I doubt that there ever existed a settler family in the
Indiana Territory that did not own a gun. It was essential for survival and
protection. Remember, there were more Indians here than white settlers. Being
pushed off their hunting grounds did not sit well with these people from
ancient times. They felt they were being pushed out of existence, and very soon
they almost were.
http://www.kokomo.lib.in.us/glhs/history/newPurchase.html
The Indians were protecting themselves and the white settlers
were protecting what they saw as their right to settle and stake claim to some
land to live. Wild game was a very important part of the settler’s diet, and
the trade it promoted was important to their pockets. Other settlers and any
stranger were also, at times, threats to a settler and his family. As long as a
person had a gun and ammunition they could make a stand. As a result there were
many expressions that are still used today that came from this strong heritage
of guns and ammo.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2011/oct/07/war-1812/
“They just closed up lock, stock, and barrel!” This has been
said many times over when someone has left and taken everything with them. This
comes from the gun itself and also the common practice in older times of
switching up parts from various guns to make a different one to order. On a
musket, the lock ignites the powder and fires the gun; the stock is the wooden
part of the gun; and the barrel is the metal tube that holds the ball and
powder. Essentially that’s all there is – all of it! Generally people held more
basic skills than we do today. Most men were what we would call amateur if not
professional gunsmiths. Most gun buyers would know how to take one apart and
rebuild one in no time. So taking parts from different guns to build one that
was well suited to a specific need was a common habit, if the funds were
available to do so. Saying that a person took something lock, stock, and barrel
meant that they took all of it just as it was – quickly, with no fuss.
https://mstartzman.pbworks.com/w/page/21900203/Interchangeable%20Parts
An expression that has been used many times to describe a
performer that was very popular for a short while and then just disappeared is
“a flash in the pan.” Why? Loading a musket is a bit difficult. The pan is the
part of the gun that was filled with a small amount of powder. A small hole
connected the powder in the pan to the powder inside the gun. When the musket
was fired, a spark hit the powder in the pan causing the powder inside the gun
to explode and fire the musket ball. If the hole was jammed there was a “flash
in the pan” but the gun did not fire. There was a bright spark and then
nothing. Kind of like the one hit wonders of the entertainment industry today.
http://limbloggercheese.blogspot.com/2009/09/flintlock-musket-9-17-09.html
I warn my daughter all the time not to “go off half- cocked”
all the time. She is always in a rush to do something without thinking it
through first. In a musket the cock was the part that flew forward hitting the
frizzen and created a spark. The first step in loading the musket was to pull
the cock halfway back, or half-cock the gun. The last step was to fully cock
the musket. If you did not do the important last step the gun would not fire.
Many times in hunting or self- protection a settler would only have that one
chance to shoot the musket and hit his target before it moved. Not missing a
shot was the most important thing. To not do a crucial step in such a serious
matter was just silly, and sometimes fatal. So when I tell my daughter to not
go off half- cocked I want her to do all the necessary things first so that she
will be successful.
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/489/1/AAJ-836
Back in settler times guns were not so very accurate as they
are today. The farther away you were from your target the greater the error in
the horizontal arc. Taking a long shot back then meant that you were almost
certain to miss the target. Saying that your endeavor is a “long shot” means
that the chances of it working as planned are slim!
http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=13889
Up until, and a bit after, the Civil War when someone had a
serious injury (a bullet wound, frostbite, a badly broken bone) the limb would
be amputated. There were no real pain killers for this and so the patient was
often given something to bite down on to control their fear and not to cry out
as badly from the pain. Many times this was a bullet. To “bite the bullet”
means to face something with courage.
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/pennsylvania_harrisburg_civil_war_museum.htm
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