Way back in American History, Thomas Jefferson made a great purchase from France, and obtained all the property within the Louisiana Purchase (I’m not a historian, but it was a big deal back then and much trouble came from the purchase),  After all, back then a dollar was a lot of money and he spent around 15 million to purchase ground that not too many people had traveled across.  It was uncharted territory and politically could have been the end of his career.

Anyway, we all know the end result, as he sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to map and charter the territory he had just purchased to open trade with the native Americans and to try and find a water way travel route to the Pacific Ocean from the Missouri River territory in the middle of America.  A feat nobody at that time had ever done.  The stakes were very high and nobody really knew if a small band of people could even cross this vast open land to do what the President wanted done.  They took many supplies, not only for their own companies well being, but also to trade with the native Americans.  To say the least, they had TONS of stuff.  Lewis was the chart maker, to draw maps and keep track of where they were, by using the stars at night and the instruments of the day to know where they were at all times and to record those moments and land marks as they went.  A lady native American went with them…do you know her name?  You see there were no such maps at that time…only the mountain men of old who mostly told exaggerated stories of hot springs and gysers and high snow capped mountains and the mountain passes over which they had to travel.  But mostly nothing written down in the form of a map for others to follow.  Lewis was to make those maps and bring them back to Jefferson.  Meanwhile, as they progressed slowly up the Missouri river and beyond, Jefferson sat back in his office in Washington and prayed they would make the trip safely and would come back with word that there was a travel route to the Pacific Ocean and that the Native Americans were friendly toward travelers along the route.

If you want more information about this please look it up on line and read for yourself…http://www.history.com/topics/lewis-and-clark  I have teased you with some of the facts…there are more…read about Lewis and Clark having a “BB gun” right here on BearsButt dot com….

Well, Sherry works at Smith and Edwards and the other day a lady came into the store looking for a powder horn, an 1820 vintage mountain man hat and assorted other “era” clothing and told her about her son who was to dress the part of William Clark and give his part in the school American History learning day…a 5th grade event involving all the students.  After much discussion, Sherry volunteered my services to keep this lady from spending all her monthly check on fo-for-ah and assorted other necessary things for her son to accomplish this task.

She called me that evening and we discussed her dilema, I thought that perhaps I could help bail her out a little.  Well, it isn’t “period” dress, but a lot closer than your typical Sunday go to meeting clothes, her son Kyler likes the look he will sport to the event.

This picture is Kyler and his Grandmother Diane Murdock.  Kyler is showing off his Beaver Skin shoulder shawl and fine rifle.

He had quite a few clothing items to choose from and he wanted to try them all, whether he uses them in the show or not, will remain to be seen, but he has quite an assortment to choose from.

Kyler is showing off the warmth of a wool capote with and without the hood up and tied.

And  a mountain man didn’t always wear his capote:  You are looking quite good there Mountain Man Kyler!

And of course the pictures don’t do much unless there is some action on the scene.  Kyler has the look and the passion, now let’s see the action:

THANK YOU KYLER and I really hope your show comes off without a hitch!  It has been a pleasure to meet you and your family.  YOU WILL GO FAR in this world!

March 15, 2017

Bears Butt