2013 Fundraising Archives - Contemporary Longrifle Foundation

A Hunter’s Shot Pouch Set from a Frontier on the Eve of War by Cal Tanner and Jim Hays

Cal Tanner is a maker of hunting pouches, haversacks, powderhorns and other items who is well known for his exceptional leather craftsmanship and quality. He has won numerous awards for his work, which, in Cal's own words, he approaches with the mindset of a professionally-trained eastern craftsman working with locally available materials after moving to the Ohio frontier at the end of the 18th century. Jim Hays and his wife Peggy are multi-talented artists with unique ability to capture...

2013 Fundraising

An Andy Jackson Alligator Horsemen’s Knife by Joe Seabolt

By T.C. Albert Trekking across the Louisiana bayou two brothers rushed to get to the besieged port city before it was too late. Even though a decisive American victory had been declared, the pair was disappointed that the battle had ended and that they had missed the chance to share in its glory. The British had been "whooped"! And though Jim and his brother Rezin had just missed it, the other "Half Alligator-Half Horse" men that had followed Andrew Jackson throughout...

2013 Fundraising

The John Jacob Sheetz Rifle Project

By Mark Sage(Reprinted by permission of Muzzle Blasts) On the morning of January 8, 1815, 2000 English Soldiers lay dead or wounded on a soggy, marshy battlefield six miles downriver from New Orleans. In a fight that lasted less than an hour, the Americans under Andrew Jackson had done the impossible and beaten the proud and powerful British army, touted to be the best in the world at that time. The Brits were well equipped, better supplied and had just...

2013 Fundraising

Trade Silver Wrist Band by Wayne & Marilyn Holcombe

Brooklyn, Michigan residents Wayne and Marilyn Holcombe are silversmiths by trade and operate XX TRADE SILVER. XX Trade Silver began 10 years ago when their close friend, Chuck Leonard, a premier silversmith taught them the art of silversmithing. Wayne chuckles when he relates how it all started. "I was involved with competition black powder shooting and Marilyn accompanied me to a lot of shoots through the years. One day Marlyn mentioned to Chuck Leonard that she got bored at the shoots...

2013 Fundraising

A Woodland Native Prisoner Tie by Darrell Brandenburg with Quillwork by Tom Gifford

Darrell Brandenburg was born 1941 in the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. He was raised on a farm some 30 miles distant from Alpena, the nearest large city. All of his life Darrell has been interested in American history, hunting, primitive skills, camping and being outdoors. These interests have been logged in over 30 years of historical reenactment. During that time Darrell made the majority of the accoutrements he needed for portraying various persona, developing the...

2013 Fundraising

Jerry Eitnier Powder Horn

By Heinz Ahlers Indiana gunmaker, Jerry Eitnier has been involved in the sport of muzzleloading for more than 40 years. He joined the National Muzzle Loading Association in 1973, and later became a charter member of the Contemporary Longrifle Association in 1991. In 1987 he built his first longrifle. Influenced by Hershel House's work, he builds guns as he terms them in the style of "the Hershel House Woodbury School" with iron mounted guns being his specialty. Jerry wryly comments, "Sometimes...

2013 Fundraising

Bob Browner’s copy of the Andrew Jackson Pistol

(Reprinted by permission of Muzzle Blasts, June 2013 issue) "Andrew Jackson's Dueling Pistol" By T. C. Albert An important firearm made by a renowned gunmaker for a renowned United States President now resides in that President's historic home. The gunmaker: Phillip Creamer The President: Andrew Jackson This distinguished firearm, a dueling pistol once owned by the illustrious President Jackson, currently resides at "The Hermitage", a historical landmark and museum located at Jackson's restored plantation home near Nashville Tennessee. Jackson was lauded as a national hero...

2013 Fundraising

The Joshua Crain Commander Oliver Hazard Perry Knife

You may not have heard much about him yet, but Im sure you soon will. One of the youngest artisans of the Contemporary Longrifle Association, Joshua Crain approached us about donating a project to the 2013 War of 1812 fund raising auction, and then totally knocked it out of the park with this commemorative knife. We asked Josh if he might want to tell us a bit about himself and his project, and heres what he had to say: Hello,...

2013 Fundraising

Plug Bayonet by Todd Daggett

Written by Heinz Ahlers Todd Daggett is a carpenter by trade and a blacksmith for love of the art. He is an active member of the CLA and a member of the American Mountain Men since 1995. Todd strongly supports the CLA mission and says the Lexington Show is the only show he does all year. The plug bayonet is an early form of bayonet that is associated with use by the Canadian militia forces and native tribes during the French...

2013 Fundraising

Chippewa Birchbark Canoe Model by Ray Boessel

Ray Boessel Junior has graciously donated one of his Chippewa-style birch bark canoes as an auction item for the 2013 CLA show in Lexington. It is a scaled down version (model) of the larger size he makes at his canoe shop in Northern Minnesota, near the Big Fork River. It measures five feet long and almost a foot wide. The materials in its construction are the exactly the same as his large canoes. White birch bark is used for...

2013 Fundraising

Isaac Shelby Commemorative Knife by Glen Mock

As the 18th century closed, treaties were signed and the frontier moved west. Among the Americans who volunteered from Kentucky in the War of 1812 were many veterans of the Revolution and the bloody frontier conflict that consumed the Ohio Valley and southern Appalachians for years afterward. Isaac Shelby served as a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. While governor of Kentucky, at age 63 he personally led the Kentucky militia in...

