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For my 41st birthday, a dear friend and also a very wonderful and talented craftsman by the name of Mike Slease, aka Seamus MacWilliam aka Col. Armstrong hand-carved for me this stunning powder horn and gave it to me June 14 at the Mohican Gathering 2001 (held at Chimney Rock Park, NC). It is done in the style of John Bush, who carved horns during the French and Indian War for several Rangers, including such famous people as Robert Rogers and John Stark. Click here to read what Seamus wrote about John Bush and his horns. (Click for the free Acrobat Reader to view the attachment.)

At my 2001 trip to Fort Ticonderoga for the F&I Grand Encampment, I walked through the fort museum to look at the horns on display (it's a great museum, by the way -- you should visit it) and saw these famous men's horns, and they really did look just like mine. I could clearly see the word "WAR" carved on one horn almost exactly as it is on mine (shown at left), clearly indicating how well Seamus had learned Bush's style. This horn is one more of my treasures and I'm eternally grateful to Seamus for the gift of it. Click here if you haven't seen my first horn, a beauty given to me, carved with the map of the Hudson Valley and Champlain Valley forts.  And click here to see my third horn, a beauty made by Wade Stoner.

To learn more about Seamus as Col. Armstrong, read the Journals of Lt. Col. John Armstrong from the Kittaning Expedition '00, and visit the re-created Augusta Regiment's webpage here:   http://reenacting.net/augustaregt   To contact Seamus (Mike) regtlco@augustaregt.com