unusual BOWIE KNIFE? what was this made for?

Bill The Butcher said:
maybe a Mountain man could use this for scraping the fat off of hides for tanning hides?
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Why would he? Using maybe a draw knife and certainly a hide scraper would be far more efficient. Besides where would he find something like that and if he did find it why would he acquire it?


AfterTFD said:
Except for the fact that we know historical mountain men and pioneers used knives with decent fit & finish that didn't look like they were designed by a 5yo.
:)
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Exactly!
 
Ramm9 said:
Why would he? Using maybe a draw knife and certainly a hide scraper would be far more efficient. Besides where would he find something like that and if he did find it why would he acquire it?




Exactly!
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possibly salvage a piece of spring steel off an old abandoned pioneers wagon from the Oregon Trail ;)
 
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OK, Bill the Butcher, you obviously want to think it's some old piece that has some historical significance. Why, may I ask do you want to think this? Are you the buyer?
I think there's a very small chance somebody could have made it years ago. You can't prove it and it just as easily could be something not so old left outside to rust. Who knows, it's very crude and I do think it's homemade. Even a cheap mass produced pattern would have a better shaped blade.
 
Bill The Butcher said:
possibly salvage a piece of spring steel off an old abandoned pioneers wagon from the Oregon Trail ;)
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Since the fur trade predates settlers a "mountain man" would need a time machine...I wonder, did pioneer wagons have spring suspensions?
 
It could be used as a canoe paddle so perhaps it was a trade knife.....
 
Ramm9 said:
Since the fur trade predates settlers a "mountain man" would need a time machine...I wonder, did pioneer wagons have spring suspensions?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver-Eating_Johnson

actually there were still Mountain Men during the time of the settlers

John "Liver-Eating" Johnson 1824 - 1900 was a Mountain Man of the American West

In his time, he was a sailor, scout, soldier, gold seeker, hunter, trapper, whiskey peddler, guide, deputy, constable, builder of log cabins, and any other source of income producing labor he could find.
 
THE BLADE IS APPROX 2 3/4 ACROSS MADE OF STEEL.THE HANDLE IS MADE OF WOOD AN HAS A NICE PATINA
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With the blade made of Steel and the wood handle having a nice patina:confused:, I would have paid twice that much!

Maybe it's his backup weapon
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Easy to degrade the knife for some reason.

But it looks to me like an Indian import from a carving set. Many of these had thin blades with "big knife" looks.
 
Bill The Butcher said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver-Eating_Johnson

actually there were still Mountain Men during the time of the settlers

John "Liver-Eating" Johnson 1824 - 1900 was a Mountain Man of the American West

In his time, he was a sailor, scout, soldier, gold seeker, hunter, trapper, whiskey peddler, guide, deputy, constable, builder of log cabins, and any other source of income producing labor he could find.
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Sure there were, they didn't all drop over in 1840 after the fur trade era had about disappeared. Bet some of them acted as guides for the pioneers, but then they were "guides."

Isn't "Liver Eating" Johnson supposed to be the basis for the movie "Jeremiah Johnson."
 
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