Historic Rivers of the Frontier Pouch Series: “The Clinch” by T.C. Albert

In our nation’s infancy, historic frontiersman, longhunters, pioneers and explorers all used the wild river valleys as ready made pathways to lead them deep into the country’s heartland as they looked for freedom, land, and wealth. That wealth was often accumulated in the form of deer hides, and the pursuit of deer was a lure that led many of them over the mountains and deep into the interior as they sought out the fabled lands of Kentucky.

The “Clinch” was one of the earliest and most famous of these river pathways, and along its rugged banks longhunters first sought the deer as they blazed a trail through Big Moccasin Gap and eventually carved out the great “Wilderness Trail” itself.

This pouch set is dedicated to those hunters and to the deer they hunted. The bag itself is made from hand sewn bark tan deer hide in a traditional “D” style. The long shaved hair flap is also made from tanned deer, and has had the hair shaved down to the velvet with broken window glass. The stout strap is made from antique harness traces, and is adjustable with an antique center bar buckle.

The pouch is accoutered with a fancy silvered, bone handled, patch knife engraved with the word “Clinch” .Its elegance represents the elegant style of life back on cultured eastern seaboard where such fine table ware likely came from, but it has found itself pressed into service on the frontier far from home. It is sheathed in a fringe throated; bark tan deer hide case sewn to the pouch strap. Fittingly, the pouch is further served with a length of white tail deer antler has been carved and fashioned into a traditional powder measure. It is attached to the pouch strap with an iron ring suspended on a stout copper linked chain.

Once the deer is felled, the ever present hunting knife would be used to dress and skin it. The knife for this set has a bone handle topped with a fitted brass pommel cap, and a heavy, broad, hollow ground blade that sweeps up at the point, tailor made for use in general butchering and skinning. It is sheathed in a bark tanned deer hide case, wet sewn around a stiff leather inner liner, and hangs from a tough raw hide deer skin loop.

The powder horn, like many originals is simply made with no decoration except a bit of spiral file work on its integral front strap ring. The shrink fitted walnut plug is pinned with squared wire nails, and a cold forged staple is driven into its back edge for a rear strap attachment. A hard wood stopper is hand shaped into a traditional “punkin’ seed” shape, and completes the horns air tight water proof seal, guaranteeing that it will indeed “keep ‘yer powder dry”.

No wilderness kit is complete with out an ax for camp use, butchering, and trail blazing. The hatchet in this set as an antique, early, round cheeked broad ax. Its hand carved, primitive handle was shaped from a simple hard wood branch long, long ago, perhaps indicating that this ax was broken and re-hafted while seeing use on the wilderness frontier itself.

This set is a plain, hardworking longhunters rig, paying tribute to the deer and the frontiersman that roamed “The Clinch”.

Copy and Photos by T.C. Albert.