This hat was worn as part of a United States Signal Corps uniform for eight years during the World War I era. The Signal Corps was formed during the Civil War to provide for the rapid transmission of messages. It was a very diversified branch. Early military aircraft belonged to the Signal Corps until World War II. Enlisted men of the Signal Corps wore orange and white hat cords with acorn shaped ends.

The Campaign hat was introduced in 1872 to protect the wearer from sun, wind, and rain. In 1911 the Montana peak with its four indentations replaced the old version with a simple crease in the crown. Campaign hats were used by troops with various field uniforms until World War II. In the 1960s they began to be used by drill sergeants.

The Navajo are an Athapascan-speaking people who migrated to the Southwest from the Northwest Coast region. They occupy the largest Indian reservation in the United States, in Northeast Arizona and Northwest New Mexico. Traditional Navajo weaving was largely influenced by the Pueblo Indians, from whom Navajo women may have learned the ancient craft. Later, it was also influenced through the introduction of domesticated sheep by the Spanish. Now it is often designed to appeal to modern collectors and tourists, although many artists choose to continue creating traditional designs.

This blanket, believed to be Navajo in origin, displays several of the principal designs. A square inside of another square is known as a dakha nahalinigi bealqiaza. A diamond within a diamond is called a beeditli nahalinigi bealqiaza, or slingshot-like figures within each other. Yistlin are small dots or freckles. A succession of small figures such as the pattern bordering the large central diamond is known as an Alqihadot’ezh. Delzha are battlement-like elevations.

The lap dulcimer, otherwise known as the Appalachian or mountain dulcimer, is actually a plucked zither rather than a true dulcimer. The strings are plucked with one hand while using either a stick, a quill, or the other hand to stop the strings.

This percussion revolver, also known as the “Texas Paterson,” was the largest size of handgun produced at the Paterson factory. An estimated total of 1,000 Texas Model handguns were manufactured. It housed a folding trigger, often necessary if the wielder was wearing gloves. This revolver features a varnished walnut grip, an octagonal barrel, and a five-shot cylinder displaying a stagecoach holdup scene.

The five-shot Paterson revolver became synonymous with the Texas Rangers in 1844 after the battle of Walker Creek, near San Antonio. Eighty Comanches, who had previously used a strategy of drawing the fire of single-shot firearms, were overpowered by Captain Jack Hays and his fifteen Texas Rangers. They had obtained the revolvers from the decommissioned Republic of Texas Navy.