Pattern, Buckskin Pants

Missouri River Brand Pattern

This style of Buckskin Pants is typical of those worn by the trappers, traders, and frontiersmen from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast beginning in the late 1700’s and stretching to the end of the 18th. century. While many of the mountain men outfitted in St. Louis with commercial cloth trousers, the rigors of the frontier soon rendered them useless and they were then replaced by elk or buckskin pants copied from the cloth ones. Leather trousers held up much better under the rough conditions of trapping, riding, and frontier life in general and were made either by the mountain man himself or by Indians from a friendly tribe.

Decorations varied considerably and most pants were quite plain; however, fringe was very popular and some examples even sport floral beadwork down the front of both legs! Other variations include a sawtooth edge on the fly cover and a rear “foxing,” or reinforcement on the back section of the legs and seat which might also have a sawtooth edge.

Our Buckskin Pants are authentically designed and simple to construct. They are extremely serviceable and can be worn with either a belt or suspenders.