Jacob (1786-1849) and Samuel Hawken (1792-1884) are among the most famous makers of American muzzle loaders, and were active together in St. Louis starting in 1825. They have long been associated with the 19th century mountain men, and their early rifles are known to have been used by the mountain men active in the fur trade in the 1830s, including by General William Henry Ashley and the American Fur Company. Many of their rifles, including this one, date to after the heyday of the Rocky Mountain fur trade when Hawken rifles continued to be in demand, including by former fur trappers like Jim Bridger and Kit Carson who found new work as hunters, guides, and scouts. They were also in demand by the new wave of migrants heading to the West in search of gold or fertile farmland. This Hawken half-stock rifle is a .46 caliber variant with a single barrel key rather than the .54 caliber half-stock rifles with two barrel keys famously used by the mountain men. Samuel Hawken retired in 1855 and passed the shop onto his son William. William Hawken and Tristram Campbell had been partners since at least 1853 but split by early 1856. The Hawken shop was sold in 1860 to a group of gunsmiths, including J.P. Gemmer who eventually took over. The shop also marked some of the rifles "S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS" after 1862 although most are c. 1850s. The heavy barrel is 1 1/4 inches from flat to flat and has seven-groove rifling, a silver blade front sight with dovetailed copper base, a dovetailed iron notch rear sight, "S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS" stamped on top of the barrel behind the rear sight, and a solid breech plug with integral Hawken reverse taper tang that extends to just ahead of the comb. The lock is setup with only a full-cock notch. The lock screw washer has a pointed finial pointing down. The rifle has adjustable double set triggers. The forend is also fitted with a pewter end cap and German silver wedge escutcheons. The butt has the distinctive rounded cheek piece style characteristic of the classic Hawken mountain rifles. The trigger guard, buttplate, and toe plate are brass. The trigger guard features iconic double "St. Louis" style spurs. Similar furniture has been found on some of the much smaller caliber Hawken rifles believed to have been made for the local Midwest trade in the 1850s. For example, note the trigger guard on the "squirrel rifle" example seen on page 59 and the target rifle on page 60 of "Hawken Rifles: The Mountain Man's Choice" by Baird. The buttplate is also very similar to the target rifle's.

Fine. The rifle was most likely hanging, quite possible over a fireplace, for a long period of time leaving an untouched original dark brown patina and extensive moderate surface pitting on the lock and barrel and very dark aged patina on the brass. Removing the lock reveals the lock internals remain in excellent condition. The stock is also fine and has a very dark aged appearance and moderate scratches and dings along with some very minor hairline cracks. Mechanically excellent. This is a very solid original example of both a highly desirable and rarely seen S. Hawken St. Louis plains rifle.