Aspen Hiking Sticks

Well, I sure haven't had much time to get on here the last few months.  Being retired is hard work!  I mow yards and do other yard work such as shrub beds, tree trimming, etc. and it has been a long, hot, humid, wet summer!  Mowing started in April and hasn't let up yet!  I sure long to be doing the mountain man stuff and making things at my work bench; maybe in the fall, if I get enough fire wood cut by then.  Also, can't wait for HUNTING SEASON!

Back in early spring I did have enough time to get a few hand crafted aspen hiking sticks made.  These sticks are made from Rocky Mountain Aspen staves, are completely hand peeled, hand scraped, hand burnished and then finished with the same boiled linseed oil/beeswax finish I use on muzzleloader stocks.

These are the only tools I use in crafting these sticks:

They start out looking like this:

And end up looking like this:

I peel each stick with a drawknife, then hand scrape with the butcher knife and small piece of glass.  Then I burnish the stick with the deer antler to make it smooth.  This is pretty much the way gunstocks were finished in the 18th century.  Finally, I finish the sticks with several coats of BLO and a final coat of BLO/Beeswax.  The last step is to coat the bottom tip with several coats of tool handle rubber to protect it and give a little grip.
I currently have one stick that is about 48", two that are about 52", and two that are just over 60".

These sticks are $45 each plus $10 shipping to anywhere in the lower 48 states.  If you would like one of these sticks, or more info or closeup pictures, shoot me an email at turkeycreek1823@gmail.com.

Well, until I can get back on here, keep your flint sharp and your priming dry!
TC

Back In The Good Old Days!

In the fall of '85 I was working as a packer and guide for 5 Bears Outfitters in the Clearwater area of Idaho just over Lolo Pass from Montana. Our end-of-the-road camp was actually in Montana.  I'm the guy in the right middle in the green shirt. The guy next to me in the left middle is another guide and the two guys holding the elk racks are our hunters.  Shinin' times for sure.
TC

June 2nd, 1823 - Ashley Party Attacked!

On this day in 1823, General William Ashley's fur trapping expedition was attacked on the upper Missouri by the Arikara Indians.  This was a pivotal event in a pivotal year in the western fur trade.

The Ashley/Henry story began in April of 1822 when Major Andrew Henry left St. Louis with about 150 men, about 50 horses and one keel boat loaded with supplies and trade goods to "ascend the Missouri River to its source", followed on May the 8th by the keelboat Enterprise under the command of Daniel Moore.  Henry's brigade made it to the mouth of the Yellowstone by fall, having peacefully passed the Arikaras (also known as the Rees) but having had a brush with the Assiniboines who stole a large number of Henry's horses.

The second part of the expedition was not so lucky.  On about May 30th or 31st the Enterprise was lost, possibly from hitting a snag under the surface of the water or by snagging the mast on a low hanging limb and being swamped by the current.  However it happened, this was a loss to the Ashley/Henry partnership of $10,000 worth of boat and trade goods.  Henry immediately obtained credit and outfitted another keelboat and headed up the river, joining Henry's brigade at their new fort at the mouth of the Yellowstone in October.  Ashley and Henry were finally in business in "The Mountains"!  Ashley returned to St. Louis that fall and immediately began preparations for the next spring's expedition.

In the spring of 1823 Ashley outfitted two keelboats, The Yellowstone Packet and The Rocky Mountains, which left St. Louis on March 10th headed upriver to resupply and reinforce Major Henry's brigade. This party included such notable hunters as Jedediah Smith (who had gone upriver with Henry the previous year and had been dispatched to St. Louis with messages for Ashley), James Clyman, and probably Bill Sublette as well. 

By the end of May Ashley had made it to the Ree villages and began trading for horses. By the evening of June 1st, after several days of trading, Ashley had acquired about 40 horses and the men had camped on the bank of the river with the horses.  About 3am on the morning of June 2nd Ashley was awakened and told that one of his men had been killed in the Ree village.  The man, Aaron Stephens, had probably sojourned into the village to partake of the female population and ended up setting off the volatile Ree Indians.

