Tell me about historical ranching/cowboy knives

[Travis Fry]

I'm aware of historical and historically inspired Bowies and military knives and the like, but I'm curious if anyone has any pictures, resources, or information about the typical working knives of ranchers and cowboys from the days before barbed wire. I'd guess that most of what was available was either made locally according to local styles and materials, or made in Sheffield. I think I'd like to explore this genre in my knifemaking, but hardly know where to start. Please feel free to share anything.

 

[Jon Kelly]

I am also drawn to that era and plan to do more research as time permits. 'Bernard Levine's guide to knives and their values 4th edition' is an excellent resource although it has a lot more information on folders than fixed blade knives. If you can find a copy it's a good start. I too would be interested in any other significant literary resources in this area.

 

[ChuckBurrows]

The most common knife carried by a cowboy of the open range era which was from the late 1860's until the early 1890's was the pocket knife of the Barlow type or later 2 or 3 bladed stock man type. Belt knives were worm at times (mostly early period) and the most common would have been a commercially made plain Bowie either American made such as a Russell or Sheffield with a blade of around 6".
A belt knife generally was just an unnecessary extra and could even get in the way of the work you're doing (partly based on actual experience a a working cowhand).
Some ranches such as the famed XIT in the Panhandle of Texas even forbade large knives and guns i.e. anything they considered a weapon. Many of the large ranches of the era were owned by Europeans, mostly English concerns who even then were anti-weapon despite the possible circumstances.
For more info see the works of Charlie Russell and Frederic Remington, the book "I See by Your Outfit: Historic Cowboy Gear of the Northern Plains", the pre-1890 photos of photographer L. A. Huffman shown in several books, as well as other photos of Texas and other cowboys.