"Minutemen ex-officio" or Packing On the Run

 

Very Basic Pack for chasing war parties

So to keep ideas floating out there in the multiverse about Just what to carry for an Immersion event I’ve been going back thru some narratives to try and find the few times they actually mention carrying anything.  The stuff I’ve found or recalled all seems to focus on an idea that can apply to most scouts. You focus your gear on the three F’s Food, foot ware and Firearm.

                Col. John Graves gives a nice run down of the mentality of the guys who acted as the local ranging party: We were all minutemen ex-officio. A little parched corn kept in a little bag & some jerked Venison in another and a horse standing in the stable. When you seen a man coming all you wanted to know was where you were marching

                During one of these rescues Graves mentions a little more about his gear after he makes an attempt to kill a member of a war party : Leaving blanket, moccasins and all , I threw my tomahawk at him. *He missed

                Another young guy going on an “expedition” Named Nathaniel Hart mentions being given some bread before heading out and another party member noticed it and : I just handed him the bread and he put it in one end of the bag and the bacon in the other, he had bacon and no bread , I had bread and no bacon. So A bag with two separate sides? Sounds kind of Like a wallet to me? This is another account of a backcountry guy carrying foodstuffs in a wallet as opposed to a “haversack” almost like it’s a pattern or something. Yes, that’s sarcasm and “forage bag” is just bush crafter for haversack. Yeah, I said it.

                So a blanket, spare Moccasins and food. Not really much to play with there or overthink. Hart does talk about earlier in his frontier life a run in with natives and he recovered that natives packs or “Budgets” as he refers to them. He mentions they contain “all their things; a soup bowl made of cane splints, and so close that it would hold soup, a very pretty piece of workmanship; a piece of wire which was twisted so as to have a spring to it. And with which they drew their beards; looking glasses &c.”

                Mrs. John Mckkinney mentioned a fench man with a war party losing his pack: A Frenchman came up in about twenty steps of the door, and put two bullets, a double load, into the facing of the door…The Frenchman all the way out said he had killed a great big damned Englishman…he dropped his knapsack in the yard…it had three pair of moccasins besides other things in it. Every time I read that I have to wonder if that’s the same Old French hunter from the Illinois country I know. Gotta be Baptiste.

                More on the foot ware part of the equation Gerry Neilands turned up this gem about wearing multiple Moccasins in bad weather. It’s from Thomas Dudley at the battle of Frenchtown in January of 1813 : “after going a short distance he discovered my feet were suffering. Being without shoes and he having on two pair of moccasins, pulled off the outer pair and put them on my feet.”  This is one of those things I’d been leaning towards for a while but hadn’t seen anything solid on doing. Along the lines of Trabue’s Buffalo hide over mocs (think he wore bread bags under them?).  If you grease both sets of mocs and wear stockings/wrappers/chausons/deerhair or whatever in the inside moc this would be a great way of getting more water resistance out of your foot ware.  

Moccasins in Mocs. 

                If your looking for some rations for an event I know I’ve mentioned them before but a great consistent resource is the folks at Turkey Foot Traders  https://turkeyfootllc.com/

  They have parched corn and the salted bacon they sell holds up really well even on prolonged warm weather trips.

                Ive included a Picture of my “scout” pack. Its simply a smallish wallet that I carry extra stockings, a small leather bag with extra flints, tow and ball in. The small striped bag is a wallet tied in the center with jerk on one side and parched corn on the other. Rather then a canteen I carry a small bottle and a drinking kettle. The spare moccasins are wrapped in my blanket roll. Not a lot of stuff But I generally carry this set up when I’m just doing walks during the year. Gets me used to my pack and can cover a few days in the woods easily. I wont be super comfortable as if I had packed for a “campaign” but for an overnight trip its more then I need.

                To keep with the rescue party vibe, I’m also tossing in this excerpt from Thwaites. One of the common themes you see in these accounts is parties chasing war parties often had an idea of just where they were heading to to intercept them.  You see trailheads, River crossings and the like as being common targets for these guys. Its also the same spots you often see “spies” watching. These war parties like most 18^th century travelers used the rivers and roads to travel. They just didn’t head off in a random direction and hope they’d hit a settlement.  It’s like when taking my daughters trapping, I ask them if they should put the set along to trail or in the middle of that group of bushes? Where does the animal travel? The path of least resistance.  ( I mean they get it…).

