Randy, thanks, I almost addressed this thread to you hoping you would comment! Cal, I respect your opinions too. Afterall you are the one who sold me on the advantages of a silk scarf many yrs. ago! I kinda figured on keeping my pipe & baccee in a leather pouch or tin inside my haversack or belt bag, but wanted to here from others more sage than I.
Randy, seems like every longhunter I see including myself carry a neck knife and wear leggins & garters and mocs, like the Indians did. Those items and customs seem to have been readily adapted by white hunters.
Tom,
When I smoked a pipe I carried one with an easily removed rather short stem and carried it, with my tobacco in a small leather pouch that I wore around my neck. It looks like a later period medicine bag that is worn around the neck. Remember that the pipe was not smoked as much back then as it is today. Most guys today carry a pipe as a replacement for cigarettes and smoke the pipe all day. Back then a pipe may have only been smoked once or twice each day so there was not much need for a large supply of tobacco. The 18th century tin pipe holders I mentioned look pretty much like the hinged pipe carriers shown above in Riku's reply.
Sure, most modern day longhunters you see do wear Leggings, leg ties, mocs and carries a neck knife. Obviously some original longhunter types wore britches, and boots and shoes and you do see these items worn by some modern day longhunter types. That is not what I was talking about. Some Native American items were assimilated by the longhunters and other frontiersmen, but often they were different than what the NA's actually wore.
There is not much, if any, evidence that the longhunters wore quilled or beaded items like modern day longhunters do. There is also not much, if any, evidence that longhunter/frontiersmen had tattoos or ever wore trade silver. Sterling silver cone and ball earrings were just not worn by the original longhunters. The neck knives worn by todays modern longhunters are cute little knives that might have been worn by a NA woman, but neck knives worn by 18th century Native American warriors were actually full size belt knives that were worn in a sheath hanging on a cord around the neck. Try wearing one rigged up like that, flopping around and banging into you chest and just generally getting in the way every time you try to do something and you will soon be wearing it back in your belt. Mocs might have been the same style as those worn by NA's, but wouldn't have been quilled, beaded or otherwise decorated. Of course, the everyday mocs worn by NA's wouldn't have been have been quilled either, but you do see them on some modern day longhunters. There are journal passages that indicate that the white settlers and hunters made crude leather shoes/mocs that were not much like NA mocs. In fact, the mocs made and worn by todays modern longhunters, where the seam goes down and under the toes, were probably not the style of centerseam mocs that the NA's wore, even though that is what you see most modern day longhunters wearing.
The longhunters and others did bring back sterling, brass and copper jewelry as well as quilled items like neck knives, but the generally accepted theory is that they sold these once they arrived back in the settlements because there is not much evidence that they wore these items themselves.
Randy Hedden
www.harddogrifles.com
