Gear to avoid or "The dutchman might cheat at cards but he wouldn't sell ya a penny knife"

 

Talk on Long hunter gear at Martin's station

Yes I’ve been quiet on here but I’ve been anything but laying low. Over the past few months I ventured from my secret lair and did a few events and met some great people. I was able to finally meet Simeon England at the School of the longhunter this year. Its funny we had both done a lot of the same events and never met and we bonded over the John Redd interview and now he’s stuck having to talk to me forever. Also fun fact I learned is that Blacksmith’s only strike with their right arm when forging so if you decided to arm wrestle Simeon go for the left arm it’s a sure win.

Simeon and Alec at school of the longhunter

                A conversation we had that weekend was the fact that more needs to be done by the hobby as a whole to encourage new folks to get into this weirdness. It was something that we both have been active in for awhile now (why do you think I keep writing this thing, ok a big part is purely Duane related cyber bullying)  This came up during longhunter when Alec from Frontier Trade company on youtube approached me about doing a video going thru his gear and helping him fine tune it. I’ve been talking to Alec for over a year now helping him out and pointing him towards sources to help him out but I was a little apprehensive about doing this. There is a fine line between helping and criticism and I really did not want people thinking I was sitting there being a bully to a new guy. So after we talked it over I decided to give it a try and as of him posting the video it looks like he’ll have over 1,000 views in the 1^st 24 hours.  Frontier trade company

The Dutchman Teaching the basics of whist at School of the longhunter

The dutchman marking cards to cheat me out of money at Martin's station

   So to keep that going I decided to post a few things today on gear for new folks to avoid so they can steer clear of mistakes a lot of us made right out of the gate. I’ll also be nudging the old hornets nest a little because some stuff needs to be said loud and repeatedly.

 

1.       Penny Knives

Ok so a lot of the pieces of gear I’m going to point out suffer the same problem of the turned handle Penny Knife. It’s the complete lack of evidence of their existence during the 18^th century in North America. Looking at archaeological reports from homes, battlefields, native/European settlements you can see a wide variety of cutlery. When you start parsing that down into folding knives you see some killer examples of French folders and Cutteau knives. A variety in sizes on both and blade shapes. What you don’t see is any examples of the “penny knife”.

                Some French folders have a similar shape but they also have that little “stub” on the back to keep the blade from pushing into the handle. Also the handle is more in line with the Siamese knives you see. What few knives you see in “collections” have no other provenance then “old knife” and where more then likely married to a shot bag or collection by a 20^th century collector. From talking with Knife collectors this style of knife pops up in the late 19^th early 20^th century in North America with the migration of folks from Italy. Much like the “Chinese razors”  that you see floating around collections. Its an antique but not the type we are looking for.

 

2 “Penanular Brooches”

                So these became popular in the 1990’s as a way to hold a matchcoat on. They had been in the hobby for awhile creeping in from the SCA/Scottish-esque side of the world. Once again while they are functional for holding on a blanket there is simply NO evidence, they existed here during the 18^th century. Not on “Scottish sites” not on “scotch irish” sites not even on sites you see on ancient aliens once occupied by the Knights Templar.

                The best way to hold on a “matchcoat” is to simply wear one and get used to it. Tucking an end in a button hole, held on with your bag straps, using a gun worm as a pin, buffalo tug tied around your waist. All of these are things that you can find in journals or by trying them in the field. If you want to reenact Elves hanging out with hobbits Penannular brooches are probably great but I think it’s time for us to just say no to them in the hobbie.

               

3 The bizarre haversack hybrid things.

                Ok this is a pretty straight forward one. Hide/coverlet/waxed linen giant possible bags are nothing more then a weird fever dream came up by folks into bushcraft and the 18^th century. There is 0 as in NO basis for these things in the actual 18^th century. No amount of squinting while looking at an image is going to make these correct. Paint whatever slogan you want on a bag with an always crooked piece of scrap leather it doesn’t make it correct.

