A gift from a cousin has been a treasure.

J. Stevens A & T Co. Chicopee Falls Mass. 22 Long Rifle

The rifle has an interesting history and brings back a lot of memories. This rifle was in the home of our Grandfather Jones as the family grew up. I am not sure which of the boys would really lay claim to it but my father told me he used it during the time that he grew up and often hunted with it. The gun is a lever action single shot. About 1 million of these were produced by the J. Stevens Company in the 1890’s.

My Dad told me that on the farm he often hunted rabbits with this gun. He also told of catching rabbits with snares. Traps, sometimes metal, and sometimes like little ropes were set in the regular paths taken by the rabbits in the winter. Under the bushes where the snow was broken some animals found small trails that ran to areas of food and they would regularly use the trails making them prime for small traps.

My cousin Michael Alyworth gave this gun to me. My Grandmother lived in his home in Salt Lake for a time after my Grandfather died and I am sure that was the reason that this family gun came to be in Michaels possession. Michael worked with me in a wholesale business in Salt Lake when I was first married. We had moved to Salt Lake from Pocatello. One day he brought this to me and told me he had felt it was a gun my father had used and probably his as a boy and he wanted me to have it. The gun has been in my study area for many years and always makes me remember my Dad. It also has many times made me think of my cousin Michael.