Just before dawn the Rees commenced firing at the Ashley men and horses on the beach.  In just a few minutes the Indians had succeeded in killing most of the horses and quite a few of the men.  The rest of the men on the beach took cover behind the dead horses and attempted to return fire on the Rees.  Ashley attempted to get the keelboats in close to shore to pull the rest of his men off the exposed beach but the French boatmen were paralyzed with fear and refused to maneuver the boats in close.  A handful of men were pulled off the beach with a skiff but after the first trip the oarsman was shot and the skiff drifted down river. The men on the shore were being forced into the river, some going under, some being swept downstream and some making it to the keelboats.  Ashley pulled up his anchors and let the keelboats drift downstream several miles where he pulled the boats in to shore to regroup.  The final toll for the fur brigade was 13 dead and 11 wounded.

General Ashley dispatched The Yellowstone Packet down river to Fort Atkinson requesting military aid and sent Jedediah Smith and a volunteer French Canadian engagee to Major Henry's post at the mouth of the Yellowstone for reinforcements, then retreated downstream to the mouth of the Cheyenne River to await help.  This whole affair led to "The Arikara Campaign" by the Missouri Legion led by Colonel Henry Leavenworth, who finally reached Ashley and his men in early August.

This attempt to subdue the Rees, ineptly led by Leavenworth, did nothing more than force the Rees from their villages and alienate them further with the result that the upper Missouri was closed to travel for the fur companies.  Thus, the decision by Ashley and Henry to abandon the River as the route into the mountains and turn to overland travel.  In early September Major Henry left Fort Kiowa with a small party of men and a few horses headed for the the mouth of the Bighorn via the Yellowstone River.  This party included Hugh Glass and a young man named Jim Bridger. 

The second party Ashley dispatched got away from Fort Kiowa in late September.  This party, made up of somewhere between 11 and 16 men, was led by Jedediah Smith with Tom Fitzpatrick as second in command, and include Jim Clyman, Billy Sublette and Edward Rose.  They, with a few borrowed horses, headed southwest across South Dakota to the White River, headed for the Bighorn to meet up with Henry's brigade coming down from the Yellowstone post.Both of these parties endured harrowing adventures, with both Jedediah Smith and Hugh Glass being mauled by grizzly bears. 

But the real story, the big result, of the battle with the Arikaree Indians, was Ashley and Henry moving away from the Missouri River, heading overland to the Rocky Mountains and opening up a whole new era in the western fur trade; the era of the "Mountain Man" and the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous!

Yes, 1823 was a remarkable and pivotal year in fur trade history!

Keep yer flint sharp and yer primin' dry!
TC

14th of May, 1804 - An Historic Day!

On this day, the 14th of May, in the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Four, the Corp of Discovery left Ft. Dubois, across the Mississippi Rive from St Louis, on an historic trek commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson.  Led by United States Army Captain Meriwether Lewis (President Jefferson's personal assistant) and Lieutenant William Clark, the expedition company was comprised of five non commissioned officers and approximately thirty enlisted men.
The company proceeded up the Missouri River in a 55 ft. keel boat and two large pirogues known as the red pirogue and the white pirogue.





After ascending the Missouri River to it's source, crossing the Bitterroot Mountains and descending the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, then returning over approximately the same route, the Corp of Discovery arrived back at St. Louis on the 23rd of September, 1806 with the loss of only one of it's members; Sgt Charles Floyd who died possibly of appendicitis on August 20th, 1804 near present day Sioux City Iowa early in the journey.

This expedition pioneered the way for the opening of the western fur trade and the rise of the class of Americans know as the mountain men. Corp member Private John Colter was given permission to muster out of the company at the Mandan villages on the return trip to head back up river with two civilians who were heading to the headwaters of the Missouri to trap beaver and became over the next four years one of the most famous mountain men in history.

This was a monumental and far reaching expedition that had a very real impact on the opening of the territories gained through the Louisiana Purchase and the further expansion of this nation. It is well worth spending a little time reading about if you get the chance.

