I was hoping for an end-run to get there..if I picked up a Stumpy M2 without a fork I could then pick up a ratty, but sound, donor Rockhopper or Hardrock-Ultra to get the fork. No such luck.

In the short term, if I wanted to obtain a no-fork Stumpy frame and build it up, there appears to be a couple fork options with Carver and Soma (and a number of others, but these two seem the most viable). Longer term is to track down an original fork, one way or another, or pick up a frame-fork set..

BF historical posts are a big help in figuring things out.
26 inch Rigid fork: Soma vs. Carver

The Soma looks nice, though this leads into the "how much does A to C variation impact handling?" question..which I'm researching now.

On a slightly different topic,
Does anyone have any thoughts on: In the 1991-1996 range, were suspended fork Stumpy frames any different than the rigid-fork frames or did they just mount a suspended fork on the same frame as the rigid bikes? They had fairly short travel suspended forks back then.

Great info folks..much appreciated.