The lot features an excellent authentic original antler handled heavy forged Frontier Fighting Knife dating to the 19th Century. The knife features a forged straight back “bowie” knife that shows an inlaid presentation silver plaque at the knifes spine. The blade shows a heavy construction with unique curved coil at the ricasso. The piece also shows a solid silver presentation grade hand guard. The handle is done in an early antler which shows a rich brown coloring with a curved butt or pommel which ends in the antler’s burl cap. The stag or elk antler has a deep patina showing a nice yellowing color from much use and early age, a true attribute of its 19th Century age. The knife would have been used by an early American Frontiersman or Indian fighter during the early days of the Westward Expansion of the United States. By 1840, nearly 7 million Americans (40 percent of the nation’s population) lived in the trans-Appalachian West. In 1845, a journalist named John O’Sullivan put a name to the idea that helped pull many pioneers toward the western frontier. Westward migration was an essential part of the republican project, he argued, and it was Americans’ “manifest destiny,” to carry the “great experiment of liberty” to the edge of the continent: to “overspread and to possess the whole of the [land] which Providence has given us,” O’Sullivan wrote. The survival of American freedom depended on it. The knife sold in this lot would have seen a tumultuous history from countless skirmishes with various Indian tribes along the journey West to the ruthless outlaws who stood to gain from the Frontiersman’s misfortune. The knife shows a heavy forged (and sharp) bowie blade being 9.25”L and 1.5” wide by ¼” thick at the spine. The piece has been paired with a saddle harness leather and tanned hand cut fringe Elk hide scabbard which also shows a small boot capping knife with early bone handle having a copper Mexican coin inlaid with pewter. The historic piece has an excellent appearance and an impressive 15.5” L overall size which is a total of 17.25”L with the scabbard. For a complete representation of condition and for additional images please call 800-686-4216. It is the buyer’s responsibility to view each image and preview the item to determine condition.