Leather Trousers pt II

In a past blog I brought up the idea of leather trousers as are mentioned in a number of fur trade journals.  Since then, I have been digging around for yet more information on these.  Other than a few mentions here and there and a pair of original leather pantaloons from the Stephen Long Expedition (1819) that were more likely undergarments, most of what I am finding is later in period.  In spite of this, there seems to be...

More Beaver

Weather is changing.  There is a little snow on the ground and my beaver trapping is proving to be a bit more successful than what I have been doing for other animals.  I am only about 300-400 yd. from the house and in a marsh, not a beaver pond or creek, but I have now gotten two beavers in essentially 4 days.  I only have 4 snares out in a few different runs and these snares have worked well.  Here is the beaver I caught...

Canoes, Beaver, Hats, and Other Fun

It has been a fun and busy last couple weeks.  I have, in the makes, a blog posting that will be a part II to the Leather Trousers blog; but until a few more museum images come through… I have a lot more to blog about. In an earlier blog, I mentioned the rough state of my bark canoe. This past week, I reinforced the cracked gunwales and replaced ALL of the thwarts. It is now ready to go into storage for the winter and...