THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH IN THE OLD WEST

Under the spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands…. Did you have to memorize that in school? Do they even memorize poetry now days? My impression of a blacksmith formed from that poem and the print my parents had hanging in their living room. The print of the painting by Paul Detlefson came first, so when I had to learn the poem, I visualized red barn as being the village smithy. The painting is actually titled "Horse and Buggy Days" but I didn't know that then.

I have no idea if the large tree
is a chestnut but to me it was.

I’ve seen a fair number of historic western blacksmith shops. My husband lets me drag him through living history museums wherever we find them. Actually, he’s very interested in history but I don’t think he needs as much first-hand frontier information as I require for research.

For the purpose of this article, let me define that a blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects from wrought iron or steel. He forges the metal by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, furniture, tools, agricultural implements, nails, chains, and weapons. In many Old West towns, the blacksmith was also a gunsmith.

The term “blacksmith” comes from the black firescale, a layer of oxides that forms on the metal surface during heating. Some sources state the word “smith” may come from the old English word “Smythe”, meaning to strike. Other sources say the word may have originated from the Proto-German “smithaz” meaning “skilled worker”.

Prior to the industrial revolution, a "village smithy" was a staple of every town. Factories and mass-production reduced the demand for blacksmith-made tools and hardware.

The original fuel for forge fires was charcoal. Coal did not begin to replace charcoal until the forests of first Britain (during the 17th century), and then the eastern United States of America (during the 19th century) were largely depleted. Coal can be an inferior fuel for blacksmithing, because much of the world's coal is contaminated with sulfur. Sulfur contamination of iron and steel make them "red short", so that at red heat they become "crumbly" instead of "plastic". Coal sold and purchased for blacksmithing should be largely free of sulfur.

I’ve looked online for a photo that matches the image in my head for the blacksmith/gun repair shop in my latest release, A BRIDE FOR GIDEON, but I can’t find one. Sadly, I don’t draw well enough to illustrate what the concept in my mind.  Here is the closest I could find.

During the first half of the nineteenth century, the US government included in their treaties with many Native tribes, that the US would employ blacksmiths and strikers at Army forts, with the expressed purpose of providing Native Americans with iron tools and repair services. I have to admit this fact came as a surprise. By the way, a blacksmith's striker is an assistant (frequently an apprentice), whose job it is to swing a large sledgehammer in heavy forging operations, as directed by the blacksmith. In practice, the blacksmith holds the hot iron at the anvil (with tongs) in one hand, and indicates where to strike the iron by tapping it with a small hammer in the other hand. The striker then delivers a heavy blow to the indicated spot with a sledgehammer. Let's hope he didn't miss.

During the early to mid-nineteenth century, European armies as well as both the U. S. Federal and Confederate armies employed blacksmiths to shoe horses and repair equipment such as wagons, horse tack, and artillery equipment. These smiths primarily worked at a traveling forge that comprised wagons specifically designed and constructed as blacksmith shops on wheels to carry the essential equipment necessary for their work.

In frontier/Old West towns, a blacksmith was an important person. Movement by horse or wagon depended on him being able to shoe horses and repair wagons. Building depended on him. He also made nails, hinges, locks, gates, and other metal objects needed for everyday life.

That's my ancestor standing at the far right.
Maybe he had to
repair that wagon on the left.

One of my ancestors on my father’s side, pictured above, was a farmer/rancher who worked as a blacksmith at his home near Duke, Oklahoma. Looks more as if they're having a party with so many people, doesn't it? To his wife’s annoyance, he didn’t charge his neighbors and spent a lot of time working for free. Supposedly, she (pictured below) was very pleased when they moved into town.

His wife, who is working with the cows.

Blacksmiths work by heating pieces of wrought iron or steel until the metal becomes soft enough for shaping with hand tools, such as a hammer, an anvil and a chisel. Heating generally took place in a forge fueled by coal or charcoal.

Color is important for indicating the temperature and workability of the metal. As iron heats to higher temperatures, it first glows red, then orange, yellow, and finally white. The ideal heat for most forging is the bright yellow-orange color that indicates forging heat. Because they must be able to see the glowing color of the metal, some blacksmiths work in dim, low-light conditions, but most work in well-lit conditions. The key is to have consistent lighting, but not too bright. Direct sunlight obscures the colors.

