Firearms Traps And Tools Of The Mountain Men – Carl P Russell

The modern U. S. Army knife, Mark 3, traces its ancestry to the bowie knives, as do some of the fine-quality hunting knives now on the market. An interesting occurrence among the artifacts dug up at several fur-trade sites, historic military establishments, and long-gone Indian villages is the folding or clasp knife, which sometimes is recovered in numbers.

They are European; those from France are quite readily distinguished from others. Many bear trademarks or the name of the manufacturer, thus providing a potential key to the periods of use by forgotten peoples—a dating that must of course depend upon the documentary chronology of the cutlery industry in France. As yet, no one has researched these commercial documents. The peculiar “crooked knife” of the northern Indian tribes was a very small item in the trade so far as the volume of business was concerned, but from the standpoint of usefulness it was and is important to certain peoples.

It entered the northern realm of the mountain man and appears on his invoices. Specimens also turn up at certain sites of his activities. Because it serves a special purpose, it differs from any other knife. It is still being used and is marketed as the “canoe knife,” yet it is little known outside of anthropological circles and in primitive camps of the north country.

The crooked knife constitutes one of the unique “living” artifacts representative of persisting ancient traits and techniques. Innumerable unclassifiable big and small knives and a classified miscellany of pocketknives, fleshing knives, surgical knives—even table knives—went to the Far West with the beaver trappers. Relics of these historic objects are brought to light at practically every archeological dig conducted on Western fur-trade sites. Predecessors of the mountain men, pursuing the Indian trade in the South and in the old Northwest, had used and sometimes traded similar out-of-the-ordinary knife types; in effect, there was “nothing new under the sun” among the knives of the mountain men.

The one notable earmark which gave distinction to some of the knives of the Far West was the “Green River” trade name and the connotation of grit and self-reliance with which it endowed the average owner of such weapons. Indians obtained Green River knives, but generally the owners who made them renowned were white Americans-traders, beaver trappers, and buffalo hunters. Together they shaped a chapter in knife history that has not yet been publicized in an adequate way.

Copyright © 2010 by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, NewYork‚ NY 10018. Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes.

Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, NewYork‚ NY 10018 or [email protected]. Skyhorse® and Skyhorse Publishing® are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation. www.skyhorsepublishing.com 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. 9781602399693 Printed in Canada OceanofPDF.com To Betty whose contributions were most important and never-failing OceanofPDF.com A NOTE ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATIONS All the drawings by Glen Dines have been prepared especially for this book.

Those drawings not otherwise credited are by the author. See index for references to specific illustrations. OceanofPDF.com PREFACE SEVERAL MOST EXCELLENT WORKS PUBLISHED IN RECENT years have done much to improve the popular image of the historic beaver hunter. They accurately detail the magnitude of trader-trapper accomplishments in shaping our national life and in making our country one nation, they remind us that enduring good reputations were made in the Western fur fields‚ and they prove rather conclusively the authenticity of heroism among trappers in the wilderness.

Regarding the mountain men: “Their very names now sound like the blast of trumpets and the tuck of drums.” The role of the mountain man in our westward expansion was a brief one; his era began with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803–6, and ended rather abruptly with the beginnings of westward emigration in the early 1840’s. There was no repeat performance. As a type, the mountain man was distinct, yet one cannot say that either his possessions or his methods were unique.

Everything that he brought into the West and much of his modus operandi were inherited from his predecessors in the Indian trade.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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