                I think over 20 years of sharing information I have shown that wallets are the go-to for common folks. That along with sacks (as in just a big linen bag) are the go to for carrying your gear. If you have more gear then will fit into your knapsack or wallet maybe its time to rethink what gear you are carrying? No need to invent something out of thin air. Solve the problem with a period solution.

 

4 Stop using the “frontier” as an excuse

                This is more of a mindset then it is piece of gear. However, it has led to some odd concoctions of linen and leather. The information is out there and we live in the best time Ive seen for finding narratives, journals, ledgers etc.  for free online. You can pick a part of colonial America and find resources for your region with just a little looking. You do not need to reinvent the wheel every time you need a piece of gear.

                The 18^th century backcountry did not exist in a bubble, it was not a place that was walled off from the rest of the world and turned into some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland. The narratives and journals show folks moved back and forth with surprising regularity. For example, Felix walker’s guys might not have had spare moccasin awls on their journey but they had busted  shoes and fishhooks to switch up into items for making new moccasins. They didn’t just invent some kind of new furry barbarian boot. They made do with what they had on hand to make a known piece of gear to solve the problem. 18^th century problem, 18^th century solution

 

Quick camp set up this spring

I know this is a little bit of a downer as far as tone. No worries I’m not falling back into some anger filled hate post. However sometimes its important to replant your flag to let folks know what you are standing behind.  I’m super excited to see the new folks putting out 18^th century content but with new folks comes the rehashing of the same problems with gear and I’d rather see a guy save his money to buy a good tomahawk then spend it on a top-of-the-line Damascus penannular broach. If you’re looking for a good tomahawk I know a guy…

                Speaking of tomahawks I was recently turned onto a narrative that was new to me by Gerry Neilands. Its Tiger Dunlop's Upper Canada : comprising Recollections of the American war 1812-1814, and Statistical sketches of Upper Canada for the use of emigrants by a Backwoodsman  Now not only did this reignite my drive to finish my 1812 gear( Buffalo Trace 1795?  Too much? ) but his account of tomahawk throwing was pretty insane

They also when there opponents were 15 to 20 yards in advance of them threw their tomahawks with unerring aim and great force bury the hatchet up to the eye in the body of their opponents.

 I afterwards requested the Chief to show me how he threw the tomahawk. He accordingly cut a small chip out of the bark of a tree, and standing some fourteen yards off, and taking his tomahawk with its pole to the front, he threw it, and it was buried some inches into the oak, with the handle upmost, it having turned round in its flight.

 

                Ok 15 yards…that’s crazy.  So being curious I looked up the NMLRA rules on throwing hawks since it’s really the basis most of us use for throwing tomahawks “A minimum of 1 full revolution of tomahawk or knife is required (12 feet minimum)”  From the shoots I’ve gone to and most throws at events seem to stick within this distance.  Throwing a tomahawk at this distance is how the majority of folks I know learned how to throw hawks.

                This brought up a few questions in my mind. Is this another case of our hobbie teaching us the wrong technique for achieving a period goal? To throw a hawk 15 yards you need to put some serious English behind that sucker. 

                And Two to be honest most of us learned how to throw tomahawks using the same type of hand forged “tomahawks”. You know that hawk that most vendors sell for like $20-30 with the replacement handles. The ones that are ¼ inch thicker then the “original” its possibly based on. My first hawk had the weeping heart cut out in it, it was awesome I bought it with money I made for cutting the grass and I regret nothing!

                Anyhow you look at the size of original Poll axes(or simple tomahawks) and they weigh significantly less then our go to throwing hawks. Just something to think about when the next “did they throw tomahawks” debate pops up around the campfire. I’ve already marked off 15 yards from my throwing block and my wife has taken out a new life insurance policy on me so we’ll see how this goes.