                Reminiscences of Rev James Haynes W Meek lived on Indian Creek about 4 miles from its mouth opposite to which was Culbertson's Bottom with his wife & children & mother all taken prisoners by a party of eight Indians on the 3 of March 1781 M Haynes recollects the date from an old song about it Capt John Wood raised a party of some 10 men among them James Elliston David Frazier in the settlement & went in pursuit Two men were to meet the party at the mouth of Big Blue Stone with a canoe with which for the party to cross When the two men reached the mouth of Blue Stone they espied the Indians about making a raft the men undiscovered crept ashore & hid themselves after a little the Indians happened to see the canoe availed themselves of it & crossed the river New River there the two men thought it imprudent to fire upon the Indians & kept out of sight soon Capt Wood came up with his party constructed a raft & crossed followed on the trail discovered over night that they were close upon them next morning very foggy came upon the Indian camp could see the fires at a distance fired upon the Indians killed one the others fled one however turned & in the act of firing at Capt Wood he dodged as the gun flashed & escaped All the prisoners were thus rescued Where this rescue occurred was near the head of Paint Creek in the now County of Fayette.

                Finally, to show that backcountry folks didn’t normally just rush into danger and even the backcountry knew a thing or two about Military discipline here a nice little blurb from Cave Johnson. I like how he mentions using flankers without actually saying it.

Having understood from the spies that were sent to examine the neighborhood, and that they apprehended they might be waylaying that trace. The inhabitants…raised a company and undertook to examine that trace. They divided into three companies. One marched along the trace, the other two marched along the woods on each side. They found the Indians as they had expected, lying in ambush near the road, and, coming on their backs fired on them

Hope this gives you something to think about on the Flintlock Friday. I’m actually off work so I’m going to be watching Croatia hopefully beat Brazil, weave and debate with my internal demons on what project just NEEDS started that I should pull me away from the 100 other things I need to do. Three posts in a week…don’t get used to it my brain will start to follow a new rabbit down a rabbit hole soon.

"The shabby villain would be immediately detected” or How does one "ape" part 2

 

Breech cloth Worn By Caldwell

Caldwell Breech cloth,  its kinda gross

Wow so that last one got folks stirred up a bit. Got the blood flowing, vigorous debate, heated rhetoric, many Harumphs (I didn’t get a harumph from that guy). So rather then do a social media response post by post I’ll break down some of the comments and my responses to them as concisely as possible. I’ll try not to ramble, but I’m telling ya right now I’m going to ramble.

                Ok so first off, my man James Smith seemed to be a big go to. So, lets break down smith’s Clout life. Ok so he first wears one when he’s Adopted (he’s a mohawk now) Smith’s “black boys” all trying to look Native. The Virginia troops on Bouquet’s expedition were brought up, guys wearing Indian dress down to painting their shirts and raccoon caps (once again trying to look native) The only time smith is noted as possibly wearing a clout as a white man is when he’s on his hunt with “Black Jamie”.  “Been now eleven months in the wilderness…when I came into the settlement, my clothes were almost worn out, and THE BOY had nothing on him that was ever spun- buckskin leggings, moccasins, breechclout, a bear skin dressed with the hair on, and a raccoon skin cap…on suspicion, they therefore took me into custody.”

                That’s one detail I had missed for years, Jamie had on all the crazy stuff not smith. Smith is still frustratingly vague in just what he was wearing. What I like about this is pretty simple and straightforward, even in the backcountry YOU CAN LOOK TOO CRAZY.  The idea that all societal norms and ideas of how people dress isn’t completely tossed out the window.  This is a line of thinking you hear a lot from folks that just grates on my last nerve.

                Even when Smith is loaned a new shirt, hat and leggings (and frustratingly doesn’t mention the rest of his clothes) Him and Jamie are stopped and “make the dogs bark” on their journey. It isn’t until he gets better clothes and a horse that he is able to travel freely. “The shabby villain would be immediately detected”.

                The other universal comment was that Breechclouts were worn so that you saved your “regular clothes” from wearing out. Again this just doesn’t seem to Jive with the information. When for example you see folks being attacked working in a field or other farm work I have seen mentions of jackets, breeches tossed in to the narrative but nothing has ever stated straight up working in our clouts and shirts. Also the weakest part of this argument is rooted in the myth that all clothes were sacred.

