Front view...Yes it looks a little goofy but it works
So happy new year!!
This is the part is I gripe about being a slacker but you know the drill
so lets move on. I’ve been really busy over the past few months hunting,
reading and trying to learn skills and ever tweeking my gear. First off the winter gear I’ve been amassing
over the past 3 years has spent more than a few days in the woods and I’m glad
to report that the guys who wore it knew what they were talking about (who would
have guessed it). chausons, blanket coats, underjackets and the like
WORK!!!!
I have
however found I am lacking a pair of good ice creepers . A fact I found out
while chasing a squirrel at dusk
during a full moon. Let’s just say when
he stopped and posed in the moonlight for the perfect shot…my feet kept going
forward. My back found a great piece of
limestone to break my fall. As I lay
there writhing in pain and cursing the moon the phrase “look into ice creepers”
passed through my skull. So like many
Kobuck hunters have done before me I
stood up shot a stump in anger and limped my way back home (the stump got away
too)
One
item I am always messing with is new head ware.
Fur Turbans, Scarves, hats, knit caps I’ve got them all. It’s one Item I revisit every few posts and
the reason is simple. There were a lot of options in the period. I’m still surprised at how many Native
reenactors I know that do nothing in the winter or fall. To me it seems many folks are more focused on
stuff to tie to their scalplock (turkey roach bushes as far as the eye can
see!) then they are at well…thinking.
We all
know that you lose heat thru your head (your mom probably spent years telling
you this) You spend time in the woods in the winter and your going to get cold.
You have a shaved head…your head is going to get…come one…You got it it’s going
to get cold. So I’m going to spend some more time on yet another piece of
headgear. The Eared Cap.
Many
folks are familiar with the wool “peaked” or “Micmac” hoods worn by natives
during the 18th-19th cent. I’ve talked a little about
these in the past and this will cover them a little as well. One variation of
these caps is the “eared cap”. This is a cap made from 2 or more pieces of wool That are sewn together
and the top of the cap from the front gives the appearance of two upright
“ears” (Think Fin from Adventure time…don’t know who that is ask the nearest 12
year old)
Many
people are familiar with these in the context of the western Trappers of the
1820-30’s period especially from the images done by Alfred Miller (Shawn
Webster put out a nice article on these in “on the trail a few years ago) they
do however show up in the east as well. The earliest example I am away of the
depiction of an eared cap is from a possible Late 17th century Maskette
found in western New York. The figure clearly shows a head with what looks to
be an eared cap (sorry but I’m not going
to post images of a maskette or mask out of respect for my Haudenosaunee friends the item is in the
collection of the Rochester Museum)
An 18th
century example of an elaborately decorated eared cap can be seen in the
collection of the New Brunswick Museum. The cap is part of a suit that was
owned by a chief (great chance to see an original clout, matchcoat and leggings
as well) The suit is dated from the 1760’s to 80’s
This could be a
peaked cap as the description doesn’t really nail down what this “blanket cap”
looked like. Then I came across this reference and BINGO.
“ A very Nice Indian cap and a
gun stick were found where they camped. The cap was made of two pieces of white
colored cloth with two red tassels hanging down, one on each side of the head,
at the corners that stuck up” June 1790’s in Kentucky James Wade
To my mind this is
clearly describing an “eared cap” And what I find really killer about it is
that’s it’s in Kentucky! A cap similar
to this description is located in the CMC ( artifact III-x-270 ). This cap is attributed to the Micmac
but clearly has the same
characteristics as the other caps shown/described. (multiple views on their website to get an idea of how to make a pattern)
http://collections.civilization.ca/public/pages/cmccpublic/emupublic/Display.php?irn=37001&QueryPage=%2Fpublic%2Fpages%2Fcmccpublic%2Femupublic%2FQuery.php&lang=0
The
pattern I based my cap from what drawn up by Mike Galban and was based upon the
NB cap as well as images of
northern hunters (check Ike's blog for more ideas). If I was doing this cap
again I would opt to simply use the two piece construction described in the
narrative. I was a little doubtful of how useful this thing would be in the
woods but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked wearing the cap. The hat did shade my eyes enough to see in
bright sunlight in the snow as well as when I was scanning treetops for the one
that got away. I didn’t notice the height of the ears (I thought it would feel
like wearing a top hat).
So with
the cap appearing in different forms from the maritimes to the great lakes to
Kentucky this opens up this style over a broader area (east coast thru the
great lakes and the plains….Ike will cover the rest) and
for those folks looking for regional “styles” there are a few examples
out there (or be kewl and go with simple)
So in keeping up with the Fur trade
feel to this post in honor of the Red
Leg Mess’s recent scout and Beaver trapping foray (BTW RLM it’s awesome to see
a well dressed and read group of folks getting out there and doing stuff like
it was done…and not bursting into flames) I thought I’d post some trapping info
for those of us from the Anglo side of things:
“we had 4 beaver traps or steel
traps, about 8 inches across in the jaws, when extended…our bait was from the
belly of the animal itself.” James Wade
“About two feet above the trap, a
stick, about 3-4 inches in length was stuck in the bank. In the upper end of
this, the trapper excavated a small hole with his knife, into which he dropped
a small quanity of the essence, or perfume, used to attract the beaver to the
spot. The stick was attached by a string of horse hair to the trap. And with it
was pulled into the water by the beaver. The reason for this was, that it might
not remain after the trap was sprung, and attract other beavers to the
spot…..The trap was connected by a chain of iron six feet in length to a stout
line made of the bark of the leatherwood, twisted into a neat cord ,of fifteen
or twenty feet…the end of the line was secured to a stake drove into the bed of
the creek underwater” From Biographical
sketch of Issac Williams (reprinted in Payne “narrative of pioneer life and
border warfare”)
“beaver skins were stretched within
hoops, generaly of grapevine, and dried”
“ A chain is attached to the trap,
which if not long enough is lengthened by a cord, together making twelve or
fifteen feet, and the other end fastened to a stake on shore.” Nathan Boone
“The Indians would often have a
dried deer skin with small holes plentifully inserted along the edge by which
to fasten it on a hoop to use as a canoe. In these little boats they would put
a gun and budget and swim behind, pushing it over the stream. When Dry, they
would use it as a blanket at night. This was quite customary.” Nathan Boone
I am so
on trying one of these out this summer…or maybe in april at the school of the
longhunter…but probably july. I’ve been
digging up more and more on the use of small rafts for keeping your stuff dry.
But that’s a whole other post . Also to quote Mike Galban and Ward Oles when
working on this “ don’t quote me on this but Eli is dumb”
Here is some more info On hoods put together By Ike Walters….great
minds think alike and sometimes we do too.
http://frenchinwisconsin.yolasite.com/my-blog/hunters-hoods
Also being a super genius of Wiley Coyote esque status Ike has also started a new Msg board that is more focused on the research/DOING side of the hobbie:
Well I should be off to Bed I'm heading to the Bushy Run Antique gun show in the morning with a few friends. If this snow doesnt let up I may be heading to the woods instead to scare animals in my white devil hood. Ok I'm back to writing please stop all the death threats geesh...