Basics of Mountain Man Knives

Mountain man knives were simple yet essential tools for wilderness living.

A good knife has always been an indispensable tool for the outdoorsman. Historical evidence would suggest that cutting tools are some of mankind’s oldest tools. There are just so many jobs you can do with a good knife. As a matter of fact, among modern bushcrafters, there is a “knife only” challenge. As you might expect, these are challenges where the person goes into the woods with only a knife and is expected to survive. It not only exhibits the skill of the person who can successfully live, but it also showcases the importance of a good knife.

When it came to knives, the mountain men always made sure to carry one. As with everything in history, it’s not accurate to imagine that every mountain man's knife was the exact same. Like today, mountain men were different people, with different tastes, different budgets, and different experiences. As a result, the knives they carried varied from person to person. However, there are some good primary sources that can help us understand mountain man knives more clearly.

Images

To start, the first set of sources we’ll look at are the visual sources. As with most visual primary sources of the mountain men, the following images come from Alfred Jacob Miller.

Although the images don’t provide a detailed view, there are some things to learn. First, the knives were fairly large. When examining the image that shows the trapper in the Indian lodge, you can clearly see the large size of the knife. This seems to be a theme in A.J. Miller paintings. Secondly, you can see that the knives were commonly carried along the back on the belt. Personally, I’ve begun carrying my knife like this, and have to say it is the most comfortable way to carry a large fixed-blade knife in the wilderness.

Business Records

In addition to the visual sources, there are also the business records. If you access this link, you’ll be taken to a website containing the different business records of the fur trade era. Admittedly, they are bland to read. However, they do contain a great deal of information if you are interested in the mountain man knives and other gear. You can open the link to see the details for yourself. If you don’t have the time, here are a few of the things I noticed when diving through the records.

First, in 1825, the inventory simply mentions “knives” and doesn’t provide any details about the kind. Still, there were apparently many knives taken to that early rendezvous. In the first two caches, there were 21 dozen knives listed. That’s 252 knives cached. Sounds like a lot to me. However, by 1837 things had amped up quite a lot. That year, the inventory lists 144 dozen knives. That equals 1,728 total knives. Although by 1837 there were many more people at rendezvous, including more Native people, that still says something about just how important knives were to mountain men. 

In addition to the number of knives supplied, the inventories tell us a little about the types of knives the mountain men used. In 1837, the inventory mentions several different kinds. A few styles mentioned are scalping knives, butcher knives, and cartouche knives. It might be worth noting that scalping knives were not actually specially used for scalping. Instead, they referred to a cheap butcher knife. According the Crazy Crow Trading Post, Alexander Mackenzie noted that: "These scalpers are of the simplest pattern possible-a generally straight or very slightly curved blade 6 or 7 inches long, fairly straight and unsharpened on the top, ending in a point from which the sharpened bottom edge begins and runs along the bottom back to the grip, making a curved edge suitable for skinning and slicing. The grip is a single piece of wood split with a saw for two-thirds of its length. The short tang of the knife blade was shoved into this split and fastened by two or three rivets inserted into holes drilled from side to side. With a minimum of machine polishing, the knife was completed and ready for sale." 

When discussing mountain man knives, it might be worth mentioning Green River knives. Many people today seem to believe that many mountain men only carried Green River knives. Green River referred to knives produced by J. Russell & Co.. Like many tales of the frontier, the Green River knives of fame may not have been as popular with the mountain men as we have been led to believe. For more information on this topic, I’d encourage you to take a look at this article. According to the article, the company didn’t begin stamping their knives with “Green River Works,” until 1837. People familiar with the “Mountain Man Era,” probably realize the era typically is bookended by the final rendezvous in 1840. That simply doesn’t leave a lot of time for the knives to get out West before the rendezvous were eliminated. So although we may imagine trappers tramping around with a Green River, the odds are that it is more realistic to imagine them without one.

Written Sources

Finally, we can learn about the knives of the mountain men by browsing the written sources of the time period. Although most written accounts don’t get too detailed about their knives, here are a few excerpts that describe mountain man knives and their uses.

Here is a source that comes from James Clyman’s narrative of his experience in the 1820s.

“…still continuing my journy at length I came to a large recent lodge trail crossing the stream I thought it would be plesent to communicate with humans even though it were Indians     so I plunged into the stream and crossed over the water was only breast deep any where     the villiag was about two miles out in the hills      on my approach to them I did not attract thier attention untill within a few rods of thier lodges when a lot of men & boys came running up to me yelling most hidously when one man ran up & snatched my butcher knife and waved it across my breast     I thought this a bravado so bared my breast for the fated streike & this perhaps saved my life for he immediatly commensed taking such things as suited him…”

As you can see, he mentions having a “butcher knife,” and using it as a show of self-defense against people he felt threatened by.

Osborne Russell got straight to the point when he wrote:

“A Trappers equipments in such cases is generally one Animal upon which is placed one or two Epishemores a riding Saddle and bridle a sack containing six Beaver traps a blanket with an extra pair of Mocasins his powder horn and bullet pouch with a belt to which is attached a butcher Knife a small wooden box containing bait for Beaver…”

Finally, Warren Ferris describes another reason that mountain men often carried multiple knives. This excerpt is part of a larger story that describes his party meeting a group of Native people.

“They were then permitted to come up, and exchange a few skins, moccasins, etc. for knives, vermillion, and tobacco, pilfering the while every thing they could lay their hands upon without being discovered…”

Natives had, of course, developed ways of living to obtain everything they needed from the land. They could not, however, make some of the things they wanted, like steel knives. As a result, mountain men often could use knives as trade items to get items like moccasins, furs, or other items they could use. It would have been a good trade for both sides. 

As you can see, mountain man knives were an essential tool. They were more or less universal with the trappers. However, they probably didn’t resemble the knives you may have seen in movies. Instead, they were likely simple yet effective cutting tools. For men who lived in the wilderness, that utility was something they absolutely needed. Even today, the utility of a good knife makes it an indispensable tool for outdoor living.

UP NEXT: WILDERNESS KNIFE SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS

A Mountain Man Adventure Awaits…

The Jemmey Fletcher trilogy tells the story of a mountain man from his first rendezvous to the end of the fur trade. Follow Jemmey on these exciting stories and learn more about what life in the West was really like. For more information on this unique trilogy, click on this link to visit our trading post today!