Chapter 8: Teaching begins

We rode a short distance to a deep arroyo that we could shoot side to side being about 30 yards or just short of 100 feet. We could also shoot length wise out to about 200 yards or about 600 feet before it curved. I had brought some rabbit hides that I marked with a red 2” square and black 6” circle around the square. I tacked one up to the dirt wall using 3” nails along the top and bottom of the hide. Then I paced off 10 feet, 15 feet, 20 feet and then skipped to 30 feet which was the farthest I would shoot side to side to start.

I called White Hawk forward and asked Golden Hawk to join us so I could explain everything once and not have to repeat it. Golden Hawk was shocked and looked to White Eagle. He just nodded and tried not to smile kind of successfully.

I demonstrated while explaining how the pistol was loaded and how to aim and fire safely. Then having Golden Hawk move back with the others I had White Hawk load and fire at the target from 10 feet shooting all six rounds. White Hawk was surprised and happy when she saw that all of her rounds were within an inch from the red square and one actually hit the square on the top right corner.

I used a blue marker to circle the six holes with everyone watching.

We moved back to the 15-foot mark and I had her repeat her actions. After she finished firing all six shots we moved forward and I used a green marker to circle the holes which were all inside the 6” circle and less than 2” from the red square giving her a 4” shot group.

We moved back to the 20-foot mark and this time White Hawk loaded and fired without waiting for me to tell her too. I just smiled as she first looked to make sure everyone was behind her and ready for her to shoot before she began to fire. When we moved forward everyone except me was shocked and surprised to see that this time she had almost hit the red square with every round. All six shots were within 1” of the red square. I made it a point to explain that now that White Hawk knew how to aim and where it would hit she could very soon hit the red square every time from 10 feet away.

I took the hide down and wrote White Hawk’s first 18 shots. I put a new hide marked the same way up and had everyone move back to the 30-foot mark. I told White Hawk loud enough for everyone to hear that this is the farthest she should try to shoot this pistol. Then told her to go ahead and shoot the target. I had to move forward and kiss her forehead as I told her she would do fine and just have fun. I stepped back and she loaded, aimed, and fired. Then turned ran and jumped into my arms smiling. I knew everyone was going to be seriously shocked and surprised.

When we reached the target all six of her rounds were within 2” of the red square and two had hit the square.

White Eagle was shocked but I could also see he was very proud of White Hawk’s shooting. I wrote White Hawk’s target for first 30-foot shooting. Then set up a new target for Golden Hawk to shoot at. When White Hawk started to hand the pistol over I stopped her and took out the Contender. I said that Golden Hawk would always have someone protecting her so she didn’t need a pistol, White Eagle voiced his agreement, I then said that if she were ever in a situation where she and others around her were in danger she could use this and I held up the Contender Carbine. I said it was like a smaller Sharps rifle that would allow Golden Hawk to shoot comfortably.

I explained how it was loaded and how to fire it, like most she had seen and in fact fired rifles before so she was eager to try this new carbine. I gave her a 45 Colt round to load and fire. She loaded and then checked to ensure everyone was ready then aimed and fired.

When we checked the target she was about 3” high so I adjusted the sights and explained what I was doing to everyone, then let her load and fire again. This time she hit the red square from the 10-foot mark. We moved back to the 15-foot mark and again she hit the red square, but she wanted to skip the 20-foot mark and move to the 30-foot mark. I said we would just shoot from the 20-foot mark and then move to the 30-foot mark without having to check the target and we could mark the shots after firing from both.

When she finished shooting at the 30-foot mark White Eagle asked to shoot the carbine. Golden Hawk said as long as he didn’t steal it from her. White Eagle made a face and I took that moment to stop everything and went for the 30-30 for him to shoot.

To say everyone was stunned did not accurately describe the looks everyone had when I presented the 30-30 to White Eagle.

He slowly looked over the rifle then smiled and took the round I was holding out to him. I explained that it was not as big as the Sharps rifle shot but larger than the Henry or Spencer. He loaded, shouldered the rifle, aimed, and fired. To my surprise and probably everyone else too, he had not shoot at the target, instead he shot an antelope that was about 200 yards away standing on the top edge of the arroyo to are right. He hit it perfectly between the front legs in the chest with the angle sending the bullet through the heart and out the spine which caused the antelope to pitch upward and then fall forward with gravity to the arroyo floor.

Two Bears just said ‘Show Off’ everyone else commented on the great shot.

When we checked Golden Hawks target every shot was within 3” of the square if she had not hit the square. Then I asked everyone to move back and explained to Golden Hawk that this carbine also shot the 410-shotgun shell and handed her a 4-shot load and said to shoot the side of the arroyo so everyone could see the spread this shotgun shell made. Not quite understanding but smiling anyway she loaded the shell and fired. The spread was about 2-3 feet in diameter at 10 feet away. I explained that she could hunt rabbit or kill a snake easily with the shotgun shell and that at less than 10 feet it would cripple or kill an enemy. Then I gave her the buckshot shell and explained that this shell had 9 balls instead of one like the 45 Colt. She smiled, loaded and fired. Again the spread was 2 foot or less in diameter.