The grey cold world of Hunting with a Dutchman

 

The Dutchman and his deer

"You cant hunt a deer in the swamp the same as on the ridge!"

"

Then came the rain and thunder

18th century butcher style

SO seasonal depression has set it. No not the fact that its winter and has short days but rather the fact you now have to wait months before you can go deer hunting again. When all the world becomes grey and you are trapped in a dark brooding world right out of a Fritz Lang film.

Speaking of Dark weird Germans I did get to finish the season out hunting with the Dutchman. For the past few years we’ve made a point to go hunting the last week of the muzzleloader season. This year like every other year was a real test of our gear. Temperatures in the teens and Thunderstorms was what we had to deal with. I’m not a religious person but when you get as far as you're going to go for the day, and it immediately begins to Thunder and drop buckets of rain on you it can really feel like God is laughing at you.

I changed my kit a little for the Hunt. Rather than wear layers of gear I kept it super simple and opted to carry 2 blanket coats. I decided to try the “double capot” method from the Thomas Dudley at the battle of Frenchtown in January of 1813 Narrative I mentioned a few posts ago. Under this I wore a hunting shirt, waistcoat, trousers and moccasins. I have to say for the amount of ground we covered and conditions we sat hunting I stayed pretty comfortable.

We saw a number of deer at a distance the first day but nothing to get a shot at. The second day we sat on a ridge until about an hour after sunset then hoofed it to a spot in the camp that bordered some brush. We got into a downed tree and waited out the constant wind. After a few hours as we sat there insulting each other in increasingly abstract ways I looked to my left to see a lone doe walk out of the brush feeding.  I whispered to the Dutchman we had company on my left and he slid his gun into his hands. I slowly leaned back to make sure I was clear of the flash as he intently took aim and fired.

I sprang forward and brought my gun to bare on the spot I had seen the doe in case we needed a second shot. As the smoke cleared it was obvious this wouldn’t be needed. The doe had dropped right in the spot the Dutchman had shot it. After a few minutes we walked up to the deer and started the process of packing it out. He had shot the doe from 60 yards right in the head. So after a few minutes of arguing about  that we headed back to camp with the deer.

We skinned and butchered the deer at camp relatively quickly and in a very German fashion. After this we had to cut the trip short because of some real-world issues. However, It did prove to be a great few days and a real test of the gear we had brought along.

So take aways…The double capot method was pretty sweet, I was worried that it’d be too bulky to move around in. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t. Also this is the 3^rd deer this season that was killed while hunting in my new red stroud blanket coat. So a few points towards the “you don’t  need to dress like a stump to kill a deer” camp of thinking. I can also vouch for the fact that neither my logwood dyed hunting shirt or the blanket coat burst into flames when they contact each other.

SO to end this post I thought I’d toss in a story from” the Personal  Narrative of William Lytle” . If you haven’t read it it’s a pretty good short narrative on his life in Kentucky and some of his military service. This storyt shows some neat details about scouting out a camp as well as reenforcing my theory that there has always been “That guy” in human history.

My father here beckoned me to stand, informing me that it was necessary to take a keen survey of the premises to ascertain whether savages might not be concealed about the camp awaiting our return. He then preceded me, walking softly, and with great caution inspecting every point in advance and behind us. Having convinced himself that there was no ambush on that side, he made a circuit and explored the other side of the camp in the same way. Having convinced ourselves that no enemy lurked around, we advanced to the fire, spread our blankets on the ground, and threw ourselves on them for repose. He then admonished me of the necessity of untiring vigilance, reminding- me that the danger from the wily foe was often greatest at the moment when the parties felt themselves most secure. He then directed me to keep a keen lookout on the north side of the camp, while he would do the same in regard to the south.

