Fort Pitt likes Purple....

I've seen Mike Burke do this same thing...

Mckee's leggings....

This weekend was a pretty nice change up before the “season” starts for me. The Honorable Guild of Horner’s had their meeting just over the hill from my place at Fort Roberdeau outside of Altoona, Pa. Mike Burke and Joseph Privott came up and we made the trek over to the fort for the weekend. Besides being overwhelmed by powder horns the biggest thing I noticed about the guild meeting was the attitude….an overwhelming positive attitude and a desire to share info you rarely see among craftspeople in this little world (thought I was going to go negative there didnt ya).
I am neither a powder horn maker nor maker of well anything except horn shavings and destroyed cow horns. However after hanging out at the meeting for the weekend I have to say I’m a little more inclined to pick up a cow horn or two and get to a lathe. Demonstrations on horn pressing, turning, carving…you name it you could get tips on how to do it as well as get hands on time with some skilled folks. I can’t say enough good things about the people I met and the overall attitude of this organization.
So for most folks the winter season is fading and the spring season is starting to kick off. Did you get all your new projects finished? Well I didn’t either. One project I started this past winter was knocking out leggings, matchcoats, and breechclouts based off period descriptions or in Images. The idea was to both have some of these items for sale and to have some premade items for my ever growing trade goods display.
I’ve found a number of examples of wool/ribbon color combinations in the Bayton, Wharton and Morgan Fort Pitt Day book. I’ve found ribbon/leggings being purchased by traders, natives, hunters and soldiers. Some items with ribbon were sold premade by many trading posts. In the 1750’s this practiced was noted quite humorously by a native complaining about trade goods. He commented that his ribbon clout he had purchased from a trader “barley covered his c*ck” and he but a small one (I’ll provide the whole citation later sorry to toss out an unbacked quote like that)
However Nicholas cresswell talks in his journal of having leggings made for him by a native woman outside Fort Pitt in the 1770’s. Does this mean she put on the ribbon and beads or just beaded a pair of premade leggings is open to debate? Also if you look at Jacob Stevens comments on the battle of Blue licks:
“on the top of the hill, I fell in with a man who had red leggings on, and I was told only the company from Lexington had on such leggings.”
To me this supports the purchase of premade leggings in the Kentucky region during the 1770’s. This isn’t to say ALL leggings were premade/stroe bought items but I feel that this was such a common item in the trade purchasing new leggings was as common as purchasing powder and lead. Also I’ve said it a million times (everyone repeat this with me) There was no White section and Native section of the trading post. Phillip the Indian hunter bought the same type of Leggings you would have seen on John Jameson.


Premade leggings also pop up in French sources. Ike Walters sent me this info from the Montreal Traders records:
Montreal Merchants Records regarding leggings sent to Green Bay Post (LaBaie)

1743

30 ells of violet and blue molton employed to make 30 pairs leggings, garnished
29 ¾ ells of red molton (unused)
32 1/3 ells of violet molton (unused)
52 ells of white molton 20 ells of which employed to make 20 pairs of leggings
Employed to trim and braid the above… [this included “fancy Capots”]
2- 7/8 marcs of piping
1 – ½ marc wide galon
4 pieces silk edging (partly employed)
also mentioned is gartering
Sewing cost for leggings on this list is about 2s 6d /pr
a 1741 list to LaBaie mentions the trimmings as well with the silk edging being the only one specific to leggings
a 1747 LaBaie shipment from Montreal included “212 pairs of large leggings made of molton”
(Thanx Ike )

So for one pair of my “trade leggings” I opted to go with a pair purchased by Alexander Mckee at fort Pitt in the 1760’s:
1 pair Purple half thick leggings
6 yards green & yellow ribbon @ 2 ..12..
2 skeins green silk @ 1/6

And yes the color combination is one reason I really wanted to make these. Purple Leggings turn up all over the place in period documents. At Fort Pitt I have found Red, white, green, blue and Purple turning up as colors for leggings. From experience I can tell ya…white leggings don’t stay white for very long especially in the spring. However I’m not gonna lie…..these things hurt my eyes
So after mapping out the amount of ribbon per legging to my mind the best bet was go with a documented ribbon scheme. If you look at the few original ribbon covered leggings in existence (The messiter example, the Russian pair pictured in the “clash of empires” catalog, the New Brunswick pair) you see that the ribbon was done with two rows of ribbon running the length of the front and rear flaps. I’ve found that on many period accounts of natives buying/receiving ribbon with leggings the math works out to this same 2 row configuration.
If you’re looking for a source for Silk ribbon for leggings or any project check out the folks at The Brandenburg store house. They carry a wide selection of colors and are great to deal with. http://www.brandenburgstorehouse.com/

Well I should be weaving and working on like a million other projects. On a side note I was able to get out again yesterday in between rain storms and shoot the G and get some practice moving and loading. I also spent a few hours working on my half faced shelter and collecting Burl and tinder fungus. It was a nice break from the usual modern world weirdness. So to get into my first self help column on here Try it yourself folks…walk away from the msg boards few a few hours … it’s spring , read a new book, take a walk in the woods, work on that project covered with dust in your basement. The boards will still be there when ya get back.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day….mmmm guiness ...I've posted some of my favorite 18th century "irish" images enjoy.

