Wilson Trade Gun

This flintlock gun is made of walnut, steel, and brass and is decorated with a sea serpent or dragon side plate. Manufactured between 1760 and 1790 by Richard Wilson in England, this gun is characteristic of those traded to American Indians by the British at Pickawillany between 1747 and 1752. Pickawillany, or Pinkwaawilenioki, a Miami town on the Great Miami River near present-day Piqua, was one of the largest American Indian towns in the Ohio Country. The French, attempting to expel British traders from the area, attacked the village in 1752. Many American Indians were killed and British traders were taken to Detroit. After the attack, many of the American Indians left the village and moved west to present-day Indiana. Ohio Historical Society Image Om350_780065.

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