Chuck Burrows Knife and Sheath

A bear jawbone knife as used by the various Bear Societies of several Northern Plains tribes. This one is patterned after those circa 1850's and has a Plains Cree/Red River Metis style sheath with all the bells and whistles including human hair and buffalo hair......

Chuck Burrows Scalper and Sheath

This one is a late 1840's-early 1850's Southern Plains scalper and pound beaded brain tan over a rawhide liner sheath with twisted fringe - it was inspired by three original sheaths and an original SW trade scalper.

Copy and photos supplied by Chuck Burrows.

Chuck Burrows Bags:Old and New

The bag design, size, and decoration are based on the shot bags (one of the actual names used for such bags in the literature of the times - they were NOT called possibles bags - that was/is a different item all together!) seen in the artwork of Alfred J. Miller who went to the 1837 Mtn Man Rendezvous. The bag is 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" approximate........the body and strap are made from heavy brain tan that was not overly softened....the beadwork is typical Northern Plains style of the period - color choice and size was based on what was available per the trade lists and other documentation of the 1830's era....... The horn is an original dated 1791 and later 1825 - I added the rawhide repairs to make it usable and also the beaded brain tan strap which can be buttoned to the bag strap to limit swing....

Here's the back of the bag - the thong and buffalo bone toggle slip under the waist belt and keep the bag from swinging freely, yet allows the bag and horn to be easily removed without having to remove the belt - what little documentation there is for the 1830 era, written and pictorial, has bags at waist height and not the real high under the arm carry..........You can also see the gusseted bottom which allows a bit more room for my hands.

Here's the inside which is lined bed ticking, that is also documented to time and place - it has a small inner pouch made from leather to hold greased patches, or balls.

And last but not least here are some new and old accoutrements to go along with the new bag...

Top Row (just below the main horn - all items from left to right):

Cap horn for when I carry my caplock rifle, shotgun, or C & B revolvers. I made it in 1973 as a priming horn and it has turned a real nice mellow yellow naturally (I can't document priming horns for the time and place so have primed from my main horn for years).....
Antelope horn powder measure re-enforced with buffalo rawhide - the horn tip is from the first Wyoming "goat" I took back in 1973. It tucks into a small pocket on the back of the front bag strap, but is attached to the horn in case I choose to carry the horn without the bag or with another bag. You can see it tucked into the "pouch" in the first picture of the bag.
"Medicine" Bottle - aka what one carries his beaver scent in. It is made from western red willow and covered with deer rawhide

Second Row:
Original Ely Brothers cap box circa 1840 - I now carry a couple of spare flints in it with their extra leathers.
An original powder/shot measurer circa 1840 which I use when using a smoothbore.

Bottom Row:
Hand Forged turn screw out of a mid-1800's pitchfork tine.
"Bag" knife - it's re-shaped from an original Shear Steel table knife made by Robert F. Mosley, Sheffield, England (circa 1850-60's? - the basic style is older) - the bone handle is re-enforced with buffalo rawhide - this will eventually get mounted on the back of the bag in a rawhide sheath.....the silver plating is now mostly worn off after years of use.
Hand Forged fire striker from a piece of old wagon spring found along the Oregon Trail near South Pass in 1973 or 74....

And here's the bag and horn which I retired and has gone to a new home.........

The horn is buffalo with a deer antler and wood plug - it is courtesy of a friend from one of the first buffalo taken in the early 1970's with a muzzleloader. The bag body is covered with mink that I trapped many, many moons ago. The body design was inspired by the Mariano Modena/Medina bag, which I got to see and measure firsthand in 1974 while it was still at the Colorado Historical Society in Denver. The beaded flap was based on an original 1850's era Crow Shot Bag. The interior has two compartments. The whole thing is lined with lightweight cow hide. The small beaded pouch on the back strap is for holding a cleaning jag and the cap horn (the same one shown above) is attached via a forged iron hook on the horn and a D-ring on the bag. The flap "tie" is human hair - back in the day a long haired buddy of mine and I used to bet hair locks in our shooting contests. The silver Kachina I picked up on my first trip through the Southwest in 1965. The toggle on the back is a piece of buffalo bone from the same buffalo as the horn.

While most of it is based on original pieces it is my own style. The bead size, pattern, etc. are based on the historical knowledge base of the early 1970's - we've learned a bit more since then about the finer details. Still it is a pretty good piece, but would be stylistically more appropriate for the late 1840's and early 1850's rather than the 1820's and 30's.

Copy and photos supplied by Chuck Burrows.

More of Chuck's work can be seen at www.WRTCLeather.com

Chuck Burrows Knife and Sheath

A rifleman's knife & sheath for the late 1700's and early 1800's ..... The hand forged 9 1/2" blade is patterned after an original knife excavated at Ft. Ticonderoga and has file work on the spine. The handle is buffalo leg bone with a deer rawhide wrap and buffalo rawhide end wraps - the main wrap covers a spiraled piece of rawhide for a better grip. The sheath has an elk rawhide cover over a bark tan core and a brain tan inside cuff that goes as far down as the end of the grip. Decoration includes: the elk rawhide cover has been incised carved, there is a quilled and pound beaded braintan cuff, pound beads along the edge of the blade, and two dangles made from whiteheart glass beads, brass cones, and buffalo hair.

Copy and Photos supplied by Chuck Burrows of Wild Rose Trading Company.

Chuck Burrows Pipe Tomahawk

"The intent here was to portray a three generation tomahawk....It begins with a late 18th Century maple handled eastern tomahawk with brass fittings. Upon going west in the early 19th Century, the braintan buckskin grip and blue and white pound beaded "flares" were added circa 1830's - the flares are based on a Missouri Warhawk carried by the Mandan Chief, Mato-Tope in a painting by Bodmer circa 1834. The brain tan buckskin drop, which is beaded on both sides - floral on one side and geometric on the other - in a northern plains style with pound beads, was added circa the 1855-60 period.

This is a collaboration piece, the steel head was hand-forged some years ago by the late Gib Guignard, the rest of the work, including the file work on the head, was done by my wife, Linda, and me. The scraped and hand burnished curly maple handle is finished in the period method with aqua fortis and linseed oil based varnish. The end plug and mouthpiece are made from deer antler - the mouthpiece is hidden by the rear beaded flare, which can be folded back for smoking. Additional decorations on the drop include: fringe, brass beads, hawk bells, and tin cone tinklers with buffalo hair fluffs. The entire piece was then aged....

Also pictured are two of our early 19th century style hand forged knives. The one the left has a coyote jawbone grip, the right hand knife has a bear jawbone grip - both have buffalo rawhide wraps. The hair dangle on the bear jawbone knife is human - courtesy of my wife." C.B.

More of Chucks' work can be seen on his web site Wild Rose Trading Co.

Photo supplied by Chuck Burrows.