"chewed bullets flying" and otter skin bags

Von reck image with otter skin bag
File and "chewed" musket ball

Otter skin pouch and some contents

Otter turban...not southeastern but i had to make it

"The leader, on each side, immediately blows the small whistle he carries for the occasion, in imitation of the ancient trumpet, as the last signal of engagement. Now hot work begins -- The guns are firing; the chewed bullets flying; the strong hiccory bows a twanging; the dangerous barbed arrows whizzing as they fly" James Adair



The snow really took a beating here this week. It’s starting to look a lot like spring and that means turkeys and events. Thank god if I heard about one more flame war on a msg board I think I was going to start collecting star wars figures. So one flame war I touched off a few weeks ago (my bad) was about the patching of smooth bore rounds.
I spent a lot of mornings this past week digging thru narratives and Thanx to a tip by Mike Galban this has now become a full bore research topic for me. The ultimate “doer vs. Librarian” Smack down. I’ve been looking over narratives/pension applications/journals/newspaper accounts for any references to natives shooting a gun (rifle or smoothbore) or any references to loading practices/mention of gun equipment for ANYONE. I have to say it’s been enlightening to just how much shooting lore in the hobbie is probably myth.
SO one thing I’ve heard mentioned a number of time was the practice of natives shooting “chewed balls” in fact the title of this blog (which would be an awesome title for an article or book) is from a mention from James Adair of south eastern natives at war. The physics behind this is that the dimples in the ball help it act like a golf ball and fly straighter. Get rid of the “knuckle ball” effect you see in a smooth ball.
So Last Wednesday I was able to head to my camp and spend a few hours shooting. I prepared 15 “chewed” rounds ahead of time by rolling the ball on a rasp to get the dimple effect (I chewed one and I like my teeth too much to do all 15. You can call farb if ya want) My plan was to take 15 shots with an unpatched round ball (14 from the bench one off hand) and the same with the “chewed” rounds. I was also going to clean my barrel in between the two groups to avoid any help the extra fouling may help the second group.
I was shooting 50 yards with 65 grains and a .60 ball in my .62 type G So the first 14 were s off the bench and they shot 3 inches low and slightly to the right off dead center (I kept a pretty nice grouping) and the off hand shot was 3 inches low from dead center. The chewed rounds really did surprise me. The 14 were an inch higher and dead center low. My off hand shot was like 5 inches low and to the left ( I don’t know what happened there I was a little mad at myself).
SO there was an improvement in the chewed ball. I think the dimples had an effect and the ball seemed tighter in the barrel due to the small raises. I spoke with John Getz for a few minutes this week and mentioned this to him and he mentioned that he would often rough up a round ball when shooting in smoothbore matches because of this reason. SO for me this is pretty kewl here we have the accounts and the actual practice lining up (crazy how that works).
A few other accounts I came across also pointed towards native shooting practices and gun equipment carried by natives. Heres is a few quick accounts:
William Clinkenbeard “you could always tell an Indian gun. Never were so heavily loaded, nor sounded so loud, cracked flatter.”
To me this one is something that makes a lot of sense. If you’re constantly looking to resupply your powder from a foreign resource you’re going to be a little stingy with your shooting. Also this could also account for why you also see natives being mentioned chewing their musket balls and using buck and ball loads. Anything you can do to raise your level of kill efficiency. This is also something to think about for those that like to burn powder in public battles. Maybe you should tune the level of powder you put in your cartridges back a little. Do ya really need 100 grains in your tulle?
Another quote that may support the use of half loads:
James Wade “The Bullet passed through 9 folds of the blanket he had rolled up and strapped on his shoulders, and then stopped made flat as a 9d. The force of the blow knocked him down again, but did not get through the blanket to the skin”

So here is some neat info I gleamed from a quick look for Gun equipment being carried by natives:
“ 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 tassles hanging down, one on each side of the head, at the corners that stuck up” June 1790’s in Kentucky James Wade

To me this cool on two fronts this is possibly a mention of a “wiping stick” or separate stick from a ramrod. I’ve seen these turn up a lot in info on later fur trade folks in the west but never on a native in the east. And second the use of a eared cap (happy birthday crowder now start sewing your cap…when my jacket is finished) in the south.

John Rankins “The Indian came down to the lick; seen where our horses had been along, raised his charger and gave a whistle,4 other Indians immediately came up. “

I’ve seen this practice a few times in narratives. If you blow across the top of a measure you can use it like a whistle. Guys in my crew have used this as a signal quite a few times and you’d be surprised at how far that sound carries in the woods.

“we take sight and have them at a shot and so do the French they do not only shoot with a bullet but with big swan shot. They say the French load with a bullet and six swan shot” Christian Frederick Post page 169 Causes of the alienation of the [Delaware and Shawanese Indians], from the British interest
This shows once again the use of buck and ball by the french and natives. having shot quite a few buck and ball loads as of late I gotta tell ya it tears the hell out of a target backstop (gotta replace one at my camp now…too much fun shooting)



And here is some info I dug up on white guys shooting equipment. This info is mostly from Dale Payne’s book Frontier Memories 3 (buy his BOOKS!!!!! …I get nothing from Dale for plugging his books every blog but I swear to you if you buy his books and take a week off the message boards reading about boxwood, antler knives, 27 inch straps and blind elephants you will thank me.)

William Moseby (talking about a man shooting a bear) “…He then took his gun wiper and shot him in the side…” Page 127 FM3
James Wade (point Pleasant campaign) “ Many had to draw their guns because they were so out of order and several came to our camp to get the bullet screws for that purpose.”
“Bullet Drawers was a piece stuck on like they did to make a wiping stick, only the screw closer and much stronger. Sometimes broke them or if the powder was wet, it was very tedious getting a bullet out. We had several drawers in our camp, don’t know whose they were.”
“Esq George crooks tells of one Abraham Hornback that covered his bullets very neatly with buckskin in starting to go out in the late war & and that he killed an Indian with one of them. He only went out for 5 or 6 weeks to be in one battle”
Ben Guthri “He had shot a buffalo and had put in powder and ball without wadding to finish the killing”

