s
liable to get out of order very easily. They further protested that it
was much more difficult to repair than the arms then in use, and that
this alone rendered it unfit for adoption by the Government.
Notwithstanding these objections were fully met by Mr. Colt, who
explained carefully the principles of his weapon, it was two years
before the Government consented to give the revolver a trial.

In 1837, the Florida war raged with great violence, and the Seminoles,
secure in their fastnesses in the Everglades, were enabled to bid
defiance to all the efforts of the army of the United States. Their
superior skill in the use of the rifle gave them an advantage which the
bravery and determination of our troops could not overcome. In this
emergency, the Government consented to make a trial of Colt's revolver.
A regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey was armed with this weapon,
and its success was so marked from the first that the Government
promptly gave an order for more, and ended by making it the principal
arm of the troops in Florida. The savages were astounded and
disheartened at seeing the troops fire six or eight times without
reloading; and when the war was brought to a close, as it soon was, it
was plain to all that the revolver had played a decisive part in the
struggle. It was a great triumph for Colonel Colt, but in the end proved
a source of misfortune. The speedy termination of the war put an end to
the demand for his weapon, and his business fell off so greatly that in
1842 the Patent Arms Company was compelled to close its establishment
and wind up its affairs.

For five years none of the revolvers were manufactured, and, meanwhile,
the stock which had been put in the market was entirely exhausted by the
demand which had set in from Texas and the Indian frontier. In 1847 the
war with Mexico began, and General Taylor, who had witnessed the
performance of the revolver in Florida, was anxious to arm the Texan
Rangers with that weapon. He sent Captain Walker, the commander of the
Rangers, to Colonel Colt to purchase a supply. Walker was unsuccessful.
Colt had parted with the last one that he possessed, and had not even a
model to serve as a guide in making others. The Government now gave him
an order for one thousand, which he agreed to make for $28,000; but
there was still the difficulty caused by having no model to work by. In
this dilemma, he advertised extensively for one of his old pistols, to
serve as a