The borderlands of “Blood Meridian” have a stark and terrible beauty. McCarthy used artist-author-adventurer Samuel Chamberlain’s “My Confession” as a source.
Cormac McCarthy’s dark masterpiece “Blood Meridian” takes place in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in the middle of the 19th Century. The filibusters and scalphunters of the era were armed to the teeth with the latest advancements in firearms.
The era was the apogee of the development of the muzzleloading rifle. The leader of the scalphunters, John Joel Glanton — a historical figure — carries a percussion “swivel-bore” rifle. This was a superposed double-barreled rifle. The rifleman fired one barrel, released a catch, swiveled the bottom barrel to the top and was ready to fire again.
While not common on the frontier, swivel-bores were definitely a presence. Frontier rifleman Timothy Murphy allegedly used one to take down British general Simon Fraser at the battle of Saratoga during the American revolution (some authorities doubt that, arguing that the swivel-bore was a later development; he definitely owned one at some point though). There is also an account of Simon Kenton using one in an ambush of Shawnee raiders in the 1790s.
A reproduction of the Wesson Rifle.
A sergeant among the filibusters The Kid first accompanies into Mexico carries a Wesson rifle. These excellent New England-manufactured muzzleloaders were about the best money could buy in the mid-19th Century. Some were used as sniper (or, more appropriately “sharpshooter”) rifles during the Civil War. They were highly accurate, especially when equipped with a vernier (aperture) sight or a scope. The downside was that they were heavy.
“The sergeant carried in his saddle scabbard a heavy Wesson Rifle that used a false muzzle and paper patch and fired a coneshaped ball. With it he killed the little wild pigs of the desert and later when they began to see herds of antelope he would halt-and screwing a bipod in the threaded boss on the underside of the barrel would kill these animals where they stood grazing at distances of half a mile. The rifle carried a vernier sight on the tang and he would eye the distance and gauge the wind and set the sight like a man using a micrometer.”
— “Blood Meridian”
A Wesson with a vernier sight and an octagon-to-round barrel.
McCarthy was not merely indulging in the exotic when it came to firearms. Such rifles were indeed in use on the frontier and professional hunters of all stripes sought out the best equipment as their livelihoods and their very lives depended upon it. There were many manufacturers supplying the Western trade by the late 1840s. The notion that every mountain man or plainsman carried a Hawken rifle has long since been debunked (though it was still current when “Blood Meridian” was published in 1985).
Judge Holden carries a silver-chased rifle, which carries the motto “Et in Arcadia Ego,” done in silver wire along the cheekpiece. The Latin phrase translates to “Even in Arcadia I Exist.” Meaning that even in the most beautiful setting of nature, Death is present.
He had with him that selfsame rifle you see with him now, all mounted in german silver and the name that he’d give it set with silver wire under the checkpiece in latin: Et In Arcadia Ego. A reference to the lethal in it. Common enough for a man to name his gun. I’ve heard Sweetlips and Hark From The Tombs and every sort of lady’s name. His is the first and only ever I seen with an inscription from the classics.
— Tobin in “Blood Meridian”
Death or the Devil, take your pick; the Judge certainly fits the bill. The fine rifle is merely one of his instruments. His very hands are implements of murder by strangulation.
The five-shot Colt Paterson was an early development. It was fragile but it made a big impact on the plains.
McCarthy’s deadly men also carried sidearms, which were undergoing a revolution in this era. Some carried five-shot revolvers, which would be the Paterson Colt, Samuel Colt’s first successful revolver. With their exposed triggers and wedged barrel-cylinder setup, they were on the fragile side, but they had fundamentally shifted the firepower relationship between the Texas Rangers and the Comanches in the late 1830s.
Now we’re talkin’. The Colt Dragoon — manufactured in Whitneyville, Conn., — was a robust, powerful pistol.
The gang of hunters favored a pair of so-called “Whitneyville Colts.” These are the robust Colt Dragoon first models. Whitneyville was where they were manufactured. Some say this is a reference to the massive Walker Colt, which was the Dragoon’s immediate predecessor, but I don’t think that’s right. The filibuster captain’s pistols are specifically referred to as Dragoons, and they were much more plentiful than the rare Walkers.
Anyway, they were a badass pistol.
As fantastical as “Blood Meridian” feels, it is thoroughly grounded in historical reality. Its material culture is on the money, including its depiction of the firearms of its bloody-handed Frontier Partisans.
