Scythe

A Scythe is a long-handled farming tool with a curved blade, used for cutting grass, grain, or hay by hand. In the Wild West, it was an essential piece of equipment for homesteaders and farmers, especially before machines took over the fields.

The scythe’s design — a wooden handle called a snath with two grips, and a sharp, crescent-shaped blade at the end — allowed workers to cut wide swaths of crops with a steady swinging motion. Though it required skill and endurance, the scythe was faster and more efficient than a sickle and could clear whole fields in a day’s labor.

More than just a farm tool, the scythe carried symbolic weight too. In folklore, it became linked with the figure of the Grim Reaper — a reminder of both harvest and mortality. But on the frontier, it was simply a farmer’s lifeline, turning hard soil and sweat into food and survival.