Moses Dickson and His 1845 Freemont Expedition Rifles ©

Foreword: In 1845, famous western explorer John Charles Fremont made his third expedition to the Rocky Mountains. He began his journey by traveling down the Ohio River to Louisville, where he stopped to purchase supplies. One of his purchases was eight rifles from the shop of Louisville’s premier gunsmith, Moses Dickson. This article describes a similar Dickson rifle from that era that was recently found in the west.

Moses Dickson: Dickson was Louisville’s premier early gunsmith who made the first distinctive Louisville patchbox. An early rifle by Dickson is shown in Figure No.1 below.  He was born in Kentucky in 1799 and began working in Louisville about 1820. In 1822 he sold several slaves he had inherited and purchased a town property in Louisville on 3rd Street, where he worked until his death in 1863. Dickson eventually expanded his gunsmithing business into the largest firearms and sporting goods store in Louisville. In 1834, he took on fellow Kentuckian James J. Gilmore as a partner. A signed “J. Gilmore” rifle is shown in Figure No.2. Dickson ran the business side, adding other sporting goods and imported guns to their inventory, while Gilmore supervised the production of “Dickson & Gilmore” firearms, which were always the firm’s premium guns.

Figure No.1: This early ca. 1825 Moses Dickson rifle is stamped “M. Dickson Louisville KY” on the lock and barrel. He was Louisville’s first gunmaker to use a distinct Louisville patchbox, attached with many small brass nails rather than screws. The front trigger has the “Louisville scroll” on its back edge, and the rear ramrod pipe has no flange or tailpiece. Barrel:  40-1/2 inches long with .42 caliber bore. Author’s collection, photo by J. Jaeger.                  

Figure No.2: This rare rifle is signed “J. Gilmore” in script on the barrel and is the only script signed James Gilmore rifle known to the author. It has fine curly maple wood, Louisville’s typical three ramrod pipes, and a beaver tail cheekpiece. Gilmore may have apprenticed to Dickson before becoming his partner, therefore not signing guns until years later. Barrel: 44 inches long with .37 caliber bore. Author’s collection, photo by J. Jaeger.

Dickson’s guns were considered superior to most others, both within and beyond Kentucky… much like the wide-ranging reputation of earlier gunsmith Jacob Dickert of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A testimonial to the quality of Dickson’s guns by a wealthy New Orleans merchant named George Rutledge was made in 1841. He ordered a Dickson rifle from Louisville for a trip to Texas and received it in New Orleans. He described the gun as: “It was twenty-four balls to the pound [about .57 caliber]. The rifle would kill any large game in the west and was acknowledged by traveling companions to be the best weapon in the party… it would drive a ball completely through a buffalo at the distance of a hundred and fifty yards.” 

In May of 1845, John C. Fremont visited Louisville in preparation for his third expedition to the Rocky Mountains. On May 24th he visited the Dickson and Gilmore shop and purchased eight rifles, eight powder horns, and 12 boxes of percussion “capts.” The rifles ranged in price from $35.00 to $45.00, depending on mountings [iron, brass, or silver] for a total sale of $304.00, a substantial sum in those days. The purchase by Fremont documents how highly Dickson’s guns were valued beyond Kentucky.

Figure No.3: This rifle is typical of Dickson’s work in the mid-1840s when Gilmore was his partner. The gun is stamped “M. Dickson & J. J. Gilmore Louisville KY.” on the barrel. It is a rugged gun, hefty in weight, with Dickson’s typical details used at the time of the Fremont purchases. It has three ramrod pipes, triangular butt, double-keyed forestock, and back-action lock with patent breech. Barrel: 40-1/2 inches, .42 caliber bore.                

Dickson & Gilmore Rifle: A signed “M. Dickson and J. J. Gilmore  Louisville KY.” rifle made about the time of the 1845 Fremont Expedition is illustrated in Figure No.3. It was found “out west” with no other provenance and is representative of the rifles purchased by Fremont in Louisville. The rifle is half-stocked in curly maple, double-keyed in plains rifle fashion, and has a .42 caliber bore. Dickson considered back-action percussion locks superior to front-action locks and used them on his better rifles, including the study rifle. Its double-spurred guard supports an 1840s date, but Dickson’s butt plates were always flatter than expected, making his guns look earlier than they really were, as seen in Figures No.4a and 4b.

Figure No.4a: The front of the Dickson & Gilmore rifle has their typical back-action lock used on better guns, Kentucky guard with a “square shoulder” on the rear spur, and patent breech. Author’s collection.

Figure No.4b: The back of the Dickson & Gilmore rifle has their typical cheekpiece with single molding line, simple lock bolt washer, and German silver wedge inlays at the barrel keys.

Dickson & Gimore rifles were consistent in appearance and construction with 40 to 42 inch barrels, long two-screw tangs seen in Figure No.5, and “Louisville” style triggers with a “C” scroll on the front trigger as seen in Figure No.7. German silver inlays protected the barrel wedges, a cast nose cap sat a few inches past the rear ramrod pipe, and the rear pipe had a tapered flange… all consistent Dickson & Gilmore details. The most important detail was the barrel stamp, “M. Dickson & J. J. Gilmore Louisville KY.” as seen in Figure No.6, stamped in two lines with “Louisville KY.” following the names. Dickson & Gilmore rifles were a little heavier than most rifles of the period, due to more robust stocking and slightly larger barrels. They were made for hard use, withstanding abuse, and surviving calamities when far from home. The study rifle demonstrates all the major details of the Dickson & Gilmore rifles purchased for the 3rd Fremont Expedition in 1845, and while probably not an Expedition rifle, it also made its way west and saw hard use, a testament to the quality and toughness of a Dickson & Gilmore rifle.

Figure No.5: Dickson & Gilmore used long, two-screw tangs on all their rifles; later guns had narrower tails on the tang’s lower section.

Figure No.6: This is a typical Dickson & Gilmore barrel stamp made with two or more stamps. Years of wear and handling has worn the stampings.

Figure No.7: Several interesting details appear in this view. The guard is typical of 1840s Louisville rifles with its double spurs and “square shoulder” on the rear spur. Triggers are “Louisville style” with a small scroll on the front “hair” trigger. The lock is stamped “M. Dickson” without Gilmore’s name, and the hammer appears unique for a Kentucky gun. It is held on the tumbler shaft by a tapered iron pin running through a hole in the end of the shaft. The detail is original to the rifle and may have been done for ease of removing/replacing the hammer in the field.

Summary: Eight Dickson & Gilmore rifles were purchased in Louisville on May 24, 1845, by John C. Fremont for his 3rd Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Those rifles would have been very similar in construction and appearance to the study rifle, as verified by Fremont’s surviving bill of sale that describes half-stocked rifles with patent breeches. The study rifle offers collectors and students of history an intriguing glimpse into what eight of the Fremont Expedition’s rifles looked like.

Final question: How do we know the study rifle was not one of Fremont’s rifles purchased in Louisville? Fremont’s surviving papers contain the original bill of sale for his Dickson & Gilmore purchases. The listed rifles were… 6 iron mounted half-stocked rifles @ $35 ea.; 1 patent breeched silver mounted half-stocked rifle @ $45, and 1 patent breeched half-stocked rifle at $40 [brass mounted]. On second thought, the last rifle on the Fremont list sounds a lot like the study rifle… could it be?????