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Marc Woodmansee to Horace Kephart, August 17, 1918, page 1

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  • / The Chamberlain / ' FIRE PROOF HOTEL * EUROPEAN PLAN * I I ; I F. G. WARDEN, OWNER AND OPERATOR DES MOINES, IOWA Aug. 17, 1918. Mr. Horace Kephart, Bryson City, 1. Car. My dear Sir:- Yours of the 12th just received. Have , read your article in August issue of %ruting magazineii and was very much pleased to note *hat you were giving this subject attention, and I shall look forward to the next issue with pleasure, I only wish you knew the Kentucky rifle as I do, for with your gift of pen you would make a story which would do them justice. I am enclosing a few kodak photos, the only ones I have at present. Sorry, as I know these will not show up very well. This Jj'all I expect to have a large photo made by a special photographer and ?/hen I do if ill send you one. This collection of rifles ismnot made up of the ordinary plain ones, which were and still are plenty, but are the aristocrats of their kind. The work of the old kings of rifle-craft - namely: James Colcher, Simon Miller, John Shell, Jacob Palm, Peter MofjL, Irederick Tell, John Armstrong, Nathan Clark, C. W. Barnhardt, John Fordney, Q* Bird, and Jacob Ruslin. These of flint 156k period. Before Revolutionary war and up to 1830, and J. H. Johnston, Elias Grissey, J. S. Johnson, John Long, John Crider, LemansTryon, and others of cap or percussion lock.period. ■^11 of these rifles have full length curley maple stock$ aJ.1 are inlaid with silver from 12 to 82 pieces and JflB fflffir^ave inlays of gold or ivory. This work ranks with that of the famous old violin makers and must seen to be appreciated. My earliest recollection of firearms is that of my Grandfather's old flintlock Kentucky rifle, hanging on the wrdught:iEon hooks upon the wall of the long hallway of our old farmhouse home and it now reposes in the cabinet with others of its kind. Mute evidence of a race of sturdy men, few of whom are left.
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  • In a letter to Horace Kephart on August 17, 1918, Marc Woodmansee discusses the features and history of the Kentucky rifle, which Woodmansee is passionate about. With the letter Woodmansee has included some photos of his signature pieces within his own collection, a group of finely crafted maple stock rifles with inlays of silver, gold, and ivory, which Woodmansee compares to the works of famous violin makers. In discussing the history of the weapon, Woodmansee explains the uniquely American design that went in to its creation, and how the weapon itself has shaped the course of the country in the American Revolution and later in expanding beyond the Mississippi. Each gun in the collection, Woodmansee states, has its own personal history as well, such as one that belonged to John Fries, a primary leader of Fries Rebellion in 1794, as well as another rifle found on the field of Gettysburg.