho Penitentiary... ask for the Earl Exhibit. Just a warning, they close half an hour before the rest of the museum, at 4:30.
Hours
Open all year
Memorial Day – Labor Day, open every day, 10am - 5pm.
The rest of the year, open every day, noon - 5pm, closed state holidays.
Admission
$5.00 Adults
$4.00 Seniors
$3.00 Children (ages 6-12)
Discount for groups of 10 or more.
Location
2445 Old Penitentiary Road
Boise, ID 83712
Directions: From the intersection of Broadway and Warm Springs Avenue, travel east on Warm Springs for about 1.5 miles then turn left onto Old Penitentiary Road. Please call 208 334-2844 if you have questions.
and.. if you come by in the next week or so on a Friday between 2:30 and 4:30, you can talk with yours truly.
Mr. Earl was a delightfully eccentric man. In his prime he owned a couple gold mines and imported machine guns for Hollywood. He owned a brass Gatling gun that as I hear tell rested outside his home in the Boise foothills, aimed at the Capitol building. I think I would have liked him.
Anyhow, his collection is something to behold. The bulk of it is WWII era weapons, up to and including a couple small field pieces. Of course, every major long arm worth mentioning by any power is there. Yes, even the original Sturmgev.guv..um.. assault rifle.
And a Reising, and a Johnson, and all kinds of other goodies. About half a dozen Thompsons of various configurations. Stepping back in time we get to his WWI collection -- Mausers and Enfields and Springfields and such, including a walk-through trench exhibit with a machine gun you can play with, pointed out into a painting of No Man's Land.
Stepping back a bit more, the aforementioned Gatling, an Krag, a flop-top Springfield, a Colt SAA... then the Civil War pieces, spanning from a pressed into service flintlock musket straight through to Henry and Spenser carbines.
From there things get spotty.. there's a Bess, a couple brass-barrelled blunderbuss-es (blunderbi?) and some flinter pistols. Add to that a rack of swords, mostly 15th-19th c. I think. And some bronze age pointy things even!
More modern... let's see, an M16A1, a couple SMGs, Idaho's Very Own Linda, and.. get this.. Stoner's PERSONAL Stoner rifle.
Oh.. and a sighting exhibit for the kids, where they can try out several little .22s and a pistol mockup, demonstrating irons, scope.. even a laser (when they replace the battery)
A few other bits and pieces, but those are the highlights. They're still trying to get Mr. Earl's Mig up here from Arizona.. seems by the time they found a pilot who could read Russian, the hoses and such had deteriorated to the point he wouldn't fly it.
So come on down and take a look sometime! It's located in the Old Idaho Penitentiary... ask for the Earl Exhibit. Just a warning, they close half an hour before the rest of the museum, at 4:30.
Hours
Open all year
Memorial Day – Labor Day, open every day, 10am - 5pm.
The rest of the year, open every day, noon - 5pm, closed state holidays.
Admission
$5.00 Adults
$4.00 Seniors
$3.00 Children (ages 6-12)
Discount for groups of 10 or more.
Location
2445 Old Penitentiary Road
Boise, ID 83712
Directions: From the intersection of Broadway and Warm Springs Avenue, travel east on Warm Springs for about 1.5 miles then turn left onto Old Penitentiary Road. Please call 208 334-2844 if you have questions.
and.. if you come by in the next week or so on a Friday between 2:30 and 4:30, you can talk with yours truly.
