The John Hindley Colt Paterson Ring Lever Revolving Rifle

The historical significance of this Colt Paterson Ring Lever Revolving Rifle is greatly enhanced by its association with Mormon pioneer, plains freighter, businessman, civic leader, and early Utah settler John Hindley (1820-1886). Accompanying family research identifies this firearm as the “1839 Colt Paterson Ring Lever Revolving Rifle” owned by Hindley and preserved within the family for generations. The provenance is supported by an extensive family history compiled from journals, letters, church records, census records, newspaper accounts, land records, and other contemporary documents relating to Hindley’s life and travels throughout the American West.

John Hindley was born in England in 1826 and eventually immigrated to the United States, becoming part of the early Mormon migration to Utah Territory. By the 1850s he had settled in American Fork, Utah, where he would spend much of the remainder of his life farming, raising a family, serving in public office, and participating in the economic development of the territory.

The years during which Hindley carried this rifle were among the most turbulent and demanding years of western expansion. Unlike many pioneers who made a single journey west and settled permanently, Hindley became deeply involved in transportation and freighting operations, repeatedly traveling between Utah and the eastern United States. Family records indicate that he made approximately thirteen trips across the Great Plains and beyond, journeys that exposed him to extreme weather, isolation, difficult terrain, and the constant uncertainties of frontier travel.

The family history specifically references Hindley’s 1839 Colt Paterson Ring Lever Revolving Rifle, noting that many of his adventures on the plains centered around the firearm. During the period of Hindley’s travels, the Colt Paterson represented one of the most advanced repeating firearms available in North America. Designed by Samuel Colt and manufactured in Paterson, New Jersey, these rifles were produced in extremely limited numbers and offered a tremendous advantage over conventional single-shot arms. A traveler carrying a Paterson revolving rifle possessed multiple loaded shots before needing to reload, a significant benefit in hunting, defense, and survival situations.

One of the most remarkable family accounts involving the rifle concerns an incident that reportedly occurred during one of Hindley’s freighting expeditions. According to the family history, Hindley became separated from his companions during a severe winter storm somewhere west of Salt Lake City. Alone, exposed, and facing the prospect of freezing to death, he encountered a buffalo bull. Using his Colt Paterson rifle, he killed the animal and then sought shelter within the carcass to survive the storm. While impossible to independently verify today, the story demonstrates the importance attached to the rifle within the Hindley family and helps explain why both the firearm and its history were remembered and preserved.

By the early 1860s Hindley had become an established member of the American Fork community. His wife Jane’s journals provide a detailed glimpse into family life during this period. Records show that Hindley frequently traveled away from home on business, often spending extended periods crossing the plains and transporting freight. These repeated journeys would have placed him among the most experienced overland travelers in Utah Territory.

On April 6, 1865, Hindley was elected an Alderman of American Fork, demonstrating the respect he had earned within the community. The following year, in July 1866, Brigham Young visited Hindley’s property and recorded favorable comments regarding his orchard and farm. Young noted that the trees were healthy and vigorous, reflecting the success Hindley had achieved in transforming frontier land into a productive agricultural enterprise.

In 1867, Hindley entered into a formal business partnership with Henry W. Naisbitt of Salt Lake City. Together they established a freighting and mercantile operation known as Naisbitt & Hindley, operating the well-known Globe Store in Salt Lake City. The business occupied a prominent location on Main Street and dealt in general merchandise, dry goods, groceries, boots, shoes, clothing, and freight services. During this period Hindley divided his time between American Fork and Salt Lake City, while continuing his long-distance transportation activities.

The demands of the freighting business resulted in even more travel. Contemporary records indicate that Hindley journeyed repeatedly eastward to the Missouri River and beyond. Family accounts, newspaper references, and business records place him on the overland routes during years when stage lines, wagon trains, military traffic, emigrant parties, and freighters moved continuously across the plains. These were precisely the conditions under which a reliable repeating firearm would have been an essential tool.

In October 1868, church leaders including Brigham Young established the Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI). Records show that Naisbitt & Hindley pledged $1,000 to help establish the organization, placing them among the early supporters of what would become one of the most important commercial institutions in Utah history.

Despite his business success, Hindley remained closely tied to American Fork. The 1870 Agricultural Census lists his farm as approximately 45 acres, including improved land devoted to wheat, corn, barley, potatoes, hay production, livestock, and fruit cultivation. Even while operating businesses in Salt Lake City and traveling extensively, he continued to maintain and expand his agricultural interests.

A particularly important surviving document connected to Hindley is his federal land patent issued by the United States government. On March 1, 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a land grant conveying approximately 160 acres to John Hindley. This original federal patent survives and serves as a remarkable piece of documentation linking Hindley directly to the settlement and development of Utah Territory during the post-Civil War era.

By 1880, census records show Hindley managing a substantially larger farming operation consisting of approximately 160 acres, including livestock, orchards, and cultivated fields. The farm had become one of the more significant agricultural properties in the area. Around this period, construction began on a substantial family home on the property. Jane Hindley’s journal entries from 1880 through 1882 describe the planning, construction, and eventual occupation of the new residence, providing a rare first-hand account of pioneer family life.

Throughout these decades of public service, business ventures, overland travel, and agricultural development, the memory of Hindley’s Colt Paterson rifle remained embedded within the family’s history. Unlike many frontier firearms whose stories have been lost, this rifle was specifically identified by descendants as John Hindley’s “1839 Colt Paterson Ring Lever Revolving Rifle,” a designation that is unusually precise and strongly suggests a longstanding family tradition surrounding the arm.

John Hindley died in 1891, leaving behind a legacy that reflected many of the defining themes of nineteenth-century western history: immigration, frontier settlement, overland travel, freighting, farming, commerce, civic leadership, and religious community building. The accompanying family history preserves not only the story of the man but also the memory of the extraordinary firearm associated with his travels.

Today, this Colt Paterson Ring Lever Revolving Rifle stands as more than a rare and desirable Colt firearm. It is a documented artifact connected to a known pioneer whose life intersected with some of the most important events in the settlement of the American West. Through journals, letters, public records, land patents, newspaper accounts, and family tradition, the rifle can be associated with a man who spent decades traversing the frontier during the very era for which the Colt Paterson became legendary. Such a combination of rarity, documented ownership, frontier use, and western historical association represents a compelling and highly desirable provenance for one of the most important firearms of the nineteenth century.