“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” from Romeo and Juliet.
William Shakespeare.
A muzzle loading rifle is practically useless without the powder horn and the bullet pouch. Today there is a lot of confusion concerning the name and purpose of the leather bags worn by the Rocky Mountain trappers during the rendezvous period. Specifically, I am referring to the bag which accompanied his gun and powder horn and was worn over his shoulder. Sometime around 1970 these became commonly known as “possible bags” a mistaken identification which endures today.
So, what’s in a name and why does it matter? In this instance the misnaming of that bag often results in the assumption that it contained all the items a Mountain Man might possibly need for survival in the wilderness. The fault in this assumption becomes more than evident when a pilgrim steps up to the shooting line with a bag full of gun tools, survival items, and camp gear. Loading the rifle from a bag filled with “possibles” is simply not practical or efficient. While the Rocky Mountain trappers did make use of possible bags and trap sacks those were carried on pack animals. He didn’t wear them.
Researching the subject of bags can be somewhat challenging. Many original guns from the rendezvous period have survived to be included in museums and private collections but the original bags which accompanied these guns are very rare. They just did not survive the ravages of time. Because so few Western Mountain Man bag and horn outfits exist, collectors have not written much on the subject. Additionally, historians with no special interest in firearms have clouded the issue by confusing military equipment and sporting accessories with the tools of the Rocky Mountain trappers.
Looking into inventory lists of the trade companies and advertisements from St. Louis merchants during the time period of the rendezvous will shed some light on the subject. Leather bags were typically made by local harness makers. Shot pouches, game bags, bullet pouches, powder horns, and powder flasks were commercially produced, advertised, and available in St. Louis but detailed descriptions of those bags and pouches are lacking.
Outfitting trappers heading into the mountains was not the only market for St. Louis merchants. There was a considerable amount of business being conducted with the local sportsman in mind. Lightweight, small caliber rifles built for sporting use were of no practical use in the Rocky Mountains. Neither were metal powder flasks or the larger game bags which were useful for holding birds and small game. The preference of those trappers going into the mountains was the heavy, stouter, large caliber gun, the sturdier powder horns and more appropriately sized bullet pouches.
The best information I have found on what the Rocky Mountain Men actually used is the description written by Alfred Jacob Miller which accompanied his sketch of “Trappers starting for the beaver hunt”. Miller was at the 1837 rendezvous while accompanying Sir William Drummond Stewart on his Rocky Mountain hunting trip. In this description Miller draws an important distinction between the Mountain Mans possible sack and his bullet pouch.
“On starting for the hunt the trapper fits himself out with full equipment. In addition to his animals he procures 5 or 6 traps, ammunition, a few pounds of tobacco, a supply of moccasins, a wallet called a “possible sack” gun, bowie knife, and sometimes a tomahawk. Over his left shoulder and under his right arm hang his buffalo powder-horn, a bullet pouch in which he carries balls, flint, and steel, with other kick-knacks. Bound around his waist is a belt, in which is stuck his knife in a sheath of buffalo hide, made fast to the belt by a chain or guard of some kind and on his breast a pipe holder, usually a gauge d’ amour in the shape of a heart, worked in porcupine quills by some dusky charmer.”
Miller describes the possible sack as a wallet. A wallet or market wallet is a rectangular bag with an opening in the center, made of cloth, in various sizes and used as an all-purpose carrying item by civilians. It can be put around the neck so that each side rests on one’s chest, twisted at the center and thrown over the shoulder or tied to a saddle. Is this what Miller is describing? Perhaps, but it is obviously not the bag worn over the trapper’s shoulder which Miller calls a bullet pouch.
Along with Miller’s observations we have George Frederick Ruxton’s description of Bill William’s outfit in the 1840’s:
“In the shoulder-belt which sustained his powder-horn and bullet pouch, were fastened the various instruments essential to one pursuing his mode of life. An awl, with deer-horn handle, and the point defended by a case of cherry-wood carved by his own hand, hung at the back of the belt, side by side with the worm for cleaning the rifle; and under this was a squat and quaint-looking bullet mold, the handles are guarded by strips of buckskin to save his fingers from burning when running balls, having for its companion a little bottle made from the point of an antelope’s horn, scraped transparent, which contained the “medicine” used in baiting the traps.” Here again, Ruxton names the bag worn over the trappers shoulder a “bullet pouch.”
The bullet pouch and Hawken rifle belonging to Mario Modena is in the Colorado State Museum at Denver. This outfit is from a later time than the rendezvous period but offers some insight into what accessories were needed to operate the Hawken rifle. Included in the bullet pouch is a bullet mold, nipple wrench, iron gun worm with a threaded end to screw into a brass or iron ramrod tip, a nipple pick, and powder measure.
In his book The Plains Rifle Charles Hanson mentions contents of the bullet pouch to include nipple wrenches in T and L shapes, small screw driver, and small ram rods three or four inches long used to seat the ball carefully in the bore. The inclusion of nipple wrenches obviously places this in the latter years with percussion rifles. How much latter than 1840 I don’t know. And I have no intention of wading into the arguments over short starters here.
From this information and the first person descriptions of Miller and Ruxton I feel confident that the “bullet pouch” worn over the shoulder of the Rocky Mountain Man was not a possibles bag. The contents of the bullet pouch were primarily those items necessary to load and maintain the gun. The bullet mold, gun worm, and awl attached securely to the back of the strap would keep these secure and available, but not in the way of loading the gun as they might be laying loose in the bag. An individual trapper might have included other items he used often. If he didn’t carry a separate fire starting kit in his belt he may have included a steel striker and tinder in his bullet pouch. If he carried a flintlock rifle he had a supply of flints.
The possible sack is where the trapper stored his extra ammunition, his ladle for casting balls, cooking and eating utensils, files and tools, and any other items essential to living in the wilderness. Trap sacks which contained the beaver traps were typically made from rawhide. These, along with any other bags and packages containing items the Mountain Man needed would be carried on his pack animals. He most certainly would not have worn all that on his body if he had a horse or pack mule.
Haversacks originated in the textile districts of North England. These were used to carry havercake, a common mid-day meal of the workers. It was essentially what we would consider a lunch bag today. Haversacks eventually became military issue equipment for soldiers to carry their rations and personal items. A civilian or a mountain man would not have carried a haversack or a military cartridge box designed to safely contain paper cartridges. Therefore, haversacks should not be confused with the large rectangular game bags used by sportsmen of the time.
Shot bags as advertised in St. Louis were most likely made to contain buck shot or bird shot for smoothbore guns and shotguns. Most American trappers preferred to carry rifles, but many smoothbore trade guns and double barrel shotguns were used in the mountains during the rendezvous period. To confuse these with the bullet pouch the trapper wore would be a mistake.
I am convinced the bags worn by the Mountain Men were referred to as bullet pouches during their time. But call them whatever you like, because as long as modern suppliers continue to name them possible bags that name is going to stick. What is important to remember is that the bag worn with the powder horn has only one purpose, which is to contain and organize the items necessary to operate and maintain the gun.