early jack knife
Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:18 pm
Here is an early reference to jack knives, just for fun. It comes from a page of a journal kept by my great great great grandfather. The setting is on the Ohio River near South Point, in Lawrence County, Ohio about the first of November, 1787: "Nothing happened of note until we got near the mouth of the Big Sandy, as in going around the great bend of the river, we discovered a large number of buffalo, just leaving the Kentucky side for the western shore. The commanding officer ordered a number of small boats to cross as soon as possible and cut their landing. They surrounded and killed a number. Our Republic rowed on alongside of a buffalo. We wounded him several times, wrapped our big cable around his horns, rowed ashore as fast as possible. An Irish Paddy, by the name of Griffin, took his jack knife and gouged out his eyes. When we got nearly so he could touch the bottom, we there unloosed the cable, got him on the bar, and shot him down, took out his entrails, loaded him on the bow of the boat."
