Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO130 0004-1 SECRE"'I" / 1\1 OFORN WARNING 11\171:1 I IGENCT7 EOLJI:`@CE'S AND ME:."T1 1C)DED INVOLNE'D .. ........ I.." .................1111 -.1.1- ........... 1-.:: ................................ ::: .......... ............ ........ ...... .......... --!.3. . .... ..... .... ..... .... ..... ..... ..... ..... .... ..... .... ..". ..... ..... ..... ..... .... ..... .... ..... .. ..... ..... ... ..... ..... .... ... .. ...... PR(DJ1:..:C.'T NUMBE-EFZ" 1.47]:" SE'SSION 1%1111130`@-, I DA'T'E: OF OW., DATE. OF F@EF`ORT.- 390':?0-'2, C.'RV VIHEWER IDENTIFIER.@ 032 ..... ..... ..... .... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....I.... ..... ..... ..... ... . .... ..... ..... ... .... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. .......... ..... ....... .. ... ..... ..... ... ..... ..... .... ..... .... ... . . .. ... '1\1F-/'cA'-`) M ribe (iri a 5 -.-;el [I: e) t i r-ii Iig target.'. -M; J.11. Davis.@ (3t..tn 2. (,r,3 / NF' @3)1-0 V1K-,.:WEFZ :1. /1. J. 2:1 :1. 3. (F.: /Iql:::,/,,: 1,.*.,) Cl C) IVI 11 L", 11%] 1- C:31 3 ri t t al g e 4: j. V e a g V E.-.,) c:) ri C---@ Q In mcw-e -f:ive e f. a r'.) F" ZA C: t.. i C Ez@ t 1") f I) e c: I-) a n j. c:Iic-it i@-:il I't -(-.I I e (I 4a t 4. F':VA1 t.JA*T:r,(:*.)N,.- T IIANDLJ]. VIA C.'I-1ANNE".] fil.; 0 N I Y ..... ............. ...................... .......... .................................. ............ ..................................... -- ................ f3F"T--C,'IAL ACCE"H.-:;f-:')' SEC'RET/NOj"--(::)Rjq CL A S G I F- I E D B Y DIA (D-F) DEC'LASSIFY ON.- OA DR Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 . .... .... . V) I I CD Uj L J. ;J :1. iD In I. y r I F I (D i", C) i" V* I.:: ut 1 :1. i,.:) :J ci c@ 1. cl :i i :1 vi ;::-i cl, I" C) C) 1"', 1-11C T. I T CD Ci V, :J I- k",, -.@k J. ::t VO I i, i J. k..k V, i L) c, ... ... .... :1. V 1 :i. cl c y T F'l F. F J. @::i tn C. C:, ID I: i j j. .:::kV 11L. cA F" 1, CD V -I -H., :1. C.1 1, 1 C. 1-t C1 C.) U j! :5 :1. C". :1. C), CJ 1::? C1 @-l I' kl-, HI I A ff. C L I 'I Cl C'. C:) (::I fA 1"!% @,D r cl f n C) Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 A C2 - A-,9-&7u-P O'S Z!- Approved For Release 20@"UO7 DP96-00789ROO1300210004-16@@,,, Vri I Z@ 01 i3i Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 I's S'C'O S -'s Approved For Release 200WO-3/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 aj@, Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 z f Approved For Release 200YO@/07 . CA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 C&U k 64@ @j I @@- -@JA A Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 bvxl,@Ilj0 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approveo,f or Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789RO01 300210004-1 I Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 6 11-f Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 > A7L ILL Tie 9 A\ppoved or Release 2001/03/07 CIA- f@@89ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 c5t Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 I/c ac@ Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001P3/07 : Cl@f RP96-00789RO01 300210004-1 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 CIA-RDP96-00789ROO1300210004-1 CPYRGHT CPYRGHT CPYRGHT Museum Takes Aim At Gun History For 7-year-old James Monroe Davis, swallowing a bitter spoonful of medicine was one of life's most dreaded evils. Ibis time, he required more coaxing than usual. Take the medicine, his father said, and he would get a surprise. The bribe worked. Young Davis opened, swallowed, and collected his re- Ward-a b6y's.410 gauge shotgun that cost $1.50 in 1894. That was the beginning of a firearm collection Davis spent the rest Of his life assembling. More than 20,000 firearms and related artifacts are now housed in the J.M. Davis Gun Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma. Visitors can walk for a mile through the collection, viewing some relics that date far back, such as a 