This article—authored by former curator Richard Rattenbury—was originally featured in a 1981 Buffalo Bill Center of the West newsletter. Colonel Samuel Colt passed from the American scene in January, 1862, amidst the anguish of the Civil War. He left behind a highly advanced and justly famed industrial enterprise founded on his genius for arms design […]
“God created all men, Samuel Colt made them equal.” Born on July 19, 1814 near Hartford, Connecticut, Samuel Colt was the son of Christopher and Sarah Colt. His mother died of tuberculosis in 1821 and Samuel took the loss extremely hard. When his father remarried, Colt moved away to work with a farmer in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He […]
While Winchester coined the expression the “Gun That Won the West,” most aficionados of American firearm history consider Samuel Colt’s invention the “Handgun that Won the West.” Certainly, western historians and enthusiasts are more than familiar with the Colt single-action Army revolver, but it’s quite possible that without Colt’s first invention—the Paterson—this legend of the […]
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, has named Herbert G. Houze Curator Emeritus of the Winchester Arms Collection and the Cody Firearms Museum at the Center. Recognized internationally as one of the world’s leading arms historians, Houze once served as Curator of the Center’s Winchester Arms Museum. He was at the […]
Past Exhibition Colt: The Legacy of a Legend A Special Exhibition of Colt Firearms and Memorabilia May 16 – October 6, 2003 A past exhibition presented in conjunction with the Colt Collector’s Association and Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Inc., Colt: The Legacy of a Legend was the most historically significant exhibition of Colt firearms that had […]
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2003 Sam Colt and Henry Ford: Industrialists with Vision By Maryanne S. AndrusFormer Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston Curator of Education Social histories of the American Industrial Revolution have shed light on the management of factories and working conditions for laborers over the past hundred years. Within this sweeping […]