Leather patched ball, unwadded shot, shooting wipers…great info from the folks there. Something’s I’ve noticed from looking for specific gun equipment these folks carry Less then you’d think….I’m really surprised at how little these guys carry (or mention they have) on them for their seemingly most important tool. Wipers, gun worms, bullet puller, shot, ball a few extra flints maybe a bullet mold seem to really be it. Which if you look at the size of the few documented shot pouches out there seems to work out.
So onto the stuff I’ve been working on….Well my fingers are bleeding from making stroud cloth (a mixture of tiger blood and blue dye…winning!) and I’ve been weaving like a mad man but I did take some time to knock out a few pieces of gear for myself. I’ve had a great otter hide since 2000 and have been kicking around the idea of making a quilled pouch out of it but….I’ve also wanted an otter turban since…well the first time I saw the Demming painting of Braddock’s defeat when I was in 2nd grade. SO thanx to a lead by Mike Galban and some info from Ike Walters I was able to knock out my latest fur cap.
Well since the otter hide was pretty big I also had to jump on the latest trend and make myself a south eastern otter skin shot pouch. These pouches were described by James Adair:
"On a Christmas-day, at the trading house of that harmless, brave, but unfortunate man, I took the foot of a guinea-deer out of his shotpouch -- and another from my own partner, which they had very safely sewed in the corner of each of their otter-skin-pouches, to enable them, according to the Indian creed, to kill deer, bear, buffaloe, beaver, and other wild beasts, in plenty..."
"As on a level place, all the savages sit cross-legged, so my visitors did, and held their guns on their knee, or kept them very near, with their otter-skin shot pouch over one of their shoulders, as is usual in time of danger. "
After looking at Takes on this by Jim Apple (canebreak mafia!) and Jason Melius I opted to go for the flap pouch over an open top bag. I also opted for a plain leather strap rather than weaving one (I wish I knew someone that fingerwove….for himself). You can see southern native shot bags in the Von reck image of native hunters and in the Commission given to Ostenaco by the French. So I tried and shoot for the middle of these two images.
The bag measures 6 by 6 and I took out shooting the other day and it worked out pretty well. I have it set up with loose shot and ball in the bottom, a French folding knife (back of blade acts as a turnscrew for the gun) made by Ken Hamilton, a small bag with flints in it and a cane whistle (made by Joseph privott) The horn I carried is a “millice” horn made for me by Mike Burke. Its based off some extant Canadian horns and scaled to hold one French pound of powder. Attached to the horn I carried a tin charger and brass pick (joseph privott) I recently picked up a pair of chargers made by hot dip tin but I haven’t had a chance to put those on a shooting rig yet. BUT they look pretty good and are based off an original example.
For the folks I promised info to this week here ya go a few examples of Tin Kettles at Fort Pitt

Fort Pitt Aug 7th 1765
John Cambell For 1 large tin kettle “7”6

Fort Pitt may 1767
James Kelly Batteauman
2 ½ yds Russia duck…@ 3/6…8..9
2 coarse shirts 20/ 2 skeins thread 6….1..0..6
1 small tin kettle .3..6
3 quarts of rum at diff times….9…
To Hutchinson Taylor……..3
(sounds like he’s getting trousers made to me)

Well I should be sewing but on the self promotion front Myself and few friends (Mike Burke and Joeseph privott) will be at the Horner’s Guild meeting at Fort Roberdeau this coming weekend. So stop by and say hi. Also I’ve been asked to do another talk at the Longhunter school on period shooting equipment (this is what happens when ya open your big mouth) so if you’re coming bring your shooting rig and We’ll be talking about what we carry, why we carry it and if THEY would have carried it.

Product review...Alec Foreman Fingerweaving

Horn strap by ALec
The "Murse" This bag is huge! 10 inches deep by 16 inches wide woven in the round. Original is in Denver Art museum
Sash now owned by Crowder. He called to apologize for buying finger weaving from someone else. It's ok I would have bought it too
ALec doing a tanning demo

There was some talk about shot pouch strap lengths on the FF board (this is just for you Gus) so here is a quick quote from a mention in William Bigg’s narrative: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26799/pg26799.txt

William Biggs Narrative mention of shot pouch strap length:
I thought perhaps the Indians would give me a
long chase, and probably that they would hold out better than I could;
although at that time I did not feel the least tired or out of breath. I
concluded to throw off my two coats and shoes, as I would then be better
prepared for a long race. I had my great coat tied around me with a silk
handkerchief pretty much worn--I recollect tying it with a slip knot,
but being in a hurry, it was drawn into a double hard knot; I tried some
little time to get it loose--the longer I tried the harder the knot
seemed to get, that stopped my running considerably; at length I broke
it by some means, I do not know how. In the morning I forgot to put on
my shot pouch before I put on my great coat, and then put it on over it.
I pulled off the sleeves of my great coat, not thinking of my shot-pouch
being over my coat, it having a very short strap, the coat got so tight
in the strap that I could not get it loose for a considerable time.
Still trying, it hung down and trailed on the ground, and every two or
three steps it would wrap around my legs and throw me down, and I would
catch on my hands and knees, it served me so several times, so that I
could make no headway at running. After some considerable time, I broke
the strap and my great coat dropped from me--I had no knife with me.


Guy sporting multiple coats and no knife…..scandalous. I’ve been spending the past few mornings looking pretty closely at A LOT of sources for shooting equipment/Practices information from period sources (thanx Galban This project could easily turn into a book after you got me started) SO Friday I’m hoping to put up some solid references to pour a little gas on the to patch or not to patch message board wars. I would like to point one thing out however....I'm finding ALOT of crazy info and equipment refrences but I'm finding NOTHING that points to bullet boards being used. It doesnt look good folks...

So one of the reasons I started doing this blog was to do product reviews so I thought tonight would be a good time to post a new one. More of a craftsmen review then anything and it’ll probably startle a few folks. I’d like to spotlight the Finger weaving/brain tanning of Alec Foreman. (I was going to talk about the OG Tom Conde’s stuff first but he still needs to email me back the questionare hint hint Tom ;))Yes I know I’m a weaver and no I’m not getting out of the game. As someone who looks at weaving A LOT I have to say that Alec’s stuff is top notch.

