The famous Hawken brothers, Jacob (1786-1849) and Samuel Hawken (1792-1884), remain among the most renowned names in American muzzleloading history. They were active together in St. Louis starting in 1825 and have long been associated with the 19th century mountain men. Some of their early rifles are known to have been used by the mountain men active in the fur trade in the 1830s, including by General William Henry Ashley and the American Fur Company. After the end of the Rocky Mountain fur trade, Hawken rifles continued to be in demand as migration to the West increased during the gold rushes and with the opening of new territories for settlement. In this period, mountain men like Jim Bridger and Kit Carson found new work as hunters, guides, and scouts, depending on their Hawken rifles both to put meat on the table and for protection against their foes. Many continued to use their Hawken rifles into the late 19th century, with a few like Tom Tobin photographed with their trusty Hawken rifles near the end of the century. While the Hawken shop is best known for its half-stock rifles, they also continued to build robust full-stock rifles. Some customers may have preferred a full-stock to a half-stock, and others were most likely attracted by the fact that the full-stock rifles were offered at lower prices, $18 for a full-stock vs $25 for the more labor intensive half-stocks. These full-stock rifles were thus key products for the Hawken shop's business but are far less often seen today. This c. 1850s full-stock rifle is typical of the full-stock rifles manufactured by the famous Hawken shop in St. Louis. The "S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS" marking was used following Jacob's death in 1849. Samuel Hawken retired in 1855 and passed the shop onto his son William. William Hawken and Tristram Campbell had been partners since at least 1853 but split by early 1856. The Hawken shop was sold in 1860 to a group of gunsmiths, including J.P. Gemmer who eventually took over. The shop also marked some of the rifles "S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS" after 1862, but by that time the full-stock rifles would have been out of fashion. The barrel has a slight swamped profile and measures approximately 1.17 inches at the breech, 1.09 inches in the mid-section, and 1.11 inch at the muzzle and has the muzzle face decorated with stars, seven-groove rifling, a nickel silver blade front sight with dovetailed base, a dovetailed elevation adjustable sporting notch rear sight, "S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS" stamped on top of the barrel behind the rear sight with the name and city at different angles, and a solid breech plug with integral tang that extends to just ahead of the comb and has a tapering and then swelled profile. A fence on the bolster is absent, which is a feature we have noted on a previous Hawken full-stock rifle. The lock has no visible markings. The lock screw washer has a finial pointing down. The adjustable double set triggers are fitted in a long trigger plate with a pointed rear finial and squared front. A screw from inside the trigger plate secures the scrolling tail of the trigger guard. The barrel is secured by two wedges in addition to the tang screws. The forend is also fitted with a iron forend cap, an iron upper ramrod pipe, and an iron entry pipe. The butt has a straight "Tennessee" style cheek piece with an incised line at the edge, a difference noted between the Hawken full-stock rifles versus the beavertail cheekpiece of many of the half-stock rifles, as well as a crescent iron buttplate with rounded heel tang and a rectangular iron toe plate. These full-stock Hawken rifles are highly sought after but less well-known than the half-stock rifles thanks to fewer surviving examples. A similar J. & S. Hawken marked full stock rifle was chosen by John D. Baird to be in his portrait on the back of his books "Hawken Rifles: The Mountain Man's Choice" and "Fifteen Years in the Hawken Lode" and on the first page of his "Full Stock Hawken Rifles" chapter in the former. Also see page 2 of the first book for another similar "J. & S. Hawken" rifle attributed by Baird to the 1830-1840 period. The Latter Day Saints Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, also has a full-stock J. & S. Hawken rifle attributed to Mormon pioneer John Brown and shown on pages 38-40 of Bob Woodfill's recent "The Hawken Rifle" book. The "S. HAWKEN ST. LOUIS" marked full-stock rifle in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is also a noteworthy reference for this rifle and is shown on the museum website and pages 77-80 of Woodfill's book.