How I Acquired the Fess Parker Davy Crockett Rifle

Having been a member of the motion picture industry for over 35 years, specializing in researching and painting historical conceptual scenes, I was well aware of the many firearm treasures housed at Stembridge gun rentals. The Stembridge arms collection was started around 1916 by Cecil B. DeMille and James Stembridge to supply the motion picture industry with period and modern firearms.

Stembridge sold the bulk of its inventory to the Peterson Museum. The museum, in turn decided to let go of 200 items that it couldn’t identify to an individual star or film. On January 16 and 17 of 2000 the world had the opportunity to bid on a potential relic from Hollywood’s Golden Era. Among the items auctioned were several original Kentucky rifles. One only had to have the knowledge of the types of period films they would have been used in, to start researching. With a little luck, a photo existed of a well known actor holding one of the rifles. Such was the case with Auction Item 607.

Item 607 was an original circa 1820-30 Kentucky flintlock rifle, in 40 caliber, stocked in curly maple in the Reading style. It had the original lock and was mounted in brass and German silver.

I recognized it immediately as the same one Fess Parker used in Walt Disney’s “Davy Crokett.”

I hoped no one else would be as astute. Over 500 people competed, but when the bidding stopped, the rifle was mine.

Joseph Musso

This article originally appeared in Flintlock, a publication of the CLA.