Samuel
Colt is generally
considered the inventor of the modern day revolver.
It
is interesting to note that his first attempt was a wooden revolver
that he made at the age of 16 while on his first voyage. In his early
twenties he secured the American and British patents for his single
barrel revolving pistol. In 1836 he formed a company called the Patent
Arms Manufacturing Company of Paterson New Jersey and named his gun
– the Paterson – after the location.
Although
the Paterson achieved notoriety having been used by the Texas Rangers,
Kit Carson and Col. Jack Hayes, the Company failed. Captain Samuel
H. Walker of the Rangers had ideas for improving on the Paterson. When
he was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Mounted Rifles
and ordered to recruit more men and procure more Colt revolvers, he
contacted Colt directly. This resulted in an order for 1,000 Colt revolvers
of a new design.
Lacking
both funds and machinery, Colt approached Eli Whitney and struck a deal
in which he would retain the manufacturing equipment as his compensation
after the contract was completed. Thus began the Colt Company and the
production of the Colt Walker in 1847.
Colt
went on to produce many more famous models that had a significant influence
on the course of history in the United States and Worldwide.
The
KD Lewitzka Collection of Robert A Talbot wood-crafted replicas depicts
the evolution of the revolver pistol and features nine of the first
and most significant Colts made.
