Texas Rangers: Samuel Hamilton Walker and His Famous Pistol

In the Hall of Fame Memorial of Texas Rangers are 30 Texas Rangers who died in the line of duty or made significant contributions of service.

Captain Samuel H. Walker

Among them was Samuel Hamilton Walker, who folks called “Sam”, who lived from 1815 to 1847. Captain Samuel Walker became immortal because of a revolver produced by Samuel Colt in his honor. He was not just a Texas Ranger, but a military officer of the Republic of Texas, serving in several armed conflicts that included the American Indian Wars and the Mexican-American wars.

Born on February 24, 1815 at Toaping Castle in Maryland, he was the fifth of seven children.

Walker arrived in Texas in 1842 and took part in the defense against the Mexican invasion led by General Adrian Woll. Later he joined the Texas Rangers in 1844 under the command of Captain John Coffee Hays. 

Samuel Colt

Samuel Colt [July 19^th 1814 to January 10^th 1862] was an American inventor and successful industrialist from Hartford, Connecticut, founding Colt's firearms manufacturing company that is known today as Colt's Manufacturing Company making the revolver a mass production.

Mr. Colt's first business venture was producing firearms in Paterson, New Jersey and making underwater mines, which ended in failure; however, his business expanded quickly after 1847 when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 revolvers during the American war with Mexico. During the American Civil War, his factory in Hartford, Connecticut supplied sidearms to both the North and South and later used during the settlement of the western frontier. When Colt died in 1862 he was one of the wealthiest men in America.