Antique Crown Stag-handled Russell Green River Works Knife

Description

Cast pewter bolster with brass rivet at half tang. Satin-finished blade is .093″ thick, 7 3/4″ long with only slight discoloration. Overall length is 12”. Die struck logo (not etched). John Russell began manufacturing tools and cutlery in 1834 and established a new factory on the Green River in Deerfield/Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1836. His knives rivaled the quality of those manufactured in Sheffield, England. Between 1837 and 1860, Russell’s Green River Works produced 720,000 knives for the American expansion West. The expression “up to Green River” was commonly used to describe a job well done, a metaphor for high quality. A variation of the phrase, however, sent ‘Up Green River” meant something totally different. Personal disputes were often settled with a Green River knife, the personal weapon of nearly every scout, settler, hunter, miner, and trapper of the period. To send a man ‘up Green River” was to have stabbed someone all the way to the trademark stamp stamped on the blade.