                

Pa farmer 1786  Someone should tell him he needs to save his pants for town

       That somehow trousers and leather breeches the blue jeans of the period become irreplaceable one you cross a mountain. As I’ve pointed out here time and time again You see the estate inventories, purchases etc of frontier folks matching the regular working-class clothes of the common person. Why do these items continually pop up if they are so uncommon and special?

                One of the criticisms I hear is that I’m trying to rewrite history or other weirdness. The reason I post the information that I do is because it’s what turns up. If I found a new account of a hunter in a breechclout I’d post it in a second. Instead, when I find clothing references its not clouts. No matter how many squirrels I sacrifice at my Alter to Steve Rayner those anecdotes don’t just fall from the material culture gods. I’m looking for common, the boring, the mundane and then I try and share it with you weirdos. So we can all be boring together while we shoot stuff.

                Now here is why I love kicking hornets nests, Davis Tierney of Crockett’s Western Battalion posted some stuff from the Clark Papers I had not seen before in a response to my rambling mess:

June 12, 1780: Bottom left document. Capt. Robert George order to Capt. John Dodge to furnish Capt. Lieut. Harrison with 3 knives, 3 horn combs, 1 ivory comb, 4 yards of gartering, coating for [britch cloth], blankets, and white cloth for use of expedition of Capt. Harrison, who was also issued a feather and ink pot. The orders were agreeable to Col. George Rogers Clark.

June 12, 1780: Top document. Capt. Robert George order to Capt. John Dodge to issue 26 yards of stroud to make as many pair of leggings and britch cloth for 26 men of Capt. Richard Harrison co., who were going on expedition up the Ohio [River]. Order was agreeable to George Rogers Clark. Capt. George also requested 26 knives, 52 shirts, 1 ink pot, 1 bridle and thread. Capt. George certified the names of soldiers, who were to receive the items. Names: John Walker, William More, Lazarus Ryan, Laurence Kineon?, Phil Long,

6029-4-261-262-June 12, 1780-Continued: Philip Hupp, ?, Taylor, William White, Bostin Damer, Michael Washeton?, David Kennedy, Daniel Baber, Michel Finkler?, Valentine Bolinskler, John Oakley, Isham Floyd, Edmond Fair, John Megarr, Patrick Marr or Moss, Patrick McCally, Abraham Miller, William Freeman, George Smith, Drury Bush, Jacob Wheat, and John Bush.

June 12, 1780: Top document. Capt. Robert George order on behalf of George Rogers Clark to Capt. John Dodge to give 1 knife, 1 ivory comb, 1 horn comb, white material for leggings, material for britch cloth, bath coating, gartering, blankets for use of the expedition up the River. Names: Sergeant Samuel Smyth.

June 12, 1780: Bottom document. Capt. Robert George order to Capt. John Dodge at Fort Jefferson to issue 2 pair of trousers, cloth for 2 waist coats, 2 breeches, 1 britch cloth, 1 blanket, 1 ink stand, 1 knife, 1 coarse comb, 1 fine comb, and 1 bridle. Verso indicated William Shannon received contents and as well as 5 yards of check linen and blue bath coating. Names: William Clark.

July 20, 1780: Second document. Capt. Robert George order to Capt. John Dodge at Fort Jefferson to issue Laurence Keinan 1 pair of leggings, 1 britch cloth, and 1 handkerchief and the same to inhabitant Mr. Archer, who had been employed with dispatches to Col. Montgomery.

August 6, 1781: Third document. Ohio River Camp McMahon list of blankets, shirts, leggings, britch cloth, knives and jackets issued to companies of Capt. Archer and Capt. Johnston. Names: John carmichael.

Top document. George Rogers Clark at mouth of the Kentucky [River] order to Major George Walls to issue 4 white shirts, 4 pairs of leggings and 4 britch cloth to 4 men of Major Slaughter Corps.

August 19, 1781: Bottom document. George Rogers Clark order to Major George Walls to issue britch cloth, leggings, and hunting shirts. Verso has reference to blankets, 24 yards of cloth and 4 yards of white cloth. Names: Capt. William Cherry, Major George Walls.

November 7, 1781: Top document. George Rogers Clark order to Major George Walls to issue 3 pair of leggings, britch cloth and [knapsacks] to man going on express. Names: ? Pittman.y

 

"Crockett's Battalion would like to point out the weirdo on the end isnt with us."

