Royal Saskatchewan Museum: Conservation: Virtual Lab: Recovering the “Northwest” Gun

Conservation: Virtual Lab: Recovering the “Northwest” Gun

Discovery

A “Northwest” gun was the last thing we expected to find while excavating an ancient campsite at Brabant Lake in northern Saskatchewan. Mrs. Sally Milne, one of the crew members found it when she went for a walk in the bush behind the site. There, lying on the surface were several parts of the gun: the barrel, ferrule or rod guide, trigger guard, serpentine sideplate and butt plate. All were in proper orientation as if the gun had fallen over after someone had propped it up against a tree.

Damage and Missing Parts

The years had taken their toll. The stock and other wooden parts had rotted or burned away and the iron barrel was badly rusted. Only the serpentine sideplate, the ferrule, the trigger guard and butt plate, all made of brass, were in good condition. However, the lockplate was missing. This part of the gun bears marks that identify the country and date of manufacture, so it was important that we find it. We hoped that it was still buried in the soil.

gun after excavation, before plastering
Flintlock gun found in situ at Brabant Lake site (GlMw-2) and before plastering.

Recovering the Lockplate

Since all other parts of the gun were in proper orientation, we knew approximately where to excavate – where the barrel attaches to the stock. We found the lockplate under a few centimeters of clay, but it was so badly rusted it looked as if it would fall apart if we tried to lift it out of the ground. Could the lockplate be safely removed? We decided to encase it in a jacket of several layers of muslin soaked in plaster. Once the plaster hardened, the fragile lockplate was protected for its long journey to the RSM in Regina.

plastered gun in field after excavation
First layer of plaster completed of gun after excavation.

Lockplate before conservation.

Cleaning and Conservation

Melanie Vovchuck, one of our palaeontology technicians, cut through the thick plaster layer to expose the lockplate. It was not a pretty sight. Rust had destroyed the surface finish and encased most of the jaws, the pan, and the frisson. Did anything exist beneath all that rust?

Melanie Vovchuk opening up plaster jacket
Opening up plaster jacket.

flintlock mechanism in plaster jacket

Kasey Brewer, the RSM’s conservator, carefully picked the soil away and coated the iron with Acryloid B-72, until it was strong enough to be removed from the soil. The layers of rust covering the lockplate had built up slowly over time, turning some of the metal into corrosion products. Corrosion products are less dense than metallic iron, often with a crusty surface that can flake off or fracture into numerous pieces. The fragile surface had to be consolidated before the artifact could be handled.

Was there any base metal left in this artifact?

Testing with a magnet revealed that metallic iron existed within the concretion. However, it was impossible to determine whether or not the corrosion could be cleaned off to reveal the original shape of the lockplate. To further investigate the condition of the lockplate, we took it to the Regina RCMP forensics lab for X-rays.

x-ray of the lockplate

The X-rays revealed that, beneath all that rust, most of the original metal surface remained intact. Even the threads of the jaw screw showed up clearly. From this information, it was possible to remove additional corrosion layers, down to the original lockplate surface. And just to be sure that the metal was stable and did not continue to corrode, tannic acid was applied to the surface to create a stable finish.

flintlock mechanism after consolidation

Identification and Date

How old is the gun? Rust had destroyed the finished surfaces of both the barrel and the lockplate, removing all the marks that would have helped to determine when and where it had been made and by whom it had been traded. Nevertheless, the characteristics of the lockplate, serpentine sideplate, and butt plate indicated that the gun was made in the early 1800s, most likely before 1826.

Serpentine sideplate.

Were some parts recycled?

Curiously, the trigger guard appeared to be made much earlier. It has stubby round-ended finials, indicating it was made before 1790. This guard could have been recycled from an older gun. A “Northwest” gun was often used under difficult conditions, so it was not unusual for parts to break or wear out. These parts could be easily replaced with parts from other firearms.

What do the mysterious markings mean?

The butt plate presented us with a mystery that is still unsolved. It has “N44” stamped or engraved on it, similar to the way the military marks a group or “stand” of arms. This is not from a military firearm, however, because military butt plates are curved or dished whereas this one was made of flat sheet brass.

Interpretation

Finding this gun reminded Mrs. Milne of a story she had heard about an old woman who, many years ago, had left a gun in the bush and then couldn’t find it again. At first we thought we might have found the old woman’s gun, but eventually we learned that that incident had occurred at another lake.

We still don’t know why someone left a flintlock gun in the bush. Perhaps the owner used up all the powder or balls and had to switch to using a bow and arrow. Or maybe the gun had misfired once too often, and it was discarded. Or maybe the owner simply lost it. We may never know what really happened, but recovering the “Northwest” gun near Brabant Lake will certainly add to our understanding of the fur trade in northern Saskatchewan.