A stratagem was practiced upon us on this occasion which had well nigh proved fatal to the party practicing it. We had not been long on our mutual watch before I discovered a man lurking in advance toward the camp, keeping a tree between him and myself in order to screen his body from view. We reclined our feet toward the fire. My rifle was carefully loaded, the muzzle resting on a log at our heads. At first I supposed it to be one of our own men, and I determined to be farther satisfied before I alarmed my father. I discovered in a moment that he was approaching me with too much caution for that supposition ; that he carefully inspected everything around us, and made his way with a soft and stealthy step. I allowed him to approach near enough to a tree at which he was aiming, to enable me to clearly discover that his face was blacked and that he wore no hat. I had hitherto remained motionless, and I was convinced he had not yet seen me. I cocked my rifle. Even this slight noise aroused my father, who lay with his back to mine, looking in a contrary direction. He asked me what I was doing. I informed him I was watching an Indian who was lurking toward us, apparently to fire upon us, and that I was waiting until he should reach a tree, toward which he was stealing, and expose his head so that I might give him a fatal shot. He asked me if I saw more than one, to which I answered in the negative. He then directed me to be sure of my aim, and not to fire until I should have gained sight of a mark in his eye. The person had now gained his tree, and had now rested his gun in a position to fire upon us. But as we reclined flat on the ground, and as a leg in some measure protected our bodies from his fire, it was nec-essary for him to survey us closely in order to find any part of our bodies sufficiently exposed to receive his shot. This I comprehended from his movements, and waited my own opportunity. In putting his head from behind the tree for this close inspection, he exposed half of it. I took aim and drew the trigger, but the gun missed fire. The person, hearing the noise, instantly jerked back his head. "I am sorry for that," said my father in a low tone of voice, and I replied in vexation that it was the first time it had failed me. It was two minutes before the person exposed his head for a second survey of us. He once more showed his face, so as almost to give me a shot at him. He finally presented two-thirds of his face, and my gun missed fire a second time. Hearing this more distinctly than the first snapping, he again jerked back his head and exclaimed, "Why, I believe you have been snapping at me !" I immediately recognized the voice to be that of Crawford, one of our men. He had thrown off his hat and blacked his face, as he informed us, with a view to frighten me. We were both provoked at this wanton folly, and I assured him that I still had a good mind to shoot him. Mv father severely reprimanded him, and I remarked with astonishment upon the circumstance that my rifle had twice missed fire. To show him the extent of his exposure, I pointed to a white spot on the tree behind which he had been concealed. I observed to him that it was not larger than his eye, and that I would demonstrate to him what his fate would have been in case my gun had not missed fire. I presented, and my ball carried the bark of the white spot into the tree

Seriously, the kid had two misfires. How lucky can 1 guy get.  So I’m still pumping away on the youtube stuff I’m hoping to have the first video up next week. Now back to the grey world of Fritz lang and staring at my pile of unfinished projects and articles while I buy more books. Here is a link to the Lytle narrative https://archive.org/details/personalnarrativ00lytlrich

Burning a rope at both ends and 2023 here we come!

 

Fire kit "stuff" tinder fungus, char rope, burning lense, flint and steel..need more Punk

         So Im just giving up on trying to figure out the weather this year. This morning it’s raining like crazy and warm enough to wear a t-shirt. My only conclusion is a bunch of people actually listened to me and tried sewing up some cold weather gear to try out and this is nature’s response. Don’t feel bad I owned a Traine for like 3 years before I got enough snow to try it out apart from randomly using it for sled riding with the kids.

                So instead of sitting around just passively waiting for my train to be called I decided to sit on the front porch and practice starting a fire. Break out the old flint and steel and just mess around for awhile in todays damp weather seemed appropriate. This is something I haven’t mentioned on here much because well you can honestly find 400 YouTube channels on making fire with flint and steel and go crazy for an afternoon. However, one thing I think the bushcraft crowd misses when it comes to at least my view on history this should be second nature to you because well…it is the 18^th century after all.

