The Buffalo Trace 1765: Foot wrappers... so simple even the Dutchman can make them

"winter footware" for mocs chausons, wool stockings from south Union Mills and wool foot wrappers aka "Nippes"

So I have and haven’t dropped the ball on my idea to keep putting moccasin information out after my initial flood of posts. In the time since the last post, I’ve been spreading the gospel of moccasins at a few events and actually decided to leave the comfort and seclusion of the woods for going back to some events. I’ve also been a cog in the giant machine that is the supply chain so the railroad has been keeping me really, really busy. Thank you to Alex from "the frontier trading company" youtube chanel for asking me the question about this that got me refocused on the subject.

I’ve also started to venture off this weird platform and trying to put out stuff for mass public consumption in Muzzleloader Magazine so twice as much brain power and time is needed for me to get my thoughts written down and run through a gauntlet of people before I can safely send it to a national publication to be published and keep me from looking like a total raving lunatic. I mean you came here on your own you knew what type of weirdness I might start going off on, those folks paid good money for that magazine. They are Innocent bystanders and might not be ready for a quote from James smith leading into a Lovecraftian hellscape of inside jokes and self-loathing. But that’s why I love you, you get it or hate it enough to keep reading this slow descent into madness.

So the Bulk of the moccasin making pattern stuff is going to be moved to a Muzzleloader article. Sorry Just thought it’d be a better platform for it where it can do the best. Spread the love, show We’re not a punk rock band we’re new wave. That being said For this I thought I’d go a little more in depth on making foot wrappers and chausons. I’d mentioned them before but never really went into any detail on them apart from showing them.

I know right now it’s 90 degrees out and the last thing you are probably thinking about is winter foot ware but the new hunting License just came out here In Pennsylvania and that is all the information that I need that I need to start thinking about winter hunting. Better to be sewing on your porch in the shade in July then to be shivering in the woods in December wishing you had been sewing.

My winter Moccasins are a high-top vamped Moccasin I made from bark tan and the only thing that makes them my “winter” moccasins is the fact I made them a little big. Big as in during the warmer parts of the year I can simply wear a pair of foot wraps or stockings with them and they fit fine. However, in the winter months I can add chausons or footwraps over stockings to add to the layers. That is a giant plus in the Moccasin factor during cold months shoes have a definite end point for layers. Moccasins have a little give to them so adding stuff isn’t that hard. For the end point is when it gets hard to move your toes. Sounds dumb but if you can wiggle your toes it means you can keep your blood moving when sitting still.

Pouchot mentions the use of some kind of foot wrap in his memoir: “They wrap their feet with Pieces of blanket, and the sides of the shoe form a half boot which prevents the snow from getting in, while their feet would freeze with European shoes, as many have unhappily proved”

So here he’s describing using some kind of cloth to wrap the foot and keeping the flaps of the Moccasin up. Also he mentions the impracticality of wearing shoes when traveling in the winter. Like I said you can only put so many layers in a pair of well fitted 18^th century shoes.

A British soldier Henry Kent mentions something similar being worn with moccasins in his 1814 memoir:” Three pair of stocking and a square piece of blanket wrapped on my feet”

Kent is kind of stocking happy in my opinion but hey he’d know how cold it got in Canada hiking thru the snow. Plus he gives a little more detail on at least the shape of the foot wrap.

Peter Kalm also mentions this in his extensive notes on the dress of Canadians and natives: Instead of stockings, they wrap their legs in pieces of blue cloth, as I have seen the Russian Boors do

This one is super interesting because his mention of the Russian use of them may point towards them wrapping them like the “Portyanki” that was in common use in the Russian sphere of the world until the 2000’s.

Also for a non candian point of view on this Thomas Rideout mentions something similar while he was a captive among the Shawnee in the late 18^th century: A Pair of Moccasins, In which I had pieces of Blue Cloth to make my step easier

Whats kewl about this is Rideout seems to be talking about wearing these in the warmer months. I’ve found that any type of footwrap in moccasins in the warm months adds just enough cushion for your feet that it makes doing long distances way easier.

Face it unless you do a lot of barefoot walking in your modern life Moccasins can be tough on our bodies that are so accustomed to modern shoes. I’ve found this is especially true when you are doing a lot of standing/walking at modern historic sites with concrete floors and blacktop walk ways. My legs feel it way more after a weekend at a site then I do after a week of woods walking.

These wool pieces may be the “Nippes” that the Millice is issued in Canada. They are given” Half aune of cloth” as part of their equipment issue. A french Aune is about 47 ¼ inches. Now are these pieces cut in half or into quarters? That’s a question I cant answer but it does at least give you a starting point for the piece of material needed to make a “nippe”.

So here is my interpretation of the info…I use scraps of wool blanketing that I have left over from making a blanket coat. I cut this into a square roughly 14 by 14 (I wear a size 10 shoe) I lay it out like a diamond Put my foot in the center and wrap the sides in on top of each other then wrap the front over my toes and slide my foot into the Moccasin. Bam! Done it really is that easy. Want another layer? Lay down two on top of each other. Hey my feet are wet? Take your moccasin off get a dry pair out and bam dry feet.

basic foot wrap...its my workshop floor please excuse the mess

foot in center...I think i need to buy new stockings

tuck tip of side under your foot

after bringing the toe up hold this until you slide it into the Moc

rear just slides in and up.

ready for the elements

These are easy to pack, easy to make, and dry really easily over the fire. I’ve mentioned this before but I take my soapstone bullet mold and heat it up next to the fire and wrap it with a spare foot wrap to put in my blanket roll for a footwarmer when it’s super cold out. Want some cheap entertainment throw a wet foot wrapper at a dutchman’s head when he’s trying to sleep. Hours of entertainment and fun for the whole family.

So the foot wraps are pretty…simple. Yes, I’m aware of quotes of using leaves/deer hair etc but so far I’ve not found a way that I can make that process comfortable after a lot of trial and error. I ve found Buffalo wool works pretty well but to be honest people have more access right now to wool scraps then they do buffalo hair. So chausons are up next but that is a little more involved so my next hotel stay its on the docket.

To break up the foot pics I’ve included some from this years Martin’s station event. For folks that missed it, well you missed a great one. A number of ACM folks came down to support Billy and the crew and we had a blast. I got to sleep in a Cherokee winter house, play cards in a block house and hang out with folks I haven’t seen in years.

I also attended my first “military” event in years. The Yankee Peas Mess from Wisconsin held an immersion event at my old stomping grounds Fort Roberdeau. I went with a few ACM guys to portray members of Cluggage’s ranging company for the weekend with the guys from Crockett’s Western Battalion and it was an awesome time. Two events back to back that really reignited my love of this stuff. Wresting matches, all night patrols, Blanket coat scarecrows and new friends. I forgot this hobby was more then shooting deer and trapping raccoons. Of course now my daughter wants to do events again so after sewing clothes for the ever growing kid I think I’ll be off to more events this season. Dam I’m sounding positive and happy…real articles and even a podcast interview by I LOve muzzleloading ..less weirdness and esoteric jokes…this cant be normal. This must be some kind of conspiracy from the Dutchman. Gawd I hate that guy. This is some kind of german hex I know it.