Did the cowboys or the pioneers use snowshoes in tough winters?
Kathy Church
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Yes, they used snowshoes, especially in the High Sierra and Rocky Mountain regions where winters were brutal. They also had skis that were longer than the ones used today. To prevent snow blindness, if they couldn’t purchase sunglasses, they fashioned them from colored bottles. Emigrants from Scandinavia, no doubt, brought these skills from the old country.
Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association. His latest book is Arizona Outlaws and Lawmen; The History Press, 2015. If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or email him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu.
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