                Looking at this stuff from a modern mindset is just what you want to try and avoid. I mean when I’m doing modern stuff, I carry like 10 crappy bic lighters. Yes, they aren’t period items and blah blah blah but if I’m in a survival situation I’m going automatically to the new stuff. Call me what you will but survival is about… Surviving. I’m not going to instinctively break out the flint and steel to start a fire. I’m going to break out the good old railroad fuse toss it on a pile of brush and bask in the warmth.

                The difference for me is when I’m trying to stick in the 18^th century…That’s when I go to the flint and steel. I’m not a bush crafter. Never have been. I’m not going to apologize for it. That being said I’m not nocking the hobby as with rendezvous you are always going to learn something for your 18^th century hunter skills from a gathering of folks. However, you need to learn to separate the hobbies. So now I’m sitting on my porch starting small fires to practice the skill for when I need to do it at an event. I’d say that more than even shooting this is something that you need to get time in trying and mastering.

                This is a skill I’m always amazed at. Go to any rendezvous in the 1990’s and you’d see guys knock out a fire in nothing flat. They got char and tinder going like they struck a match to light a fire, a pipe or even a cigarette (yes they smoked them then this was before the vape back in the olden days)

                The ide that brought this whole tirade on was an older article from the museum of the Fur trade quarterly. An article by Ross K. Harper, “An Early New England Pouch and Toolkit,” Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, vol. 46, no. 3 (Fall 2010) 6-14. One of the items listed was a string of flax that was charred at one end to be used for getting a fire going. The French war parties used a similar set up with cotton chord (tinder tubes) back in the day I used to carry one of these in my fire fit and it was amazing for lighting a pipe or getting a fire going. I honestly don’t know why I quit carrying one.

twisting cordage

                To make this you simply take a piece of tow and turn it into a piece of cordage. Twist the two sections away from yourself then spin them together back towards you. Cordage is a pretty simple skill that we’ll talk about later (that’s a hint BTW) You then burn the end so you have something that’s charred. This is what you strike your flint onto or use a burning lense to light. This piece can be used to start fires or your pipe.

                The article is a pretty sweet little tidbit about just what might have come out of an original shooting rig. Nothing crazy or fancy just what someone would need to shoot a gun and possibly start a fire. The funniest part of the article turning up online for me is that my friend “Black Bryan” Stefancyk is out there talking about it and  is still out there spreading the gospel of the ACM.

OK now that we’re all lighting our porches on fire some new stuff I want to toss around. I’m taking this show to the next level. I’ve recently started an Instagram account for the blog ( thebuffalotrace1765 ) I’ll be posting images too and I’ve begun working on a YouTube channel to show more how to stuff in real time. I’m looking at getting the first videos posted by the end of the month. SO, I’ll still be posting stuff here but I’ll be spreading my weirdness via the interwebs in all the formats I can.  Hell I’m even getting T shirts done because dammit after almost 13 years its time to take the weirdness to the masses.  So back to starting fires I go and getting ready for a hunt with the dutchman in a few weeks. Maybe I’ll put him on youtube so everyone can experience what its like to have to hunt with him and his Teutonic weirdness.  

New BT1765 logo thanx to Jake Book and the shirttail mess for pushing me and helping me

End of the year Hunt while talking to myself

 

    The day started off badly, head stuffed up fever coming on hard. You know the perfect way to spend in the cold yet wet woods. Late start so I got to my blind a little later then I’d have liked to but once I was settled in Sitting on my pack, blanket coat on and handkerchief at the ready I was set to go.

     I sat there as the world began to brighten up around me a virtual deer highway of tracks 20 yards away and contemplated the important questions in life. How much mucus can a human skull possibly hold and can deer hear the high pitch sound of your skull decompressing after you’ve blown your nose? The questions important to life.

                After a few hours of this it became abundantly clear it was going to be one of those days. The days you don’t see anything, no squirrels, not a song bird to be heard. Just the high pitch squealing in my skull and the occasional muffled sneeze into a handkerchief from yours truly. The days where the woods seem creepily devoid of life. The only other noise was the dripping of melting snow off the trees as the temperatures climbed back up way above freezing.

