"250 Years Ago"

 250 years ago today, one of the greatest Native chiefs,"Pontiac" laid siege to Fort Detroit.

On May 7, Pontiac entered the fort with about 300 men, armed with weapons hidden under blankets, determined to take the fort by surprise. However, the British commander Henry Gladwin had apparently been informed of Pontiac's plan, and the garrison of about 120 men was armed and ready. Pontiac withdrew and, two days later, May 9th, laid siege to the fort. A number of British soldiers and civilians in the area outside the fort were captured or killed; one of the soldiers was ritually cannibalized, as was the custom in some Great Lakes Indian cultures. The violence was directed only at the British: French colonists were left alone. Eventually more than 900 Indian warriors from a half-dozen tribes joined the siege.

New priming horn and a new bag, for Me

 One of our members from Wulff's Rangers is a accomplished Horner, Roy Howman, I had him make up this priming horn for me and as you can see he did a excellent job.He asked what I wanted engraved on the horn and he delivered.
Roy dose excellent work and you can check more of his work on his web site.    http://royhowmanbhw.weebly.com/index.html

 So now that I have a new priming horn I needed a new shot bag. I have been working hard on trying to get caught up on my orders and  decided to take a brake and make up a new bag. So I spent some time on  Sunday and Monday to put this bag together. The bag that I am currently using just wasn't deep enough, so using the same bag pattern I made it a little deeper and half inch wider, (7x8) and changed the style of the flap. I also played around with the strap. I had some left over piece of strapping left from other project, so I ended up with it being 1 1/4" wide and tapering it down to fit a one inch iron buckle. I then spliced in a one inch wide tongue to fit the buckle. It worked out well and I like the look. It's just a simple leather bag 3/4 oz. veg tanned leather, welted seam and hand sewn with waxed linen thread. The flap is made up of two pieces of leather 4 oz. backed with 2 oz. so not to be to thick, the edge is hand stitched then burnished to give it a nice finished look. A small amount of tooling added along with a button closer.
I also added a very small inside pocket to carry my hunting tags in, they are out of sight but not left at home. The new horn will fit nicely in on top of what I carried in my old bag. Now I'm thinking a new powder horn!!!  

Two more axes

I think I have done at least two dozen of these ax sets. One of these is already sold and the other one will make the trip down to
 Martian's Station next weekend along with a few other leather accouterments that I make and will hopefully sell.

From a long time ago

Then, 1982

This was me, at my very first event in the early fall of 1982. I spent the summer working on putting together my Mountain Man outfit and I was looking good!!
  Now 31 years later I am still try to put together a period correct outfit but, for a different place and time. I am now trying to be a early ranger of the 1750 French & Indian war, patrolling in Pennsylvanian.  And still looking good!!

Now, 2013

The wife & I 1986

Brian, age 6 now 31

Craig, age 4 now 29

Eric, age 2 now 27

 

Simple Shot Bag

 This is the second bag like this that I have made for Capt. Wulff. The two bag are pretty much the same, simple in construction, they are both 8" wide by 7" deep. Made from one piece of 3/4 oz. veg. tanned leather, folded to size and sewn with waxed linen thread with a outside seam. The difference between the two is the first was made with a full inside pocket also acting as the welt, the second ( shown in photos) is made with a full width pocket made only 4 1/2" deep and sewn down the middle splitting the pocket in half. He intend to carry lose ball on one side and buckshot on the other. The strap is 1 1/4" wide tapering down to fit a 1" iron buckle. The leather is dyed a dark brown and treated with neets-foot oil and bee's wax. Brass button closer.

5 Coin Purses

Here are five coin purses that I just finished up. I have found many different uses for these little purses.
I use them for a flint wallet, also for carrying shot cards for my fowler. A friend of mine uses his to carry his cleaning tools for his fowler in.
I use one for my period coin and my rosary that is in my waistcoat pocket and it works great for ones pipe tobacco. I'm sure that one could find other uses for them.
They are made from 3/4 oz. veg-tan leather, hand stitched and tooled. Dyed and treated with oil and bee's wax (2 3/4" x 3 3/4")

New Shot Bag

I just finished this bag for a gentlemen who like a style of bag that I had made once before. The bag is just a simple leather bag made from 3/4 oz. veg. tanned leather, no lining or inside pocket. The bag is

6 1/2" wide by 7" deep with a 1 1/2" wide gusset tapering off to the top of the bag, seams are welted also.The flap is double sided, front having some tooling done and a button closer. Strap is 1" wide and fitted with a forged iron buckle. All done by hand with waxed linen thread.