My uncle Walt played a very important and meaningful role in my life. He was a WW1 combat veteran, he was the point man for his platoon. He carried a modified Winchester 12 ga. shotgun, and his principal duty was to clear the trenches they jumped into of German soldiers. His job was the WW1 version of "Tunnel Rats", we had in Vietnam. A highly dangerous duty. Uncle Walt survived mustard gas attacks, and constant artillery bombardment. Not to mention the gazillion charges into German machine gun fire. And he shared many of the stories with me. I was in awe. My family lived only a mile away from the Mathewson farm in central eastern Illinois. Uncle Walt's farm was around 1200 acres, and in the middle of that there was a 500 acre hard wood timber. I think about half of the total number of standing trees in the entire state of Illinois were there in the Mathewson woods. Two rivers met in the center of the woods. Uncle Walt was a devoted supporter of the Boy Scouts, and allowed the area council to hold campouts and even Jamborees in his woods. In fact, the local council was named in honor of the woods, The Two River Council. My family lived near Mathewson Woods from the time I was 8 yrs. old till I was 14. I spent every minute I possibly could with Uncle Walt or out in the woods. There had been a Potowatomi Indian tribe who had called the woods home long before Uncle Walt acquired it. They had a large camp in the fork of where the two rivers came together. Uncle Walt had diligently collected artifacts from the area since he had bought the farm, and he had a marvelous collection. Fully intact spear heads, thousands of arrowheads, and......flintknapped knives. When he died, hiking in his woods at the age of 68, his wife donated his full collection to the State of Illinois. It was put up in the state capitol building, and might still be there. He had studied flintknapping, and was quite good at crafting arrowheads and even knives. He taught me the basics, and then set me loose and waited nearby, with a box of bandaids to keep me from bleeding out. He taught me to track everything from sparrows to fox, badgers, deer and the occasional stray sheep or dairy cow. He taught me to be still and watch. He taught me to move slowly but deliberately. He taught me to stand in the fork of a pawpaw tree, and to be able to touch deer ever so lightly as they walked by. He taught me how to overcome fear, and to function with confidence. He taught me to love and respect my elders and to listen to them......and learn. I could go on for pages about all that he imparted to me. I am a blessed man, to have had him, in my life. Here's a recent build, hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed building it. It IS for sale !!

The "Oryx Bowie" is an awesome piece !!! As with all of my knives, I field test each piece to assure I am selling a knife I would buy...ha !! This bowie cut a 2 1/2 inch dry Emory oak limb in two in only 1 minute and 34 seconds !!! Needless to say, it passed my test, the edge showed no rolling or chipping, it retained its sharpness and its structural integrity. Now.....it's for sale. Priced at $ 200 +shpng for the combo, knife and sheath. The blade is hand forged and hand finished to satin 1095 high carbon steel. It is differentially tempered to create a hamon, ( the cutting edge is harder than the spine, which enhances flexibility and edge retention). The guard is wrought iron. The handle is New Mexico Oryx antler piece. The sheath is hand tooled top grain veg tanned 10oz. leather. Antique "emphasis" stained, and double treated with leather conditioner. Sheath is glued and riveted. Once again, ONLY......$ 200 +shpng, to own this unique, "user" bowie. Email me @ indiancreektradegoods@gmail.com