Thanks to all the suggestions. It has taken a myriad of suggested methods to get this knife cleaned up to this point. I still have a bit of work yet, however it is starting to look much better!

Instead of keeping the knife, once I am done making a new scabbard for it, I will be giving it to my son...he is the same age I was when I first purchased the knife.

To answer Doug's question. Yes the knife holds a very good edge and it is the real thing with buffalo horn handle...so I believe that is. When I purchased it years ago, I was told by a few knowledgeable knife enthusiasts that this knife was probably 20-30 years old at the time and could also possibly date back to the WWII era.