John Maddox Roberts notes that Glanton carried a plains war club. A “primitive” but highly effective implement of murder.
John Joel Glanton by Chamberlain.
Lane Batot says
Did you ever see the old classic movie “The Scalphunters” with Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis, Telly Savalas, Shelley Winters–among other old greats? I got a fairly cheap copy of that awhile back–I always loved that movie…….
JimC says
Probably 25 years ago in college. Need to grab a $5 DVD somewhere.
Lane Batot says
Like most such, I got my copy off’n Amazon……..
John Maddox Roberts says
Besides firearms, Glanton carries a Plains warclub. This nasty weapon consists of an ovoid stone drilled to take a slender, whippy shaft, the whole thing, head and shaft, stitch-covered with rawhide. It is lightweight but the slight whippiness of the shaft gives it lethal power. Just the thing for killing running foes from horseback without spoiling the scalp. There used to be one on display in the Anthro museum at the University of NM. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in a movie.
JimC says
Think I’ll hunt up a pic to add to the post. Thanks.
Mark T. says
Regarding the war club, rather than a plains-style club, these were likely the Apache style clubs which were slightly different. A round river-rock was attached to a stick by means of a rawhide cover which was shrunk to fit. In some models, the attachment was flexible, adding a whipping motion to the blow. https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/5584/137821/69916210_1_x.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&version=1552436215&width=512
Winslow says
And as was said, that slight springiness allowed the club to gather energy while it was being swung and transfer that energy upon impact, like a bow being drawn.
Matt says
At one point The Kid is described as ‘lying on his belly holding the big Walker revolver in both hands’. So that seems to clear it up.
JimC says
Nice catch Matt.
Yeet says
In chapter 7, one of the starting “tags” say Whitneyville Colts. The earliest Colt Dragoons were called Whitneyville Colts or Whitneyville Walkers or Transition Walkers due to them using similar parts, but were still basically the Dragoon.
Real Horrorshow says
Both may be correct. In Chaper IV Captain White’s weapons are described as “dragoon pistols” “United States issue, Colt’s patent” and it’s noted that he paid 80 dollars for the pair.
The pistols issued to Glanton’s scalphunters in Chapter VII are described as being especially large and “holding a rifle’s charge”. The salesman is asking 50 dollars apiece for them and emphasises “they were contracted for the war. You’ll not see their like again.” So perhaps these are the rarer Walkers.
JimC says
Nothing like textual evidence. Thanks for that and for stopping by.
Matt says
The pistols in question are indeed the Whitneyville Colt (first model dragoon)
These pistols were made using several left over parts of the Walker model and were commonly known as “transition Walkers” and were often just called Walkers.
Besides being called “Whitneyville Colts” in the chapter heading, the strongest evidence in my mind is when it is mentioned that the loading lever is unlatched. The Walker did not have a latch to secure its loading lever rod. That was first introduced in the 1st model dragoon.
When it is mentioned the pistols were contracted for the war this leans more strongly toward them being whitneyvilles as opposed to walkers. The whitneyville was indeed contracted for the war but the war ended before they saw service – which makes me think they were a slightly easier to obtain an entire crate of them for the gang VS the Walkers which were already all in use by Texas Rangers and such.
JimC says
That is persuasive. I’m back digging at the world of Blood Meridian. Found a “mountain man” memoir of the era that I’d never even heard of. More on that soon.
Winslow says
I heard that the first Dragoons often had parts repurposed for the rarer Walkers.
Aaron Gwyn says
Notice that with the Whitneyville Colt there is a loading lever catch to prevent the loading lever from dropping under recoil–a significant upgrade from the 1st gen Walker. Once that loading lever drops, the cylinder locks. In a fight, that would likely be a fatal malfunction.
JimC says
Thanks for stopping by the campfire, Aaron. Lots of expertise in the comments thread. Here’s a shot of the malfunction Aaron describes.
Aaron Gwyn says
p.s. Now I see that Matt has mentioned this in his comment above.
Manuel Castro Córdoba says
I’m really late to the party.
I was learning this morning about Wesson rifles when I came across that sentence in Blood Meridian which you quote in your article:
The sergeant carried in his saddle scabbard a heavy Wesson Rifle that used a false muzzle and paper patch and fired a coneshaped ball.
