founded by Joshua Stevens in 1864 in Chicopee, Massachusetts
– J. Stevens & Co.
tip-up single shot pistol
1883 they purchased the Massachusetts Arms Company
1886 incorporated as J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co
1887, Stevens developed the .22 LR cartridge
1896 bought by I.H. Page
1898 .25 Stevens rimfire rifle cartridge
1901 manufactured Stevens-Duryea automobile
1902 .25 Stevens Short rimfire rifle cartridge
May 28, 1915 a division of Westinghouse Electric purchased Stevens
– created specifically for a contract to produce 1.8 million Mosin-Nagant rifles for Russia in World War I
– 1916-1917 produced over 770,000 rifles
– 225,260 were delivered, rest were sold to the USA
July 1, 1916, renamed the firearms division the J. Stevens Arms Company
1917 commies never paid, company & fell into financial distress
April 1, 1920 purchased by the Savage Arms Company
– until 1942 its own brand
During World War II produced:
– Savage Lee–Enfield No. 4 rifle
– Thompson submachine gun
– Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
– Browning M1919
– M2 machinegun
Annie Oakley taught more than 15,000 women how to use a gun
Sixth of nine children ( born Phoebe Ann Mosey )(Phoebe Ann Moses)
began trapping before the age of seven
began shooting and hunting by age eight
1865 – Her skill paid off the mortgage on her mother’s farm (when Annie was 15)
1872 – Annie ran away from the home where she was “employed”
1881 – Thanksgiving Day, Baughman & Butler shooting act was being performed in Cincinnati – Frank E. Butler placed a $100 bet he could beat any local “fancy shooter”, Butler lost the match and the bet
1882 – Oakley married Frank Butler
1885 – They joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show ( She earned more than any performer, except for “Buffalo Bill” Cody himself )
1889 – Paris Exposition
1898 – Oakley promoted women in combat ops for the US Military
1894 – Performed in the eleventh film made = The “Little Sure Shot of the Wild West,”(the 11th movie made on earth, by the inventor of motion pictures)
1902 – left the Buffalo Bill show for good
1902 – The Western Girl a stage play written especially for her
1904 – A newspaper reporter wrote a libelous article, Oakley spent 6 years dealing with libel lawsuits (lost only one of 55)
1912 – Annie Oakley House built in Cambridge, Maryland Oakley collected less in judgments than her legal expenses
Oakley continued to set records into her sixties
1922 – She hit 100 clay targets in a row from 16 yards (at age 62)
Oakley was involved in extensive philanthropy for women’s rights and the support of young women she knew
1922 – a car accident forced her to wear a steel brace on her right leg
1925 – visited to the Grand American (Shotgun shoot) and “breaks a 97”
1925 – she died of pernicious anemia in Greenville, Ohio at the age of 66
1925 – Butler was so grieved by her death he stopped eating and died 18 days later
Oakley’s ashes were placed in one of her prized trophies and laid next to Butler’s body in his coffin
After her death, it was discovered that she spent her entire fortune on her family and her charities
1981 – Annie Oakley Committee placed a stone-mounted plaque in the vicinity of her birth site
1996 – The Annie Oakley House added to the National Register of Historic Places
Trapshooting Hall of Fame
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
National Women’s Hall of Fame
Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame
New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Oakley’s personal possessions, performance memorabilia, and firearms are on permanent exhibit in the Garst Museum and the National Annie Oakley Center in Greenville, Ohio
Oakley believed that women should learn to use a gun for the empowering image that it gave
I would like to see every woman know how to handle guns as naturally as they know how to handle babies.
Oakley believed strongly that it was crucial for women to learn how to use a gun, as not only a form of physical and mental exercise, but also to defend themselves
Smith and Wesson both worked at the National Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts
1852 Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson founded
– the (1st) Smith & Wesson Company in Norwich, Connecticut
– 1855 renamed Volcanic Repeating Arms
– purchased by Oliver Winchester
– Wesson stayed as plant manager with Volcanic Repeating Arms for 8 months
– April 1857 renamed New Haven Arms Company
– 1866 renamed Winchester Repeating Arms Company
1856 Samuel Colt’s patent on the revolver expired
1856 Smith & Wesson Revolver Company
– founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson
– in Springfield, Massachusetts
2002, Colt Defense was split off from Colt’s Manufacturing Company
– Colt’s Manufacturing Company served the civilian market
– Colt Defense served the law enforcement
1885 publisher “The Rifle” magazine the forerunner to the official publication of the National Rifle Association “The Rifleman”, later “American Rifleman”
1888 Author – The Modern American Pistol and Revolver the first English-language book devoted to pistol shooting
