St. Louis Percussion Pistol from the DeWitt R. Pourie Collection, Possibly Attributed to Hawken

Western Expansion

.45 caliber. 7" wedge retained octagonal barrel with hooked breech. NSN. Browned finish, iron and German silver mountings, engraved pewter nose cap. Single shot muzzleloading percussion pistol. The gun is unmarked externally, with the back action percussion lock marked T GIBBONS internally. Fixed notch rear sight on top of breech, German silver blade front sight set in notch on top of barrel. Pewter nose cap lightly decorated with crude engraving. Simple iron triggerguard with rudimentary geometric finial. Wood ramrod retained by a single German silver thimble.

Hawken pistols are the ultimate enigma to the collector as identical examples are nearly non-existent. As the Hawken mark was applied to imported English and Belgian guns, we know that in those cases it is only a retailer mark. Whether the Hawkens ever produced pistols themselves or simply marked guns made by others and retailed by them is a question that may never be definitively answered. This "St. Louis Pistol" from the DeWitt R. Pourie collection was believed by him to potentially be something offered in their shop, although unmarked. The "T GIBBONS" marked lock is something found on the majority of the later production Hawken rifles. Additionally the 7-groove rifling style, pewter nose cap and sturdy efficient design are typical of Hawken products. A very similar pistol which is "S. HAWKEN" marked on the barrel is shown on page 397 of James B Gordon's three volume set Great Gunmakers for the Early West Volume III. That gun was part of the late Forrest Fenn's collection. From a stylistic standpoint this gun is certainly a prototypical "St Louis Pistol" and does conform to some of the features found on Hawken made and sold guns. It comes from the well known and thoroughly researched collection of DeWitt R. Pourie and includes his collection note card on the gun, dated 8-20-67 as well as some photos and written correspondence with the consignor.

This lot is located in Cincinnati.

ex-DeWitt R Pourie Collection