After a few minutes of research I was struck by its inaccuracy,
1. The first Wesson rifle was designed in 1859; that scene takes place before the creation of the Glanton gang, that is, before 1849.
2. Wesson rifles were not “heavy”: most muzzle-loaders weighed around 4kg; Wesson rifles weighed between 2 and 4kg.
3. Contrary to what you argue in your text, every source I’ve been able to consult states that Wesson rifles were breechloaders. The idea of using a false muzzle with a breechloaders was rare and only introduced in the 1860’s.
4. Wesson rifles used metal-cased rimfire bullets. As far as I can tell there was no way (or rather no sense) in paper patching already metalcased bullets. If anyone can explain the logic (if logic there be) behind this, I’d be TY.
5. This is my most tenuous quibble. As far as I can guess (and seeing that in other parts of the novel McCarthy showcases Civil War lingo, and NOT late 1840s lingo) these “coneshaped balls” McCarthy talks about might be Minnié balls, which of course is time- and gun-inaccurate: they were invented in the early 1950s; Wesson guns use rimfire cartridges. If anyone can help me clear this conundrum I’d be also v TY.
Taken as a whole, every research-based word from that sentence (“Wesson rifle,” “false muzzle,” “paper patch,” “coneshaped bullet”) is anachronistic or inaccurate. This is not an indictment upon McCarthy’s practices as a historical writer—his business is to sound convincingly time-appropriate, and he does. But it seems somewhat questionable to deploy this petulant (or, to use your own words, exotic) gun vocabulary without the justification of historical fact.
Most of this intel has been gathered from the Internet and I’m repeating it here with the proviso that I knew nothing about early 19th century weapons until this morning. If anyone can point out my mistakes and refer to more authoritative sources I’ll be glad to change my opinions.
JimC says
Welcome, Manuel. I think you’re mixing up the Wesson rifle McCarthy refers to with the Frank Wesson rifle, which was, indeed a breechloader. The Wesson McCarthy refers to does date correctly to the 1840s. The Edwin Wesson rifles were muzzleloaders and the octagonal barrel was massive and indeed VERY heavy. Samuel Walker, of Texas Rangers/Mexican War fame, was gifted with a Wesson Rifle in 1847.
From a Rock Island Auction listing for an original:
In the 1840s, some of the world’s best target rifles and pistols were manufactured in the New England shop of Edwin Wesson (1811-1849), older brother of fellow gunmakers Daniel Baird Wesson (1825-1906) of Smith & Wesson fame and Franklin Wesson (1828-1899). It is possible that Daniel or Franklin had a hand in making this rifle since they were both trained by their older brother. Daniel also briefly produced these rifles after Edwin’s untimely demise from a heart attack in 1849.
Here’s a Youtube video of interest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpcsN1Ofcg8
The Minie Ball was an evolution from an 1832 design by British Army Captain John Norton (Of Arms and Men, Robert. L. O’Connell). Not the same John Norton who was a Mohawk Loyalist who fought in the War of 1812. This Norton developed his concept during India service, off of blowgun projectiles. Claude Minie’s contribution was the expanding skirt, which allowed the formation of a gas seal while making the conical bullet much easier to load.
Paper patching a bullet is about reducing leading and improving performance.
Here’s a link on paper-patching for a muzzleloader.
http://namlhunt.com/ml-paperpatch.html
Manuel Castro Córdoba says
Thanks a lot for educating me!
Malcolm Brooks says
I was already pretty smitten with English-pattern bird guns when I first read Blood Meridian, so the scene where the farrier refuses on principle to cut down a London-made double really hit home at the time, and remains an almost emblematic reference point in my memory of the book twenty-odd years later:
“The purple barrels were welded up from triple skelps and hammered iron and steel bore a watered figure like the markings of some alien and antique serpent, rare and beautiful and lethal…”
That gun would have resembled this one:
https://www.morphyauctions.com/jamesdjulia/item/lot-1212-john-manton-percussion-shotgun-with-case-44194/
Thanks for reviving this terrific post, Jim!
JimC says
And thank you for highlighting that passage.
