by CaptEZ | Sep 11, 2014 | Family
The Butterfield Family Tipi What is it about a tipi that catches our imagination? I’ve always been fascinated with the tipi throughout my life. It wasn’t until I was living in Montana on the Crow Indian Reservation that I had the opportunity to experience a tipi up close and personal. The tipi represented our circle of life and the events within that circle. There are numerous other things associated with the tipi but over the years we’ve kept that feeling of the circle and the family within. In 1981 I purchased a Sioux 16′ plains tipi made from 16 oz duck canvas in Sheridan, Wyoming from Reliable Tent and Awning. Included in the purchase was a 6′ liner to go around the interior for added comfort. After all these years, it is still in great shape. It’s not used as much as I used to use it in the past but it’s ready to go anytime. The poles came from the Pryor Mountains where the lodge pole grew as thick as the fur on a bears back. When they grow like that the thicker the better and the straighter they grow. With the right seasoning, those poles are still in use with the only breakage from where the knots broke off when dropped on the ground. Out of the two sets that I got, there are still about 1 ½ sets left. They are so seasoned now, I don’t think you could drive a nail in them. Peeling the poles was a family affair and done at a gravel pit near Ft Smith, Mt. I had leased...
by CaptEZ | Sep 8, 2014 | Family
Grandpa’s Mink Dog Grandpa Schindele taught me and my older brother some of the better points of varmint trapping up in the North Country of northern Minnesota. We made a lot of our spending money this way and learned a good deal of wildwood wisdom through him. The first gun we bought was from trapping money, a .410 shotgun. One of his best experiences was the “Mink Dog” that he owned during the Great Depression. Times were tough and of course all animals on the farm had to earn their fair share and dogs were no exception. Grandpa was one of the great trainer of dogs and this particular fluggle hound was one of the easiest trainable dogs that he ever had. The only problem was, he may have been over trained. As the Mink Dog followed Grandpa around on his trap line and back home with his catch, he’d cock his head and study the size and type of critter that Grandpa had caught. Of course trapping the animal was only part of the job. Skinning it and stretching it on a stretcher was the main purpose before selling it. Grandpa had all sizes of stretchers for the various mink, muskrat, or weasel he’d catch. After finishing up with the pelt, Grandpa would take his catch for the week to the little town where we lived and the Treppanier & Jewwitt General Store where everyone had a charge account. Leo Jewwitt would buy the pelts and apply it to the account and everyone was happy. Of course Grandpa would always tell the Mink Dog what a good price...
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