One day our daughter said to me "Daddy, these animal pelts are cool!  Can we show them to my class?"  From this question the "ANIMALS ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL" class was born. 

For the past 6 years, my friend and I have taught at the local elementary school as part of their Oregon Trail history module. 

We fill the library with pelts and leather products from the animals the pioneers on the Oregon Trail interacted with and hunted.  The main purpose of the class is to raise awareness & appreciation of the amazing animals so the students will respect and care for our natural resources. 
  As a hands on learning experience the youth handle and feel all the samples as we play games & do activities.  After a Q&A session the students are give crossword puzzles to take home and complete with their family. 

Library set up with samples & toys for interactive games.

Several students got creative and made their own "animal'!

A big thanks to recent donors !  In preparation for the upcoming presentations to the Boy Scouts & Elementary School class "Animals Along the Oregon Trail" several people have donated; 

•   Andy W of Lake Oswego, OR donated tanned deer hides - these were sold and the proceeds used to buy leather working tools. 
• Superior Glove of Canada donated a pair of deerskin gloves.
• Southern Glove of NC donated a pair of pigskin leather gloves and cowhide leather welding gloves.
• Sullivan Gloves of Bend, OR donated a pair of bison leather gloves.
• Beacon Hill Biological Services of Toutle, WA donated a raccoon skull.
• Skull Mountain of Spokane, WA donated a rabbit hide.
• Kiernan's Taxidermy of Woodland, WA donated Spanish Goat hides.
• Jim August Taxidermy of Portland, OR donated Marco Polo sheep, warthog, Dalmatian sheep, African porcupine, Roebuck European deer, European wild boar, Barasingha Asian deer samples.
• Curtis B from Oregon donated holly wood for wooden mallets, to be used in leatherwork.
• Jai from Oregon donated a white tail deer hide, fox tails, elk antlers & mink pelts for the boys to use.
• Natural Stone Designs of Tualatin, OR donated stone samples to be used for leather stamping.

NAACS 2016

January 2016 brought another great NAACS near Astoria!  (NAACS is the North American Arts & Crafts Seminar, part of the Order of the Arrow group of the Boy Scouts.)  We held several classes & two workshops on leatherwork & animals. 

Participants reviewed and experienced the feel of pelts, leather & skins from over 96 different species of animals & snakes and about 3 dozen items made from animals. 

Feedback from workshop participants:   

Exotic - Fun - Sweet - Variety - Awesome - Great

Amazing - Inspiring - Educational

People who took the workshop made leather pouches decorated with an animal pelt including; mountain goat, sheepskin, beaver, fox, pronghorn antelope, crocodile, Dall sheep, caribou, porcupine quills & ostrich. 

Several folks also added a stamped name tag.  Construction of these leather pouches cover several of the requirements for the Leatherwork Merit Badge including; pattern design, punching holes, assembly by lacing, stamping, set snaps & dressing edges.

Pictures of leather bags created in the workshop:
Cow leather bag with mountain goat décor & snap closure

Cow leather pouch with beaver decor & snap closure

Cow leather bag with crocodile décor & looped tie closure

Llama leather with beaver décor & porcupine quill closure

Close up shot of porcupine loop on flap

Cow leather pouch with fox décor

Cow leather with snap closure & elephant decor

Llama leather pouch with caribou décor & drawstring closure

Cow leather bag with pronghorn antelope décor

Cow leather pouches with sheepskin décor & hidden snap closures - made for father & son

Cow leather bags with fox & beaver décor & button / button hole closures - made by Dad for his 3 sons

Leather pouch with sheepskin décor & snap closure (notice the tight lacing)

Cow leather pouch with diamond back rattlesnake décor & snap closure

Cow leather pouch with skunk décor & name tag

Cow leather bag with beaver décor & hidden snap closure

Sheepskin leather with fox décor and snap closure

Cow leather bag with fox décor, name tag & 2 snaps closure

Cow leather with name tag & beaver décor with snap closure

Cow leather with snap closure & zig-zag lacing pattern

Here are two other projects related to the workshop;

rabbit pelt sheath & diamondback rattlesnake sheath

Here are pictures from the class - this included games as well as word searches & crossword puzzles. 

A dozen different athentic Sioux Indian artifacts were also displayed & explained to the group. 

Matching game was played using toys & pelts & tools made from the respective animals

For those interested, animal related rossword puzzles, word searches & word matches were provided. 

Prizes (donated by Cabela's & REI & Lowes) were provided to many of the participants who completed a leather pouch.