                Ok cool New info (to me at least) My initial response is this. This was part of my “conspiracy board” I left out to keep it simple.  This falls into Military clothing for me. A quick easy way to uniform guys, like hunting shirts. For example we know not all the guys on Forbe’s campaign went out with the Native parties but the initial idea was to make “Indians” of the provincials and it kind of took off from there. HOWEVER that’s just spit balling I don’t know the entire CONTEXT of how/why Clark was doing what he was doing in these citations. A lot of good info there and something to think about. I mean they do mention White leggings and we all know that’s crazy talk right there.

                The ultimate “shut up old guy” response from Davis was a broadside that stated “"The Virginian back Woods Men have a very good Reason for their hunting shirts, for as they wear no Breeches, Decency requires that their upper Dress should be of this Form " Yeah I should have had that quote in my Doddridge circle on the board. I even had it in a file.

**This is not directed at Davis BTW I’m pumped for his info** BUT…here is the problem. I’ll go through and post 20 references to the other garments and examples of people wearing them and I’ll get this or Doddridge tossed back as a rebuttal every time.  Or more often than not just get the “they were Illiterate” or “BUT it was what they wore” nonresponse responses. My whole point of this is to get people to Think outside off the box. Really look at the information and break it down. I’m not saying that Breechclouts weren’t worn but I’m saying the idea that it’s what you HAVE to wear to portray the backcountry is wrong. Are you trying to portray history or are you trying to portray you from Mansker’s station in 1997?

                Because when you think you have it figured out ya gotta remember there is an account of a guy wearing a jacket with a dead duck on his head and then there is this fun one from  George Bryan to Draper “,'Have seen Squire Boone wear a scarlet vest trimmed with gold lace and gold (or gilted) buttons, and a macaroni hat and a coarse check shirt on. Was sometimes dressed as a British officer, and sometimes as a hunter. A curious oddity.'"

 

How does one "ape"? Or Breechclout blindness

 

So just what do you do while you wait for the tallow to soak into your moccasins? If your anything like me this means you’ve waited for the wife and kids to sleep so you can use deer tallow and the heater unsupervised and without having to answer questions. You know the questions about one why you need to do this and two what is actually wrong with your thought process that would make this seem like a good idea to do in the kitchen.

                Keeping your moccasins from getting “crunchy” is a key to keeping them going longer. Despite the basket of new ones I have made I still keep wearing the same pair. While waiting to add more tallow onto the moccasins I figured I’d get a little Philosophical, no I’m not going off the rails and the last burst of frustration has led to some movement on a lot of fronts for me. I’m striking while the iron is hot but I’m not walking away from this weird little vice. So anyway, just what does it mean to “ape the manner of savages”?

                For those not familiar this is an expression that John Joespeh Henry mentioned about his fellow riflemen on the Arnold campaign when describing their dress.:

The principal distinction between us, was in our dialects, our arms, and our dress. Each man of the three companies, bore a rifle-barreled gun, a tomehawk, or small axe, and a long knife, usually called a "scalping-knife," which served for all purposes, in the woods. His under-dress, by no means in a military style, was covered by a deep ash- colored hunting-shirt, leggins and mockasins, if the latter could be procured. It was the silly fashion of those times, for riflemen to ape the manners of savages.

                This little section has been used by many folks to point towards the Backcountry Inhabitants to completely adopt the dress of natives. Later in the narrative Henry then goes on to comment on the clothes he’s wearing on the expedition:

My wardrobe, was scanty and light. It consisted of a roundabout jacket, of wollen, a pair of half worn buckskin breeches, two pair of woolen stockings, (bought at NewbCry-port,) a hat with a feather, a hunting-shirt, leggins, a pair of mockasins, and a pair of tolerably good shoes, which had been closely hoarded.

So we can see that Henry’s mode of “aping” is a pretty standard (to our modern eye) backcountry kit. Except for the fact it doesn’t Include a breechcloth. I mean Clouts are super frontier…right?

Ok so while you are scratching your head about what I’m hinting at let’s put up the end all, be all Breechcloth quote that has been used to justify there use by everyone ever.

In the latter years of the Indian war our young men became more enamored of the Indian dress throughout , with the  exception of the matchcoat . The drawers were laid aside and the leggins made longer , so as to reach the upper part of the thigh . The Indian breech clout was adopted . This was a piece of linen or cloth nearly a yard long , and eight or nine inches broad . This passed under the belt before and behind leaving the ends for flaps hanging before and behind over the belt . These flaps were sometimes ornamented with some coarse kind of em broidery work . To the same belts which secured the breech clout , strings which supported the long leggins were attached .