Alec does a great job at beading and his tension is really even and not too tight. This means when you lay a sash out for example its straight as opposed to the “snake” look you get from a piece that has mixed tension woven in thru the piece. He also uses the correct Yarn which makes a big difference in the look of each piece as well as the feel.

In talking to Alec over the past few months His drive to make the right stuff has knocked me out of a few year slump (complacency will kill ya) and pushed me to step up my game. He’s also been a fresh eye in relooking at a lot of pieces I personally had been looking at for a long time and he brought some new details to light. My advice is to keep this guy in mind if you’re looking at getting a fingerwoven article before his prices go up or he stops weaving. If ya see something he’s made for sale on CLA it’s going to be worth the $ (I’m still on the fence about ordering a sash from the guy and I make them)

As well as weaving Alec does a great job at brain tanning. I picked up 2 hides from him at Martin’s station last summer and have made a number of projects with the hides (summer moccasins and winter mocs) And his hides are really well done. The first thing I noticed was the uniformity in the hides. You don’t see a lot of scaring and holes you get when someone doesn’t know how to flesh a hide. The hides are smoked to the point they keep their pliability after they get wet. I wore a pair of mocs from one of his hides everyday this summer at the site I worked at and even after the usual soaking you get from the morning dew (day after day) the hides held up. SO he’s a great source for quality hides (he’d be my first choice for hides and second choice for weaving after this other guy I know…;))

Here is a Q&A I did with ALec
When I met you were doing a longhunter impression why the switch?
When we met I had just started weaving and producing leather, so I wasn't completely ready to make a full blown switch into the Native side of reenacting. It was because of the request of friends and realizing that if I am making the material goods for natives that i should attempt to do a native impression and do it justice, not just a half attempt.

SO what got you into finger weaving?
I first got into weaving when I was in high school. I had the desire to twine and weave a tumpline for myself and called a good friend Maria Fried- Jackson, For instructions on how to twine and weave. Never to finish the Tumpline i started i left it at that. I joined the army and was stationed in Germany and when i met my wife and was explaining the arts and the hobby in general, I started to reteach myself to weave. I only had a basic idea of how oblique weaving was done so there was a great deal of trial and error. During one of these trial periods my wife figured out how to do selvedge edges and she actually taught me that method.
Did you learn from specific book/person?
Maria fried- jackson, over the phone for basic left over right; left over right instructions and Gerald Finley's fingerweaving book as a quick reference. The rest has been self taught.


How do you pick a project?
Currently I pick a lot of my projects based off of original examples and also my own interpretation of original paintings/ sketches. Also what I feel like trying. There is still a huge trial and error factor that plays into every piece.

What is the favorite piece you’ve made so far?
My favorite piece I have made would have to be the resist dyed sash I recently finished. In that project there was numerous things to complete and attempt and I was very pleased with the outcome.

Your quite an accomplished brain tanner is it something you picked up on your own?
Brain tanning was something I had heard of when I first started reenacting, and I had to try it. I had only heard of how the method was done but had never seen anyone actually do it. When i was sixteen I went to all the local butchers and rounded up a dozen hides to attempt this experiment. The experiment failed miserably and I had to re-try numerous times. I achieved my first quality tanned hide about five years ago.

Which do you like better tanning or weaving?
I would have to say it depends on the weather.. I really like them both the same, as long as things are going the way they are supposed to. When they don't thats when I despise tanning or weaving. They really jump back and forth depending on the mood i'm in.

You already wove the “murse” what’s the next big weaving project? (the “murse” was a large bag in the denver art museum collection)
The next big weaving projects I have lined up to do are some of the woven bags from the British Museum Collections.

What piece of gear do you think more folks should be carrying doing a native impression?
In my opinion I think the piece of gear that native impressions are lacking is woven objects. Ie. sashes, garters, and even bags. I feel that this material object is underrepresented among native reenactors and we know that they had them.


SO if your looking for Alec’s contact info OR have any questions/hatemail/ ideas for a blog post I opened an email address for the Blog (Nospam)Thebuffalotrace1765@gmail.com

Some More information on Native headgear...or Shave your head then cover it up

Image showing man wearing an uncocked hat decorated with ribbon.
....Also check out the use of 2 rows of ribbon on his leggings and hangin out Paint scheme

My take on the Above hat. Simply tacked down some left over 2 inch yellow ribbob onto another piece of ribbon. Now to get it rained on and beaten up

Our Spokesmodel CIndy Wearing My take on the hat from the above image

Hendrick wearing Hat, coat and waistcoat

Jackets and Hats on natives. I love this image

So I think I’ll jump back into my Native centric gear for a second here and post some more on native trekking gear. Or really a piece of native gear that comes in pretty handy when hanging out in the treeless landscape that often makes up our event landscape…hats. A lot of the guys I run around with have been taking to wearing hats over the past few years. They are easy to document but also they keep your lilly white head from getting burnt (lets face it 9 out of 10 of you that are reading this that do portray a “native” have skin pigment somewhere between a ginger kid and an albino cave fish)

I thought I’d throw some references together that show a variety of headgear. The Silk scarf is a super documented item but I feel that it tends to be overdone at events. SO I’ll break the hats down into standard men’s hats (laced or unlaced) and caps. I’d also like to point out that while putting these lists together I noticed that on many of the same lists both laced hats and worsted caps could be found.

