Supply and demand

[Andy54Hawken]

So with all the hub bub 'bout prices of ammo , guns and such , here are some prices from the days of yore...
( Unless otherwise noted...all historic prices are "Mountain Prices" ....not what the item was selling for in the "States" )

1826...
Lead $1 per pound =$26.42 in today's money
Shot $ 1.25 per pound = $33.03
Northwest Gun ( Flintlock Smoothbore , an "all purpose" gun. ) $24 dollars each = $634.14 , in today's money

1827...
Jacob Gumpf Lancaster Rifle ( a plainer version of the famous "Kentucky Rifle" , made for the Indian / Fur Trade ) $13.00 = $340.06 , in today's money.
Not sure if the $13.00 was what was charged to the American Fur Company in St. Louis...or if that was the price that the AFC sold to a trapper in the mountains....Guessing its a "mountain price".

1831...
J.J Henry "English Rifle" ( a "English Rifle" was a Trade rifle built along the lines of a English Trade / sporting rifle ) $10.00 = $300.67 in today's money.
Again not sure if this was the AFC "mountain price" or what the rifle was bought for in St. Louis...Guessing it is a "Mountain Price".

1834...
Prices are "Mountain Prices" at Ft. Hall
Rifle $ 13.00 =$395.41 in today's dollars
N.West Gun $ 4.50 =$136.87

Annuities for the Otoe and Missouria tribes 1836...
"American Rifles" ( This was a plain version of the famous "Kentucky Rifle" , built for the Indian / Fur Trade ) $15.00 each = $421.91 in today's money.
Northwest Gun 7.50 each = $210.95 in today's money.

Hawken Rifles made by Jake and Sam Hawken*...all prices are for St. Louis...."Mountain Prices" would be higher...
1831...$28.00 = $841.87 in today's money
1835...$22.00 = $653.95
1840...$35.00 =$1, 052. 34
1845...$30.00 =$1, 032. 56
1851...$25.00 = $ 849.29
* Or just Sam after Jake's death....

Just posting the above for fun....
Andy

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[P7M13]

Primers were priceless then, as they are now....

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I found both flints and primers listed in ledgers and such.....as in where and when they were sent....but no prices.
That said...I only took a quick look at the books in my at home library....
Andy

 

[BigDog67]

My take on Supply and Demand is; I DEMAND they increase the SUPPLY!

 

[madladchad]

Interested to know why the Northwest Guns dropped in price from $24 to $4 in 8 years. Any ideas, @Andy54Hawken?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

@madladchad

Well in 1826...those prices were from Ashley and at the 2nd Rendezvous....
So....Just like today , one can ask what one wants , when you are the "only game in town" , or the only fella with a high demand item in stock...

The low price at Ft. Hall...may have been a " sale price"..or perhaps a sub -quality gun...
Not sure as the ledger entry was laconic....
Ft. Hall was built in 1834 , and Nat. Wyeth , " The Bushway" , was new to the fur trade , which also may figure into the price.

A average "mountain price" for a Northwest Gun was around $7.50 - $10.00...
Depending on the time period and location of the seller.

Now ifin' you were a Indian and brought in furs / hides / horses to trade...then the trade rate was generally fixed so it didn't fluctuate as much as a cash price , for the trader or trapper
Andy