The Swiss Vetterli rifle in America. From soldier to coal miner

Abstract

This article examines the connections between Switzerland and America that led to the development of the Vetterli infantry rifle. Using primary archival research, it shows why the Swiss Army was so keen to dispose of obsolete rifles and examines trade catalogues and other press resources to show how the Vetterli gained a ‘second life’ as a civilian weapon in North America. Finally, it uses recent archaeological evidence to show that the weapon became part of a wider ‘firearms culture’ and saw use in the largest armed revolt in America since the Civil War; the fight that became known as the ‘Battle of Blair Mountain’.

Keywords:

• Material culture
• Switzerland
• Vetterli
• Bannerman
• Sears and Roebuck
• West Virginia mine wars
• Blair Mountain

Acknowledgements

Particular thanks to Lisa Traynor at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. She encouraged me to tell the story behind the enigmatic message scratched onto the receiver of an old military rifle. Thanks also to Mike Burns for advice on Swiss patent law, to Gary Swilk at the West Park Historical Society and to Lou Martin and Kenzie Walker at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. The fight to save the Blair Mountain battlefield continues.

Disclosure statement

The author declares there is no potential conflict of interest in this study.

Data availability statement

The detailed costings for weapons repairs and the regulations regarding the sale of Swiss military weapons can be found in the Swiss National Archives (https://www.bar.admin.ch/bar/de/home.html)

Bannerman catalogues may be found in the Library of the Royal Armouries and online at the Internet Archive (https://archive.org)

‘Hunter, Trader, Trapper’ magazine is available from the Hathi Trust digital library (https://hathitrust.org)

Notes

1 C. Tilley, ‘Objectification’ in ‘Handbook of Material Culture’ by Tilley, Keane, Kuechler, Rowlands and Spyer (eds) Sage Pub, London, 2006, p. 61.

2 For more on the mechanics and history of the rifle, see J. Poyer, ‘Swiss Magazine Loading Rifles 1869-1958’, North Cape Publications, California, pp.130–137.

3 D. Vogelsanger, ‘A Swiss Artist, an Iconic American General and an Ambitious Federal Councilor’ in Swiss American Historical Society Review, Vol. 53, No. 3, Art. 2. November 2017. p.3.

4 Vogelsanger, p.12.

5 Ibid.

6 Vetterli enjoyed another key advantage that speeded up development. He did not have to worry about infringing other inventors patents because Swiss public opinion was so strongly against the very idea of protecting intellectual property that the nation had no patent law on the statute books until 1888, and even then that has been described as providing only “dubious” protection to inventors. What this meant was that Vetterli was able to combine known technologies with an existing cartridge into a new and effective weapon system without having to resort to the artificial and deadening solutions other inventors were forced into adopting to avoid infringing patent rights. See D. Ritter, ‘Switzerland’s Patent Law History’ In 14 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 463 (2004). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol14/iss2/3. Accessed 21/9/22.

7 Perhaps, the most important legacy of the Vetterli was its use by Theodore Kocher in his pioneering work on wound ballistics. His work continues to inform the understanding and treatment of gunshot wounds.

8 https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theswissriflesdotcommessageboard/the-last-military-lot-vetterli-ammo-t1882.html

9 B. Winchester, ‘The Swiss Republic’ J B Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1891, p. 240.

10 ‘Reglement et tarif du dépot de pièces de rechange pour les armes a feu portative d’ordonnance Suisse’. Bern, 1883. Bundesarchiv Berne Band Nr6 Bestands N27 Archiv Nr 19409. For example, replacing a magazine tube was costed at 2CHF for the part and 40c for the labour.

11 R. Wilsey ‘From Ostrobothnia to the Caucusus. The Smuggling of Swiss Vetterlis to Russian Activists in 1905’, Journal of the Historical Breechloading Smallarms Association, Vol 5, Number 1, November 2019. pp. 16–29.

O.K. Fält, A. Kujala, (Eds), Inaba Chiharu (trans) ‘Colonel Akashi’s report on his secret Cooperation with the Russian Revolutionary Parties during the Russo-Japanese war’ Studia Historica 31, Finnish Historical Society, Helsinki 1988.

12 ‘Regulativ betreffendden Verkauf von Handfeuerwaffen und Bestandtheilen zu solchen durch die eidg. Waffenfabrik.’ March 1892. Bundesarchiv Berne, Band Nr 7 Bestands Nr 27 Archiv Nr 19409.

13 Bundesarchiv Berne, Band Nrs 10/11/18/22/26 Bestands Nr 27 Archiv Nr 19409.

14 C.D. Worman. ‘Gunsmoke and saddle leather: firearms in the nineteenth-century American West’ University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2005, p.128.

15 ‘Manufacture d’armes de guerre, de luxe et d’exportation, Ant. Bertrand et Fils, ancienne Maison A. Riga et Cie, 25 Rue Fabry, Liege … Album No. 1’ Ant. Bertrand et FilsLiege. Publisher: Liege Ant. Bertrand et Fils [ca 1885] (RAL 14810).

