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The
design of knives used by the mountain men in the early 1800’s, including
“long knives” and “bowies” differed little from designs used
throughout Europe back to the middle ages.
Important types of knives used or shipped to the mountains included
clasp knives, butcher knives,
scalpers, bear knives
and skinning knives.
Important variations were the Green River
Knife, and the Bowie Knife. Clasp
Knives or folding knives (jack knives) were often used in
trade with the Indians. Even
though the clothing of the Western Indian had no pockets, these knives turn up at
historical sites everywhere. The
blade of these knives might be as much as 4 inches long, which would fold
into a handle of wood or bone. The
blade would be held in the open or closed position by a spring, however, these were not switchblades. Used
for light duty cutting. Butcher
Knives
or Scalpers,
were a rigid one piece knife. These
knives were the everyday implement of living and survival in the mountains
and were used for most meat and game processing, butchering, skinning and
other light and heavy duty cutting tasks, including occasional scalping (a
specialized form of skinning). Butcher
knives came in multiple shapes and sizes, some of which were better suited
to certain tasks, such as skinning than others.
The
most famous manufacturer of these knives was J. Russell & Company – Green
River Works, and the Green River Knife has come to be synonymous with the
mountain man and the fur trade in popular lore.
In fact the "Green River Knife" on which the reputation and fame
of the company rested was not produced until the early 1840's, years after
the last rendezvous was held. The Green River Knife was in fact the
knife of choice for the emigrant, buffalo hunter, miner, Indian and
trapper alike. The “Green River Knife” was named after the
factory location at
which
Bear
Knives
were used in close combat situations
for fighting. With it’s
thick heavy blade this type of knife was useful for light duty chopping,
disarticulating joints of elk or buffalo, or to dig the grave of a fallen
comrade. In August of 1827, a
party traveling under Jedediah Smith along the Colorado River, were
attacked by Mojave Indians while crossing the river.
More than half the party was killed in the crossing, and most of
the party’s guns were lost. Smith
and the remaining eight companions found they had five guns and their
knives remaining to fight off hundreds of Indians.
Jedediah wrote “With our knives we lopped down the small trees in
such manner as to clear a place in which to stand.
The fallen poles formed a slight breastwork, and to the ends of
some of the light poles we fastened our knives with cords so as to form a
tolerable lance.” The most
famous subtype of the Bear Knife is the Bowie Knife.
The
Bowie Knife had a large
heavy blade, commonly as much as 12 inches long.
The knife had a clipped point, or drop point, which may have been
sharpened on the upper edge as well. Finally
the Bowie Knife had a guard. Although
knives of similar design are known from Europe back to the middle ages,
the “Bowie Knife” design was made famous by Jim Bowie, a result of his
notorious character and a well publicized altercation in which the knife
played a major role. In 1830
Jim Bowie placed an order with an Arkansas blacksmith, name of James
Black, for a knife to be made to Bowie’s specifications.
Supposedly Bowie had whittled a model of the knife out of wood for
the blacksmith to follow. Shortly
after taking possession of his new knife, Bowie was confronted by three
men, hired to kill Bowie. Using
the knife, Bowie proceed to dispatch all three men.
Thereafter, customers would approach James Black to make them a “knife
like Bowie’s”, which eventually was shortened to Bowie Knife.
Skinning Knives. The skinning knife is one type of specialized knife used by both the Mountain Man and Indian. Although any knife could be used for skinning an animal, these knives were designed or modified to allow more rapid removal of skin from the carcass while minimizing risk of damage to the hide. Both white and Indian alike would often regrind the knife so that there was a bevel on only one side to minimize slashing the hide during removal. For the same reason, these knives also often had an edge with a pronounced curve, and lacked a sharp point. For
more information about knives and cutlery see the following references:
Hanson, James A. The Fur Trade Cutlery Sketchbook, 1994, published by The Fur Press, Crawford, Nebraska. Russell, Carl P. Firearms, Traps, & Tools of the Mountain Men, published by University of New Mexico Press, 1967. 448 Pages.
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