                I spent the rest of the morning walking the main camp road looking for any sign of fresh tracks but everything was at least a day or two old. I headed into the brush at the back of the camp but again no noise, no fresh tracks nothing but melting snow and stifled coughing. I figured I’d check out “the turn table” and sit for a while. As I made my way there, I did see a number of fresh coyote tracks. That could be the culprit. Coyotes have become a problem here in the past few years ao maybe I need to set some snares on my next long weekend to try and get rid of a few of these trouble makers.

                As I walked up to the area, I was thinking of setting up in something told me to do a quick circle of the potential blind. As I cleared a little hump the woods in front of my lit up. The ground was covered in fresh tracks and signs of bedding down deer.  I walked a few yards further and then to my left I could see tails pop up and head away from me to the left. I knew that route headed towards a gulley that would pop out a few hundred yards to my right so I quickly hustled my way to the end of the funnel.

                I got to the edge of the funnel and got down on a spot with a relatively good view of the trail below me. I was there only a few minutes when I heard noise coming from behind me on the right. I could see quick glimpses off two deer in the brush coming my way. While I was watching these two I could hear the other deer working their way through the funnel. But once again only quick glimpses.  I sat there frozen as the 5 or 6 deer around me worked there way towards the thick brush ahead of me. After an hour they worked there way into the brush and out of site. Never once getting a clear shot I stayed put for another hour hoping something would wander through.

                Well, I’d seen something so now my plan was to walk to another section of the camp and possibly just head home. I could tell my fever was in full effect now and I was starting to feel like I’d been run over by one of those deer. If I got to “the rock” Id think about making a fire and cooking something but I still wasn’t sure.  So, as I made my way out of the brush I tossed two birds nests I’d found in my pack for fire making material later.

About a half hour later I came up to where the trail splits while talking to myself about how much I hated coyotes at that particular moment. I froze I could hear some snow crunching ahead of me.  I told myself to sht up and slowly starting inching around the corner. 2 steps, pause and listen. More shuffling ahead of me. I scanned the trees towards the sound but nothing could be seen. I leaned against the last tree for a few yards and listened. There was something moving ahead of me but were.  In the middle of the trail was a large downed tree but that was it. I took a deep breath an stepped forward from the cover of the tree one step two steps and then freeze.  Behind the downed tree limbs there was clearly  a large doe standing and she was looking right at me.

I freeze and keep my eyes fixed on her. She seemed to be looking past me. I studied her and looked around for the fawns. I know I’ve said this before but I have criteria before I shoot a doe in late season. I wont shoot a doe with fawns especially this years fawns. I know its not an 18^th century mindset but I’m not hunting to survive. I don’t want to potentially kill three deer trying to get one. I’ll pass up deer all day long if I have to this is as much about learning skills for me as the actual hunt.

Then it happens another large doe stands up in front of that doe. Great no fawns but is one of these a buck who has already lost its antlers (its that time of year). I study each deer as closely as I can while scanning the rest of the tree for other deer. The closer deer steps a little closer to me and its clear it’s a doe. They are by themselves. I pull the gun up slowly put the sights on the spot behind the front shoulder and squeeze the trigger. The explosion breaks the silence, the doe drops and the other deer leaps out of the downed tree. I go into reloading automatically keeping my eyes fixed on the downed doe. Hand into pouch for measure and pre patched ball powder into measure and down barrel, ball onto barrel and started with pocket knife, rammed home with the ramrod all while watching that shape.

I waited a few more minutes before starting to walk up to the deer. I get there and she’s dead. The 40-yard shot had gone through both lungs and out the other side. Everything had gone right with my gear. Cows knee had kept the powder dry on this wet day walking through brush. The off season shooting made sure I hit my target in the exact spot I needed for a quick humane harvest. It also made sure that my reloading was quick and natural in case I had needed a second shot.  