Modern blacksmith at work

The techniques of smithing can be roughly divided into forging (sometimes called "sculpting"), welding, heat-treating, and finishing. Forging is the process smiths use to shape metal by hammering the iron into shape. Even punching and cutting operations (except when trimming waste) by smiths usually re-arrange metal around the hole, rather than drilling it out.

The five basic forging processes are often combined to produce and refine the shapes necessary for finished products. For example, to fashion a cross-peen hammer head, a smith would start with a bar roughly the diameter of the hammer face. The handle hole would be punched and drifted (widened by inserting or passing a larger tool through it), the head would be cut (punched, but with a wedge), the peen would be drawn to a wedge, and the face would be dressed by upsetting.

Welding is the joining of the same or similar kind of metal. This is not the acetylene torch of today. In forge welding, the pieces to join are heated to what is generally referred to as welding heat. For mild steel most smiths judge this temperature by color—the metal glows an intense yellow or white. At this temperature the steel is near molten.

Depending on the intended use of a piece, a blacksmith may finish it in a number of ways: a simple jig (a tool) that the smith might only use a few times in the shop may get the minimum of finishing—a rap on the anvil to break off scale and a brushing with a wire brush. Files bring a piece to final shape, removing burrs and sharp edges, and smoothing the surface. Heat treatment and case-hardening achieve the desired hardness. The wire brush can further smooth, brighten, and polish surfaces. Grinding stones, abrasive paper, and emery wheels can further shape, smooth, and polish the surface.

A range of treatments and finishes can inhibit oxidation and enhance or change the appearance of the piece. An experienced smith selects the finish based on the metal and on the intended use of the item. Finishes include (among others) paint, varnish, bluing, browning, oil, and wax.

As demand for their products declined, many more blacksmiths augmented their incomes by taking in work shoeing horses. A shoer-of-horses was historically known as a farrier in English. 

With the introduction of automobiles, the number of blacksmiths continued to decrease. Many former blacksmiths became the initial generation of automobile mechanics. That’s what happened in my ancestry. The son of the blacksmith pictured near Duke, Oklahoma above became a mechanic in Tulare, California.

Auto Mechanics - What happened to a lot of blacksmiths.

The low point of blacksmithing in the United States was reached during the 1960s, when most of the former blacksmiths had left the trade, and few if any new people were entering the trade. By this time, most of the working blacksmiths were those performing farrier work, so the term blacksmith was effectively co-opted by the farrier trade.

Caroline Clemmons writes historical and contemporary western romance. Her latest, A BRIDE FOR GIDEON, is #16 of the popular, multi-author Proxy Bride Series, is a historical romance. The gorgeous cover was designed by Virginia McKevitt.

Keira desperately wants to belong somewhere

Gideon is haunted by a secret too horrible to share

Fate conspires against them…    

Keira Cameron came to Boston from Scotland after the death of her parents. She wanted a job, a husband, and eventually a family. She feels rejected because at almost six feet she’s too tall, Her Scottish burr makes her appear too foreign. She is too pretty for any wife to want Keira working near the woman’s husband. Were her expectations unreasonable? Her cousin convinces her to enter a proxy marriage to his friend, Gideon Ross, who lives in Montana Territory. Out of options, she agrees and hopes her goals will be realized.

Gideon Ross is a large man at five inches over six feet. His business is a smithy and gun repair shop. The war left him with a terrible scar on his face. He wears a beard to try to conceal the scar but still hears people whisper he’s a monster and a giant. Do they think he has no feelings? He’s haunted by the war and has terrible nightmares. Reluctantly, he agrees to wed Keira by proxy.

Outside forces work against the couple. Keira and Gideon must find the key to the attack on their lives. Can they defeat the enemy before they’re too late?

A BRIDE FOR GIDEON is free in KU and available in e-book and print at the Universal Amazon link http://mybook.to/Keira 

Reviews include:

"I enjoyed reading this captivating story that is fantastically written with charismatic characters. Their story has a wonderful HEA."

Sharon H

"In depth writing, a complete story tying everything together. No loose ends hanging to wonder what about...? Great work! Great writing, great story." Serene Susan