Cache Valley Shoemakers
Pioneer life in the rugged Mountain West was not easy! Winters were cold and the distance between the new Cache Valley settlements made travel difficult.
What every settler needed was a good pair of shoes. Rich or poor, old and young, everyone could use sturdy leather boots on their feet. Agricultural and outdoor work meant shoes needed to be durable to extend the time between repairs. But without shoe factories and department stores, where did pioneers get their shoes? And who made them?
Pioneer Histories and Biographical Documents
There were many people who worked as shoemakers and cobblers in Cache Valley between 1860 and 1900. Their names can be found in histories, newspapers, and county directories. A small selection of these histories is included in the following portion of the exhibit.
The Cache Pioneer Museum has a large collection of pioneer histories in its archives, which have been compiled by volunteer museum staff and past members of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Organization. Biographies of those who were born after 1900 are not covered in the scope of the museum's collection. However, many of the known shoemakers did continue to run their shops well after the year 1900, such as Charles Baker and Andreas Peterson.
The legal rights to the histories belong to Cache Pioneer Museum, and have been made freely available to the public through Utah State University's generous donation of library resources and digital space. Visitors to the museum and living descendants of early settlers may request hard copies of pioneer histories.
Some of this exhibit's files include religious documents such as certifications and blessings. Others may contain religious content or outdated terminology that may be unusual or sensitive to some readers. These details are an important part of the story of Cache Valley, and provide a glimpse of what pioneers' lives were really like during the 19th century, sometimes even told in their own words.