I hope this piques your interest in this most interesting part of our history.
TC

Wichita Mountains Elk Hunt

Every year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, holds two elk hunts on the 59,000 acre Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge; one in December and one in January.  This refuge is located in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma, adjacent to the Ft. Sill military reservation. The hunts are limited quota hunts and the licenses are by drawing only.  Since 2002 these are once in a lifetime licenses. Once you draw either a cow or bull license, you are no longer eligible to apply for either license.

This year my buddy Mark finally drew his tag.  You get to put down up to three choices. His first choice was a Dec. bull tag; second choice was a Jan. bull tag and third choice was a December cow tag.  You guessed it; he drew a cow tag for the December hunt.  These are 2 1/2 day hunts that run from Tuesday morning through Thursday noon.  All hunters are required to check in on Monday morning and attend the mandatory orientation meeting and orientation ride with the U.S.F.W.S. officer or Okla. Wildlife Dept. officer who is in charge of the specific area that the hunter is assigned to. The hunters are taken out each morning before daylight and dropped off at a point of his or her choosing in their hunt area in tarp covered pickup trucks that seat ten people in the bed of the truck; five on each side. The hunters are then picked up each evening 30 minutes after sunset and are required to be back at the road by that time.

This year there were 30 bull tags and 70 cow tags issued for each hunt. There were 10 hunt areas with 10 hunters assigned to each area.  I believe there were about 95 out of 100 hunters that showed up for the December hunt.  Each hunter is allowed to bring "helpers" to help them get their elk out of the field if they are fortunate enough to fill their tag, but the helpers are NOT allowed to accompany the hunters on the hunt.  At this point let me say that this is a HUNT, not a "drive out and shoot one" outing.  This is a very rugged area with a lot of elevation change and mostly covered by rocks, boulders and scrub oak and cedar and this is a mostly hike, glass, spot and stalk hunt.  It is by no means a given that you will fill your tag.

After check in on Monday and after waiting for about 2 or 3 hours for Mark to get back from his orientation ride, we drove to Lawton, about 20 minutes away, where we stayed the nights with Mark's in-laws, Mike and Jonna.  Thanks to them we would have a great place to stay for the hunt.

On Tuesday morning we arrived at the hunter check station a little after 5 am.  The temperature was around 19 degrees and it was a beautiful morning unless you had to ride in the back of a pickup on bench seats over rough two track roads in the cold darkness. That would be Mark, not me! LOL  I sat in the warm pickup with a thermos of hot coffee because I was the lowly "helper" and it was my job to sit around and wait for Mark to let his wildlife officer know when he had an elk down.

Well, I waited around all morning alternately sitting in the pickup drinking coffee and wondering around the check station keeping an eye on the tote board where they were writing the names of the fortunate hunters that had filled their tags.  Finally, around 12:30 the U.S. wildlife employee running the hunt asked if there were any volunteers to go help a hunter pack out his elk. Being ready for some action, I volunteered.  After going back to the pickup and grabbing my pack frame three of us along with the hunter's dad loaded up in the back of the wildlife pickup and we drove to where the hunter, Jake, was waiting along side the road to guide us in to where he had a cow elk down.  We then hiked in around a half a mile and proceeded to field dress, skin and load up his elk on four pack frames.

 
Jake and his dad did most of the gutting and I did most of the skinning and then we took off the front shoulders and rear haunches and then removed all the rest of the meat from the carcass and put everything in game bags before loading up the packs.  As I was the one loading the packs and having a good freighter pack, I kinda loaded myself up pretty heavy.  In my cargo bag I loaded a rear haunch and the game bag containing the backstraps, tenderloins, neck roast and all the grinding meat that was taken off the carcass.  Now these are Rocky Mountain Elk but are not quite as big as their mountain state cousins, with the field dressed cows weighing around 250 to 300 and the field dressed bulls weighing in around 400-500 lbs.  I estimated that I had around 75-80 pounds in my pack and I was mighty happy that we only had about a half a mile to go to the road and not a lot of up and down in between.  While we were getting Jake's elk all cut up and packed up, another hunter came by that said he had a cow down "just over the hill" from where Jake's elk was.  We told him we would be back as soon as we got Jake's cow to the check station.  We got back around 3 o'clock and, after checking to make sure Mark didn't have an elk down, we turned around and headed for the other hunter.  He met us along the road and we started in to where his cow was down.  Just a little way from the road we had to work our way around several bull buffalo (bison) which can be quite dangerous if you get too close.  We didn't get to close!

