SNOWSHOES by Ralph Bice
From January 17, 1979
This is the time of year when people wear snowshoes. Some, because it gives them a bit of pleasure walking over clean snow and they can walk places they could not have gone when the ground was bare. Then, for some, snowshoes are an absolute necessity.
It is hard to find out just where snowshoes were first used. No doubt it was by the native people of the northern portion of North America for there does not appear to be any records of the peoples in Europe, or at least in those countries where there was snow, having used anything of that type to get over the snow.
We do know that they used skis, but I think that snowshoes originated in North America. Since deep snow made travelling by foot almost impossible it is more than likely that form of transportation was created, not for pleasure but so hunters could get around. It would be easily understood that early makers would soon find that the hides of moose, deer, and caribou made excellent webbing. The first Europeans who came to start a new life would soon realize the value of snowshoes and would soon be making their own.
I can recall when I was small that the men considered the best birch bark canoe builders were the men who made the best snowshoes.
Snowshoes are made in many shapes and sizes. I remember seeing snowshoes in the north well over six feet long, not over ten inches wide and at least a foot of the toe was turned up almost in half circle. A person wearing such shoes would almost have to go out on a lake to turn around. I also saw a similar but much shorter pair with the toe bent even more. The best material for frames is white ash. Only trouble, when wood got to be a bit expensive a great deal of white ash was cut for lumber and wood. Good white ash did not seem to grow in the colder sections of Ontario.
I saw natives in the north who used birch, which is all they had. Yellow birch makes a good frame but it is slippery and does not wear as long as ash. Black ash makes a nice frame but it is not very durable. In recent years a lot of frames are made of two sections which make a point at the toe. Not as good for travel as the old round toes but easier to make. People used to round toes claim the pointed toes catch in the brush.
Most of the webbing in commercial shoes is made of rawhide from cowhide. Native people used moose and maybe deer though deer hides are much thinner and have a tendency to stretch when wet. Moose hide stretches but not much. I have been told by people who use it that caribou hide is the best for when it gets wet it tightens.
Tom Salmon, who was considered about the top snowshoe man years ago, used to import hides from the south as he claimed where the weather did not change so often the hides kept an even thickness all year.
This may be just coincidence but twice I bought a white cowhide that lasted longer. Snowshoe makers now have many gadgets to help but years ago you had to make a pair of shoes in the woods with nothing but your axe and jackknife. If you had to have a form it would be made from split cedar. Lots of hot water and wrap old bags or your dirty underwear around the frame to bend it. The holes had to be bored or burned with the end of an old file.
A couple of years back I saw several pairs of snowshoes, wooden frame, laced with nylon cord.
The chap told me they lasted as long as rawhide. This was in Nova Scotia. Then, in Newfoundland, I saw snowshoes with an iron frame, 5/16th spring steel. Sort of a bear paw type. And these were filled with nylon. I managed to get a couple of rolls of this material which was first used for fish nets. At home I filled some old frames and while l have not had any long or hard trips l really think it will be much in use years to come. So much easier than all the work that had to be done when you had to prepare a cowhide. And the cost should be less.
And so many types of harness. We developed one in 1924 and l have used that type since. Some like lamp wick but l prefer leather.
I could have written easily twice this much on snowshoes. The price has gone haywire like everything else and l often think of when you could buy a good pair for six dollars.