GVauthier says
I found an old Colt classification where the Walker Colts were named “Colt Whitneyville Walker Dragoon Pistols”, the transition model “Colt Whitneyville-Hartford Dragoon”, and the next models the “Colt Hartford Dragoon models”. I guess that was because of their manufacturing place. In this name you have all : the Whitneyville location, the reference to the Dragoons…
Now the text description is:
“Two men carried from a wagon a stenciled ordinance box from the Baton Rouge arsenel and a Prussian jew named Speyer pried open the box with a pritchel and a shoeing hammer and handed up a flat package in brown butcherpaper translucent with grease like a paper of bakery goods. Glanton opened the package and let the paper fall to the dirt. In his hand he held a longbarreled sixshot Colt’s patent revolver. It was a huge sidearm meant for dragoons and it carried in it’s long cylinders a rifle’s charge and weighed close to five pounds loaded. These pistols would drive a half-ounce conical ball through six inches of hardwood and there were four dozen of them in the case.”
The long barrel, long cylinder, reference to rifle charge and the mass of 5 pounds once loaded, all is designating the Walker in this description – even if the transitional model would perhaps be more historically plausible?
I should read again the book, to look out for more clues. Months that I want to identify these revolvers.
GVauthier says
In addition, this great page about the Walker: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-the-walker-colt/
“Initial planning called for the Army to issue two pistols to each mounted soldier, along with a single powder flask, bullet mould, and a combination tool (screwdriver, cone wrench and spring compressor). The standard Dragoon equipages: two pistols mounted on either side of the saddle pommel.
It didn’t work out that way. The Army figured that a single Colt revolver provided triple the firepower of the two existing single-shot pistols (Aston-Johnsons). So the army changed the order. They afforded one new pistol per trooper—creating a shortage of accoutrements. Five hundred revolvers awaited arrival of powder flasks, combination tools and bullet moulds.”
“In spring 1848, a few months after the Mexican-American War ended, the Army released the 500 Walker Colt revolvers that had been languishing in the Baton Rouge arsenal The guns were dispatched to the western army and still-federalized Texas Rangers. now fighting desperados and Indians on the Texas Frontier.”
It seems to fit perfectly with the Blood Meridian chapter! And for the name “Whitneyville Colt”, here is a book made on the Walker history: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81ayXkGmaFL.jpg
Greg Klebanoff says
It’s a small detail, but one thing about McCarthy’s description of guns in that novel that I don’t believe is what he said about the “saddle pistols” that the Glanton gang acquires before taking off in their rampage. McCarthy claims they could sink a lead ball 6 inches into solid oak. Really? With soft lead balls and black powder? I don’t buy it.
JimC says
This should be field tested. Anybody got a Whitneyville Colt and a block of solid oak?
Thanatos says
I’m reading it in my mother tongue now. The translation doesn’t do it justice (I didn’t expect much to be honest) and the commas are missing for some reason, which makes it very hard to read.
Jesus says
Oh Lad that’s a McCarthy staple. Honestly I’ve never considered how difficult it could be to properly translate his really minimalistic style into other languages. There’s a quote somewhere where McCarthy talks about how much he detests most forms of punctuation. It’s not always the easiest stuff to comprehend first read through but eventually you get into his groove.
Silly the kid says
Howdy, men. I got one for you from the book you didnt mention. One thats brought up multiple times at different points, each time being shown in different conditions & reagions. Im talking about the word ‘escopetes’, which I believe is Spanish for ‘shotgun’. But it’s always Mexicans, or Indians who have guns referred to as escopetes, making me think that Macarthy is just being fancy by naming things in the language of the characters who carry them. But at the same time it gives these “Mexican shotguns” character & all the different folks in the novel that carry them makes me picture a different gun every time, from old barely functioning versions to odd primitive version to beautiful state of the art Spanish masterpiece versions.
Anyone got any tidbits on Mccarthy’s ‘ escopetes’?
Orion says
I don’t understand why people are debating whether the revolvers are are walkers. McCarthy says it “lying on his belly holding the big WALKER revolver in both hands” you don’t need to puzzle it out.
Woodyear says
Because at some point he refers a loading lever being unlatched, The original Walkers didn’t have a latch, they had a spring that held them (poorly) in place, the updated transition Walkers or Whitneyville Colts had the latch. Notice that he calls the pistols both Whitneyville Colts and Walkers, which fits better with the transition Walker and he mentions the latch. On the other hand he does mentions long cylinders which carried a rifles charge, which does seem more like the original Walker. I really want to get to the bottom of it, because I very much want a replica of what was described in the book, but I can’t figure out which version it was.