n the 1850s, Colt touched off an arms race, first telling the czar of Russia that the sultan of Turkey had ordered 5,000 pistols, prompting the Russian to purchase the same number of Colts for his troops. Colt turned around and told the same to the sultan, sealing another sale of 5,000 revolvers
Sounds like Mr. Colt had quite the knack for selling his guns, too.
Above quote from your link:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1998-08-16/news/9808140824_1_colt-seminoles-harney