We hiked in working our way around the shoulder of a rocky peak and ended up hiking about a mile with quite a bit of up and down.

We then gutted, skinned and cut up this hunter's cow which was on a pretty good slope.  Again I helped with the gutting and did most of the skinning and quartering.  Having been a elk guide in Idaho and Wyoming, it is just natural for me to jump in and do those things.  It's been a lot of years since that phase in my life and I definitely miss it! 

This time I took it a bit easier on myself and only loaded a rear haunch in my pack.  I think it was around 50 pounds maybe.  It was a pretty good hike out this time.

The "old man" (me) humping elk meat out of the mountains.

Well folks, we got that second cow back to the check station just before sunset.  Mark finally got back after dark having seen very little and nothing to get a shot at.  We would be back the next morning before daylight.

On Wednesday morning Mark went hunting and I, once again, hung out at the check station, drank coffee and watched the hunters come in with their elk.

Just before sunset they called for volunteers to help drag an elk up to the road for a hunter.

Having waited all day for Mark to get an elk down, I was ready to go!  We drove to where the hunter was and waited while he field dressed his cow and then we dragged her up a hill about 25 yards to the road and loaded her in the back of the pickup.

And that's how the second day ended.  Mark showed up well after dark.  He got a shot at a cow but didn't connect.  Half a day of hunting left.

The last morning there were very few hunters going out.  About sixty tags had been filled the first two days and some hunters had given up already.  Mark was the only hunter left in his area.  And I hung around the check station and drank coffee!  Just after daylight I walked over to the meat pole where the hunter from the evening before was skinning and butchering his cow.  Next to him a hunter and his helper were skinning a bull.  They had the hide down around the neck and I asked them what they were going to do with the hide.  They told me they were getting ready to throw it in the dumpster and that I was welcome to it!  I didn't waste ANY time taking them up on that!  I folded it flesh side in and put it in a game bag that I had brought with me and put it in the back of our pickup to take home and brain tan.  I also visited with the guy from the evening before.  I should have taken his cow hide but didn't.  (Stupid me!)  He and his dad cleaned up that carcass pretty dang good.

About 10:30 I got in the pickup with Marcus, the Oklahoma game warden in charge of Mark's area, and rode out to pick Mark up.  He had seen a couple of bulls at around 500 yards but no cows.  His once in a lifetime hunt was over.  He had a really good time even though he didn't get an elk.  He got to hike some beautiful country and we had an enjoyable time and some good Christian fellowship in the evenings with Mike.  I had a GREAT time gutting, skinning and packing out elk and I got that nice big bull hide which I'm currently working on to make a nice brain tanned bull elk robe.

This will be a great addition to my mountaineer's camp once I have it finished.  And I'm seriously considering going down next December just to help pack out some elk, get several elk hides and some elk brains as well.  Tanning a large robe like this is a lot of work but I would like to do several to sell.  I'll keep you posted on that.

Well, that's the story of Mark's Wichita Mountains Elk Hunt.  Anyone can apply and it's a fun hunt to do.  If you draw one of these tags let me know.  I just might meet you there to be your "helper"!

