Pumps of their own Manufacture Part 3:" " I can, with these on, outrun any British devil "

 

" I went home and prepared two pairs of new, strong buckskin moccasins, saying to my wife, " I can, with these on, outrun any British devil that has crossed the sea ; and if I have to run after him, I can catch him ; but if he chases me, he never can overhaul me. So I am ready for a race either way, according as either offers the best chances." Meshach Browning

                So, we’ve made it to part three. I’m proud of us, me for focusing enough to finish a thought and you for putting up with a crazy person for this long. It really says a lot about your character. You are good people and I don’t care what those other people say about you. However I’m Going to warn you this one is going to be a long one. I’m sorry but it has a lot to say… So just what does Part Three bring us too… let’s talk about the 80/90’s again! Ok here me out….

It’s the late 80’s early 90’s . You love history and anything to do with “rifle culture” You’ve watched Johnny Tremain,, the Swamp fox , Last of the Mohicans (all versions son, BTW Lon Cheney had an uncredited part in the silent version so horror/history geek moment) and of course you neeeeed to buy books to read in between episodes of “Hawkeye” staring Wonder Woman Lynda Carter (yeah kids it did get that weird) but you have all of the Alan Eckert books what do you do?

If you are like me, you ask your very aggravated parents for Rural Pennsylvania Clothing by Ellen Gehret and The Frontier Rifleman by Richard B Lacrosse. Then when you get them both you freak out! Anyway Lacrosse’s book before a lot of other venues was a great place to get a ton of information on the backcountry. It has the artifacts like a “sketchbook” but also, he took the time to break down clothing/equipment/tactics quotes. So if you are an eager student you could then track down all the books he listed to learn more. Don’t take it for his word for it here are the sources. (crazy idea in reenacting sometimes I know)

Ok so what does this have to do with Moccasins? Did you go off the rails again? Is this the part you yell about the imaginary Duane person? (He is real I assure you, and he is terrible) The point is that in Lacrosse’s book he showed a number of pieces of original footwear and the collections they were in. It showed a pattern of the Ligonier Moccasin and listed its location. It was awesome you could verify stuff they had shown and see the original piece.

One item Listed was a “shoepack” (because it had a sole attached and we’ve already discussed that means nothing!) That came from a Cabin Wall In New York. The problem was it was listed in a” Private collection” so seeing the original might not be in the cards. So, Me being Me during a worldwide Pandemic needed to find all the Moccasins I could. So, I began a game of telephone to track Down Mr. Lacrosse and see if he could even give me a clue where to start looking for said Moccasin. Think of it as the Da Vinci code but way less interesting but somehow with the same bad haircut.

So eventually it all paid off, I was able to get ahold of Mr. Lacrosse and he was able to give me all the information I needed. I was also able to get permission to publish images of the Moccasin to go along with the dead-on Pattern that was made up by Irv Tschanz. I was also able to Thank Mr. Lacrosse for my and Alan Krause’s Gen X Appreciation for his book and how rocking it was. To this day if I’m thinking of a quote I grab a copy of the book to see if I’m right as the kids would say #fanboy.

So Here is the soled Moccasin found in the wall of a New York Cabin lets discuss…

 

 

 

I’ve also added The pattern I hope this will help in dissecting the points I want to hit. Ok so first off European tanned leather:  smooth side and a rough side: ok I don’t want to get too weird on this but this may point towards a euro made moccasin or a native making a moccasin with European tanned leather. It also may point to any number of equations, one thing I don’t do is doubt the Haudenosaunee so on this matter since it was found in a white guy’s wall, I’m assuming it belonged to a white guy.

                This is the part it gets cool for me. The moccasin has similar characteristics with a number of native moccasins. Most notably the  Ganondagan Site Moccasin that Mike Galban covers in his video and things like the Knots from the Andrew Foster Moccasins collected in the great lakes.

The similarity to the * site moccasin I see is the use of a small number of large puckers. A get it done quick type of Moccasin. The “Lacrosse moccasin “  ***(this is now and for ever the official name of this Moccasin from the book The Frontier Rifleman by R Lacrosse so sayeth the followers of Guthrie, amen) *** has 8 gathers across the front which I really not that many and simple to do. For example the Andrew Foster Moccasin that has a similar “knot” set up has 22 pleats per side. It’s some TINY stitches.

