The Colt
I thought I’d write about the Colt, a modified Paterson pistol (named for the city in NJ where it was manufactured) which plays such an integral part to Supernatural. It bothers me that in John’s speech introducing the gun, he said it was made in 1835 the night those men died at the Alamo. Dude, the Battle of the Alamo was 1836. (Jared should have known that, native San Antonian that he is.) There was a battle in 1835 but not nearly as bloody. It lasted for five days, not one night.
Anyway, I started wondering about Samuel Colt, this real person who the Winchesters credit with all this occult knowledge. So I googled.
Yes, I googled. If I’d thought about writing this, you know, before Sunday, I might have hit the library.
He took out his first patent in 1835, when he was only 21.
He had to close his gun plant in 1842 because he couldn’t sell the Army on the necessity of his guns. They did use them for the Seminole Indian wars, though.
In 1846, he got an order for more guns and had to rebuild a factory using an assembly line.
He never fired a gun at another person.
He helped develop underground telegraph lines and underwater explosives that could be detonated by remote control.
He was a mason.
He died at the age of 47, in 1862. So....not absolutely sure of my history here, but I don’t think Wyoming had a lot of railroads by the time he died.
Anyone know why Kripke chose to base the myth on this real person? (Who knows, maybe he went to the library ;) )
3 comments:
Interesting stuff, Mary!
John also says the night of Hailey's Comet, he made the gun, and that was November 16, 1835, for sure. There's nothing specifically related to that date and the Alamo, but heck, maybe some men died that night. LOL
I'm guessing they picked Colt because Colts are well-known weapons of the west, and easily connectable to a single person, unlike other iconic gun brands, which have a more corporate feel.
According to the Wyoming State Archives, the first cross-state railroad was built 20 years after Colt died. But that doesn't mean Colt couldn't have had the private ones built. He could have been farsighted enough to see how big the railroad was going to be, and therefore something that would remain in place for a long time. His real purpose for them was going to require them to remain unbroken, right?
Hello Mary! I too am a HUGE Supernatural fan! I think the reason they used "The Colt" is because it had the most important job of killing demons! Remember, it's the only gun in existance that could do that. Samuel Colt was such an iconic figure and such a big name, I think it worked well as far as shock value. They also couldn't use the 2nd most famous gun name which just happens to be "Winchester" their last name.
you might find this page interesting: http://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-colt-family-curse.html
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