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

TC

The Old Mountaineer's Best Christmas

Of all the dang fool greenhorn stunts to pull!  Gettin' lost in a danged snowstorm!  You'd think this was his first winter in the mountains!  The old trapper paused and looked around, trying once more to make out any familiar landmark that might give him a clue as to where he was and where he might find enough shelter to hunker down for the night.
He had set out from his cabin early that sunny winter morning to hunt because he was plumb out of meat and a man's gotta have meat; meat and coffee; the two things the old trapper couldn't do without.  He had shot a mule eared doe in the afternoon but kept going hoping to find buffler. And now here he was, fearsome turned around in a blinding snowstorm with night comin' on pronto.  He looked around again. Nothin' but snow. His saddle horse and pack mule were gettin' mighty tired and they were goin' to need water and forage for the night.
He pushed on, keeping the wind at his back.  He figured his cabin had to be west by south but if he could just blunder in to a creek bed with some cottonwoods and willows he could get a fire going and if there was no creek bottom grass for his animals he could peel some willow bark for them to put in their bellies.  If only...
And now it was plumb dark.  He had two choices.  Either he could stop right here and hunker down under the buffalo robe that he carried on the pack mule and hope he didn't freeze to death before morning, or he could keep pushin'.  He decided to keep pushin' on in the snowy darkness.
He took another look around...and there it was! In the distance, off to the left!  A light shining through the blowing, falling snow!  How could that be?  His old eyes must be playin' tricks on him!  He wiped his coat sleeve across his eyes.  The light was still there, by golly!  "Okay Red" he spoke to his horse, "let's go see if it's for real or if it's Ole Slew Foot playin' tricks on us.  If it ain't for real, we'll probably die out there on the prairie tonight.  Might as well go see, one way or t'other.  Hep!  Let's go boy."
As the old trapper rode farther out on the prairie, the light remained in the same spot, getting brighter the closer he got.  What danged fool besides him would be out here?!
As he rode nearer, the ground started dropping off into a creek bottom and a nice big grove of cottonwood trees and, in the shelter of the trees, a nice big fire.  He breathed a big sigh of relief.  With a fire that big, it had to be white fellers for sure!  But who could be out here on the prairie in the dead of winter?  He rode on, and as he neared the light he yelled out "Helloooo the camp!  Hello the camp!"
The strong voice of a young man answered, "Whoever you are you better come in by the fire and have some hot coffee!  Come on in stranger!"
The old man rode up to the camp and couldn't believe his eyes!  There was a covered wagon with the tongue standing straight up and a lantern hanging from the top of the wagon tongue!  It was that lantern that had caught his eye.  But the rest of the scene was beyond belief for the old mountaineer, for before him was a snug lean to with a nice warm fire before it, and in that lean to was a young woman with a baby in her arms!  They were snug in a couple of wool blankets with a big buffalo robe over all.  The young man was standing by the fire in a big buffalo coat, fur cap and mittens holding a steaming cup of coffee.
"Get down off your horse stranger and get up here to the fire! We've plenty of stew and coffee to share.  And there's a good stand of tall grass here in the creek bottom for your animals.  Come on man!  You look nigh froze!"
The old man climbed stiffly down from Red's back and shuffled up to the fire where he gladly accepted the tin mug of hot coffee.  "What in tarnation are you folks doing out here in the middle of nowhere in the middle of winter?  I'm tastin' this hot coffee and I STILL can't believe my eyes!'
The young woman smiled brightly and the young man chuckled.  "My name's Joe Benton and this is my wife, Mary.  And that there in her arms is our new son, just born today!  Haven't even named him yet, but he's a Christmas baby so he'll have a Bible name for sure!"
"He would have a Bible name anyway and you know it Joe!" Mary spoke for the first time.  "And who might you be, stranger who rides in out of the snowy night?" she asked.
"Well ma'am, my name's Clive...Clive Nash.  And all the years I've been out here in these mountains I ain't NEVER seen a purtier sight than that lantern hangin' from the top of that wagon tongue for I was for danged sure lost in the night and now I ain't lost no more!  If this don't beat all I ever seen!  A white woman and a new baby clean out here in the middle of nowhere in a Rocky Mountain blizzard and lookin' like yer a doin' just fine!  Jim Bridger hisself couldn't make up a taller tale than this here! Like I asked ye before; what'r you folks doin' here?"
Joe smiled and began to explain, "Well Mr. Nash we..."
"Clive!" the old trapper said, "Just call me Clive."
"Well Clive" Joe began again, "we were on our way down from Fort Laramie to that new Denver City and..."
"I ain't never heared of that Denver City." the old trapper interupted.  "Where that place be?"
"It's on the South Platte about another 50 or 75 miles  on south from here I reckon" said Joe "and we're headed there to open up a new shop.  I'm a gunsmith by trade and figured they could use my services down there.  We left Fort Laramie about a week ago and were making good time with the weather being so good, until Mary here decided to have the baby earlier than we expected. We had just set up camp in this creek bottom when the young'n decide it was time.  I hung that storm lantern up there on the wagon tongue so we would have plenty of light in camp.  And then the snowstorm hit.  Do they always blow in that fast in this country?"
"Yessir, most times they do fer sure!" said Clive.  "It caught me too!  I was out huntin' meat and ranged farther than I had planned lookin' fer buffler.  I've been out here in these mountains for 30 years and never been lost until tonight.  I come out in '29 with Billy Sublette and been out here ever since.  You folks saved my bacon fer sure!"
It was then that Mary spoke up again. "Mr. Clive, it wasn't me and Joe that 'saved your bacon' as you put it!  It was this baby.  We would have been miles on down toward Denver City if the little guy hadn't decided to come today and we probably would have perished ourselves in this snowstorm if we hadn't found this place and got camp set up before the storm hit.  All in all, I'd say that this baby is not only your savior, but ours as well.  Quite fitting that he came into this world on Christmas day in this year of Our Lord 1859, wouldn't you say so Mr. Clive?"
"Christmas Day!  Well I'll be danged!  I had me no idea that it was Christmas!  Y'see ma'am, I got me a cabin snugged up in them foothills of the mountains off to the west of here and I don't hardly see folks much 'ceptin' the Cheyenne and maybe a few 'Rapahoes now and then. Since beaver quit payin' nigh on twenty year ago now, I mostly trade with the Cheyennes fer buffler robes and then trade the robes fer my coffee and powder and lead and more trade goods to trade fer more buffler robes.  Been tradin' em up t' Laramie fort fer the past dozen years or so.  Down to Bent's mud fort before that.  So, ya see ma'am, I had me no idea it was Christmas!  And it danged sure is a Christmas miracle you folks are here cuz I'da froze ta death somewhere's out there on the prairie this night!"
Joe spoke up then. "Well Clive, you just get your stock taken care of and put with our four mules there in the cotttonwoods and then you get up here next to the fire and refill that coffee cup because we were just getting ready to read the story of the birth of Jesus Christ in the book of Luke in the Bible.  I believe it is quite fitting this night."
"Folks" Clive said, "I don't believe I ever heared that story, but if it's anything near like the story of this here young'n and what he done fer us this night I cain't wait ta hear it!"
"Mr Clive," Mary spoke up with a twinkle in her eyes, "It's a much grander story than you could even imagine!  I cannot wait for you to hear it!"
"Amen Mary!" Joseph said

