This is from Dixie Gun Works Blackpowder Annual, 1987.
This story is from a book published in London in 1834, "Sketches and Eccentricities of Col David Crockett of West Tennessee".
The author describes meeting Col Crockett
"...there walked out, in plain homespun attire, with a black fur cap on, a finely proportioned man, about six feet high, aged, from appearance, forty-five. His countenance was frank and manly, and a smile played over it as he approached me. He brought with him a rifle, and from his right shoulder hung a bag made of a raccoon skin, to which, by means of a sheath, was appended a huge butcher"s knife. "
Crockett and his brother invited the author to a shooting match.
"Forty yards off-hand is the distance generally chosen for a shooting match....They use for patching cotton cloth, and wipe their rifles after every discharge. I think they would even shoot more accurately than they do, did they use percussion locks, which possess many advantages over the flint lock..."
The shooting match took place in a grove of trees, near which stood a "tippling house". Soon several hundred shooters had arrived.
"Almost every man was clad in the garb of a hunter,--with a rifle, a 'coon skin bag, from which was suspended a largeknife and an alligator's tooth for a charger." [powder measure?]
Each man brought his own target, which was a board which had been burned black. A small piece of white paper was pinned to the middle. The judges took possession of all boards, and marked a center spot on the paper, then marked four concentric circles, of one half inch, one inch, one and a half inches, and two inches. The judges got ready to put the target up against a tree, while the shooters stood back, and the man to shoot stood in a circle marked on the ground.
"There was no regularity in shooting; each marksman called for his target when it suited him. One, taking his position, cried out, Put up my board! It was done: and the crowd flocked together, on either side, from the target to the marksman, forming a lane of living people about four feet wide, with their heads inclining inwards, to see the effect of the shot. The marksman stood for a moment as if sculptured from marble, the muzzle of his gun pointing to the earth, then raising it gradually, it became horizontal, poised for an instant, and there burst forth a sheet of living flame--the ball was buried in the paper, and at the annunciation of it, a wild shout rent the air."
" 'Damn it, clear the track, and put up my board,' was shouted from the lips of Crockett, and I discovered old Betsy poised aloft in the air. The lane was again formed, and Crockett lounged idly at his stand, with his gun upon his shoulder, which was carelessly raised up and discharged the moment it became horizontal. The same effect ensued--the ball was buried in the paper, and another wild shout rent the air."
The men brought various items which were gambled for in the shooting, a pair of shoes, a hat, cakes etc.
The match went on for several hours, and twilight set in.
"To my astonishment, candles were called for, to enable them to shoot. The distance was diminished, and though their heads must have spun around like whirligigs, I think they rather improved in shooting. There was a candle held near each sight of the rifle, and one also on each side of the target; and in this manner did they continue through the night. I sat up very late, candles were continually called for. Weary of the scene, eventually I retired to bed."
"In the morning I arose with the first dawn of day, and though the noise had somewhat abated, the candles were burning, and the rifles still ringing."
