When was colt founded

Ford, Rip Ford's Texas , ed. Stephen B. Oates Austin: University of Texas Press, Charles Tower Haven and Frank A. Carroll C. Philip D. Noel M. Eugene Hollon , ed. Ronald Lora University of Toledo, John E. James E. The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style , 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Richard C. All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. From that idea, he carved out a wooden prototype that would lead to his invention of a rotation-type firearm with a six-barrel cylinder. Colt patented his revolving-chamber pistol in Europe in and in the United States the following year.

The idea was not immediately accepted, with gun owners unwilling to give up their trusted muskets and pistols. In , he built his first plant in Paterson, New Jersey.

At just 22 years old, he proved himself to be a savvy businessman and promoter, but slow sales forced him to turn his attentions elsewhere. In , the U. Walker designed an even more effective weapon, "The Walker," prompting the government to order 1, of these pistols—and Colt was back in business again.

The company was soon producing firearms a day, making Colt one of the wealthiest men in America. Colt pistols were the weapons of choice during the American Civil War, from '65, and the company's. While initial sales of his revolver lagged, Colt went on to invent the first remote-controlled Naval mine explosive. He helped telegraph inventor Samuel Morse run telegraph lines under waterways with his invention of waterproof cables.

Colt's Manufacturing Company is still in business today in the Hartford area, producing handguns, pistols, rifles and revolvers.

In , Colt married Elizabeth Jarvis. It's been reported that he built the opulent Connecticut mansion, Armsmear, as a honeymoon gift to his wife.

War Department took notice of the superior performance of the Colt guns. As a result, the Army sent Captain Samuel Walker to collaborate with Colt on an improved design when war broke out with Mexico the following year. The Government immediately ordered 1, of the new revolver, known as the "Walker Colt.

With the successful completion of the government order, Colt was able to set up a new factory of his own in his home town of Hartford, Connecticut. Colt guns quickly became the weapon of choice for such diverse groups as California miners and foreign statesmen. Even at this early stage, Colt demonstrated a genius for marketing and public relations, hiring military officers to promote his guns in other regions, and actively lobbying government officials.

By , Colt had set up a factory in England the first American manufacturer to do so , and work had begun on a larger facility in Hartford. The new plant was completed in , the same year the company was incorporated as Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company. Within two years, Colt's was making guns a day, and Samuel Colt was a millionaire. Samuel Colt died suddenly in , but the company he founded continued to surge.

Colt's widow, Elizabeth Jarvis Colt, and her family maintained control of the company through the rest of the 19th century. From to , Colt's brother-in-law, Richard Jarvis, served as company president. The Civil War brought huge government purchases to Colt's. In the company began manufacturing the famous hand-cranked Gatling machine gun. The Colt single action Army Model, a six-shot. That gun gained a huge following almost immediately, and was the model that went down in history as "the gun that won the West.

Many additional models were added to the Colt line during the s, including double-action revolvers, hammerless shotguns, pump action rifles, and revolvers with cylinders that swung out to make loading easier.

In , Colt's relationship with inventor John Browning began. The Colt-Browning machine gun, which became known as the "Peacemaker", was first produced in It eventually replaced the Gatling gun as the top Colt machine gun. Around the same time, Browning began developing a line of automatic pistols for Colt's, and he continued working on new guns for the company for a few more decades. In , Mrs.

Colt sold the company to a group of outside investors based in New York and New England. She died four years later. Under its new management, the company continued to produce guns for the government in huge numbers. Browning developed the Colt 45 automatic pistol in One of the most popular guns of all time, the Colt 45 was the standard issue sidearm for American troops in both World Wars.

It also saw action in later military conflicts, and was a huge success commercially as well. Government alone purchased 2. The company's Browning Automatic Rifle became a big seller to the government. During the war, Colt's workforce swelled to 10, people.

The company's revenue tripled in the last three years of World War I, and profits soared accordingly. With the end of the war, Colt's sought to diversify in order to keep production at a high level in the face of shrinking demand for weapons. Printing presses, commercial dishwashers, and plastics were among the products the company began manufacturing after the war.

Browning's last invention, an anti-aircraft cannon, came in Two years later, the company established an electrical division that made, among other things, fuses. Meanwhile, Colt's continued selling guns wherever they were needed.