Bob Cargill Cripple Creek Knives

[suqueue22]

Scanned this page from one of my Cargill catalogs.
Greg

This is the picture used as a part of the Patent papers but without the numbers and turned upside down.

 

[mckgreg]

We really should wait until an auction is over before we draw attention to something that is for sale.
Anybody that is looking for knives already knows where to look for them and this thread should not be used as a means to promote or acquire them.
Greg

 

[Peregrin]

We really should wait until an auction is over before we draw attention to something that is for sale.
Anybody that is looking for knives already knows where to look for them and this thread should not be used as a means to promote or acquire them.
Greg

Thanks, Greg. I moved the post offline.

 

[mckgreg]

Thanks Bud.
Greg

 

[Rookie82]

All of these patterns have been shown prior, but here are versions that were made for knife clubs.

1984 American Edge Collectors Assoc. (AECA) 3 blade sowbelly in stag.
1983 AECA surveyor in stag.
1985 AECA dogleg jack in stag.
1989 AECA coke bottle in stag.
1990 AECA toadsticker pattern in stag.
1986 Soy Knife Collectors large oval pattern in strawberry jig bone.

 

[mckgreg]

Good stuff Rookie! Cargill was the Presidemt of the AECA for quite a while. I believe the "Sowrat" pattern was an AECA piece too.
The thing about the Club knives is, if you want to get all the patterns Cargill made you will have to pick up a few Club Knives too.
The Saddlehorn is one example.
Greg

 

[mckgreg]

A customized Clasp Knife with Buffalo Horn scales and a 1929 Indian Head 2 1/2 dollar gold piece. The back of the blade is engraved:
Made For Greg Harmon 4/13/96
Mr. Harmon was also the owner of the clasp knife on page 13 which has been updated to explain the bone scales.
A Clasp Knife was the first knife that lead to Harmon's long time collection of knives.
Both knives, this one and the one on page 13, have the Old Fort, TN stamp on the blade.
The Indian Head fits in with the Cripple Creek theme.

 

[waynorth]

It's always nice to see what Cargill accomplished in his career!! I haven't posted this in a long time! Bob's name is on it!! A nice medium-sized Daddy Barlow! Now belongs to another collector.

 

[mckgreg]

Another with the Cargill stamp. The Oak Leaf shield was common on Cargill knives but is rare on the Cripple Creek knives he made.
Greg

 

[mckgreg]

Another. Sleek little guy.
Greg

 

[mckgreg]

Additional info has been posted on page 24 regarding the 2nd Ann. knife. The knife appears on page 23 and 24. A letter from Cargill
came with each of the 10 pieces made. Compliments of Jason who allowed me to photograph his knife.
The letter was for Jason's Grandfather. The knife and letter has been handed down to him.
Greg

 

[waynorth]

Thanks for keeping Bob's story alive, Mr Mckgreg!!!

 

[Peregrin]

Removed 3 off topic posts.

 

[Connie Keller]

Hoping to get a thread going where everyone can post pictures of knives, documentation, links to information on Bob Cargill and Cripple Creek knives. I've searched the forum and unfortunately a lot of pictures have been lost and links are dead. I think these knives are important enough to traditional knife collectors that we need to keep the information going for future collectors.

From what I understand Bob started out by doing repair work for Case and making custom knives before opening Cripple Creek Cutlery in 1981, I'm thinking this Barlow with just Cargill on the tang and the number 95 on the back of the tang may be one of the early custom made knives. really a beautifully made knife, great stag and a spear blade profile that looks a lot like the spear on the late 1800's English Barlows.

View attachment 877655 View attachment 877656 View attachment 877657 View attachment 877658

 

[mckgreg]

????????????????
Greg

 

[mckgreg]

After going back thru this thread a few times I realized I left out the 1984 2nd & 3rd quarter Smoke Signals. I tried going back and
inserting it further back in the thread (page 10) but that wasn't working for me. So, Here it is. Better late than never.
Actually, as you read thru to the last page, it might just be placed properly in this thread.
Greg

 

[mbkr]

So how common is it to see an Old Fort CC without any tang stamps at all? Just a blade etching. No date. There was one a few pages back and I've seen one other.
I've got a couple Lockport CC's but the patterns' have been posted and they aren't super fancy customs so I'll refrain from posting pics.
Great thread by the way. I've learned tons. My respect for Mr. Cargill has grown immensely.

 

[mckgreg]

"So how common is it to see an Old Fort CC without any tang stamps at all? Just a blade etching. No date."

It isn't common at all. I believe the ones without a tang stamp were protos. I have noticed that they'll usually have a different scale material. Like the 2nd cut stag pieces. They function perfectly and everything but they didn't seem to make it into the regular line. Probably due to the lack of scale material to make a batch of them. Then again, Cargill might have just felt like doing it. There are a few un-stamped ones with honeybone scales too. Most likely made before a whole run to see what they would look like. Like a proto.

One off topic note concerning the Reverse Logo on the blades. If you read thru the '85 Smoke Signals you will find that there are 17 misc. patterns etched in reverse. They weren't mistakes.
They were done like that on purpose. Bob probably got a kick out of doing it too. Look into the 1985 Smoke Signals posted to see more on this. Should be in the updated Little Indians.

 

[mckgreg]

When it comes to Cripple Creeks, you have to realize that Cargill wasn't confined to a certain regimen like you see in large knife manufacturers. It was mostly Cargill and an apprentice, sometimes more, that produced most of the knives.
Cargill did whatever he wanted to. You also have to go back to a time when there were lots of knife clubs, lot's of local knife shows and get togethers. When a certain knife become "hot", everybody wanted one. At the same time folks wanted something that was unique and different from the others. I have knives with 2 different colored scales. Brown on one side and white on the other. I doubt Cargill ran out of matching bone and most likely built it that way just to make one that is different from the others. Like I said, Cripple Creek was his baby and he did whatever he felt like doing. He didn't seem to have much trouble selling them.
Greg

 

[Augie]

Hard to believe its been over a year since the last post. Bringing it back the same way I started it with another Bob Cargill Buckeye Barlow, this one has a faint Buckeye Knife Club etch from 1976.