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Written by: David Minshall
The year 1876 was an important one for America, being the centenary of the declaration of independence. Huge celebrations were planned, with exhibitions and festivities to be held at Philadelphia, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) in America wanted to be part of them.
Judge Gildersleeve, secretary of the NRA, made the original suggestion of a rifle match to mark the centenary at a meeting of the Board of Directors on 9 November 1875. Preliminary actions agreed included notification to “riflemen of England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, the South American States, and all other countries having Rifle Associations or Clubs, of the opportunity presented to them to participate.”
The NRA also approached the National Centennial Commission with regards to authority to use its name in promoting the matches, for which approval was gained. With approval in hand, letters of invitation dated 6 December 1875 were sent to Rifle Associations in England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil, Chile, India, Prince Edward’s Island, etc.
The letter confirmed that “The principal match will be for the ‘Championship of the World,’ open to teams of eight from each Country, distance 800, 900, and 1,000 yards, Creedmoor Rules, prize a ‘Trophy’ presented by the citizens of the United States. A programme will be prepared as soon as possible which will embrace other matches for military and other arms, and for shorter distances, and copies will be furnished to you for distribution among your Riflemen.”
In September 1876, five nations would compete at Creedmoor for the Centennial Trophy, later to become known as the Palma Trophy. The match was fired again in 1877, but then faded away until a short revival in the early 20th century. The modern revival of the Palma Match commenced in 1966 and it is still fired today.