When this belt , as was often the case , passed over the hunting shirt the upper part of the thighs and part of the hips were naked .The young warrior instead of being abashed by this nudity was proud of his Indian like dress . In some few instances I have seen them go into places of public worship in this dress . Their appearance , however , did not add much to the devotion of the young ladies .

This quote From the Good Reverend Doddridge is from his time in Western Pa/Virginia during the American revolution. It’s been used and reused to show the common use of the breechclout by backcountry folks from New York to Florida during the years 1750 to today.  This quote is often mixed in with a little bit of Woodmason and gives a writer some funny interesting ideas on the dress and attitudes of the people in the American backcountry in the 18^th century.  Ok what if I told you Woodmason doesn’t mention Breechclouts?

Woodmason also a minister (he’s an Anglican minister not a godless heathen like Rev. Doddridge ) has a lot to say about the frontier of the Carolinas. Going thru Woodmason’s journal there is A LOT like a metric ton of judgement being tossed around on just about every aspect of backcountry life. And you will find detailed notes on the tightness of young womens Shifts and shortness of Petticoats (dude gives some creeper vibes) but as far as men’s clothes it’s all breeches and trousers.

Great Novelty to a Londoner to see one of these Congregations — The Men with only a thin Shirt and pair of Breeches or Trousers on — barelegged and barefooted — The Women bareheaded, barelegged and barefoot with only a thin Shift and under Petticoat— Yet I cannot break [them?] of this.

Ok so just where am I going with this? I can hear you now “are you saying breechclouts aren’t common?” No I’m not but I think that we may have been overusing them and in fact seeing them in places they didn’t exist. I think we’ve been suffering from a hobbie wide version of the “Berenstain Bears effect”. Ok to clarify this is a collective false memory that the Kids book and cartoon series many of us grew up with was called the “Berenstein” bears when in fact it was the Berenstain Bears (named after the last name of the writers) this little detail led to many internet freak outs on msg boards and chat rooms. It’s led to conspiracy theories and youtube videos all because people collectively added in a detail that just wasn’t there.

When Looking at the often quoted descriptions of guys like Smyth, Henry and others that describe backcountry dress we see the same actual items: knives, hunting shirts, leggings, moccasins, tomahawks but they are often lacking the use of a breechclouth.  We collectively have added that detail.

Now That I’ve got your attention and in many cases you are probably screaming quotes at the screen lets go further down the rabbit hole. I’m going to take this a little further into the realm of the weird. When we DO see clouts on backcountry (and by this I mean folks from the british colonies take French folks out of the mix) It is normally on folks either working in and around water OR trying to look like natives .

If you’d put up a giant crazy person conspiracy board on your wall and run a red string to a person from one of those two basic ideas…well you are going to get really shocked at just where the quote you were screaming at the screen fell into.

Cresswell…guys in a canoe, Jesse Hughes…”spy dress…looking like an Indian”, Morgan’s  hunters …hunting out of boats, James smith’s black boys…trying to look like Indians,  Brady’s Rangers Again trying to look native (if they wore clouts all the time why did they have to use cherry bark to tan their thighs?) Daniel Boone?...had to send folks back for their spy gear before they went after his daughter and him being naked singing doesn’t count for anything except proof of boredom. Forbe’s campaign troops? It’s in the letters to make “Indians” of the provincials. Washington’s “Indian walking dress”…doesn’t mention a breechclouth. Again that was a detail WE added.

Its interesting if you start to honestly examine our favorite quotes sometimes you can see how we can skew information to support what we want to see. I’m not saying that breechclouts should not be worn or done away with. What I am saying is that maybe we need to constantly revisit the original sources with fresh eyes and challenge our personal views on the information.  I mean even Doddridge falls into my Conspiracy board…he’s talking about western Pennsylvania/Virginia and I’m no geographer but I’ve heard about a few rivers that may flow thru that area.

The more I found mention of clothes buried in narratives, letters, inventories etc about the backcountry I always seem to land on leather breeches, jackets, trousers etc. This at first was like “hey cool look at this stuff” then the more I found them the more it started to feel like, huh where are all the mentions of breechclouts? Guys leggings falling off because of the loss on a belt but no mention of losing their clout?  And please before you start honestly look at the quote and the context of it before ya get all angry.

