Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Arthur Savage and the Personal Connection

My Friends,

I grew up knowing about Arthur Savage's personal connection to my father ... we'll get to that in a bit. What I didn't know was what an interesting life, fabulous is a bettter word, that Mr. Savage lived.

I've been studying his life for the last few days and I'm still amazed.

You can Google as well as I can, BUT imagine a man who was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica in 1857 and who went on to prospect in Australia for black opals. The man was kidnapped by aborigines and held captive for over one-year.

One version of the story says that his captors demanded a ransom, but his family refused to pay, so he killed many of captors and somehow managed to struggle his way across the outback desert and find his way home.

Then, he explored the outback while driving a covered wagon (probably a Studebaker) and eventually went on to own the biggest cattle ranch in Australia. Tiring of this, Savage sold his Australian ranch, returned to Jamaica at the age of 34 and grew coffee for a few years.

And while he was doing this, Savage improved the British service rifle and among his inventions was a torpedo that he sold to the government of Brazil. He also developed the recoilless rifle.

Eventually, he tired of Jamaica and emigrated to America, where he he took a job managing the Utica Belt Line Railroad in Utica, N.Y. In the evenings, he developed a hammerless, lever-action rifle in his home workshop. He patented the design in 1893 and he founded Savage Arms in 1894.

There's lots more, but you can Google as well as I can. Something you might miss is that Arthur Savage also invented the radial tire ... Yeah, a man of more than a few talents.

The reason for this post is my father's personal connection to Arthur Savage. I grew up with the family legend and I'm getting a bit old, so rather than have the legend die with me, I thought I'd pass it on

Believe it or not, my Dad rode on the Utica Rail Line in New York. The timeline is unclear, but I'd say it was some time in the late 1930s or early 1940s. My father met Arthur Savage and the two of them spent a very special day together. Dad was in the United States Army Air Force at the time and Arthur Savage, though a very sick and old man, at the time, found my father to be of interest.

Specifically, Savage wanted to know about my Dad's hunting.

When my Pop said proudly, "I shoot a Savage 99 in 250-3000 and I believe it to be the finest rifle in the World." And Dad was a lot like me, he always traveled with a packet of photos of slain critters. Dad proceeded to show Arthur Savage photos of big Montana mule deer, whitetails and one 6X7 elk that he'd killed. Dad told me that, though Savage was old and very sick, he "Lit up like a Christmas Tree."

When the two men parted, Arthur Savage gave my Father his business card. Savage said, "I may not live much longer, but if I do ... when you come back from what is bound to be a horrible, horrible World War, I want you to send this card to me."

On the back of the card was written "Send this soldier an engraved and gold inlayed, finest quality Model 99 in .250-3000."

Arthur Savage died not long after. He was in his 80s and suffered from an incurable disease. He took his own life, that fine and wonderful man, may God Eternally Rest His Beautiful Soul.

My dad lived through the war. He left his blood, his bones and his meat, plus a lot of sanity in some God-forsaken places. Parts of his soul were left in those places, too. He returned a broken, bitter man.

When Dad got back from WWII and learned of Arthur Savage's death, he felt it was NOT APPROPRIATE to send the business card to Savage Arms and ask for a free rifle. Hey, Arthur Savage committed suicide; the family and the company did not need a poor, itinerant, drunken watchmaker & jeweler trying to claim a rifle. So Dad Just let it be

Dad put Arthur Savage's business card, the one with the promise of a fabulous Model 99, in his watchmaking bench.

I grew up with that partial-father; a man who probably should not have come back at all.

I apprenticed watchmaking & goldsmithing under my Dad. Once in a while, in a quiet times, he would pull the business card out of the top drawer of his watchmaker's bench and look at it. And he would tell me, "Son, I'll bet that the rifle would have been one beautiful son-of-a-bitch!"

And I would always answer, "We can only imagine. Yes, it would have been gorgeous."

And Dad would put the card back. Always on the right side of the top drawer and clear to the back.

Dad died in 1976 and I transfered Arthur Savage's business card to my watchmaking bench. Yep, I kept the card in my top drawer, to the right and clear to the rear.

We closed our store and retired in 1992 and I brought my goldsmithing and watchmaking gear home. I saw Arthur Savage's business card at that time and put it back.

Later, I sold my benches and carefully put the business card away ... somewhere. Frankly, I have not seen the card for probably fifteen years or so, but it is probably somewhere in our "stuff." We still have it, I'm sure, and somewhere in this pile of crap we call a home is that wonderful engraved business card with the great man's promise.

I told Ron Coburn about Arthur Savage's business card once, when he invited me on a prairie dog hunt. I half-expected Ron to offer me a rifle, sixt-five-years after the fact, but the offer did not come. I would have declined, anyway ... the promise was made to my Father and Ron is the new owner of Savage Arms ... Hey, there is no binding contract. But it is still an interesting historical fact.

One day, when the business card re-surfaces, I'll probably send it to the NRA Firearms Museum, or maybe to Savage Arms.

