Long before the Metre Convention of 1875 that brought uniformity to weights and measures, the business of verifying that an ounce was an ounce fell to a coterie of trusted specialists. In principle, these ‘bonded assayers’ were incorruptible, and the judgment of their precision machines absolute. In practice, less so.

The first bonded assayers were certified by state governments. But as the economy grew, and railroads brought sophisticated trades to ever more distant territories which had yet to join the union, the first private companies were granted commissions to certify bonded assayers. President John Tyler federalized assay certification in 1843, entitling the country’s largest railroads and banks to appoint experts to rule on weights and measures, and powerful suppliers — hardly disinterested — soon followed. By 1850, in the Oregon Territory, the definitions of the pound and the foot were determined by the American Fur Company of John Jacob Astor, coinciding with a run up in the cost of pelts. Assayers were soon being certified by such infamous organizations as The United Fruit Company, Great Lakes Logging and Timber, and the Worshipful Company of Glass Harmonica Makers of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Speculation mounted throughout the 1850s about assay fraud in the territories, but in the absence of objective measures, allegations were difficult to prove. A return to the barter system brought tradesmen and banks into conflict, reaching a violent flashpoint in 1860 in the border town of Flandreau, between the Nebraska and Minnesota territories, where a disagreement over the definition of the foot — discovered to be varying by nearly one-third — led to the Blacksmiths and Trappers War of May 5. These events had not been forgotten by 1867 when Nebraska joined the union, when the political slogan ‘Oh, woe, to owe in Flandreau!’ helped propel governor David Christy Butler to the Nebraska statehouse. These assaying devices chronicle the events of this turbulent time.

Published January 12, 2023. Copyright © 2023 Jonathan Hoefler.