16 http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20p/a%20pire%20gb.htm Accessed 18/10/21.

17 ‘Report Of the Board of Officers’, Washington, 1873. pp. 356-357.

18 The Bannerman archives held at the Hagley Library in Delaware show he made trips to Europe, including England and Germany, in 1900, 1902 and 1903.

19 Bannerman catalogue 1902 p. 8 for the anonymous rifle and p. 83 for the entry that confirms it as a Vetterli. Confusingly, the 1903 catalogue is a direct reprint of the 1902 edition with a ‘Supplement’ for 1903 appended. Bannerman knew the value of a dollar and did not want to go to the expense of printing a whole new catalogue just for a few new stock items. https://archive.org/details/francis-bannerman-military-goods-catalogue-1903/page/n7/mode/2up Accessed 1/8/21.

20 Bannerman Catalogue 1907 p. 36. (RAL Library Store 2, Trade catalogues Shelf) .

21 http://meridenfirearms.com/history.html Accessed 20/01/22.

22 Sears, Roebuck and Company, Catalogue 117, 1908, p.702. One source states the rifle appeared in the 1900 catalogue (See R. Wilsey, ‘Guns of the Sandhill Settlers’, Man at Arms Magazine, June 2023) but the rifle does not appear in the fall catalogue for that year or in subsequent editions examined by the author.

23 Ibid, pp. 734–735. Nostalgia for the Wild West’ as early as 1908?.

24 Ibid, p. 729.

25 ‘Hunter-Trader-Trapper’ February 1910, p. 17. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433066590724&view=1up&seq=861&skin=2021&q1=.41%20Swiss (Accessed 18/10/21).

26 ‘Hunter-Trader-Trapper’ Vol 21, no 3, December 1910, p. 130. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015073141072&view=1up&seq=134&skin=2021. (Accessed 18/10/21).

27 ‘Hunter-Trader-Trapper’ February 1910, p. 124. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433066590724&view=1up&seq=968&skin=2021&q1=.41%20Swiss Accessed 18/10/21.

28 McCracken Research Library, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, MS 034 Schuyler, Hartley & Graham Collection, MS34.43.30.

29 ‘Outing’ magazine January 1920 p. 185 (Accessed 18/10/21).

30 J. Green, ‘The Devil Is Here in These Hills. West Virginia’s Coal Miners and Their Battle for Freedom’ Grove Press, New York, 2015 p. 260.

31 For the Paint and Cabin Creek war see Green pp. 97-156. For the build up to the gunfight at Matewan and Blair Mountain see A. Lawrence, ‘On dark and bloody ground: an oral history of the West Virginia mine wars’ West Virginia University Press, Morgantown, 2021, p. 2-7, for some of the debate about what actually happened on that day in May 1920 see T. Sherwood, ‘The Dust Settles’ in K. Sullivan, (ed) ‘The Goldenseal book of the West Virginia mine wars: articles reprinted from Goldenseal magazine 1977-1991’ Pictorial Histories Pub. Co, Charleston, W. Va, 1991, pp. 51-56.

32 Lawrence, p. 6.

33 Lawrence estimates 10,000 men, Green suggests ‘at least nine thousand men’, p. 263.

34 B. Nida, T. Harris, A.R.Williams, and L. Martin. ‘What Did the Miners See?: Archaeology, Deep Mapping, and the Battle of Blair Mountain’, WEST VIRGINIA HISTORY, New Series, vol. 12, nos. 1 and 2 (Spring/Fall 2018), p. 99 and K. L Smith-Christmas ‘Guns of the Battle of Blair Mountain’, American Rifleman, March 13 2014, https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/guns-of-the-battle-of-blair-mountain/(accessed 14/1/24). For more on the attempts to preserve the battlefield from the continuing depredations of the coal industry see https://archive.archaeology.org/1201/features/blair_mountain_coal_activism_west_virginia.html (accessed 2/1/22).

35 Green, p. 264.

36 Mine Wars Forum with Rachel Donaldson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rVk4pFxn2E&t=1888s accessed 11/4/22.

37 Lawrence, p. 7.

38 Lawrence, p. 37. Henry Clay Pettry Jnr was just 16 years old, and by his own admission ‘as mean as a snake’. When state policemen tried to seize his families weapons a few weeks later they found nothing because he had hidden them in a haystack.

39 ‘Conditions in the Paint Creek District, West Virginia: Hearings … Sixty-third Congress, First Session Pursuant to S. Res. 37, a Resolution Authorizing the Appointment of a Committee to Make an Investigation of Conditions in the Paint Creek District, West Virginia.’ U.S. Government Printing Office, 1913, p. 80. ‘Eufort’ is probably a misprint for ‘Erfurt, which would suggest something like a German G.88 or older Mauser M.71/84 rifle.

40 J. Walter, ‘Rifles of the World’ Krause Publications, Iola, 1998, p. 381.

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Stephen Wren

Stephen Wren is an independent researcher and collector of military rifles of the late nineteenth century with a particular interest in the arms trade of the period.