Old Shatterhand

A couple of the most famous rifles in Germany were the arms carried by a German adventurer known only as "Old Shatterhand" and his frequent companion, Winnetou, an Apache chief. These gentlemen were the embodiment of the cardinal virtues. They were strong, courageous, kind and just. The rifle in the picture was reportedly made by the finest gunsmith in St. Louis and carried the name "Silberbuechse" or Silver Rifle. The other was a Henry repeating rifle that, in this case, was famous for its accuracy and number of rounds carried in its magazine. The adventures of these men were recorded by Karl May (1842-1912) and published in Germany. They were wildly popular and May earned a fortune from his writings. Only later did May confess that he himself was Old Shatterhand and possessed the rifles and many artifacts of the Old West at his home near Dresden. You can see them today along with many other things at his former home, now a museum.

Of course, his success brought out the disparagers, the skeptics, and those of limited "willing suspension of disbelief." May persisted in his assertions but the fact-checkers eventually found that he had never been in the West and had obtained his guns and artifacts clandestinely. Nevertheless he remained immensely popular in Europe and had fans as diverse as Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler. His books are reported to have sold over 2oo million copies, are still in print today, and have been translated into thirty languages including your own. His stories have been made into sixteen or so movies starring the likes of Stewart Granger and Lex Barker.

So, Western fans, why haven't you ever heard of him? I first became aware of May at a bookstore in Germany where his tales were displayed along side of those by Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. Apparently they are difficult to translate with any degree of justice to his writing. It has been tried, however. A couple of years ago I read "The Treasure of Silver Lake" part of which takes place here in Utah. It is an episodic tale that brings our heroes across the West and into fortune. I see that another translator, a woman from Tasmania, is publishing more of them in English and they are available at Amazon. I would also hope that someone, one day, will also translate his other works besides the adventure stories as May was not your ordinary guy.