Standard hats were an item that was destined for Indian trade. In his memoir Pierre Pouchot mentions them as a standard item of trade from the French sector: The goods for Indian trade are….hats trimmed in fine and imitation, with variegated plumes in red, yellow, blue and green
The use of this type of Hat can also be seen in a number of images from Canada.. My personal favorite image of a distinctly native “slouch” hat is an anonymous water color of a native couple done in the 1770’s. The man has what appears to be a loop of ribbon draped off the crown of his hat next to his wife who appears to be carrying some sashes for sale and wearing a peaked hood.
Similar style hats can be seen in the images of Peachey and Davies from the same area. These hats to make even more sense when you see them worn in images of folks traveling by canoe.. Anyone who has spent any time on the water with a shaved head can vouch for the fun one can have with the heat beating on your bare head. The hats shown in these images are often a standard “tricorn” that has been uncocked and wore in a “slouch hat” fashion.
The Laced traditional tricorn hat can be seen in a number of images such as the oft reproduced image of King Hendrick. The outfit he is sporting in this image actually matches up to the standard headman’s gift of a coat, tricorn and waistcoat seen being handed out A LOT in the period. For example here is an example of such a set purchased at Fort Pitt:

Fort Pitt March 4th 1765
George Croghan
Merch sold him for the use of the crown at Carlisle Feb 15th
10 fine broad laced coats @ 165
10 laced hats@ 37/6
10 gay embroidered vests 67 ..10..

A list of goods going to the “Shawnee town” From Fort Pitt

The Shawnee towne
Aug 14 1766 3 doz 10 large silk handk
13 groce bed lace
6 groce red twilled gartering*
6 bolts broad tape
1 dozen gold laced hats
132 (?) lead
2 black leather saddles
4 horse bells

A neat side note there is a moccasin in the Bata shoe museum that has some red striped gartering sewn to it to secure it to the wearer’s foot. This stuff was traded a lot to native folks and is something that is way underrepresented by well….everyone.

The Next couple lists cross into the idea on Natives wearing both Knit/cotton caps and regular “tricorns” I’ve also left some other items in the lists that I thought needed reexamined. SO to start on the Knit caps you can see from these lists that they….well show up going to native heads. The Knit caps in the Cumberland and rockcreek inventories are kewl to me for another reason as well.

If you look at western Maryland/Pennsylvania/Virginia in the early part of the French and Indian war you see action by men like the famed Thomas Cresap. One action cresap’s men took part was written about and sent to the Pennsylvania Gazette:

Old Town, at Colonel CresapFort, May 7, 1756.
"On the 23d of last Month Thomas Cresap, junior, marched out of Fort Cumberland with about Forty Voluntiers, all dressed in Indian Apparel, and red Caps; intending to go towards Ford DuQuesne, and having advanced about ten Miles, they discovered fresh Tracks of Indians, who appeared to have gone along about an Hour before; upon which it was agreed by the whole Party to pursue them with all Speed, and accordingly they pushed on, and having got as far as Savage River, about 15 Miles from Fort Cumberland, they heard the Death Hollow at a small Distance behind them, and in a short Time after saw a Party of Indians advancing boldly up towards them, when our People disappeared by the Bent of the Road, and put themselves in a Posture to attack them, with Orders not to fire, until they came to a certain Place in the Road, where they might have a fair Prospect of them, as the Trees and Bushes, which stood very thick, would have obstructed their Firing. When the Indians came within about a Rod of the Place appointed to fire at, one of the Party discharged his Piece, and missed them; and immediately after several others fired, and wounded one of the Indians, who was seen to fall and recover three times, but made his Escape in a thick Lawrel Swamp, which was within two Rods of the Road. The said Indian had a Looking glass on his Back, which was shot all to Pieces. They then saw another Party coming up on Horseback, whom they got ready to attack; but a Dog, which our Men had with them, ran off to meet the Indians, which made them stop, and get off their Horses, before they were near enough to be fired at by those of the Party appointed to fire. Upon this one of the Advance Parties, who were posted a Look outs, fired, which caused the Enemy immediately to break off and run. Out People pursued them directly different Ways; and Mr. Cresap, who was at a considerable Distance when the Indians went off, ran to the Place where the Firing was, and being informed of the Course they had taken, followed them. Our Men kept hollowing the Indian Hollow incessantly as they ran along; and Cresap, after running above a Mile, came in Sight of some of his Party, who were pursuing one of the Indians, and coming up gave his Pistol to one of them, and passed on till he saw the Indian, and getting with 20 Yards of him, the Indian got behind a Tree, and fired at him; Cresap also stopped and fired, but had not Time to take to a Tree. They fired at one another so close together, that it seemlike one Gun. *The Indian, with a fine French Gun, mortally wounded Cresap with a Bullet and seven Swan shot in the Breast. Cresap, with a Rifle, mortally wounded the Indian through the Right breast, being the only Part to be seen of him. The Indian had gone but a few Steps further, when tow of CresapMen came up to him, knocked him on the Head with one of their Guns, and scalped him. Cresap had not fallen when the two Men passed him, but told them he was a dead Man, and desired them to pursue, which were his last Words. They returned to him in about four Minutes after, found him dead, and buried him. On their Return to their Baggage they discovered a great Number of Indian Tracks, who had gone off the Road, and passed by between them and the Road; they also saw an Indian running after the Party that had passed. It appears, by all Circumstances, the Enemy took our Men to be Catawba; and it is thought they killed two or three more of the Indians, but that they got into the Swamp, which was just by, where they could not be seen. One they shot in the Belly, as appeared by his matchcoat taking Fire, and his clapping his Hand to it; but he likewise got into the Swamp. Our Party got all their Baggage, with six Horses, and a white ManScalp. It was the Party that attacked Captain Mercer, and killed him the Sunday before. It appears by their Tracks, and by the Account of those that saw them, that there could not be less than 100 of them. Captain Ashby, on PattersonCreek, says, that when they demanded a Surrender of his Fort, he thought there were as many, if not more, than ever he saw at a General Muster in Virginia; and the Indian Embassador told him, he had 400 Men with him, paraded on a Hill just by, three Men deep."

