Cedarville resident honored for pioneering work as powder hornsmith

Karl Wilburn will be the first to tell you he has had a blessed life. He and wife Peg have been married for 62- years. Together they raised a family in the Cedarville area. Their work was often hard but they made a living doing what they loved. Known for many accomplishments, Wilburn was the purveyor of K-W Horns which offered ready to assembly powder horn kits to muzzleloading enthusiasts. He maintained a booth on vendors row at the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association events at Friendship, Indiana for nearly thirty years. He was always ready to help anyone and made many friends along the way.

K-W Horns was only the tip of the horn business and something of a sideline to Wilburn's real contributions. He was known throughout the American horn making world as an artisan and supplier of quality horns to master horn makers. He is quick to share any accomplishment with his wife noting, "What I did in the horn business was basically Peg and I. She was working beside me all the time."

Roland Cadle and Art DeCamp representing The Honourable Company of Horners guild were paying their long-time friend a visit. Formed in 1996 The Honorable Company of Horners is an organization of people interested in studying and preserving the methods of working horns. Horns are most commonly associated with powder horns but are often items like drinking cups, ink wells and blowing horns. Horns were worked into many uses by skilled tradesmen and were very valuable on the American frontier.

Explaining the background for the visit, Cadle said, "The art of hornsmithing is taking a cow horn and working with it. You can flatten it, turn it, weld it and move it. The entire art form in America was all but lost. Karl was doing this work back in the 1970s when the process of how to make a horn was a learning experience. We worked to figure out how they were made. How did they do them in the early American days? When it came to powder horns and especially the screw tip horn, Karl Wilburn was the one person who was re-inventing the wheel."

DeCamp adds, "A few of us wanted to make powder horns. Karl was the only source that would sell horns and provide advice on how to do the job. He was very instrumental in helping me, and many others, move forward. He was not only my supplier but provided so much valuable information over many years. Karl had a very good eye and memory for horns. I had an original Indiana horn that I wanted to make a replica. I showed him the original. He said wait a minute and dove to the back of the booth digging through horns. Pretty soon he comes out grinning and holding the exact horn I needed."

Cadle explains, "What we want to do is recognize those who, before the Guild was started, were significant people. These people carried on or restarted the whole art form. In the trade of hornsmithing one of the things that a Master Horner would be doing was making lantern panes. They would flatten the entire horn, split and clarify it. Most people think in the 17th or 18th century that a lantern had glass in it. The original old English term is "Lanthorn". Glass is fragile, shatters easily and was very expensive. So the covering over the lanterns was a sheet of horn. We devised the 'Lanthorn Award' where we took a period tin lantern put the horn pane into it. It is in recognition of those who lighted the way for us in hornsmithing. Wilburn has shone a significant light onto our path."

In addition to making powder horns, Wilburn was supplying horns to makers across the United States. It was a huge undertaking. It's hard to imagine what a pile of 4000 cow horns looks like. Wilburn explains, "We would get a large box with about 4000 cow horns. We had to boil them immediately for 20 minutes per the USDA regulations. We used a large iron kettle. Then we scraped them down to get the bugs and spiders out of the horn. Spiders would go inside the horn to get the flies. We killed a lot of spiders in those days!"

Wilburn created the system to grade the horns by color, curve, twist and size. He explains, "When we started there were no patterns for sorting them so we had to figure that out. We developed the standards. We graded the horns out by color, size, curve and twist. Once sorted they were placed in plastic barrels. They were then sold to other horn makers who wanted unpolished horns of certain specifications for theirwork."

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. Voices danced and eyes sparkled as long-time friends shared precious memories. Sadly the afternoon was soon ending and it was time for Cadle and DeCamp to headhome. The Lantern Award occupies a place of honor in the Wilburn home. More importantly these friends have a special place in each other's memories and hearts for what they have shared around their love of hornsmithing and quality workmanship. I know for Karl and Peg WIlburn the opportunity to visit withcherished friends made the day very special. I was blessed to hear the stories and share the moment with my friends.

Outdoor writer and hunter education instructor Larry S. Moore is a long-time volunteer leader for Buckeye Firearms Foundation and winner of the 2005 USSA Patriot Award, the 2007 League of Ohio Sportsmen/Ohio Wildlife Federation Hunter Educator of the Year and the 2010 National Wild Turkey Federation/ Women in the Outdoors Hunter Education Instructor of the Year.