2013 Fundraising

A Tansel Style Powder Horn by Jeff Bottiger

On the sleepy Indiana frontier, led by their War of 1812 veteran patriarch, a family of prolific hornsmiths carved their way into American folk art history. Francis Tansel and his sons John, Timothy and Stark produced such a consistent though uniquely decorated powder horn that today their work is instantly recognized and simply called the Tansel style. Though once only regionally appreciated as a mid-western powder horn, today top dollar is eagerly paid to own just an average Tansel carved...

2013 Fundraising

A Fine Lexington Style Rifle by Marvin Kemper

By Guy Montfort Marvin Kemper has crafted a groundbreaking piece - a stunning, museum quality reproduction of an early 19th century longrifle in the style of the Bryan family of central Kentucky that he has graciously donated for the Contemporary Longrifle Foundation 2013 fundraising auction. By the time of the War of 1812 the "Kentucky Rifle" and the frontiersmen who used it had already captured the imagination of the American public. When the War grew imminent, the danger and perhaps...

2013 Fundraising

Squire Boone Pipe Ax and the War of 1812

Brian Anderson of Bristol Vermont is a well-known gunsmith, artist, teacher, and blacksmith, and he offered to put his skills to work for our 2013 CLA Fundraising Auction by making us a copy of the Squire Boone Pipe Axe. When you think of the Boones, you don't often think of their involvement in the War of 1812, and the little known story of Squires personal pipe ax is a good illustration of that point. Unlike their war service, it is...

2013 Fundraising

Trade Silver Shell Gorget by Wayne & Marilyn Holcombe

Brooklyn, Michigan residents Wayne and Marilyn Holcombe are silversmiths by trade and operate XX TRADE SILVER. XX Trade Silver began 10 years ago when their close friend, Chuck Leonard, a premier silversmith taught them the art of silversmithing. Wayne chuckles when he relates how it all started. "I was involved with competition black powder shooting and Marilyn accompanied me to a lot of shoots through the years. One day Marilyn mentioned to Chuck Leonard that she got bored at the shoots...

2013 Fundraising

A Circa 1810~1825 Pouch and Horn Set by Donald Shaver

CLA artist Donald Shaver handcrafted this circa 1810 to 1825 hunting pouch and horn set for the 2013 CLA fundraising auction. The pouch is based on the one seen on page 25 of Madison Grants book The Kentucky Rifle Hunting Pouch. He crafted the traditional deep D shaped pouch itself from bark tanned cow hide and like the original that had a strap made of old time listing, Donald used an old woven strap that he had on hand,...

2013 Fundraising

A Choctaw Style Bow, Quiver, and Arrows Set by Matt & Paul Fennewald

Pushmataha is the most famous chief of the Choctaw nation and was the primary Choctaw war leader during the War of 1812. Pushmataha died in 1825 on a diplomatic mission to Washington DC and is buried there in the Congressional Cemetery as Brigadier General Pusnmataha. When CLA member Matt Fennewald heard the theme of the CLF auction was the War of 1812 he was enthusiastic about changing his original donation proposal of a horn and bag to a Choctaw bow....

2013 Fundraising

Daniel Boone’s longhunter’s pouch & horn set by Tim Crosby & Tim Albert

Tim Crosby and TC Albert teamed up to make this copy of a Daniel Boone horn and pouch set. The set is based on images of a pouch and horn known to have once been owned by Daniel Boone, and traded to a neighbor along the Big Sandy River in the late 1790s. In the book, My Father Daniel Boone, his son, Nathan Boone relates some of the events taking place during this time period, when for several years the Boones...

2013 Fundraising

Nathan Boone Pouch & Horn Set by Tim Sanner & Jim Webb

A few years after the Boone family settled along the Femme Osage in Missouri, the War of 1812 broke out. Soon war parties of Native Americans loyal to the British began attacking American settlers up and down the Mississippi River. Though he wanted to serve, Daniel Boone was deemed too old to serve and stayed home to guard and protect the family. His son Nathan on the other hand, was ordered by William Clark to raise a company of...

2013 Fundraising

WIKI UP ~ An original pastel painting by Pamela Patrick White

Nationally renowned artist Pamela Patrick White has donated one of her exquisite works of art for this years CLA Fund Raising auction. Wiki Up shows a group of Woodland Indians lounging around the fire in the interior of a wiki-up, hence the title for the painting. The original pastel is framed in a handsome hardwood frame and measures a generous 34 x 29. This wonderful work of art by one of Americas foremost historical painters will make a beautiful...

2013 Fundraising

Jerry Eitnier Knife & Sheath

By Heinz Ahlers Indiana gunmaker, Jerry Eitnier has been involved in the sport of muzzleloading for more than 40 years. He joined the National Muzzle Loading Association in 1973, and later became a charter member of the Contemporary Longrifle Association in 1991. In 1987 he built his first longrifle. Influenced by Hershel House's work, he builds guns as he terms them in the style of "the Hershel House Woodbury School" with iron mounted guns being his specialty. Jerry wryly comments, "Sometimes...

2013 Fundraising