                Ok lets go after some other features that may have been missed. The moccasin has 4 holes (2 in the front at the edge of the flaps and two in the back) this appears to have been for the use of some kind of tie to both secure the moccasin on the foot as well as tie up the flap. This detail Doddridge mentions keeps popping up as well as in other sources. My boy Meshach browning mentions : making it ready to tie my knife on with my moccasin string” Honestly I don’t have the time to cite all the “moccasin strings” references. They were as common as shoe laces People think about it!

                The Moccasin is entirely constructed using Leather Whang except for the section holding the pleats together. I feel like this has a simple explanation. The leather Wang broke between the toe and the top and a simple thread repair was all that was needed. If you are going off the construction method of the foster moccasins (done in a similar fashion) this is  pretty easy to see .I feel the linen thread was a quick repair based on the rest of the Moccasin using Leather Whang.

The Sole is sewn so you don’t step on it while walking. You don’t want to walk on the threads holding your sole on. They will break or wear out. The threads are on the sides of the Moccasin to allow for replacement of the soles as needed.

“Ok this works for this particular moccasin how common was a soled moccasin? Outside of New York” Ok valid question and after seeing this moccasin a number of other period quotes began to make a lot more sense. Ok first off lets go full Alan Eckert for this. So you are Simon Girty and you really hate white people and all they stand for you most especially hate Duane and all his duetchness but Justin lets him shoot at you from Fort Pitt and this happens:  “It happened however that a piece of thick sole leather was in his shot pouch at the time which received the ball”  This starts to pop up more and more if you look in the narratives:

 

“He was surveying down on Licking. The bullit struck another man's powder horn, went on into his shot pouch, and striking a piece of leather, glanced off again, and struck McKiuney in the nipple, sinking into his breast--but he drew it out by the thread of his shirt, which was not broken. “Shane interview Mrs. John Mckiney”

And if you look stuff keeps popping up but a little weirder:

“Ate the soles of their moccasins” Logan to Lyman Draper

And if you look around the weirdness is spreading:

17th [February 1766] I got a pair of Mogoseens that David Moor mended for me he soled and heel tapd them and I found the thread he charged 11s/Bay old Tenr. (Diary of Matthew Patten of Bedford, NH from 1754-1788) Thanks Steve!

It doesn’t matter though because much like a Blumhouse horror movie the monster was around before you could understand it:

"Their Shoes, when they wear any are made of an entire piece of Buck-Skin; except when they sow a piece to the bottom, to thicken the Soal. They are fasten'd on with running Strings ,the Skin being drawn together like a Purse on top of the Foot, and tyed round the Ankle. The Indian name of this kind of Shoe is Moccasin"The History and Present State of Virginia,in Four Parts:

By Robert Beverly, 1705, 

 From this we can see that putting a thicker sole on a moccasin was a common idea/practice for both Natives and Europeans. So, looking at this doesn’t the Ligonier Moccasin make more sense? “sole leather” is a term I saw pop up a lot in the past but always ignored until I understood why It Mattered. If you are carrying spare soles for your moccasins, it saves a lot more space then carrying entire hides to replace those moccasins.

My favorite mention of the soled Moccasin however has to come from My man Meshach Browning “Having a pair of moccasins, which were soled with stout leather” . It’s so simple it’s faultless. He was using Moccasins with thick soles attached. Done. I have to admit before this I was on the ambiguous side of the argument. I’m a doubting Thomas what can I say I need to see the info. The more I looked however it seemed that this was a normal practice and it made total sense.

Of course, I needed to make a pair as soon as I got the Information on it. I used the basic outline of the Galban DVD and tweaked it a little. I also used Bark Tan by Matt Weatherholtz again on the body to match the leather and was able to get some thick bark tan from Bill Schneider to make the soles. The only tip I really have for adding soles to your Moccasins is to simply wet them and step onto them. This helps show you the line to use for stitching the moccasins to the soles in a place you wont step on them.So Thats it for Now next up I'll cover construction tips and laying out a basic pattern you can use as a starting point for making different style Moccasins.