Grandpa's Knife

[Gray Wolf]

Is that a leather wrapped, or a curly maple handle?

[Stargazer]

Its leather wrapped.

[FVR]

After re-reading my post I did make it sound like it was Kitt himself that gave the knife to my grandfathers brother.Youre right in youre math that it was not.I believe it was 1905 or06 that they moved to Co.What I should have said was that it was given to my grandfathers brother from one of the Carsons as,one of Kitts knives.I am sorry for my choice of poor wording.

I figured there had to be a mix up somewhere. Take into consideration that Kit was one of 14 children, his brothers families would have been named Carson and I do not know if Kit had any sons.

1905 / 1906 the neighbors must have been really good friends as by that time Kit Carson was pretty famous. Like Buffalo Bill, the dime store novels and newspaper articles made him larger than he actually was.

If you are really interested in documenting the gear, first you need to get the dates of the transaction and the location. This will enable you to search and find which Carson was in that area.

Once you get the dates then you can contact the Kit Carson museum. They actually have a museum dedicated to him. You can get on the American Mountain Man history board, I would not if I was you until you get dates and places. You can google both resources.

I own a Lancaster rifle dated back to the early 50's. It is said to be built by a famous lock maker who made 8 of these rifles. I have rifle number 9, WHAT???

When I made the trade for the rifle, the owner presented it as what it is. I got the better of the trade because he made me promise that I would shoot and hunt with the rifle rather than hang it on the wall. Well, he told me what it was and so I began to do a little work. Turns out the gun is what it is presented as. First thing I did was to find out the style of the long guns that this builder made. The second was to find out the area that he built his guns. The third was to look at pictures of his documented rifles and compare workmanship. Yep, they all matched. And well the fourth was to pull it apart and actually see his name.

But really, I really don't give a rats arse that he made the rifle or not. That is not why I got it. I can tell you that my first shot ever out of it at the 50 yard deer nocked it over. After shooting the set of targets I realized that I should have competed with the Lancaster as my scores with it were better than my scores with the GPR that I have won contests with in the past.


But then there is the other side of the coin. You get your hopes up and then.......nothing. It's a gamble.

If you present the gear the way you did on the second post, who is to doubt you. No one as there is nothing to doubt. But present the info like you did in the first post and you will attract many skeptics.

Sometimes the best treasures are those that are not so promoted. If it indeed is Kit Carson's knife, would you sell it? In this economic time, if someone offered you 5/6 gran for it, would you take it?

Me, I would not take any amount of money for a piece of gear handed down to me with a story.

As I've said many times, every piece of my gear, primitive or modern, has a story behind it. If it does not...........I get rid of it because it means nothing to me.

[Stargazer]

FVR..Thanks for the reply..I am going to try track down all the info I can.I have always wanted to look into its history and story more.

Do you mind if I keep in contact with you on my progress? Im sure ill need some guidance along my way.

As far as selling it.Id sell a kidney long before i sold grandpa's knife.Its one of thoes things where when I see it I think of him and how inportant he was to me.I just wish I had realized it more when I was a kid..

[pgvoutdoors]

Excellent keepsake and story. Thanks for sharing.

[Blood Groove]

Wow that kife's designe almost seems ahead of it's time for back then. I love he handle and the blade style. Very nice knife!