Originally published in Points West magazine in Winter 2007
Sharpshooter’s glass target ball
Sharpshooters in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West used clay rather than glass target balls because broken glass in the arena presented a hazard.
Outside the Wild West show, exhibition shooters preferred the glass balls. Consequently, organizers arranged contests in locations where the broken glass fell harmlessly into a body of water such as a pond.
Glass target balls: ribbed blue, Gift of Alex Kerr (1.69.2481); smooth amber, (1.69.2590); blue with cross hatch pattern (1.69.2083); amber with cross hatch pattern (1.69.1852); smooth blue, Gift of Alex Kerr (1.69.80);
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