Michael “Mike” Stewart, co-founder and owner of Bark River Knives, oversaw production of knives sold across North America and Europe through distributors, including DLT Trading, KnivesShipFree, Klingenwelt, Blue Ridge Knives and Bushcraft Canada.

The business got its start in August 2001 after Stewart left Marble Arms, a Gladstone-based manufacturer, to start what’s known today as Bark River Knives with his wife, Lesley.

In a statement posted to the company’s Facebook page on Monday, Stewart said Bark River Knives had ceased operations Friday, March 20. He cited health issues affecting both himself and his wife as a contributing factor.

“This closing was long overdue — I should have done this over 2 years ago. I need to say that all of this is 100% totally my responsibility,” Stewart wrote.

About 34 employees were employed by Bark River Knives in September 2025, about six months before business founder and co-owner Michael "Mike" Stewart would cease operations. In this photo, employees of Bark River Knives worked on production in September 2025.

He also acknowledged other issues, stating, “As you have seen from the tons of posts I have been taking the heat since Friday. There are many factors that led to this but ultimately I’ll take the blame.”

Stewart, who could not be reached for additional comment Thursday, wrote in the post he made the decision to use an alternate Chinese steel in some knife production, calling it a “blunder” and emphasizing that the decision was his alone.

He said that decision only affected a handful of knife models, including Camp Bolo, Fox River Trailing Point, Highwayman 4, Mini-Manitou, Gladstone Hunter, Bitterroot Caper and the last two Club Knives.

“This use of import steel was only for a very short period of time to keep our employees working,” Stewart wrote.

Stewart maintained that the knives still met the criteria to be labeled “Made in U.S.A.,” citing multiple in-house production steps. According to the Federal Trade Commission, products labeled “Made in USA” must be “all or virtually all” made in the United States.

He also said the steel had been mismarked and again took responsibility, adding that distributors were not aware of the issue.

In the days following the closure, former employees offered concerns over the company’s practices and potential issues with their final paychecks. As of September 2025, the company employed about 34 people.

Jersey Jewel Sexton, former office administrator and secretary at Bark River Knives, told the Daily Press that Stewart informed employees last Friday that their final paychecks would not clear. She said he later issued replacement checks on Monday.

“I can’t speak to anyone else, but my check cashed,” Sexton said. “I haven’t heard of anyone who wasn’t able to cash that second check yet.”

In Stewart’s statement, he said his son, Jim Stewart, plans to open a new, independent knife company and has agreed to take over warranty responsibilities typically handled by Bark River Knives.

The Daily Press is awaiting comment from distributors of Bark River Knives.

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Sophie Vogelmann can be reached at 906-786-2021 or svogelmann@dailypress.net.