To show the huge changes in attitude, my Late Wife’s GGrandparents were traveling through a part of Texas which was still not Indian pacified.This was around the late 1860s.
When the army found out where they were going, they gave each person a Spencer carbine along with a huge pile of ammo.
Their adventures were written up in one of the “old West” magazines. They also had a young but tough looking boy who asked if he could travel with them. They got into a huge fight with the Indians and the boy turned out to be as tough as he looked.
Anyway they fought the Indians off, killing a bunch and didn’t lose a person. They could not have done it with their muzzle loaders. The Spencers given to them by the Army saved their lives.
Wow — thank you for that story.