Mirabeau B. Lamar's Shotgun

Double barrel percussion shotguns were popular weapons on the frontier of the United States for both hunting and defense. This shotgun was owned by Mirabeau B. Lamar, the second president of the Republic of Texas. 

The son of a wealthy Georgia planter, Lamar came to Texas in 1835. He joined the Texian Army as a private. He received recognition during the Battle of San Jacinto and was verbally commissioned a colonel and assigned to command the cavalry. Lamar was elected the Republic of Texas’s first vice-president in 1836 and later replaced Sam Houston as president in 1838.  During the Mexican War, he joined Zachary Taylor's army at Matamoros as a lieutenant colonel and subsequently fought in the battle of Monterrey. Later he was captain of Texas Mounted Volunteers on the Rio Grande.

This double barreled percussion shotgun owned by Mirabeau B. Lamar was made by the firm of Moore and Harris in Birmingham, England between 1838 and 1850. Moore and Harris made high-quality weapons and this would have been an expensive shotgun at the time. It features silver fittings with fine decorative work. The stock also has been decorated with a carved herringbone pattern in sections. This weapon would have been used for hunting, personal defense, and in times of conflict.