The next two lists are from the Washington Papers:
List of Indian goods at Fort Cumberland sept 17, 1755
6 laced hats
14 mens worsted caps

December 1756, Lists of Indian Goods at Rock Creek
strip'd & scarlet worsted Caps from 5\--to 12--per dozn.
Silk Han kers: from 28\--to 33\
Silk Caps--@ 40\ --
Mens worsted Hose from 24\ to 45\--per dozn.
grey, green & red yarn Do.--from 10\6--to 15\--not many left
Mens beavr: Carolina Hats from 4\6--to 6\--not many left

abt. 2 dozn. fusee Guns proved Barrells @ 14\--very good at the price but rather larger Bows than those commonly used in the Indian Trade ; they wou'd answer very well for a Bullet & Shot & believe wou'd suit the Southern Indians ; as I have been told they do not use a single Bullett so much as the Northern Indians* (someone should have told the native that shot cresap this fact… but inspite of this here we have two period refs to the use of buck and ball by natives more on this in a blog to follow on loading your gun like a native)

So here in the same region and time period we have a few items that point to the commonality of Natives having access to and wearing knit caps and Hats. In fact the use of them seems to be a normal look for the English natives as the one comment was that Cresap’s men may have been mistaken for Catawba’s. The Silk Caps on the list may be the same style that we refer to as workman’s caps. In the Bayton Wharton and Morgan papers I have found cotton and silk caps also being purchased by by natives. SO again we have yet another type of euro headgear on a native.
The final list I’ll post for today is part of the massive list of goods that goes to the lenapes during the rev war:

Estimates of Goods to be sent for the Delawares-May 10,1779
From the Continentals, intended for the Lenape at Coshockton

4 doz black silk handkerchiefs
3 doz black silk cravats
80 pieces of taffata ribbons, yellow,blue,green red & purple
30 regimental coats. good
30 do hats half silver laced good
50 worsted caps
2 lb cruels or other worsteds*
"Frontier Advance on the
Upper Ohio 1778-1779" Pages 413-415

Once again we can see laced hats as well as worsted caps. I’m also a big fan when lists mention specifics like the color of ribbon. These seem to be the standard for the color of ribbons pout of fort pitt from the 1760’s period as well. Also the “cruels “and worsteds are yarns that would probably be used for finger weaving so I’m always pumped by those being mentioned as many people still have an idea that only unraveled blankets were used for finger weaving.

So Now what? Well this isn’t the only type of headware worn by natives there are hoods/peaked caps, ear caps, turbans, etc but I think this shows some info on the use of euro style hats and their commonality. SO shave your head and then cover it with a hat you’ll be glad ya did. Also if your looking for some Good knit caps Ike walters posted some great images on his blog of period knit caps and His wife also makes some nice repros. As far as Good sources for standard hats There are a number of resources out there for them depending on how much you want to spend but that’s a whole blog onto itself….wow 2 blogs in a week Looks like my winter blahs are over .

Corn quivers and blue guns

I bet that gun weighs around 5 lbs.....Hey is that Sluder?

original Twined basket/quiver

My painted Gun (and matchcoat in progress...No Ike it's not tear stained after the steelers loss)

What was I saying a couple months ago about missing winter? Man was that dumb. I don’t mind the snow but this ICE is horrible. Since the 1st of the year I’ve been going 24/7 it seems with weaving/sewing to fill orders as well as hunting and getting my Stroud cloth production going full bore for the market fair season. SO far the only New Year’s resolution I haven’t kept up on has been this thing.

A few weekends ago I headed over to Lewisburg, Pa for the 18th century Artisans Show and man am I glad I did. John Getz and his crew put on a great show and are awesome hosts. There was a great collection of Guns, Red ware, Painting, woodwork, horn work and originals. There were around 1600 folks that came thru (would have been more but a Saturday ice storm turned away some folks) . I met a lot of folks who have been reading the blog and they had a lot of nice things to say .

A piece of gear I was able to finally get my hands on was my new Type G or “Carolina gun”. My gun was made By Mike Seidleman of Virginia. I met Mike a few years ago at the school of the long hunter and have been bugging him about trade guns ever since. Mike likes to make trade guns/parts guns and does a very good job at it in my opinion. My gun is .62 with a 44 inch inch barrel and weighs around 5lbs. The only thing I’d change about the gun is that I should have had the rear site put on but I intend to pass the gun back to Mike asap to get this fixed before spring gobbler.

I’m the third or fourth guy in my crew to pick up a gun from Mike (Carolina gun crew is still growing) and everyone has been very pleased with his work. He normally stocks the trade guns in beech but I was in a hurry so he stocked mine in walnut which hurt his brain. I also hurt Mike’s brain by what I did to the stock…Paint it Blue. I painted it Blue based of the description of the Gun’s in the Williamsburg Arsenal. If and when I order another G I’d have it made with a beech stock and leave it unfinished but for some reason I just had to have a blue gun. Maybe to offset my Brown hunting shirt….

I took the gun out to shoot in the other day and put 25 shots thru it at 50 yards. I moved the powder charge between 65 and 85 grains but settled on 65. From the bench the gun seemed to shoot consistently an inch low and to the right but I’m going to wait until I get the rear sight put on to mess with it. I only wadded the ball with leaves (no patching) as I haven’t been able to find anything about folks patching smoothbores especially natives. I’ve found references to folks shooting half loads, chewed balls even lock bolts but nothing on patching.

I think this is due to the fact that these guys weren’t going to a rendyvous blanket shoot to break clay pigeons or split a shot on an axe blade they were aiming at a dinner plate sized area on a deer/bear/buffalo/person for a kill shot. If you know where your gun shoots a lot of times that’s more important then a little piece of cloth.

I had a few question from people on pieces of gear I carry and why. One question that came up a few times was why I carry a small wallet as opposed to a corn quiver for rations. SO I thought I’d go over some info on corn quivers and what they really looked like in the period. Many folks are familiar with the 16th century quote on the use of Corn Quivers:

“Brought with them in a thing like a bow case (which the principle of them had about his wait) a little of their corn pounded into powder, which, put to a little water, they eat.”

