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A Journey with the Green River Knife by Mark Hatmaker

 


When we talk old school blades of the American Frontier, the first blade that comes to mind is the storied Bowie Knife.

Even non-blade fans have heard of this blade, a few more know the name Jim Bowie, and a few more have a legend or two to spout as fact [which it likely ain’t.]

Yes, indeed, most know of the Bowie Knife even if they don’t know the actual history of the blade.

Whereas, the Green River Knife? Well, often left out in the cold in our mythologizing memory banks.

Let’s delve into a bit of Green River History.

Before the Bowie Brothers made their namesake famous [as the legend states] the Green River Knife was equally well-known.

T’was the blade of the audacious and intrepid mountain men [“beaver men” to some.]

Many a tale followed the Green River Knife, and like many of the Bowie Knife tales, most of them are not quite true.

Some say the knife earned its name because the Green River, one of the great waterways of the west, was a popular haven for the knife-wielding Mountain Men.

Some say it earned its name from the town where it was manufactured—Green River, Wyoming.

That would make perfect sense if it weren’t for the fact that the town did not exist until a half century after the blade itself. A little cart before the horse in that tale.

It seems the Green River blade was not of western origin at all.

Hell, it wasn’t even named for the Beaver Man’s Green River.

It was designed back east by John Wilson who manufactured these blades in his shop on the Green River in Massachusetts.

The blade was high quality and popular with the Mountain Men of the western Green River.

It was so popular that others began to copy Wilson’s design and stamped their blades Green River to sell alongside the original work.

Additional confusion comes in when some blades that are not Green River knives, or even intended to be copies at all, are called by the name just the same.

So, there was another blade floating around at the same time that was often called a Green River.

It ain’t.

This assumption was made by some as there was a British blade showing up in the territory around the same time that was stamped with the initials, GR.

This was taken to stand for Green River.

But…being a British blade it actually stood for Georgius Rex, that is, the King of England.

Adding even more to the confusion is that some actual Green River Blades and their knock-offs were stamped with the words “Green River” on the blade near the hilt.

These stamps gave rise to the expression: “Up to the Green River!” which meant “To the hilt!” or “All the way!”

You could answer the questions “How far you going on this trail?” or “I need a hand, can I count on you?”---“Up to the Green River!”

To end today’s fun, let’s look to one more expression based on this blade’s hilt. An expression of finality.

One who had died could be described as “Gone up the Green River.”

[A fun bit of background—nitty gritty tactics and drills coming soon to The Black Box Membership!]

Will there be Green River Tactics at the Boot Camp? You betcha! 

[For more Rough& Tumble history, Indigenous Ability hacks, and for pragmatic applications of old school tactics historically accurate and viciously verified seeour RAW/Black Box Subscription Service.]

Or our brand-spankin’ new podcast The Rough and Tumble Raconteur available on all platforms.

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