Although guns are commonly linked to the violence of the American West, the Lewis and Clark Expedition carried a more unusual firearm: the Girardoni air rifle. Capable of firing a series of powerful shots without reloading after each one, the weapon proved valuable for hunting and helped provide food as the expedition moved through the largely unexplored regions of the American frontier.
For all of its advanced features, the rifle was not employed against other people during the expedition. Instead, it served primarily as a means of obtaining game, underscoring its role as a survival tool rather than a weapon used in combat.
Origins of the Girandoni air rifle
The air rifle employed by Capt. Meriwether Lewis and 2nd Lt. William Clark during their expedition was developed in Austria around 1778. Air guns had been a prominent hunting weapon in Europe since the 16th century, prized for their noiseless operation and lack of smoke when fired.
In 1778, Austrian gunsmith Bartolomeo Girandoni advanced early air-gun designs to create what would become the Girandoni air rifle. This model featured innovations that transformed it from a hunting tool into a military firearm.
The Girandoni air rifle was breech-loading and featured a 20-round tubular magazine along the barrel. Loading was simplified because the user could elevate the muzzle and use a spring-loaded slider to position a ball. This design allowed riflemen to load the weapon while lying down, a major advantage over traditional rifles that required standing.
Additionally, the rifle used compressed air rather than gunpowder for firing. The air reservoir was pressurized to around 800 pounds per square inch—much higher than the 35-40 pounds per square inch found in modern car tires.
A fully charged pressure flask was good for up to 30 shots before needing to be recharged.
Service with the Austrian Army
The Girardoni air rifle served with the Austrian Army from 1780-1815. At first, it was prized for its ability to fire rapidly without producing the loud sound or clouds of smoke associated with black powder weapons. As time went on, however, its practical shortcomings proved more impactful than those benefits.
A key disadvantage was the amount of work needed to keep it operational. Charging the air reservoir required roughly 1,500 strokes of a hand pump, making the process slow and physically demanding. The rifle also depended entirely on that pump, meaning the weapon could no longer be used if it was lost or damaged.
Its unconventional mechanism created even more difficulties. Soldiers needed specialized instruction because the rifle operated unlike other firearms of the era. Manufacturing was equally challenging, as every rifle had to be hand-built by skilled gunsmiths. This made production expensive and kept total numbers relatively low, with an estimated 1,300 rifles produced.
Even with these limitations, the Girardoni was a remarkable technological achievement. It was the first repeating rifle to be adopted on a large scale by a military and one of the earliest firearms to feature a tubular magazine, helping shape later firearm development.
Origins of the air rifle used on the Lewis and Clark Expedition
In 1804, Meriwether Lewis wrote that he had purchased an air gun, but didn’t allude to where or from whom he’d purchased it. Historians have debated between two possibilities: that the weapon was made in America and later sold to Lewis or that it was actually the Girandoni air rifle, which was manufactured in Europe and somehow brought to the United States.
Initially, the conclusion was that Lewis had purchased the air rifle from Isaiah Lukens of Philadelphia, who either made it himself or had his father, Seneca Lukens, craft it. In 1846, 40 years after Lewis and William Clark returned from their expedition, an auctioneer’s pamphlet advertised the sale of Lukens’ possessions. This included several air guns, canes and a “large air gun made for and used by Messrs Lewis & Clark in their exploding expeditions. A great curiosity.”
It should be noted that the pamphlet never states Lukens made the rifle himself. As well, in 2002, gun historian Michael Carrick determined that he wasn’t known to have been in business in Philadelphia prior to 1814. In 1803, when Lewis bought it, Lukens was still an apprentice to his father in Horsham Township, located 15 miles north of Philadelphia.
Historians now believe Lewis took a Girandoni air rifle on his expedition. An Austrian government report from January 20, 1801, states that 399 had been lost in battle, meaning there’s an increased possibility of the higher transfer of air guns in Europe and America. Furthermore, while there are no descriptions of the air rifle provided by Lewis, other eyewitness descriptions appear to have major similarities to the one produced by Girandoni.
How did Meriwether Lewis and William Clark use the air rifle?
