National Cowboy Museum

[Marvin M.]

My wife and I went up to Oklahoma City to visit my brother-in-law back in July.  We visited the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum.  It was a really neat place, and there were lots of displays.

Thought guys might like to see some period knives so I took a few pictures.

 

Stag Handled Bowie.  Looks like a boot clip on the sheath.  I think the date on this one was around 1870.  Note the folder in the background.

 

I'd call the stag handle in this one an Arkansas Toothpick if I didn't know better.  Fighting knives.  That bone handled one is pretty primitive.

 

Three skinners and some sharpening tools.  Don't remember if the sheath to the left was for them or not.

 

More fighting knives.  I think the one on the left is my favorite of all of them.  I like that guard style.

One thing that I found interesting was the sheaths.  Obviously I counldn't flip them over to look at the back to see how they attached, but these don't look like belt sheaths to me.  And as I mentioned, the one in the first picture looks like a boot clip.

Also, there aren't any seams on the sheaths.  Were they hidden in the back.  

And finally, there was a lot of metal used in the sheaths.

What do you think about the sheaths?

[Marvin M.]

A big disapointment to me was that the Native American Wing was closed the day we were there.  But we went to another museum (Maybe Natural History) there in town and I was able to see some Native American stuff.  Didn't really see any knives, but did find a sheath that thought you guys might like.

 

This is a Cheyenne sheath.  The display talked about how the horse was such an important part of their culture and showed the horse images beaded onto this shearth.

   

I was taking pictures through the glass so they aren't as clear as I'd like, but you can read some of the text in this second photo.

Enjoy

[Lin Rhea]

Marvin,
           I would like to see that. There is some nice stuff there.
         The boot clip you are refering to is a Sam Brown stud commonly called a frog button. The sheath can be carried several ways, one being the sheath slid into a loop on the belt and the frog button settled into a notch in the leather loop. That makes the kife easily detachable. It can also be slid between the belt and waistband of your jeans with the stud catching on your belt.

      A lot of the old sheaths had either silver or some other metals for the throat and tip of the sheath. I believe that this was for two reasons. One to allow for onamentation but also for safety. The more ornate knives in the pictures are probably made in Sheffield, England. They were marketed in the US starting in the 1830's. Lin

[Marvin M.]

Thanks Lin,

That's good info.  I really liked the displays at the museum.  Some really neat stuff there and the artwork was excellent.  Apparently the sponsor a contest annually for western art.  Really good stuff.

[Toecutter]

Very cool, Looks like the S guard on that last bowie is flipped over from the way we are used to most people doing it these days.  Interesting...

Thanks for sharing
Nathan

[2treks]

That is some cool stuff, I wonder why the handle is off-set on the big bowie with the white bone handle. Is that normal?

[White Feather1951]

In the third picture upper right, the thing with the hooks on it was used to hook to the hides of animals then tied to a mule to pull the skin off of Buffalo, the knife holder would hold 3 knives along with a steel, they would sharpen all the knives before they started so they didnt have to stop and sharpen in the middle of skinning a buffalo. good pictures thanks for sharing, WF~

[Ray Hammond]

Two Tracks,

back in those days every blacksmith probably tried his hand at making knives- and everyone had one because back then your knife sometimes meant you lived to breathe another day.

Skill was likely all across the board, and some may not have cared so much nor understood strength characteristics- and aesthetics probably mattered little to many...it also looks like it might have been a repair which could explain that misalignment?

[2treks]

Thanks Ray,

[Bobby Urban]

[amar911]

We are very fortunate to have the museum here in Oklahoma City. Anyone who has the chance ought to spend at least half a day there viewing knives, art, and other historical objects of our western culture. Bows, arrows, knives, guns, horses, and other items were needed to survive in those days of "cowboys and Indians".

Allan

[Marvin M.]

Allan,

I certainly enjoyed my time there.  My only disapointment, as I mentioned, was that the Native American display was closed that day.

Marvin

[Kevin Evans]

Cool Post !!That folder in  the first pic is way cool ,really would like to study it!!

[zwickey2bl]

I visited the Cowboy Hall of Fame many years ago. I hope to go again sometime. It was a great experience. Thanks for sharing the knife pics.

[OkKeith]

Marvin,

Glad you enjoyed your visit to our state. We are VERY proud to have the Western Heritage Museum here. My wife and I are members and attend as many of the events they have as we can. Especially the Chuck-wagon cook off competition! I'm not sure if you saw it or not, but you can subscribe to the Museum magazine "Persimmion Hill". It has wonderful articles and pictures featuring permanant and traveling exhibits.

Lin is right-on with the sheath types using a "frog" and having a metal liner. My Grandad was a lifelong horseman and had/rode mules when I was a kid. He was a diehard coon-hunter and I remember many a wild ride on the back of one of his big reds, hanging on to the saddle strings.

He always carried an Arkansas Toothpick style knife in a belt frog very similar to what was in the picture. He always said the metal sheath and loose swinging frog was safer when there was a pile-up and the mule crashed.

Visions of a knife poking through the sheath and cutting a hole in me have persisted since childhood. That's why I NEVER wear a fixed blade knife on my belt while tromping in the woods or in rough country where I might take a fall. It stays in my pack.

My Mom's oldest brother (my Uncle Bub) still has Grandad's knife and saddle.

Come back and visit us again sometime!

OkKeith