Auction details
9:00 AM PT - Feb 20th, 2012
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Snowshoes, Pair George Oliver Capron, Wild West Shows. Very well made "Bear Paw' shaped shoes in the Eskimo Native American Indian tradition. Signed by George Capron on one of the shoes as depicted.
Provenance: Miki and James J. Mangan III of Fairfield, CT Size: 27" L x 13.75" W Weight: 3 lbs 14 oz Condition: very good, with leather straps intact George Oliver Capron - born in Leyden, NY on March 20, 1865. A stone mason by trade, he left home in 1888, working in nine Wild West shows until he returned home to Boonville, NY in 1896. No evidence of him working for Buffalo Bill's show was found, but Mr. Cody was a visitor to the Capron home when traveling through New York. At age 46, George married and returned to his trade of stone mason. Although much of his work still stands in Boonville, he is best known for his snowshoes. In the early 20th century, snowshoes were a necessity for hunters, trappers, lumberjack and even mail carriers. Mrs. Dorothy Capron Andrews, his daughter, recalls watching her father make his snowshoes in a barn behind their house. 'He heated water in a long copper kettle on top of a wood burning stove. Working alone, he steamed pieces of ash wood over the boiling water until they were soft. He next shaped the softened wood around various sized wooden frames and then riveted them together. He used cow hides soaked in lime for the strings and signed each pair." George Oliver Capron died on August 12, 1934, at age 71. The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake in NY displays a large collection of Mr. Capron's supplies, equipment and snowshoes. Condition reportvery good, with leather straps intact
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