There was a time in America when the maps got a little less certain.

Beyond their tidy edges were rivers without familiar names, mountains few Americans had crossed, and a great deal of country most folks back East knew only through the stories of the people who had been there.

And some of those people could tell a story.

Explorers. Trappers. Scouts. Traders. Soldiers. Boatmen. Interpreters. Mountain men. Men and women who pushed into places they had never seen, usually without much assurance of what they'd find when they got there.

Some became famous.

Some probably should have.

And some told stories so often and so well that after a while nobody much cared where the truth ended and the tale began.

I've always loved those people.

THE STORIES BEHIND THE KNIVES

When I started working on the next knives in our Bi-and-a-Half / 250 America Collection, I kept coming back to characters from America's frontier years.

Not because I wanted to reproduce the knives they carried. That's not what this is.

I wanted to build knives inspired by their stories.

There is a difference.

A person's life can suggest a shape. A purpose. A material. Sometimes even a little attitude.

And every once in a while, I'll have a finished knife sitting on the bench and realize that it already seems to belong to somebody.

That's when things get interesting.

So for the next six weeks, we're going to try something a little different.

SIX WEEKS. SIX STORIES. SIX KNIVES.

Every Friday I'll tell you one Frontier Story.

We'll meet some remarkable characters from America's early history, tell a story or two about them, and then I'll show you the one-of-a-kind Woody knife their story inspired.

This isn't intended to be a history course.

There will be facts. There will be history. There will undoubtedly be a little hearsay.

That's the frontier for you.

And since I'm the fellow doing the telling, I reserve the right to wander off the trail every now and again.

FIRST UP:
A FELLOW THEY CALLED OLD GABE.

Every campfire had one.

The fellow who could start telling a story and pretty soon everybody else had quit talking.

This particular fellow told stories about frozen lakes, petrified forests, mountains that moved and fish that learned to whistle.

And apparently he told them well enough that nobody much minded whether any of it was true.

You'll meet him Friday.

And I'll show you the knife we made for him.

I hope you'll come along.

Frank "Woody" Bridwell
Woody and the Shop Boys
Publishers & Knife-Makers
South Carolina, USA