Re: MtMan-List: misc topics

["Matt Richards" <backcountry@braintan.com>]

Allen
Thanks for the long reply. I'm at work too when doing this, but my
taskmaster is myself, and its nice to give one's self a break from scraping
hides, to learn and share a bit on the machine.

Here are some thoughts on your recent responses in our ongoing discussion of
period leather.

1. You're right in that I have always assumed that at least some of the mtn
men made their own clothes and accoutrements.....and that this lead me to
assume that they would improvise a bit to suit their own needs. Do others on
this list agree with this assertion that nearly all of their clothing (aside
from mocs) was purchased?

2. I very clearly did not hear any real evidence or sources for leather
garments of the period being made out of bark tan.....only inferences from
the fact that there were a lot of tanneries and garment makers. I would
still love to know of some...not to challenge what you are saying (though I
do doubt it somewhat) but for my own knowledge.

3. Have read several times the resource you mention. Not a primary source by
any means, but some interesting stuff. (Welsh, Peter.  "Tanning in the
United States to 1850").

4. The quotes regarding 'leather' breeches are highly open to
interpretation. While there was often some clear distinctions between
'buckskin' being what we call brain or smoke tan, and 'leather' meaning
bark-tan, this distinction doesn't seem to be any where near universal, or
even necessarily predominant.

5. As far as exporting brain tan or 'dressed' leather, my research agrees
with you. A lot of 'indian dressed' deerskins were shipped to England in the
mid 1700's (hundreds of thousands), there are very good records of this,
particularly from the southeast. As time went on, more and more of this
trade involved sending raw deerskins rather than dressed ones, that were
then presumably (can't back this up) oil-tanned in England. But definitely
tanned in England ... buckskin was a major fashion rave of the time in
Europe.
There are accounts of these buckskin breeches being typically
yellow....which has always made me think these were the ones they got from
the Indians....but they certainly could have been dyed yellow. There was
also (just a weird side note) a German brain tanning tradition still
practiced in Europe in the 1850's.

6. I think your comment comparing period guns and clothing is relevant in
some ways, but not completely. With the guns you are comparing pieces of
technology, and a knowledge of the technology. With clothing, at least the
context I've been writing and reading about on this list, the question is
more along the lines of the assumption that one could personalize one's own
clothing within the existing technology and knowledge of the day. I don't
know practically anything about muzzleloading guns, but I'll try to make an
analogy: Its more like some-one deciding to shorten the stock so that it fit
their body better, or devised a different way of attaching the strap than
was the 'norm' for such and such a reason.

I kind of compare it to food. When you cook food at a re-enactment, do you
only use recipes that you can document? Or do you think that it is somewhat
reasonable to take some of the fixings that were available and used at the
time and place, and cook them up without a documentable recipe? (with the
obvious exception of it not being appropriate to take period fixings and
deliberately make some favorite dish of a later time.....that not
acceptable).

As far as 'fashion police' go, I'm sure they existed. They've existed in
every time and place, including our own. But like the guys on the
yellowstone who grew their hair long and wore indian clothes, ...there have
always been people who didn't follow the rules of the fashion police. And
there is a huge leap from altering period style so that they fit the mtn man
of the time's needs, to wholesale adopting a different style. My argument is
that people would have altered stuff when it made practical utilitarian
sense (and occasionally just because).

Matt Richards
www.braintan.com