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Article: BUSHYTAIL BROGANS.(fox squirrel shoes)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Sports Afield
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Hearst Communications, reprinted with permission of Hearst. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Stylish Footwear in the Ozarks
Frontier cobblers in Arkansas made shoes from some pretty unique leather. One favorite material was shoe leather made from fox squirrel skins.
According to W.V. Keith, an early settler in Columbia County, Arkansas, a local tanner made him a pair of dress shoes. "He sent me into the woods with instructions to kill a number of fox squirrels, taking care to shoot them in the head so as not to spoil the hides. Boiling them in `ooze' [an extract of bark], the skins became fully tanned leather in a week. Three fox squirrels were necessary for each shoe. They were the best pair ...