For example here is a great quote about Morgan from Henry’s narrative: “Morgan came, large, a commanding aspect, and stentorian voice. He wore legging, and a cloth in the Indian style. His thighs, which were exposed to view, appeared to have been lacerated by the thorns and bushes”

Awesome quote, but right before this Henry is talking about traveling by canoe and they are marching thru swamps/bogs. Context is the key….and maybe breechclouts aren’t how ya “ape the manner of savages” ?

Accidents, Gear and the Time Tony convinced me to blow up a cabin

 

Deverger rifleman with pouch

Tony's version and Horn By Willy Frankfort

    So I gotta keep posting now to keep up with the Joneses. I’ll not be outposted by these upstarts in short hunting shirts. I wont stand for it I tell ya, this aggression will not stand man. Ok just kidding Go read the “Shirttail mess blog”. So anyway…I had all intents of spending today weaving after watching Croatia crush Belgium in the world cup  but it was a draw match and I need to let me hand heal for another day before I start weaving. Heal from what you ask? Well let me tell you…and that is what we call a segway in the business.

                I went out for Modern rifle season yesterday. It was probably going to be one of the few days I got out this season because of work. I have a lot of time off for Late Muzzleloader but not so much for modern stuff. So around 800am yesterday after the 2^nd wave of rainstorms I was able to get a shot at an 8 point that came in to me. I grunted it stopped and Bam that was it. I walked up on it and began to field dress it. I have to admit I was pretty pumped with how smoothly I was getting thru the process. No blood on my boots, the deer had run towards the truck so it was going to be a short drag and if everything went right the deer should be butchered and I’d be home to see the girls get off the school bus.

                So here is where it went wrong. I didn’t really cut a large hole in the diaphragm to pull out the heart etc. reaching in with my scalping knife I was careful to keep my left hand clear as I was holding the heart and cutting with the right. As I was sliding my hands back out I ended up sliding my knife across my left hand. It was a quick clean slice and it felt wrong.

                So this is why I’m telling this story here…My modern hunting stuff is really just my 18^th century gear with some modern stuff thrown in it. I carry the same bag, I drag deer with my tumpline etc. Knowing this I quickly dug into my bag for my first aid Kit. I got out alcohol wipes and quickly cleaned off my hand around the wound. The cut was deep but really wasn’t bleeding that bad yet. I put a compress on it wrapped it and then wrapped it again with a cotton scarf. I sat back down and filled out my tag with one hand attached it to the deer (gotta be legal) and then put the heart and liver in a bag into my pack (dammit I got to keep them now). Then gathered up my stuff and walked to the truck and drove to the ER. So a glued up hand and tetanus shot later I’m sitting here writing this. Later some friends helped me get the deer to my parents to butcher it and everything was ok.

                My point…know your pack, know when to say when and modern stuff in your gear has a real place. Yes I was not trying to keep any type of period moment etc. But Like I said when I carry my gear in 18^th century clothes, I have the same medical stuff stuffed into the same red wool pouch. Its bright it stands out from my other gear and its easy to get to. If something happens you don’t want to be trying to explain to someone to get the medium sized natural linen bag out from between the other slightly larger natural linen bag.

             

feeling dumb in the ER

   It was honestly not a big deal but I think part of what made it easier was that I knew exactly what I had and had to do. I wasn’t fumbling around trying to find something to clean it in the truck that might have sat in my glove box for years drying out. I solved my problem quickly and then moved to step 2.

                Ok now onto something fun and exciting…I got a new shot pouch and horn. Part of my addiction to this stuff is constantly getting new pieces of gear to try out in the field and destroy in an 18^th century manner. My Friend Tony Bertolino made me a pouch based off the example being worn By the “Rifleman” in the Deverger image of American soldiers. Tony has made a few of them and they really caught my eye so as per usual he got bored and made me one while we talked about how much we really want to make 19^th century kits or Illinois country kits or Zeppelin landing crew kits. Tony did the dimensions based off what you can see in the image compared to the Rifleman. So while not an exact copy of an original its an educated guess and he used details from existing pouches to round it out.

             

My collection of Tony Stuff

 

      I’ve been friends with Tony for years and for a while I wasn’t sure he existed outside of the imagination of myself and the Dutchman. I’m still not 100% sure he isn’t the Devil because of the number of bad ideas he passes onto me but he does make a hell of a bag and is an amazing brain tanner. I’ve got a number of “tony bags” as do most of the guys I run with. The pouch I carried my modern stuff in is a pack Tony Made based off images of 18^th century travelers’ pouches. It’s a large pouch that I often use for scouts to carry extra gear in and I will tie off my blanketcoat  to the strap. Think Haversack but documentable in civilian hands. Between it and my jacket pockets Ive been able to comfortably carry gear to do multiple day scouts without a knapsack or even large wallet.

