[AMERICANA]. CORA, Belle (1827-1862). Presentation Custom-Made Michael Price Bowie Knife for Barbary Coast Madam, Belle Cora. San Francisco: Michael Price, (1852). Beautiful custom knife with mother-of-pearl carved handle, silver-toned decorative wrap-around area beneath the brass rounded guard, and 6 ?? long blade. With the original custom-made scabbard with burgundy leather and metal accents (scabbard nearly 6?long). In the original leather box with hinged lid, silk and velvet interior with presentation plaque inside lid (?Belle Cora 1852?). Box lid is stamped ?Belle Cora? in gilt. Minor occasional wear to box, some minor rubbing, tarnishing to scabbard. An excellent historical curiosity by one of the best known California knife makers. Cora was a colorful Gold Rush-era personality, operating multiple brothels in the environs of San Francisco, Sacramento and Sonoma. Her lover, Charles Cora, a gambler, murdered Marshall William H. Richardson, after Belle Cora and Richardson?s wife feuded over competing parties at the same venue. Charles? trial ended in a hung jury, and he was later lynched for Richardson?s murder by an angry mob. Belle continued to run her brothels after her lover?s death (she died of pneumonia at the age of 35).