Merry Christmas and may the true story of the birth of  Our Lord and Savior touch your heart and brighten your lodge this season.

God Bless,

Max and Family

In the Turkey Creek Valley in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Seventeen

A Day That Will Live In Infamy

It's about 9:30 in the evening and I'm just now sitting down to relax for the evening but I couldn't let the day pass without paying respects to those men and women who were at Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7th, 1941; a day that will live in infamy.

2,403 Americans killed and 1,178 wounded.  Rest In Peace Brave Souls!

And thank you to all of you men and women who have served, are serving, or will serve in the United States military. God Bless you.
And especially all of you United States Navy sailors - Fair winds and following seas!

Tulsa Gun Show Report

Well folks, we attended the Wannenmacher gun show in  Tulsa last weekend.  This show is held twice a year, in early April and again in early November.  It is said that this is the largest gun show in the world with over 2,200 tables.  Now we go to this show usually at least once a year and my father-in-law usually has two tables but this year he invited me to share his tables with him.  I had 4 guns ready, three of which were/are for sale and my personal .54 flint fullstock Hawken which was NOT for sale.  I also had a fair amount of plunder ready for sale; a couple of bullet pouches, three knives with sheathes, one of my hand peeled aspen hiking sticks, a moosehide belt pouch, a leather deer drag, and a good supply of 4 oz. tins of beef tallow.  The general consensus of those exhibitors in our area was that folks weren't spending much.  That was certainly true for my father-in-law (a highly respected builder of single shot cartridge rifles) and myself.  The only things we actually sold were off my table; two cans of beef tallow patch lube and gun grease and my .62 Northwest Trade Gun.  My father-in-law did garner a probable order for a single shot Hepburn rifle which is his specialty.

