VOLUME 7, NO. 1 — WINTER 2016 EDITOR
Gordon K. Barlow
ART DIRECTOR
Jennifer Wood Monroe
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Jennifer Wood Monroe
COPY EDITOR
Kristy McComas
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Ric Lambert Gordon K. Barlow
ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR............................................................4 HORN MOUNTED RIFLE — ROLAND CADLE..........................5 POSSIBLE BAG — WILD WILLY FRANKFORD ........................8 ACCOUTREMENTS ........................................................... 10 PENNSYLVANIA SHOW .................................................... 14 PRESIDENT’S DISPLAY .................................................... 15
Rachel Nolen
JIM CHAMBERS FLINTLOCKS............................................34 AMERICAN TRADITION
is the official publication of the Contemporary Longrifle Association and is published twice a year for the membership. Annual membership dues are $50.00. To join the CLA or for more information, contact: The Contemporary Longrifle Association, PO Box 2247, Staunton, VA 24401. Phone: 540-886-6189. Email: cla@longrifle.com Website: www.longrifle.com Copyright 2015 by the not-for-profit Contemporary Longrifle Association. All Rights Reserved.
CONTACTING THE EDITOR
BOOK REVIEW ................................................................38 FROM THE CLA ...............................................................39 .
ON THE COVER See Feature Story, page 5
For editorial inquiries, contact Gordon K. Barlow at gordon@amaty.com. Phone: 540-448-0344. Mail written material to: 50 Middlebrook Avenue, Staunton, VA 24401 AMERICAN TRADITION • THE JOURNAL OF THE CONTEMPORARY LONGRIFLE ASSOCIATION • WINTER 2016 | 3
FROM THE EDITOR GORDON BARLOW It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since I met with my attorney to incorporate the Contemporary Longrifle Association, Inc. (CLA) as a 507c3 membership organization. Within a week the proper documents were filed with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the IRS. Then the real fun began! I had a business plan in place that guided the development of the CLA. The first step was to define a show location. It would have been easy to simply identify Staunton, Virginia as the location for the first CLA show. After all, I had a well established Virginia Longrifle Show that had been held annually in Virginia since the 1970s. A better idea was to attempt to locate the center of the muzzle loading culture in America. The NMLRA was kind enough to share with me their membership demographics. Based on those demographics, the overwhelming majority of the NMLRA members lived within a four hour drive of northern Kentucky. Remembering that my old friend and well known artist Gary Birch lived in the Cincinnati, I called Gary. Gary and his wife identified a great location for our first CLA show at the Radisson Hotel at the greater Cincinnati, Ohio International Airport (Northern Kentucky).
Rachel Nolen, Margie Barlow and I, with the help from others in my office, prepared and mailed charter membership applications and applications announcing the sale of tables for the first CLA show. Our goals were clear. We projected sixty members in the first year and thirty five tables for the first show in 1997. By show time, we had seventy-eight members and the show was sold out with 50 tables. At the end of the show our charter membership had more than doubled. The CLA held several shows in the greater Cincinnati area before Paul Jones located a permanent home for the CLA in Lexington, Kentucky. Today, the CLA has more than twenty two hundred members. Our membership and enthusiasm is growing annually. This year we will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the CLA at our annual meeting in August. A 20th Anniversary Celebration Committee is hard at work. You will learn more about our 20th Anniversary Celebration in early 2016.
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HORN MOUNTED LONGRIFLE ONE OF THE IMPORTANT ARTISTIC DECISIONS AN ARTIST MUST MAKE when preparing to build a longrifle is the selection of material that will be used to make the hardware. Typically this material is iron, brass or silver. Some artists use a combination of two or more metals and even use gold to accent the material selected. So reference is made that a longrifle is stocked with iron, brass or silver mounts. The longrifle featured on the cover was made by Roland Cadle, Claysburg, PA. Roland is a fine artist who is usually associated with the making of powder horns. Roland uniquely selected horn as the material of choice to be used in making the mounts for the beautiful flintlock longrifle. It is not unusual to see horn used in combination with other materials when making mounts for weapons influenced by European makers. However, to encounter a longrifle that has horn used to make each of the mounts is rare, but exciting.
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ROLAND CADLE ROLAND CAREFULLY SELECTED EACH PIECE OF HORN so that he created a surface that could be hand engraved and highlighted with color. When viewing the artistic characteristics of this longrifle it is important to study each individual mount to appreciate the detail of the carving and engraving. Suddenly, there is the realization that the uniqueness of these mounts only compliments the overall beauty of a fine handmade longrifle made by an accomplished CLA artist.
REAR ENTRY PIPE
SIDE PLATE
TRIGGER GUARD
PATCH BOX
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WILD WILLY FRANKFORD 8 | AMERICAN TRADITION • THE JOURNAL OF THE CONTEMPORARY LONGRIFLE ASSOCIATION • WINTER 2016
POSSIBLE BAG AS THE FRONTIERSMEN TRAVELED ABOUT THE BACKCOUNTRY WITH THEIR TRUSTED LONGRIFLES, they carried a possible bag filled with accoutrements. The accoutrements found in possible bags are defined by the personality or the mission of the hunter, soldier, trader or settler. Wild Willy Frankford made this possible bag that is tooled to illustrate a fox head. It is complimented by an attached powder horn of sufficient size to provide adequate powder for a long trip. Wild Willy’s possible bag is of adequate size to store a wonderful group of accoutrements.
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ACCOUTREMENTS PIPE TOMAHAWK The pipe tomahawk made by Mark Thomas, Dayton, VA is only 8� long thus fits nicely in the possible bag. It is wonderfully crafted in brass, iron and maple with outstanding engraving. Given the size of the instrument it was likely intended to be a tomahawk used for smoking.
PRIMING HORN This small priming horn was made and engraved by Roland Cadle, Claysburg, PA and would have been used to prime the pan of a flintlock or fill a powder measurer.
POWDER MEASURE A beautifully crafted powder measure made and decorated by Bruce Horne, Indiana. The powder measure would have been made to measure and exact amount of powder to charge a particular longrifle.
TURKEY CALL The frontiersmen required food that must be found during his travel. Turkey was a wonderful choice of food in the backcountry. Thus the turkey call crafted and engraved by Jim Webb, Hillsville, VA became a useful tool.
FOLDING KNIFE The folding knife may be the most versatile tool found in a possible bag. This folder was made by Jon Laubach, Barhamsville, VA and features hand forged damascus scales and blade. The folder is a trusted companion by every frontiersman and used in many daily chores.