                I’ve added some pics of bags or tomahawk rigs Tony has made that I use. A double bag based on an example owned by Jim Dresslar is now my shooting match bag, a small divided pouch from Lacrosse’s book that I use with a smoothbore and now my Deverger bag for my .58 rifle.

                The horn was done By Willy Frankfort and was a large shop made turned horn. Again Willy is a guy I’ve known forever and is a phenomenal horn worker and all around artist (I’ve also heard he is a dirty hippie). I showed him an original I was thinking of using at the Horn Maker guild and he knocked it out of the park. In my opinion (and its just that) this was the style horn being sold at Fort Pitt. It’s a mass produced horn but lacking the screwtip. More along the lines of the Forbes Road horns.

Tony and Me at the school of the Longhunter, and yes I'm wearing Mark Baker's hunting shirt and John Buxton's headdress...Long story

                Both of these guys can be found on The facebook or just drop me a msg and I can shoot you their email address.  So now back to planning out my late season and walking around the house all day wearing my shot bag. Come on you know you do it too. You buy a new shirt brooch ya put your whole kit on to see what it looks like then spend the next two hours explaining to your family why it’s cool. Its ok we all get it. We’re not like the others we’re your friends.

 Speaking of friends...check out the Youtube Channel for the Shirt tail mess guys. They are trying to map out how they are preparing for an immersion event in the spring and it's a great way for new folks to see how to prepare for something like this.

Shirt tail mess

Also congrats to Ethan Yazel for getting the recognition for his work in promoting this "hobby"

Ethan Interview 

Daniel boone and Simon GIrty havent got back to me on the T shirt Deal...Does this even Matter?

 "I couldn't live a week without a private library--indeed, I'd part with all my furniture and squat and sleep on the floor before I'd let go of the 1,500 or so books I possess." H P Lovecraft

   Well My readers I've come to that point. Why are you here? I've hit my ceiling and honestly can take it or leave it. I'm humbled by the people who have become friends and constantly harrassed me to write something over the past few decades. Do you care? does this space matter? I've done this so long I'm now seeing old blog posts rehashed as current research by *insert name here* 

     Im at the point I’m amazed in many cases just what has become longhunter religion or “Cannon”. As a person who has been putting put information now for over 20 years its always weird to see old information rehashed for your audience or for a big part of if replayed as current information.  You can change your name for the most part you are at this point just nouveau movement on an old idea of gear that you have decided that is incorrect and anyone who doesn’t follow your current idea of backcountry is farb.

                Copper canteen…is it farb? Well honestly if you look at the question of a “canteen” yes it is.  From the fort pitt purchases you find very few canteen purchases. Is it water carrired in bottles the most common?  Shrub is the common go to? Etc.  so just what is common?

                So im now giving less of a…care just about the info I put out there for mass consumption. I’m sending Muzzleloader an in-depth article on Long hunter equipment, Winter gear Part 2, Moccasins on Europeans and for the moment that’s it. Jason is a fan/friend and I know him well enough that if I put out something he thinks is cool he’ll publish it.

                I’m now putting this out to you the folks who have read my blog for the past few years or for you weirdos who have read it for the past few decades. I’m at a crossroads I can keep putting out info I then see in you tube videos and fly by night blogs or I can really push it and post in depth posts and  how to videos. I guess my point is does this blog still matter? If it ever did. Do you care? Do you think the dutchman is real?  Do you want youtube clips? Do you want articles? Do you want it all? Should we Burn the dutchman for his dutchness? What as the weird ppl who admit to watching this slow descent into madness want? 

South Union Mills Clothing review

 

Basic kit thats shows up on farmers/long hunters all over the colonies

                So Its hunting season again…thank god.  Squirrel season, early muzzleloader, Halloween movies on 24/7, the upcoming dark dreary days off autumn that cover the land with the smell of dampness and decay that flows into your skull along with the sense you are slowly going mad. Ok wait not that, I’ve been reading a lot of Lovecraft inspired books mixed in amongst early Kentucky narratives again and it can lead to really weird day dreams and a mixing of the information in my head.

