Of Brains And Blood

Well folks, I haven't brain tanned deer skins since about 1989 or 1990 but I've decided that it's time to get back to it!  Now brain tanning may be simple in theory but it sure ain't easy; it's HARD WORK! Now for those of you who don't know the process, it basically follows these steps; fleshing, dehairing and graining, braining, stretching and drying, and smoking.  Now fleshing is the same whether you dry scrape or wet scrape to remove the hair and grain.  So you flesh the fresh hide removing all remaining flesh, fat, etc.

Fleshing a hide

Then you have to dehair and grain.  Now the way I did it years ago in Wyoming is dry scraping where you lace and stretch the freshly fleshed hide into a frame and let it dry, then scrape off all the hair and grain which is the epidermal layer of skin.  With the wet scrape method you soak the fleshed hide in a mixture of water and wood ash or lye until the hair slips and then scrape all the hair and grain off while the hide is wet using the fleshing beam.  After dehairing and graining the hide it's time to brain which involves soaking the hide in a mixture of pureed brains (if no brains are available you can substitute a dozen eggs) and water.  Once the hide has soaked in the brains it needs to be stretched and worked over a post or pulled back and forth over a tight rope until the hide is COMPLETELY dry. The object is to keep the hide softened and stretched while it dries.  When the hide is done correctly it will be soft and white at this point.

What unsmoked brain tanned buckskin looks like

The final step is to smoke the hide to coat the fibers with the pitch in the smoke which will have the effect of keeping the hide supple once it gets wet and dries out.  If it's not smoked it will turn back into rawhide when it gets wet and then dries out.  The color of the smoked hide depends on what type of wood is used to smoke it.

What smoked brain tanned buckskin looks like

So this past week I tanned a hide using the wet scrape method for the first time.  It did NOT work well for me!  The hide did not turn out well at all.  I've decided that I will just go back to the dry scrape method from now on.  I will keep you updated on the hide tanning.

Now, I've told you all of that so I can tell you this.  Last Sunday at Lahoma Baptist Church, Pastor Brent was preaching on 2 Corinthians 5, verses 17-21.  Verse 17 says "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  Now me being who (and what) I am, my mind immediately went to brain tanning buckskin!  So at this point you are probably saying "what the heck does brain tanning buckskin have to do with that scripture, Turkey Creek?"  Well, I'm about to tell you!

You see, when you turn your life over to Christ, what's the first thing He has to do?  He has to scrape all that stinking, nasty, worldly flesh off of you!  You know; all that stuff you did that was against God! ( I won't go into what that is here but if you really want to know, read Romans 1 starting with verse 18!).  He then has to take off that worldly coat of hair that you were wearing that made you look just like all the people that are still living in the flesh.  Then comes the best part!  He washes you in the Blood (just like you wash the deer skin in the brains) and you come out looking all white and fresh and clean just like the unsmoked brain tanned buckskin!  Remember that picture above of the unsmoked skin?  That's what Christ did on the cross; he washed us white as snow!  Then finally he smokes us in the Holy Spirit to make us usable so that we can take the Gospel into all the world!

So folks, that's what was going through my mind as Pastor Brent was giving his message, and a very good message it was!

If anyone wants to know more about being "Blood tanned" by Christ, please feel free to shoot me an email at turkeycreek1823@gmail.com. I would be glad to visit with you about it.

Well, that's about it from the old mountaineer's camp on Turkey Creek in the Year Of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Twenty Three.

Until next time, keep yer nose in the wind and yer eyes on the skyline!

TC

The Mud Walled Trading Fort On The Arkansas

The two trappers were cold but not too bad as they pushed on down the Arkansas River that afternoon in the early winter of 1834. They had made their fall hunt in the Bayou Salade and had several packs of prime beaver riding on the pack horses. Beating the heavy snow, they had come over the passes east of the Bayou and had ridden south by east until hitting the Arkansas.  Clive and his partner, Smitty had heard last summer at rendezvous on Ham's Fork of the Green that there was a new trading fort on the Arkansas not too far from the mountains east of the Bayou.  They had heard that the Bent brothers and their partner, Ceran St. Vrain had built the mud walled post to trade for furs and robes and that is where the pair were bound for, to trade their plews for some powder, tobacco and coffee; and maybe a little whiskey too...THERE! Down there on the prairie not too far from the river! There it was, shining in the afternoon sun by golly and it sure was a big thing to look at! Yessir, Clive and Smitty would have themselves a spree this night, you can lay your traps to that!

It had been years since Linda and I had been to Bent's Fort; 27 years to be exact. Too long for this old mountaineer!  We had decided to wait until next year to head back to Wyoming but we both felt the need to get away for a few days so a little road trip was planned.  We loaded the pack animals and saddled up (well actually we loaded up the little orange Hummer but my mind was back in the early eighteen hundreds so I'll stick with saddle and pack stock if that's okay with you) and headed up through the Panhandle and into southeastern Colorado to La Junta for the first night out.  We were excited and ready the next morning as we headed out of town the few miles to Bent's Old Fort which is maintained by the National Park Service.  I had figured on spending a couple of hours there which turned into over 3 hours!

Bent's Fort was built in 1833 by brothers William and Charles Bent and their partner Ceran St. Vrain. It was situated on what was known as the "mountain route" of the Santa Fe Trail along the north bank of the Arkansas River and the partners were in business to trade for furs and buffalo robes, especially with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes but also with travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and with the mountaineers that trapped the southern Rockies.  At the fort, Clive and Smitty could trade for just about anything they could need; powder and lead, coffee and tobacco, blankets, shirts and pants, beads and trinkets, even guns and beaver traps.  It was a well stocked trade room that was kept at the fort.

As well as trade goods, the fort also offered a complete blacksmith shop and carpenter shop for the manufacture or repair of anything that might be needed.  There were even a few rooms where a mountaineer could spread his robes for the night if  he could stand to be closed up in walls and roof instead of under the stars where he usually spent his nights.

All too soon we had to leave.  We could have spent another couple of hours there for sure!  We wanted to take the hiking trail down along the river but, alas, we had to get on over North Laveta Pass and down the Rio Grande to Taos where we had a reservation for the night at the Old Taos Guest House.

A short evening in Taos with enough time to go out and eat and then walk around the old town square and then a nine hour trip home the next day left us with the desire to go back to Taos and take in the Kit Carson Museum and the Taos Pueblo as well as any other historical sights in the area.  I also want to head to Glorieta, NM and see if we can tour Jeff Hengesbaugh's museum.  So Linda and I definitely see another trip that direction in the future.

If you can make it to S.E. Colorado to Bent's Old Fort, it is well worth the trip.  Allow PLENTY of time to tour the fort and the surrounding grounds and have a BIG memory card in your camera!

Also, if you make it to Taos we highly recommend the Old Taos Guest House Bed and Breakfast; a very quaint, off the main road inn with friendly owners and comfortable accommodations. 

It was a short but memorable three day road trip that we both enjoyed tremendously.  One final note; if you happen to pass through Angel Fire, NM, there is a Veteran's Memorial there right off the highway that I would urge you all to visit.  A very moving experience!

Until we meet farther down the trail, adios and watch your back trail!

Turkey Creek