<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><ead xmlns="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9 https://www.loc.gov/ead/ead.xsd"><eadheader countryencoding="iso3166-1" dateencoding="iso8601" langencoding="iso639-2b" repositoryencoding="iso15511"><eadid countrycode="US" mainagencycode="US-WvMtURHC" url="https://archives.lib.wvu.edu/ark:/99999/199503">A&amp;M 4499</eadid><filedesc><titlestmt><titleproper>Wesley Nelson, Collector, Rifle from Battle of Blair Mountain <num>A&amp;M 4499</num></titleproper></titlestmt><publicationstmt><publisher>West Virginia and Regional History Center</publisher><p id="logostmt"><extref xlink:actuate="onLoad" xlink:href="https://host.lib.wvu.edu/images/logos/wvrhc.jpg" xlink:show="embed" xlink:type="simple"/></p><address><addressline>1549 University Ave. </addressline><addressline> P.O. Box 6069 </addressline><addressline>Morgantown, WV 26506-6069</addressline><addressline>Business Number: 304-293-3536</addressline><addressline>wvrhcref@westvirginia.libanswers.com</addressline><addressline>URL: <extptr xlink:href="https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu" xlink:show="new" xlink:title="https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu" xlink:type="simple"/></addressline></address></publicationstmt></filedesc><profiledesc><creation>This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on <date>2025-09-16 07:02:02 -0400</date>.</creation><langusage>Description is written in: <language langcode="eng" scriptcode="Latn">English, Latin script</language>.</langusage></profiledesc></eadheader><archdesc level="collection">
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      <corpname>West Virginia and Regional History Center</corpname>
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    <unittitle>Wesley Nelson, Collector, Rifle from Battle of Blair Mountain</unittitle>
    <unitid>A&amp;M 4499</unitid>
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    <unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/2/resources/6645</unitid>
    <physdesc altrender="whole">
      <extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">.2 Linear Feet</extent>
      <extent altrender="carrier">2 in. (1 flat storage box, 2 in. x 14 in. x 60 in.)</extent>
    </physdesc>
    <unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1917/1917">ca. 1917</unitdate>
    <physloc id="aspace_a1ef4b8e0a9ffdff72b297ee74fdc2ae">West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536  / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/</physloc>
    <langmaterial>
      <language langcode="eng">English</language>
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    <head>Conditions Governing Access</head>
<p>Special access restriction applies.</p>  </accessrestrict>
  <prefercite id="aspace_8237acb6c0c9e335a0bc0898243e5ece">
    <head>Preferred Citation</head>
<p>[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Wesley Nelson, Collector, Rifle from Battle of Blair Mountain, A&amp;M 4499, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.</p>  </prefercite>
  <scopecontent id="aspace_5c0012f60bdb9e6b91b918ca0ff6e63d">
    <head>Scope and Contents</head>
<p>One Enfield Rifle (47 in. in length) recovered from the site of the Battle of Blair Mountain (1921) in Logan County, West Virginia.  There are also shell casings of various calibers recovered from the Blair Mountain site.  </p><p>Per Dr. Jack Weaver, WVRHC Reference Supervisor, this rifle is probably an M1917 rifle, manufactured by Winchester, Remington, or Eddystone for service in the First World War (1914-1918) by U.S. troops. Most American soldiers carried the M1917 instead of the 1903 Springfield, because there were not enough Springfields to equip the surge of men who enlisted or were drafted for service in France. The M1917 is an American version of the P14, a British rifle modeled on the Mauser carried by the Boers in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). The British planned on replacing their old rifle, the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE), with the P14, but World War One started before they could start manufacturing it at scale. As a result, most British troops in WWI carried SMLEs, but the British government contracted with the U.S. companies Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone to make P14s. Since they were already mass-manufacturing the rifle, the U.S. government ordered Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone to re-chamber the P14 from .303 British to .30-06 American, an easy switch. Small numbers of U.S. troops and large numbers of Canadians used the M1917 in World War 2, and as of 2018, Arctic troops in the Danish Army still used it.</p>  </scopecontent>
  <userestrict id="aspace_eda2544be7d420f609b6780d84decc10">
    <head>Conditions Governing Use</head>
<p>Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the <a href="https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/visit/permissions-and-copyright" target="_blank">Permissions and Copyright page</a> on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.</p>  </userestrict>
  <controlaccess>
    <subject authfilenumber="http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2005004319" source="lcsh">Blair Mountain, Battle of, W. Va., 1921</subject>
    <geogname source="local_LC">Blair Mountain (W. Va.)</geogname>
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