I put up the last target and had White Hawk put the shoulder holster on then practice drawing and shooting slowly, and I stressed that this was not a quickdraw holster, it was just a way of keeping the pistol with her all the time. You can quickly draw and shoot from a shoulder holster but not as quick as a quickdraw holster. White Hawk was fast enough that I was not worried if she ever got into a bad situation because most people from this time did not know about or were even aware of shoulder holsters. Yes there were people that used them at this time but not that many. I had adjusted the holster so that it rode just above her waist almost like a cross-draw but well below her breasts and tilted slightly so the grip was at the perfect angle for her to just reach across her belly and grip the pistol.

We returned to camp and had a late lunch. Golden Hawk had to skin and process the antelope and White Hawk helped her.

White Eagle and Two Bears went to show off the new rifle to all the other braves.

I took the time to go back through all of my stuff and organize it to be able to start reloading ammo, I would have to make it a point to recover the empty brass from the centerfire rounds so I could reload them and tell everyone to try and save the brass when possible. I also wanted to check my gun tote again to see what else might be working. There were several black powder pistols, well actually there were four .44 cap and ball revolvers and three .36 cap and ball revolvers. These required loading powder then a wad and finally the ball, you could then put wax or grease to further protect the load from moisture and a cap on the backside, the danger was the easy that the caps would fire. Keeping a loaded cap under the hammer was a definite not safe or smart.

These would still be better than a single shot pistol or nothing at all. So, I checked them over to ensure that they were safe to use.

I also found a two-shot .22 WMR derringer that I had forgotten about, I loaded it and put in my pocket.

At dinner Golden Hawk was asked to show everyone her baby sharps as it was being called. Golden Hawk did not care and was happy to show off her baby sharps as the braves were calling it.

I thought about seeing a gunsmith and asking or suggesting making a smaller version of the Sharps in the common calibers. There were no 410 shotgun shells yet but that didn’t matter the smaller calibers would definitely be worth making for young boys, also for women and girls too. It was only a matter of who was smart enough to start the whole process.

The next morning squaws were going out to gather again but this time two braves were going with them. White Hawk had her pistol and Golden Hawk had her carbine and bandolier too. The boys were also accompanying the squaws as their normal protection duty. So, I thought about .22s for added protection against the two-legged type. I explained that only during gathering would I allow the boys to carry a pistol and they would only have six shots. The two oldest boys, Little Bear and Little Sky who were 14 would get the double-action .22s. Walking Elk and Standing Grass who were 13 and 12 would get the single-action .22s.

White Eagle, Two Bears, and Standing Badger all agreed as long as I showed the boys and their fathers how to safely load and fire the pistols. The pistols would be kept by me and White Hawk could get them if I was not available when they were needed. All of them had fired a pistol before but the .36 and .44 caliber pistols were much more powerful and had a greater recoil. The .22 pistols would be easier to control and fire repeatedly. We just moved to the edge of camp and had the boys load and fire each pistol all six times shooting at empty gourds we set on a stump. Even though I had the pistols chambered with the .22 WMR instead of Long Rifle there was not much difference except for the impact and damage the WMR had over LR.

Fast Runner and Swift Runner would be going as the assigned braves each had a spencer repeating lever-action and their bow and arrows. Everyone felt this was more than enough protection so they were allowed to depart just after lunch.

White Eagle wanted to take his 30-30 out hunting so several braves got together for the hunt. Two Bears with a Henry, Big River also had a Henry, Red Feather had a .50 cal Hawkins, Running Deer had a .45 cal Hawkins, and Grey Wolf had a Spencer. They all also had their bow and arrows, once everyone was ready who were going on the hunting trip they mounted their horses and rode off. I was also invited of course. I was taking my Sharps, the Greener, the Governor, and Single-action 45 Colt.

I asked if we could hunt Elk and everyone quickly agreed Elk would be a great hunt. It was late when we left but we were planning to camp out up in the high tree line and hunt early the next morning just at sunrise. Everyone just took a rolled up hide to sleep wrapped up in. I was shocked at how warm it was just having the hide covering me while I slept against a tree.

The next morning just before sunrise we edged our way to the crest of a meadow and found two dozen elk grazing. I noticed that there were also about a dozen deer mixed in the group. The elk were all cows and only a few had calves so we only shot at the cows without a calf. I also was going to try for a doe. Just like the cow elk all of the deer were female does and none appeared to have a fawn. We each picked a target and when ready White Eagle counted off, three, two, one, BOOM all of our fire had been so close together it sounded like one shot. I quickly reloaded and was able to shoot a doe as just like the rest of the elk, the deer were all just looking at the elk that had dropped dead. But the doe dropping later sent all the rest running into the tree line.