With the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in less than two months and of America’s founding coming up next year, history buffs will be looking for places to see legendary artifacts of the American Revolution.
And Wyoming is home to one of the most legendary artifacts of the Revolution — the musket that fired the first shot at the Battle of Bunker Hill. That’s the one where the soldiers were said to have been told to “wait until you see the white of their eyes” before firing on the British.
As history tells it, that isn’t what happened. A soldier jumped the gun, literally, shooting at a British officer from 54 yards away.
That inspired the first court martial for the fledgling nation, and the record produced by that court martial is how it’s known who fired that premature shot June 17, 1775.
The firearm belonged to a man named John Simpson, and the musket he fired, which was his own personal rifle, is now housed at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, Wyoming, owned by Dan Starks.
Starks told Cowboy State Daily the musket is sometimes confused with having fired another famous shot, the “shot heard around the world,” a phrase later coined by Ralph Waldo Emerson in an 1837 poem called “Concord Hymn.”
“The historical data on the shot heard around the world is conflicting,” Starks told Cowboy State Daily. “The Americans said the British fired the first shot, killing eight Americans. But the British submitted a report to the king saying the colonists had fired the first shot.”
Who exactly fired the shot has been completely lost to history, along with the rifle that fired it.
Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill, though, is a completely different story, thanks to the nation’s first court martial.
“We didn’t have enough ammunition to fight the British very long, and the American officers knew that,” Starks said. “So they told all the volunteers who came out to the battle to wait until the British are right on you before you shoot at them. Every shot has to count.”
But Simpson was a crack shot and he knew he could hit that British officer easily at 54 yards away. So, he disobeyed, firing off the first shot of the battle, and starting it prematurely.
It was ultimately a losing battle for the Americans. But the colonists, poorly trained and ill-equipped as they were, still managed to inflict heavy casualties on the British. That was a surprise not only for the British, but the Americans, too. And it has been credited by historians with boosting American morale and keeping their fledgling revolution alive.
Court Martial
If America was to win the war, its soldiers had to become more disciplined. Just because someone was a volunteer didn’t mean they could take orders as suggestion.
An example had to be made so that order — and the new country —could prevail.
“They convened a court martial the morning after to determine who fired that first shot,” Starks said. “And the court martial record was created 24 hours after the battle, when everybody was still fresh with their experience on what had happened.”
The conclusion of the court martial was that Simpson had been the one who fired that first shot.
“He just got a slap on the wrist,” Starks said. “The point of the court martial was education, not punishment.”
Not only did Simpson survive the war, but he was promoted to major by its end.
Simpson returned home after the war, taking with him the personal musket and bayonet he had brought to the fight. The relic stayed in his family until 2019, when a family member decided to sell the artifact to the highest bidder.
“That highest bidder was me,” Starks said. “And so that’s how I got my hands on the musket, along with all the family history and provenance and authentication that came with it.”
Winning Bid
At first, Starks had not planned to bid for the weapon.
“I told my wife, ‘Man, I can’t believe that this is coming up for auction,’” Starks recalled. “And I told her, ‘I’m not gonna bid on it because it’s gonna be too expensive.’”
But Starks was already constructing his National Museum of Military Vehicles at the time, so she told him he had to buy it.
“You’ve got to put it in the museum,” she said.
To this day, Starks tells people — albeit a little tongue in cheek — that the only reason he bought the musket was to keep peace at home.
“My wife told me to buy it so I did,” he said, chuckling a little.
Starks paid nearly $500,000 for the musket which is housed at the museum’s Unknown Soldiers Weapons Vault. There are around 300 firearms in the vault, which span all the wars fought by Americans, starting with the American Revolution.
But the musket from the Battle of Bunker Hill is particularly special and is the first weapon visitors to the museum see as they enter the vault.
“It sits in a display case all by itself, right in the center of just inside the doorway,” Starks said. “That way everyone immediately sees it and can begin to appreciate what a historically significant firearm they are looking at. I refer to it as the Liberty Bell of American firearms. It’s the most famous firearm in American history.”
It’s less than two months until the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the most legendary battles of the American Revolution. The musket that fired the battle’s first shot is at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois. (Courtesy National Museum of Military Vehicles) 
It’s less than two months until the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the most legendary battles of the American Revolution. The musket that fired the battle’s first shot is at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois. (Courtesy National Museum of Military Vehicles) 
It’s less than two months until the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the most legendary battles of the American Revolution. The musket that fired the battle’s first shot is at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois. (Courtesy National Museum of Military Vehicles)
Collector Of History
The Vault also includes weapons from the Civil War, settling the West, American Indian war weapons, World War One and Two weapons, the Vietnam War, and the Global War On Terror.
The reason it’s dedicated to the Unknown Soldier is poignant.
“There wasn’t a particular person appropriate for the scope of recognizing all the different weapons that are in the vault,” Starks said.
But, as he thought about it, he realized that was apt. There are so many soldiers over the years who fired weapons to defend America, some of whom are unknown, and some of whom have undoubtedly made the ultimate sacrifice, even though their names are lost to time.
“It’s just the very few who are known,” Starks said. “So how about everyone else? Both those who died and those who survived?”
Today, Starks’ collection includes 500 military vehicles, most of which are U.S. military vehicles, as well as all the weapons in the Unknown Soldiers Weapons Vault.
It’s a world-class collection of artifacts, which Starks said is the largest private collection of its kind in the nation.
Even so, Starks admits there’s a bit of a bait and switch here. The military vehicles bring the people in, so that Starks can tell the story he really wants to tell.
That story is really about freedom in America, and all of the service and sacrifice that have gone into sustaining America for the last 250 years.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