I tagged and gutted the deer and then began my hike out to butcher the deer. After the initial adrenaline wore off I have to admit I felt 100% worse than I had before. So any thought of awesome 18^th century hunter in the snow pictures for Instagram likes was far in the backseat. I was able to clean this one without any new scars or injuries.

Ok so take aways…. When I gut a deer I pull its body up into a” high spot” head uphill and use my tumpline to secure at least the back leg. This allows me to focus on what I’m doing without having to keep wresting the leg out of the way (it acts like another set of hands)  Its also helpful if you are skinning a deer out completely on the ground.(picture is from a buck I show a few years ago like I said I really wasn’t in the spot for taking pics).

Second I love the wide strap on my new pouch.  It made it really easy to carry a pouch with 30 .58 ball in it didn’t notice it once. All my tony stuff holds up hunt after hunt shameless commercial posting I know but it does.  

Still a lot of winter hunting time left and I’m planning on venturing out with the dutchman at some point. I ended up with a pretty crazy fever last night that led to insane dreams of John Tanner laughing at me for being a wuss. But hey I got out in the woods for awhile and away from the weirdness off the interwebs so I’ll take it. Plus every time you shoot a deer while wearing a red stroud blanket coat an angel gets his library card.

Tis the season to Mess with the Dutchman...and for lock covers

 

The reason for the season...The Dutchman

Happy Feast of Duane Everyone! Its that time of year we all celebrate The Dutchman and his various miracles. One question I’ve received a number of times is about The Dutchman. To Answer them quickly: yes, he exists, yes, he is in on the joke and yes, I’m planning his eventual downfall. The reason I refer to him as “the dutchman” is because of his uber Teutonic last name, it’s alo because in looking at 18^th century narratives you often see people refer to others in their traveling party by their ethnicity. This was something I felt was lacking in the hobby and it annoyed him so hence “The Dutchman”.

                I’ve often seen folks looking for information on ethnicity in the 18^th century. You know the standard “I want to portray a Scottish firefighter in Lancaster” kind of posts. One good resource for these (and a great resource in general) is to simply check JSTOR for articles on a subject then mine the hell out of their bibliography for information. You can get a free JSTOR account and it gives you access to up to 100 articles a month. No this is not a sponsor Add it’s just something to help ppl avoid continually getting hooked into social media weirdness.

 For example to celebrate The Feast of Duane I looked up some Dutch stuff on JSTOR and came across the article “German Immigrant Problems in Eighteenth Century Pennsylvania as Reflected in Trouble Advertisements” Otto Pollak    American Sociological Review Vol. 8, No. 6 (Dec., 1943), pp. 674-684

Since I have a German Immigrant problem, I thought it might be useful. It was nice it looked at some runaway ads and other info from an 18^th century German Newspaper and translated them. Which was awesome because it led me back to a great book I’d forgotten about  Gottlieb Mittleberger's Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750 and Return to Germany in the Year 1754 (great book gives a basic how to on folks emigrating to Pennsylvania in the 1750’s. all kinds of great tidbits of info from farmer clothes to keeping horn spoons in your pocket for eating at Taverns)  The article also lit a light bulb in my head about trying to locate more articles on those German newspapers to see if any hunting shirt details might pop up. That’s the best part of casting a wide net in looking for information you learn a ton of useless stuff along the way and many times what’s important to you might just be a throw away piece of information to someone else.