SO somewhere along the line this quote has been used to justify the use of the “corn quiver” we have all seen (or owned I admit I’m guilty I had one). As a person who looks at a lot of native narratives and extant artifacts this idea that this quote translated into a linen pouch really made no sense to me. A common item like a corn quiver should still exist somewhere. The idea of the VC rice bag as a native corn bag just didn’t add up. Well one night while looking at some images of gear in French collections with Crowder a few items stood out that…well..Made sense.

In the “Patterns of power” Catalog an object popped up.( a small twined “Basket” is shown from a European collection (Patterns of Power, Page 83) The pouch matches up to other period examples of twined bags/baskets in that its woven in the round and matches the “corn quiver” description. Also after relooking at some info I hadn’t looked at in years I found a similar twined bag shown on the Nativetech website http://nativetech.org/weave/falseembroidery/index.html these bags look nothing like the modern “corn quiver” we see used at events. What also helps is that these bags when collected were noted as carrying corn meal.

SO for someone doing a native/French impression one of these pouches would be totally correct to carry. Also for any aspiring craftspeople out there these things aren’t that hard to make (just time consuming) so if anyone is looking for a niche market start twining (this guy already has too many projects to finish lol)

This was great for my native kit but I needed to find a documented alternative to the VC bag. while looking I came across this excerpt of Benjamin Allen’s interview in “frontier Memories” by Dale Payne (come one folks if you haven’t read Dale’s books then you should be shot if you post anything negative on any message board. In fact Buy his books and take a week off the msg board world and read them! It’s Ok I’ll wait…go do it now…): Watson had a beautiful wallet of corn. The Indians just poured it out. They didn’t even let the horses eat it and just took the wallet along.

To me this showed both the use us natives and backcountry folks using wallets to carry stuff (didn’t say haversack of corn folks….admit it you use it cuz you want to not because you can document it….if ya cant document it don’t fight it just say you want to use it. I’ll use my seinfield voice here “And whats the deal with haversacks with pockets in them anyway?”) More importantly this quote showed the use of a wallet to haul corn in by a backcountry person.

Why do I mention this? Well As I’ve shown in a past blog Wallets came in all size. So to haul rations in I used this description and the various size wallets to base my use of a smaller wallet to carry parched corn/jerk and sometimes hard bread in (i.e. all the rations you would carry in a haversack in the military). I simply drape it over my belt in the back or over my canteen strap. This allows me to carry enough food for a day or two and cuts down on the amount of straps that so many lament in this hobbie. (ya got your shot pouch strap, your powder horn strap, the game axe strap, your possible bag strap, your haversack strap, etc…. )

SO before the hate mail starts like I stated I used to own a “corn quiver/VC rice bag” and it was awesome. The point of this weirdness is to share some info I found after that you make the call for what you want to do for your gear. As far as other self promoting weirdness I’ll be giving a talk on 18th century Tattoos at the School of the Long hunter at Pricket’s Fort on April 1st. The School is looking to be a pretty good time again this year. Mark Baker is giving the 3rd part of his series “the Natural Man” there will also be talks on Brain Tanning, scouts and spies, Indian Dept. and Plott Hounds. I should get back to sewing my tear stained matchcoat....

Some thoughts on Garters...or If ya call them Leg ties Wallace will punch you in the face.

Garters based off pair in Ben West Collection......Research By Dr. Stephenson points to the fact some of West's props came to him from Bayton, Wharton and Morgan

Tapes....top is linen, Middle worsted and bottom is dogbane and buffalo wool......and whats the deal with ppl weaving this stuff out of silk or cotton?

Wow it finally snowed here in Central Pa. and I got to use my new sled. Of course it was me and my daughter sledding down the sidewalk in front of the house to the confusion of the Bar goers across the street but I got to use it. I’ve been in full bore weaving production here getting ready for the upcoming show in Lewisburg. I’ve also been working on some bigger projects to show off my weaving (i.e. stuff I’ll keep for once)
One project I’ve started is based of a Purchase by Alexander Mckee in the BW&M papers. I’m calling it the ultimate breechclout:

Alexander Mckee july 21, 1765
½ yard scarlet cloth /11/3
8 yds green ribbon 8/…4 yds pur 4/ /12/
1 bunch beads /5/
1 skane silk /1/6
14 brooches /14/
2/3/9

Now these could have just been odds and ends he was purchasing but I decided to turn it into a breechclout as I find ppl often purchase the ribbon/beads etc when they purchase breechclouts/leggings. I also thought about sewing up a “hood” using this list but I went with something I would use. I’ll post some images when it’s finished.
One document I’ve been working on is a basic cost of what my “dream” kit would cost based on the Fort Pitt records. This way I’d have a basic idea of just what all the stuff I’m carrying cost vs. how many deer I’d need to kill to purchase it (my shrub/small beer tab alone would kill all the deer in the county)
So to wet your appetite for that posting here is the cost of a common native kit:

July 26 1765
Delivered to an Indian that gave up a white prisoner
1 english matchcoat /15/
1 pr of leggings /7/6
1 breechclout /7/6
1 plain shirt /12/
1 box paint 2/ 1 qt rum 2/6 /4/6
2/6/6


The price of a tin canteen and tin pint cup
Robert field
1 tin canteen 3/3 1 tin pint 1/6


SO one question I’ve received a few times over the past few weeks is about the proper Garters for a long hunter. Well my general short answer is “I don’t know but I’m pretty sure they don’t look like those leather tab woven cloth things”. And while this answer is a little….lets say flippant. I gotta say I have yet to have anyone show me solid research to prove me wrong. The BWM papers are full of accounts of purchases of cloth, ribbon, lace and gartering of ALL kinds. The problem is in a lot cases is the mundane items like garters don’t always have a good description of the type of gartering.
A good source to see period examples of gartering is in Florence Montgumery’s book “Textiles in America”

http://www.amazon.com/Textiles-America-1650-1870-Dictionary-Commercial/dp/0393017036

Ok I can hear folks now….not everyone went to a store…blah blah blah…In Kentucky We…blah blah blah. I get it ,so just keep doing what your doing no skin off my ass…But let me continue. The images in Montgumery’s book clearly show different type of gartering that were around in the 18th century and can give you an idea of what could have been purchased at a store such as the BWM store at Fort Pitt and Kaskaskia. I know Susan Wallace of Silver Shuttle has reproduced some of this gartering but I don’t own an example to comment on.