Having said all that, I DID get to talk to a couple of interesting fellers.  I got to visit quite a bit with Jeff Hengesbaugh who had his tables just across the isle and down a couple of tables from us.  Now if you don't know who Jeff is, you haven't been a western buckskinner very long.  Jeff is a legend in the hard core mountain man community.  You see, back in 1973, back from serving his country in Viet Nam, Jeff along with Bill Hamilton and Steve Johnson saddled up their horses, loaded their pack horses and set off from Gila Arizona to ride to the Canadian border!  Yes, I said from Arizona to Canada!!!  They  wore their buckskins, carried their muzzle loading rifles, and did everything as it would have been done before 1840!  It took them six months, living off the land, starving, running out of water, and getting shot at by Indians (for real!), but they made it all the way to Canada!  Jeff now has a mountain man and Southwest history museum in Glorieta New Mexico and is also an expert on the battle of Glorieta Pass. Quite an interesting fellow and I look forward to visiting him in Glorieta, hopefully next summer.  If you want to know a little more about their ride,  go to YouTube and search mountain man ride to Canada. 

The other interesting feller I visited with for a few minutes was Bruce Day.  Bruce is a hiveranno in the American Mountain Men.  These guys are NOT your average, every day buckskinner; they are the most seriously dedicated group of  fur trade mountain man historians and reinactors that you will find.  Anywhere!  Now, it's always been in the back of my mind, although I'm usually not a "joiner" of groups and the like, to join up with this outfit.  The problem is, you have to be invited by existing members and I have never actually run in to any of these guys.  Until now!  Bruce has invited me to contact him with the possibility of  attending some of their camps which would start me on the trail to become a member of this esteemed outfit!  Thanks Bruce, I look forward to visiting more with you about this.  If you would like to know more about the A.M.M. you can find them on the web at http://americanmountainmen.org/  Check them out.

Well that's about it for my first time being a trader at "the world's largest gun show".  I'm now looking forward to the spring show in April.  Looks like I better get busy and build another gun or two, and some more accoutrements as well.  It'll be a busy winter.

Until we meet on down the trail, keep your flint sharp and your pan primed!

TC

P.S. Ive got a couple more videos up on YouTube at Turkey Creek 1823.

Prime Meat Left In The Field!

Well, I just finished muzzleloader deer season here in Oklahoma yesterday.  I was hoping to put two deer in the freezer this week but will settle for one,  a 7 point buck I shot last Saturday.  Hopefully I will get at leasst two more during regular gun season which starts the Saturday before Thanksgiving, with the Lord's blessing.
As I was fixing my lunch last Monday, I got to thinking about a prime cut of deer meat that most hunters leave laying out in the field for the coyotes to eat and how they don't know what a good meal they're missing out on.  You see, I was fixing fresh deer heart for lunch! It's a prime piece of meat; lean and healthy and simple to cut up and prepare.
I carry a large zip lock bag with me when hunting and after field dressing my deer I retrieve the heart and put it in the bag.  When I get it home I wash it and put it in a glass bowl, cover it with water and set it in the refrigerator until I'm ready to cook it, either that day or the next.  Of course you could strike a fire out in the woods right after you dress your deer out and cut it up and roast it right then! I reckon it don't get any better than that!
It's easy to prepare.  It starts out looking like this:

I trim off the fat and then slice it up about 3/8 of an inch thick. I then trim out the vessels,  inner walls of the heart,  etc. It ends up like this:

Next, it goes in the cast iron skillet and gets seasoned to taste. For me that means fried in bacon grease and seasoned with fresh ground pepper.  DON'T OVER COOK IT! Folks are always trying to over cook venison and that is a BIG mistake!  It should still be a little red inside when you pull it from the skillet.

