Swamp Fox Touchmark

My father grew up it the South Carolina lowcountry. He was an avid hunter and swamp runner. Always having a keen interest in history, Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, was one of his heroes. Starting an antique business in the late 1970's, he used Swamp Fox Antiques as his store name. A friend of his had an early longrifle mounted in silver with an inlaid running fox as a cheekpiece decoration. He made a tracing of it and later used it on a store sign. The rifle later burned in a fire. I was at an antique gun show years ago and saw an 18th century English sword with the running fox logo, which I drew out on the back of a business card. The makers initials were inside of the foxes body. When trying to come up with a touchmark for my business, I used a similar fox with the initials TR inside the body of the fox, while using the name Swamp Fox Knives as my company name. My wife, Linda helped me register the trademark with the U.S. patent office, a long and drawn out ordeal. My logo has been stamped on countless knives over the years, and most people who see it now know it's the mark of a Swamp Fox Knife. T.R.

Photo by Jan Riser.