Long Shot
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Long Shot
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
How far will that rifle shoot?
This view is what you see from near Billy Dixon's grave at the Adobe Walls battle ground.
Using Google Earth, I measured the distance to the near bluff to be about 693 yards and the second (where the most unlucky Indian that ever lived was sitting on his horse) to be about 1255 yards. I completely forgot about taking any kind of a rangefinder along.
Controversy prevails over the exact range of Billy Dixon's shot. Baker and Harrison set it at about 1000 yards, while a post-battle survey by a team of US Army surveyors, under the command of Gen. Nelson A. Miles, measured the distance: 1,538 yards, or nine-tenths of a mile. For the rest of his life, Billy Dixon never claimed that the shot was anything other than a lucky one; his memoirs do not devote even a full paragraph to "the shot". He, however, did confide to people in the area that he took to the shot near an outcropping of rock that the hunters regularly shot from their camp in a betting game. In addition, he spoke about the incident that made him shoot at the Indians on the hilltop.
Forensic archaeologists have discovered that the guns in use at Adobe Walls included several Richards' Colt conversions, some Smith & Wesson Americans and at least one Colt .45 pistol, along with numerous rifles in calibers .50-70, .50-90, .44-77, .44 Henry Flat and at least one .45-70. At the time Sharps did not use designations like .50-90 or "Big Fifty" Sharps. Instead, it designated cartridges by bore size and case length. Technically, the "Big Fifty" was known as the .50 Sharps 2-1/2 Inch. Depending on the bullet used, the case could be loaded as any of what was later designated .50-90, .50-100 or .50-110. The .50-90 loading used the heaviest bullet and gave the best performance at relatively short ranges out to about 100 yards. The two heavier loads used relatively lighter bullets and gave better performance at extended ranges. This makes it more likely that Billy Dixon's shot was made with a .50 Sharps 2-1/2 Inch case loaded to .50-110 specification. In Sharps' nomenclature, the .50-70 was first known as the .50 Sharps 1-3/4 Inch and later as the .50 Sharps 2 Inch, and was sometimes referred to as the "Little Fifty."
Some digital effects were applied to the original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Your finished photograph will not contain the Fine Art America watermark.
Image copyright 2021 Jon Burch Photography.
Uploaded
July 3rd, 2021
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Viewed 113 Times - Last Visitor from Garden City, KS on 04/22/2024 at 1:12 PM
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