Now for specific garters purchased by Fort Pitt Long hunters I can point out some references that may help. Simon Girty bought a pair of "garters from an Indian" in April of 1767 for 5 shillings (for as native focused as ppl want to make Girty this is the only native thing i found him buying) SO my first thought was “dam those are expensive garters”. especially After I found William Baker purchasing a pair of garters in May of 1767 for 2 shilling. But the more I dug the more I found the prices in listed garters were all over the place. I found it also matched up to the prices listed for “gartering” being purchased with items such as leggings.


June 20 1765
John Hart
1 black hunting saddle 1/14
1 curb Bridle /5/9
5 gallons rum @10 2/10/
1 horse whip /5/
1 horse bell /5/ ..1 Pr Garters /9 (9 shilling garters)

June 21 1765
Patrick Green
1 pr Garters /1/ 1 silk Handk /9/6 (1 shilling garters….whats the difference!!!!)
/10/6

SO from what I can find Garters being purchased by the hunters are either Native made or more then likely made from the many different types of “gartering” being brought into the store. Now for a little info on the Native type of garters. Yes I know this blog is as clear as mud but honestly so are the records.
If you’re looking for a pair of “native” garters what I would recommend is doing some reading on the Native weaving from the region your portraying. For example a hunter dealing with Cherokees/creeks more than likely would not be sporting a pair of quilled garters as Southeastern garters tend to be finger woven or bead twined .Also for someone portraying a pre rev war hunter should look for something done in the oblique weave as the majority of Pre rev war items are done in this type of weave. (check out the post on SE native stuff for some good examples of native garters)
Another option is an item that is way underrepresented in my opinion is the simple Tape loomed garters. Tape was a common item that would be woven at home during the period and a solid option for folks who don’t feel that they would have gotten to the “store”. In the spring I finished myself a pair of “Kentucky” tape garters. I used natural cordage as a weft and buffalo yarn as a warp and made a civilized looking tape (just because its country made doesn’t mean it needs to be ugly)
SO there ya go some garter info mixed in with a whole bunch of my blah blah blah. And don’t forget cloth strips or deerskin lace makes the cheapest garters you can find….. time to go hunting

I bought a broken knife....why does that make me so happy?

Mittens from Kannick's Korner Pattern

Profile of original knife handle

Original knife...full tang 3 pins

Native site Barrel band Pot hook

So winter is here and in my part of the world that means…No Snow. So far we’ve been lucky (or unlucky to the guy with the new sled) and been missed by pretty much all of the big storms. So as a result I had to tweak my winter scout plans and really pared back on what I took. I’ll write more up on this later as right now time is a factor for me. I was able to spend A LOT of the “xmass” break in the woods and have to say most of my new gear really worked out well in the bitter cold.
One Project I finally finished was a pair of mittens. I cut these out about 3 years ago and they sat in my project bin until just before xmass. I made them from thick Brown wool fabric and used the Kannick’s Korner Pattern for them. I have found both Mittens and gloves being purchased by Morgan’s hunters So I opted for Mittens. I attached a “dummy string” to mine so that well….I don’t lose one. I really recommend the Kannick’s Korner Patterns for anyone wanting to either upgrade their gear or just try their hand at hand sewing. The Patterns include instructions on basic stitches and all the documentation they have for the item. www.kannikskorner.com/pataccess.htm

In between projects and hunting over the past few weeks I’ve been doing as much reading as possible. I started rereading “Forty-Four Years of the Life of a Hunter” By Meshach Browning. I find when I reread books a few times I pick up little details I missed the first 10 times lol. I also picked up a few “Shire Books” on sewing equipment and money. These Little booklets are chocked full of information and images of originals. You can learn a lot on everything from clay pipes to knives and the Bibliographies are great. Many historic sites carry these books (usually near the toys but they aren’t just kids books). Check out their site the books are inexpensive and worth the money. Shire books http://www.shirebooks.co.uk/home.aspx these are awesome to read on a lunch break.

Another Book I picked up over the holidays was “Some Thoughts on Scouts and Spies” By Gerry Barker. I’ve been able to spend some time in the woods with Gerry and He’s a great guy and really knows his stuff. Gerry’s book is a blend of his real world military experiences and historical info that is meant to help folks who wish to portray an 18th century “spy”. I feel though it’s useful to anyone portraying frontier militia/hunter/native. One Paragraph that really struck me as relevant in the “msg board” world:
“Most of us are not very realistic in our choice of the materials of scouting. For some reason there is more interest in filling our packs than there is in filling our list of skills. Consequently we are over armed, over equipped, and over fed.”
I know I’ve been guilty of this quite a few times on scouts/marches. I picked up my copy from Bob Browder at Longhunter Leather Company. So if you’re looking to get a copy drop Bob an email I’m pretty sure he has more in stock.
Also one more Item I picked up before the holidays was another original Knife. This one has a broken blade but the kewl thing about it is a lot of the handle was still attached. It has a full tang and the handle was held on with three pins. I was also able to pick up a barrel band Pot hook. That’s right a native site pot hook. I have seen these from euro military sites but never a native site (or else I just never noticed) anyhow I’ve posted a pic.
Oh and In the self promotion department I was recently approved for the 18th Century Artisan Show in Lewisburg, Pa on February 4 & 5th. This will be my first year at the show but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. If your at the show stop by and say hi. I’m sure the usual cast of misfits will be hanging around the table (Crowder will be the one with his head in a book or looking into space trying to figure out how to sew an 18th century hot air balloon)
www.18thcenturyartisanshow.com