Author: James Wesley Rawles

To raise some cash for a major purchase here at the Rawles Ranch, I have put almost our entire Elk Creek Company inventory on sale. This is your chance to do some early Christmas or Hanukkah gift shopping, at great prices! No FFL paperwork is required.  Our pre-1899 cartridge guns and blackpowder guns can be mailed right to your door, in most states. We also have a nice selection of knives and bayonets. I also just cataloged a lot of scarce FN FAL and HK91 magazines.  We have a merchant account, so we accept payments by credit card. — On …

On September 23, 1897, the first Frontier Days rodeo celebration was held in Cheyenne, Wyoming. — On this day in 1969, the American film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had its world premiere, and it became a western classic. It was especially noted for the pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford as the titular outlaws. — On September 23, 1779, During the American Revolution, in the midst of a naval engagement between the warships Bonhomme Richard and Serapis off the east coast of England, American commander John Paul Jones answered a call to surrender from his English counterpart …

On September 22, 1784, Russian trappers established a colony on Kodiak Island, Alaska. — Today is the birthday of Kijirō Nambu (南部 麒次郎), September 22, 1869 – May 1, 1949.) He was a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the founder of Nambu Arms Manufacturing Company, manufacturer of many of the firearms the Japanese military would use in World War II. A prolific small arms designer, he was sometimes called the “John Browning of Japan”. — September 22nd is the birthday of survivalist writer and consultant Joel Skousen. (Born, 1946.) Skousen authored the excellent books Strategic Relocation and …

September 21, 1776: The Great New York Fire. Five days after the British Army took New York City, one quarter of the city burned down. — September 21, 1931, Britain abandoned the gold standard. The Pound was devalued by 20%. — On this day in 1780, during the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold met with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold’s name became synonymous with the word …

On September 20, 1945, under OSS (and later CIA) Operation Paper Clip and Operation Overcast (1945 to 1959), German rocket scientists began to work in the United States. For the sake of expediency, more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were granted immunity from war crimes prosecution and transported along with their families from the former Nazi Germany to the United States for employment with various government agencies and later, with defense contractors. Under these secretive and later publicly acknowledged and very controversial programs, the German contingent was most conspicuously led by senior scientist Wernher von Braun. (Pictured above, …