Regardless of how Meriwether Lewis acquired his air rifle, it became an essential tool in his expedition with William Clark. The Lewis and Clark Expedition moved across the newly acquired western portion of the United States after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The purpose was to explore, chart and map this new territory.
Lewis didn’t see his air rifle as a weapon; rather, he saw it as a way to impress the various Native American tribes they’d likely encounter on their journey. In fact, the Lewis and Clark air rifle is mentioned at least 39 times in journals written during the expedition.
When the men involved in the expedition encountered Native Americans, they did their best to impress them through pomp and ceremony. Lewis and Clark often wore their most colorful military uniforms, with their flags flying and fifes whistling. They’d meet with the group and proceed to hand out different gifts, including colored cloth, commemorative medallions and beads.
At some point during this “ceremony,” Lewis would take out his air rifle and shoot it a few times, confident he’d impress his audience.
Impressed by the air rifle
Take, for example, the reaction of the Teton Sioux, who witnessed Meriwether Lewis fire his air gun in a ceremony held on August 30, 1804. The diary account by Joseph Whitehouse, who served as a tailor on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, states:
“Captain Lewis shot his air gun and told them there was medicine in her and that she would do great execution. They were all amazed at the curiosity and soon as he had shot a few times, they all ran hastily to see the ball holes in the tree. They shouted aloud at the site of the execution, they were all amazed at the curiosity.”
Native Americans were likely impressed by the rifle because it was a technology they hadn’t yet seen. The gunstock reservoir was pumped up before the ceremony, meaning there was hardly any evidence that the weapon’s power was man-made. There was no ramming of the ball into the barrel, no primer in the pan, no flash when fired, no smoke produced, and several bullets were able to be shot without a pause for reloading.
Perhaps it was for this reason – the curiosity and wonder surrounding the air rifle – that the expedition could pass through Native American villages safely. However, as air rifle and Lewis and Clark expert Robert Beeman points out, “We must avoid the very misleading thought that the Girandoni rifle opened or won the West. Rather, it was the key to Lewis and Clark returning alive and promoting the West.”
Intimidation and close calls
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s air rifle wasn’t just used to impress Native Americans – it was also used to intimidate them. One such instance occurred on April 3, 1806, along the banks of the Columbia River, near modern-day Portland, Oregon. Clark wrote that canoes of men, women, and children came into their camp. There were about 37 people there at one time, so Lewis fired his weapon, which “astonished them in such a manner that they were orderly and kept at a proper distance during this time.”
There was only one instance in the entire three-year expedition that the air rifle was nearly used in the way it was intended. On August 11, 1806, Lewis was struck by a stray bullet in the leg and believed they were being ambushed. In response, he grabbed both his regular weapon and his air rifle to protect himself. However, the stray bullet had come from one of his own men, rather than a surprise ambush, and the rifle continued to be used for ceremonial purposes only.
Coincidentally, this was the last mention of it in expedition journals.
When the expedition ended in late August 1806, Lewis and Clark returned home, feeling excited about their successful mission. Soon after, however, the air rifle disappeared. For over a century, historians only had descriptions from the expedition journals, and it wasn’t until recently that the rifle reappeared, seemingly out of thin air.
Rediscovering the air rifle used on the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Early researchers believed that the air rifle carried by Meriwether Lewis used the typical 18th-century European configuration, which featured a spherical air reservoir positioned beneath the breech. This assumption persisted until new evidence emerged decades later.
A major development occurred in 1977 when firearms historian Henry M. Stewart, Jr. discovered an auction catalog from the estate of Isaiah Lukens. The document provided important information that shed new light on the rifle’s construction and challenged earlier interpretations.
Further insights came in 2004 through the work of air gun specialist Robert Beeman. Seeking to reproduce a Girandoni rifle from his collection, master gunsmith Ernie Cowan turned to Beeman for assistance. As Cowan and colleague Rick Keller examined and disassembled the firearm, they identified evidence of earlier repair work. After consulting expert Michael Carrick, they determined that the repairs corresponded precisely with maintenance entries recorded by Lewis in his expedition journals, strengthening the connection between the surviving rifle and the famous expedition.
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Beeman, who recognized the historical significance of the air rifle, donated the weapon to the permanent collection of the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.