Heating the tallow up and the lock cover. Same process I use for moccasins

One question I was asked recently was how I grease up my moccasins for winter. Since I’d already finished the process and forgot to take some pictures, I’m going to show the same process but on my Cows knee (lock cover) in honor of the Feast. First, I warm up the leather but letting the cover sit on a heater. I also set my tallow (or sno seal or bear grease) near the heat as well to soften it up. I then after Ive let the leather warm up for a while (like 30 minutes) I take a linen rag rub it on the sealant and then start to rub it into the leather like I was polishing a shoe. I repeatedly put more tallow on the rag as I work it into the leather. I really make sure to focus on any seams and work it in.  Once finished I lay it back on the heat again to let it “soak” into the leather further. Like I’ve stated a million times this is something that needs done especially after you get your moccasins dried out after a hunt. You gotta keep oils in the leather to help keep it from splitting and cracking. This is what leads to having to sew soles onto your favorite mocs.

Tallow soaked rag 

A trick I learned from the dutchman is save the linen you used to filter your tallow. This rag is permeated with tallow and a quick tool for dressing your mocs or even using as an impromptu lock cover.  I’ve also left in some details of my Lock cover in case someone would be interested in making one. These are a definite NEED to have item when hunting. This one was made by his Dutchness. The center seam is welted and the tie attaches to the triggerguard so it doesn’t get lost once I remove it. A great list of goods lost by a war party shows they were used by native hunters as well:

Near Knoxville in April 1794, twenty-five Indians repulsed in a skirmish left in their wake "a rifle gun, a scalping knife, 1 blanket, a French chapeau, 8 ramrods, and 8 gunlock covers".

"cows knee" or lock cover

Inside seam of lock cover

To continue my little tangent from last week about safety here is an excerpt from Lyman Draper that shows just how quickly a camping trip can go bad:

While Stringer was busy one day in preparing a fire for cooking some of their wild meat for a repast Cleveland spread his blanket on the ground beneath a cluster of large white oaks to rest himself and soon fell asleep. In a few moments he suddenly awakened in a startled condition. why he could not tell and casting his eyes into the treetops above he discovered a large limb directly overhead nearly broken off hanging only by a slight splinter to its parent stem. He said to his companion pointing to the object of his alarm” Look Reuben and see what an ugly thing we have camped under!” “ It has indeed an ugly appearance” replied Stringer “but since it has apparently hung a great while in that condition it may very likely do so a good while longer.” “Ah” said Cleveland” as long as it has hung there there is a time for it to come down and I will not be in the way of danger” and gathered up his blanket to spread it in a safer place. As he was passing the fire he heard a crack above the splinter had broken and the limb came tumbling down plunging its three prongs directly into the ground where Cleveland had but a moment before lain. They pulled over the fallen limb and found its prongs had penetrated into the earth to the depth of fourteen inches Stringer congratulated his comrade on his fortunate awaking and removal for he added in one minute more you would have been inevitably killed Ah Reuben said Cleveland who was very much of a fatalist I always told you that no man would die till his appointed time and when it comes there can be no possible escape.

Its funny that not checking for dead limbs is a criticism that natives had for european camps. And finally, to show that messing with Dutchmen is a timeless activity:

in the wilderness securing pelts and furs which found a ready market. The heads of the Dan Staunton and Pig rivers in the region that subsequently became Pittsylvania County was a favorite resort for hunters and here young Cleveland reaped his forest harvests. Fire hunting at that day was a very common mode of entrapping the deer in warm weather when they repaired to particular localities at night in shallow streams where they could find succulent food and be less exposed to tormenting insects.  The torchlights of the hunters would so dazzle the fated deer's attention that he would stand in amazement watching the strange light while the wary hunter had only to blaze away at its glaring eyes and bring down the stupid animal. There was an old Dutchman in that region who had a good stand for fire hunting and young Cleveland concluded he would scare him out of it Pealing some bark from a tree he placed it in the water so as to represent a counterfeit deer. The next night he hid himself nearby where he could watch operations. In due time the Dutch hunter made his appearance, fired on the supposed deer without apparently bringing him down then repeated his shot and still the deer remained unmoved. The Dutchman now becoming alarmed exclaimed Its” de duy vil”  and quickly abandoned that hunting ground Cleveland chuckling not a little over the success of his stratagem.

"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.'"