“FAIR WEATHER CHRISTIAN” CARTRIDGE
BELT – FRONTIER SOLDIER MADE FOR CARTRIDGES FOR THE
HENRY RIFLE OR MODEL 1866 WINCHESTER OR THE .44 CALIBER
SMITH AND WESSON AMERICAN AND COLT RICHARDS CONVERSION
REVOLVERS – A VERY RARE ONE OF A KIND
FRONTIER BELT:
The rarity of this sort of accoutrement makes the
decision to sell it very difficult, for these belts are
a genuine pleasure to own, are undisputed examples of
frontier related equipment, and are simply rare on the
open market. The well documented soldier made “Fair
Weather Christian” belts for the .50 and .45 caliber
ammunition, while never common on the collector’s
market, are the most familiar. Almost never seen are
those frontier made belts, such as this specimen, that
were fitted with loops to carry the early .44 caliber
pistol rounds and/or cartridges for the Henry Rifle or
Model 1866 Winchesters, hence a specimen such as this
offering is indeed very rare. As most of the enlisted
soldiers would have been armed with one of the .50
caliber carbines and one of the pistols, it is likely
this belt was worn by an officer, scout or perhaps an
enlisted man who retained his Civil War issued Henry
rifle. An additional load of
the standard .50 caliber carbine ammunition could have been carried on this belt
in one of the “cut loop” cartridge pouches or boxes.
This unique
belt is fashioned using a full length Model 1851 Enlisted Infantry
Waist belt as the base belt, to which a hand stitched
strip of leather has been mounted to form the loops for
.44 caliber cartridges. The Model 1851 Enlisted Man's
Belt Plate shows the appropriate use and still retains
the hook and arrow shaped mounting points on the
reverse. The strip of leather forming the loops is made
of commercially tanned leather that has been tarred or
varnished in order to maintain the shape of the loops,
similar to the treatment of the canvas cartridge loops
on the Model 1876 Prairie Belts, hence the shine you see
in the photographs below. These loops do not have
a treatment on them, rather this is the natural surface
of the tar or varnish coating. Whatever the
coating was that was applied to this strip of leather, it
apparently was affected by the aging process and
exposure to the elements, causing the interior diameter
of the loops to be reduced due to shrinkage to the point
that the .44 cartridges will no longer fit in the loops
without damaging the belt. The size of the looped strip
and the distance between the lines of stitching are firm
evidence that this rare belt was intended for the .44
caliber cartridges, and while it would be a plus if the
cartridges still fit in the loops, we simply do not have any
control over the way these artifacts age through time.
The belt
measures 41” long and there are 36 loops for the
cartridges. There are two larger loops – one 1 ½” long
and standing ¾” from the base belt, and the other almost
2” long and also standing ¾” from the belt – spaced so
as to rest over the hips when the belt was worn. We can
only guess for what purpose these two larger loops were
intended, perhaps to secure a sheath knife or attachment
points for a set of suspenders to support the weight of
the belt such as were used with the contemporary Model
1872 Infantry and Cavalry belts.
All the
features of this belt tell me this is a soldier made
belt that most certainly saw service on the frontier during
the early Indian Wars. The rarity of this type of belt,
particularly in .44 caliber,
cannot be overstated as most did not survive the hard
use to which they were exposed, and the few that do
remain in private collections quietly move from one
owner to the next on the infrequent occasions when they
are offered for sale, almost never appearing on the open
market. I would suspect it will be a long time
before such an interesting specimen is seen again.
$3750
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