44 OUR USE OF THE LAND 



fringed with different colored cloth from that of the body. The 

 bosom of this dress sometimes serves as a wallet for a 'chunk 1 

 of bread, jerk or smoke-dried venison, / and other articles. It 

 is made either of dressed deerskins, linsey, coarse linen, or cot' 

 ton. The shirt, waistcoat and pantaloons are of similar articles, 

 and of the customary form. Wrappers, of cloth or dressed 

 skins, called leggins," 1 are tied round the legs when traveling. 

 Moccasins, of deer skins, shoe-packs and rough shoes, the 

 leather tanned and cobbled by the owner, are worn on the 

 feet. 



"The females dress in a coarse gown, of cotton, a bonnet 

 of the same stuff, and denominated in the Eastern States a 

 "sun bonnet." The latter is constantly worn through the day, 

 especially when company is present. The clothing, for both 

 sexes, is made at home." 37 



"The necessary table and kitchen furniture are a few pewter 

 dishes and spoons, knives and forks (for which, however, the 

 common hunting-knife is often a substitute), tin cups, for 

 coffee or milk, a water-pail, and a small gourd or calabash for 

 water, with a pot, and iron Dutch oven, constitute the chief 

 articles." 38 



As you might expect, the death rate among people living 

 under these conditions was very high. One man wrote, "I 

 solemnized the marriage of a young lady of my acquaintance, 

 who was under the age of fourteen years. In eight days she was 

 a widow. At the funeral of a gentleman, the same season, who 

 left a widow under twenty years, there were present thirteen 

 widows, all under twenty-four years of age, and all had lost 

 their companions that season." 3 



But in spite of these and many other difficulties, the people 

 flocked to the West. Editors like Horace Greeley hammered 



37 Ibid., p. 122. 



38 Ibid., p. 126. 



39 Ibid., p. 89. 



