Northwest Trade Gun (Fusil)

By the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Northwest trade guns were the most common firearms among Native peoples of the Upper Missouri and beyond. Lewis described the tribes along the Upper Missouri as being “almost universally armed with these guns.” Originally manufactured in England for the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company, these smoothbore muskets were specifically designed for the Native American market: lighter than military muskets, with distinctive identifying features including an oversized trigger guard (to accommodate mittened hands), a flat brass butt plate, and a serpent-shaped side plate (the “dragon” or “sea serpent” motif).

The smoothbore barrel provided versatility — it could fire solid ball for large game, buckshot for medium game, or birdshot for waterfowl. Expedition member Toussaint Charbonneau carried one of these trade guns. The proliferation of trade guns among the tribes created a roughly equal arms parity with the expedition’s military weapons.