This is not a uncommon blade & from everything I know it's a Maranao fighting kris. I have two with similar hilts. The two I have are almost identical & are the same as the one in this post. IMO the blade is excellent, as well the file work, a standard that is lacking on newer swords. This blade is heavy & thicker then the normal kris. Something that makes me wonder if that was intentional considering the period. (less swings/more bang)
1911 is a interesting year. The conflicts were many & this would lead to Pershing giving the general instruction latter that year to disarm the Moro. These swords were collected as trophies & led to the orders that all confiscated weapons were to be destroyed. I imagine there may have been a few hustles amongst soldiers for where/how the weapon was collected in sales of these pieces. The 6th Calvary was very active in the South at this time & I would think if someone was in the 6th, access to a piece like this was high.
There is a big discrepancy to the amount of Moro killed in these conflicts. It didn't look good in the papers in the US & with a very lop sided casualty rate it would seem likely the military was looking to down play the Moro engagements/reports, at the same time securing hot spots.
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