Museum of the Frontier West

Native Americans inhabited the West for centuries before the first Europeans appeared. Affiliated by band and tribe, they developed a rich diversity of lifeways and traditions. Their colorful societies and dramatic histories represent today much of Native American life in the popular imagination both in the United States and abroad.

In the four decades after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, many new peoples entered and opened the immense territory of the trans-Mississippi West to the United States. Although few in number, these trappers, traders, and trailblazers exerted far-reaching influences as the vanguard of American settlement. 

During the Great Buffalo Hunt, most market hunters attempted to “get a stand” on the ground rather than chase the beasts on horseback. This still-hunting method often allowed the hidemen to shoot dozens of animals within a much smaller arena, easing the laborious skinning work that followed. 

The choice of most professional hunters, the Sharps falling-block, fifty caliber sporting rifle undoubtedly killed more bison than any other make. Often termed a “Poison Slinger” or “Big Fifty,” the rifle features the plain open sights, double-set triggers, and shotgun-pattern buttplate preferred by professional hunters—features ideal for the incessant, yet accurate shooting demanded in “getting a stand.”