This excerpt is from a book I have called "The Best of the West" edited by Tony Hillerman. It is a collection of shorts works by various authors. This particular one is by Sir Richard Burton, a famous travel writer of the time, telling about when he rode the stagecoach from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco in 1860.
For weapons I carried two revolvers: from the moment of leaving St Jo. to the time of reaching Placerville or Sacramento the pistol should never be absent from a man's right side - remember it is handier there than on the other - nor the bowie knife from his left. Contingencies with Indians and others may happen, when the difference of a second saves life: the revolver should therefore be carried with it's butt to the fore, and when drawn it should not be leveled as in target practice, but directed towards the object, by means of the right forefinger laid flat along the cylinder whilst the medius draws the trigger. The instinctive consent between eye and hand, combined with a little practice, will soon enable the beginner to shoot correctly from the hip; all he has to do, is to think that he is pointing at the mark, and pull. As a precaution, especially when mounted upon a kicking horse, it is wise to place the cock upon a capless nipple, rather than to trust the intermediate pins. In dangerous places the revolver should be discharged and reloaded every morning, both for the purpose of keeping the hand in, and to do the weapon justice. A revolver is an admirable tool when properly used; those, however, who are too idle or careless to attend to it, had better carry a pair of "Derringers." For the benefit of buffalo and antelope, I had invested $25 at St. Louis, in a "shooting iron" of the "Hawkins" style, that enterprising individual now dwells in Denver City, - it was a long top-heavy rifle, it weighed 12lbs., and it carried the smallest ball - 75 to the pound.