14th-century, hand-held cannon from the Orient. Along with the. guns, the museum also has large collec- tions of antique German steins, Indian artifacts, World War I posters, and John Rogers statuary, popular during the Victo- rian period. Rogers' sentimental portrayal of everyday people is similar to Norman Rockwell's works. Davis moved to Oklahoma in 1916, after trading several thousand acres of Arkansas timberland for the Mason Hotel in Clare- more. He worked the desk at night, which afforded him ample time for his passionate hobby. Gun collectors from all over the world journeyed to Claremore to trade pieces and information with the noted au- thority at the small hotel. Before long, the lobby, hallways, dining room, and seven upstairs rooms were filled with firearms. At the entrance to the mu- seum stands the old key box and registra- tion desk, with dozens of guns arranged, geometrically above it just as they were in the hotel lobby. "On rainy afternoons, my wife and I would farm out our children and go to the hotel. We would spend hours looking at the guns, until our necks gave out," says Lee Good, who has been with the museum since it opened in 1969. The collection spans the history of fire- arms from the mid-1300's and basically stops with weaponry from World War 11. There are ornately decorated pistols, as well as handguns so small they can be hidden in a woman's palm. Muzzle-loading rifles and Colt pistols, which played major roles -in the history of this country, take up much of the collec- tion. The muzzle-loading firearm was the Al meric t primary weapon during ca r. Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil Wa ","'ft, A_ W At the 1. M. Davis Gun Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma, weapons belonging to Bonnie Parker, John Wesley Hardin, and Pretty Boy Floyd are see# in the Gallery of Outlaw Guns. Later, along with the Winchester rifle and Colt revolver, it helped settle the West. There are about 1,000 Colt firearms in the collection, including a rare Walker Colt, manufactured in 1847. Following the advice of Texas Ranger Samuel Walker, the Colt Patented Firearms Company de- signed a pistol for mounted troops. The result was the .44 caliber model with a 9-inch barrel that weighs almost 5 pounds. The Walker Colt can be fired six times without reloading. Many of the firearms feature unusual design styles. The wide-muzzled blunder- buss was used in the late 17Ws and early 1800's. The muzzle of the largest one that's on exhibit measures more than 4 inches in diameter. "The design of the blunderbuss was strictly a psychological thing," says Good. "It didn't scatter the shot like the muz- zle suggests." Many of the pieces indicate the gun- makers were expert craftsmen. One of the most ornate models is a rifle with a Mique- let lock mechanism, a style that originated in Spain around 1600. The. gun is deco- rated with more than 50,000 pieces of nat- ural and stained ivory, brass, and gold inlays. Another piece designed primarily as a work of art is a l7th-century German crossbow. Ivory, bone, and mother-of- pearl inlays form signs of the zodiac and other celestial figures along the stock. The smallest gun in the museum is the olibri, which weighs only 2.5 ounces and -es miniscule 2.7 -mm cartridges. The rgest is an .82 caliber musket made in hina. The overall length of that gun is 8 et, 10 inches. Almost everyone who visits th<34%§ORG H T eventually drawn toward the Gallery of utlaw Guns, to view firearms once used i such infamous owners as Pancho Villa, )hn Wesley Hardin, Pretty Boy Floyd, id Bonnie Parker. The museum, at 333 North Lynn Riggs Blvd., is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from 1 to 5 p.m, on Sunday. Additional information on the collection is available by writing to J.M. Davis Gun Museum, Box 966, Claremore, Oklahoma 74018; or call (918) 341-5707. The stock of a 17th-century German crossbow decorated with ivory, bone, and mother-of-pea) September 1985 43 Approved For Release 2001/03/07 : CIA-RDP96-OOTAFOMM0210004-1