                So while updating and fixing gear the past month I picked up some stuff from South Union Mills and after a few emails I agreed to review some of their new 18^th century clothes here. I first reviewed some of their stuff back in the early days of my blog (stockings and a frying pan) and have picked up a number of pieces of gear from them over the years.

 I must admit I was a little apprehensive to review clothes as it’s a pretty subjective thing when it comes to 18^th century reenactors because the hobbie is so broad that no matter what I say any particular group may nay say my opinion (“your killing the hobbie” from the staunch split front shirt crowd or “actually those stitches should be done with thread made from the eyelashes of left hand cows from oxford” from the fabric police section of the hobbie)

So I’m going at this from the perspective of your regular working class person looking to upgrade their gear from the standard Breeches, shirt waistcoat kit or getting into the hobby. Which honestly is what 99% of the folks who email me questions about. So before I get into the finer points of the review I’m going to have to say right off overall South Union Mills did a great job in the pieces they sent me. For a starter or upgrade to your gear they knocked it out of the park in material, fit and construction.

They sent me a basic man's kit (blue wool coat, wool waistcoat and 18^th century trousers) and out of the box they fit me correctly and naturally (I didn’t feel like I was playing dress up in a costume)

One of the first things I noticed wearing the coat is that it wears well. Unlike a lot of vendor made coats out there the top doesn’t flop around lifelessly when you are wearing it unbuttoned. You can tell it has an interfacing to stiffen it up. I’m not into the way the lining is set in, but it’s done well and doesn’t affect the fit. The wool would be a great warm layer to wear during hunting season or spring events.

Now for the purist they are machine sewn and hand finished. The topstitching is done well and doesn’t suffer the problem I’ve found in a lot of goods done like this where the top stitching is done in a way to advertise its top stitched (giant running stitches screaming look at me I’m done by hand) and the button holes are all done really well (they aren’t grommets) I also wish the waistcoat pockets were a little deeper and the trousers had no pockets but slash pockets could be an easy tweak you do to them yourself.

I wore the kit to split some firewood and wore it shooting and both activities it was great. It maintained the Proper fit while not feeling weird to load and shoot from the bag or walking. I didn’t run it through a hunting trip or any other oddball adventures because well…I didn’t want to destroy the stuff.   the activities/time I did in the gear though showed that it was well made and should hold up in the field under the usual conditions (you know rain, snow and falling out of trees)

If you are looking to upgrade your Long hunter kit from the 1990’s I totally suggest getting at the least a pair of their trousers.  Especially if you’re like most people and don’t have the time or doubt your skill at hand sewing a pair. If you are going to do any juried events or just want a nice well-made coat for your impression, definitely check these out. Also, the other items they carry (the Cuttoe knives, stockings, frying pans, kettles) are all easy documentable ways to improve your kit and hold up great in the woods. Also they are a source for " Doddridge shoe packs" aka oxhide shoes.

Overall I'd highly recommend to folks looking for an update check out South Union Mills. 

 South Union Mills

And just to add something that isn’t related to a review here is an awesome quote from Heckwelder on how Natives viewed Europeans camps in the 18^th century. Pretty dead on for a lot of camps I’ve set up in the woods:

“The Indians say, that when the white people encamp in the woods they are sure to lose something; that when they are gone, something or another is always found which they have lost, such as a knife, flints, bullets and sometimes even money. They Also observe that the whites are not so attentive as they are to choosing an open dry spot for their encampment; That they will at once set themselves down in any dirty and wet place, provided they are under large trees; that they never look about to see which way the wind blows, so as to be able to lay the wood for their fires in such a position that the smoke may not blow on them; neither do they look up the trees to see whether there are not dead limbs that may fall on them while they are asleep; that any wood will do for them to lay on their fires, whether it be dry or wet, and half rotten, so that they are involved during the whole night in a cloud of smoke; or take such wood as young green oak, walnut, cherry, chestnut, &c., which throws sparks out to a great distance, so that their blankets and clothes get holes burned in them, and sometimes their whole camp takes fire. They also remark that whites hang their kettles and pots over a fire just kindled, and before the great body of smoke has passed away.” 

Trousres fit well and made with material that will hold up

Over all kit pretty easy to do alot of impressions with this basic set of clothes

buttonhole detail

another buttonhole close up

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.

ACM crew at Martin's Station

Talking Moccasins with the Dutchman's help

Hanging out with Anthony

relaxing

Talking scarecrows with Krause and tony In a lead smelt at Roberdeau