Or maybe I'll just burn it ... while thinking of Arthur Savage, the chance meeting of him and my Dad. Burning the card, remembering the two men and praying for both of their Souls somehow makes the greatest sense of all.

Hey, they were two men meeting and enjoying each other's company. One man, Arthur Savage, was broken from age and disease and was soon to end his life on his own terms. The other man, my Father, was on his way to war and he was soon to leave so much of himself in foreign lands; and in many ways he never came back.

Both men were on their separate roads to Destiny ... but for a day, for one wonderful and delightful day, they enjoyed talking about guns, cartridges and hunting. I only wish I could have been there to enjoy that long conversation; I'll bet that you folks wish the same.

God Bless Y'all and May God Bless America

Steve

Thanks for relating that story!

It was wonderful reading it.

Thanks for sharing, Steve. The memories we make last a lifetime, and beyond.

Wonderful story, well told.
Thank You.

Neat read.

Just FYI, the Army Air Forces came into existance in 1941. Prior to that, it would have been Air Corp. That should narrow the timeline a bit.

The things you find around this campfire........

Thanks for the neat story.

I love the Model 99, and now it has even more meaning.
Thanks for the story.

Yup, Dad was United States Army Air Corps.

Steve

A wonderful piece of history there Steve.

Thank you for sharing that.

Thank you.

My Dad also served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. I was a little peeved with the local newspaper when they changed( with out my knowledge) my Dads obit to say he served in the USAF.

Darn it, I wish I knew more. I don't even know what year it was.

Another possibility is that the "old man" could have been Arthur Sabage's son, Arthur John Savage. Hey, my father would have been 25-30 years of age at the time and the son would have been in his 60s ... an old man.

There are so many loose ends to this story that I really and truly hated to bring it up. BUT, my Dad told me the story over and over and with each retelling, he'd bring out that well-worn old business card.

And how I wish I could remember if there was a "Jr" or a "II" after the name Arthur Savage. Heck, I cannot even remember the middle name or initial.

In truth, I have not seen the business card since 1992 or 1993, or maybe a little more recently. So, I guess it's has somewhere between 15 and twenty years to get itself buried and cycle around in our junk. I suspect that it will again come to the surface when we are packing up our stuff, thinning the herd and moving into the Old Folks Home. (We took Catholic Communion to an old couple today that are exactly in that condition and the prospect holds not a whole lot of alure.)

Whoever the man was, his name was Arthur Savage and Dad was convinced that he was the head-honcho of Savage Arms Co. And I have no doubt, either. Father or son, I guess it makes no difference.

So, I guess that's about all I know ... and I truly wish I knew so much more.

Blessings,

Steve

That opens up another whole can of worms.

US Army Air Corp - inception, 'til 1941.

US Army Air Force - 1941-1947

USAF - 1947-present

Regardless of branch, it's a sure bet that'zappers Dad saw, and did things that stayed with him. Either in the European, or Pacific theater - or both.

Wish things had turned out different, I'd really like to see that rifle.

Very, very few engraved or gold inlay rifles from Savage in the 30's. The 99K was the only engraving done by Savage, and the few special order rifles we see letter as being given to presidents of the company or similar.

I do have pics of a engraved rifle from the 30's with gold trim that was made for a president of Savage, if you want to see pics of it.

Great story though, appreciate hearing about it!

As far as I know, Dad was CORPS until he was sent home with a broken back and broken right femur. Bomber crash does bad stuff to a man's body.

And when his mind was the sharpest, I was a baby.


I had a heavier than heck sheep skin-lined jacket, cap, pants and boots. And I still have a ring he made out of his silver wings. Mom also wrote a bunch of stuff in my Baby Book; I'll have to dig it out one of these days and see if any facts float to the surface.

I know that on the day I was born, Dad almost got shot down. A hole appeared in the right wing of his bomber and the projectile was within inches of severing hydraulics and fuel lines and other stuff that keep an airplane flying. Anyway, Dad came within a gnat's eyelash of "buying the farm" on the precise day I came into this world.

Steve

Thanks for sharing Steve. Neat story.

Steve,

Thanks for sharing the story. My Dad flew B-17s, and he, too, left a sizable part of his soul in the flak-filled skies over Germany. He carried deep emotional scars for the rest of his life, until he died at 77.

He inherited his father's early M-99 in the 1950's, and eventually passed it on to me. It sits in the safe today, a 30-30, made in 1913.

I haven't had it out in some time. I think I need to take it out hunting. Thanks again.

DZ,

As a fan of the Savage 99 and interested in the life of Arthur W. Savage, thanks for the retelling of your dad's story.

The time line would indicate that by the time of the beginning of WW2, AWS had already sold his gun manufacturing company and was with the Savage Tire Co. in San Diego, CA.

Curious if the business card that was given to your dad was from Savage Arms or Savage Tire Co.

Whatever happened to your dad's .250-3000?

If you care to add more to the tale, I would certainly be interested in whatever else you can recall.