It's really hard not to eat it right from the skillet as it's cooking!

Well, this is definitely a Hunter's Lunch!

This is a great cut of meat that deserves to be utilized and not left in the field.  And if any of y'all are elk hunters, well it's downright sinful to leave elk heart in the field!

Think about bringing the heart home and giving it a try.  Maybe next time we'll talk about the liver!

Until then, keep your nose in the wind and your eyes on the skyline.
TC

Made Meat This Morning

Well, it's opening morning of muzzleloader season in Oklahoma. For years I passed up smaller bucks waiting for "The Big One" but 2 years ago I finally realized that doing that has left my family an empty freezer more often than not.  I now adhere to the old adage "never pass up on the first day what you would shoot on the last day", so this morning about 8:35 l made smoke and dropped this smaller 7 point.

The old .54 flinter did it again.  I hope to put about 3 more deer in the freezer this year.  Good unadulterated meat, not that poison stuff they sell in the store.
Hope you all have a great hunting season.
Watch yer top knot.
TC

Winter With The Crow

I want to share a couple of songs with you.  These songs are by Pete Kosky and if they don't tug at your very soul I figure you and me are cut from different cloth.
Enjoy and God Bless
TC

Winter With The Crow
https://youtu.be/a9171Ef4dLA

The Cordelle Line/Colter's Run
https://youtu.be/ajJfZkYoX1M

October 17th; A Very Special Day

I wanted to post this yesterday but didn't have time.

October 17th is a VERY special day! Yes, the American patriots won the battle of Saratoga on October 17th, 1777 and that is very important. But infinitely more important, on October 17th 1981 my Darling Sweetheart became my Darling Bride!  And what a blessing to me she has been for the last 36 years!  Four years after we were married she (along with our 3 year old daughter) went with me to Montana and Wyoming so that I could pack horses and mules and guide elk hunters.  She went with me to rendezvous and dove right in to a life of camping, hiking and distance running.  While not a hunter herself, she always supports me in my hunting addiction and cooks what I bring home.
She has given me two wonderful children, Bridget who has published three novels, is married and has given us two wonderful grandchildren, and Ben who is a Navy Gunner's Mate Veteran and now a civilian gunsmith.
What a woman!
Linda, thanks for putting up with this old mountain man!  I love you with all my heart and soul and I'm looking forward to the next 36 years!

Shooting The Leman Trade Rifle

I'm pretty happy with the way this rifle turned out. The lock is fast and it throws very good sparks. The gun balances well and feels trim in the hands.  It shoulders nicely and recoil,  even with a heavy load, is not bad.
This gun is for sale and I will have it on the table at the Tulsa gun show November 11th and 12th.  Also, I will try and get some close up pictures on the For Sale page in a few days.
TC

Leman Trade Rifle Finished

I finished building a full stock,  flint Leman Trade Rifle yesterday.  It has a .54 15/16 x 36 inch barrel and an L&R Late English lock.
It started out like this.

And ended up like this. 

I plan to shoot it in the next couple of days and I will post video of the first shots in a few days.  Also, I'll take more pictures and post them on the "For Sale" page.
Until then, watch yer top knot.
TC

Close To Heaven

Bob Nolan was with The Sons Of The Pioneers for many years. This is one of the songs he wrote.

Close to Heaven

(Bob Nolan)

Long, long ago I learned to love the rolling hills and open plains.

To me it’s heaven.

There, if the sun is shinin’ down or if the dark clouds send the rain,

It’s still like heaven.

Refrain:

Here comes the prairie sun. It’s morning!

I wake and give the world this warnin’,

I’m mighty glad that I was born in

A land that’s close to heaven.

All through the day the plains I’m roamin’.

My heart has nowhere to be homin’.

I make my camp at twilight’s gloamin’

And there I’m close to heaven.

There where the moonbeams spread a blanket o’er the ground,

I make a bed and lay this weary body down

And let sweet dreams come to console me,

The tender arms of nature ‘fold me

Against her heart to ever hold me and keep me close to heaven.

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