Pioneers Went Barefoot Didn't They?

In preparation for a 4 day-long pioneer reenactment in the second week in July, I joined a group of trainees to visit the camp location and experience some of the activities planned for the youth groups. Everyone came in full costume, and many curiously questioned my choice of footwear... bare feet. I simply stated, "Some of the pioneers went barefoot didn't they?"

Sarah Marsing travelled from Nebraska to the Salt Lake valley in Utah in bare feet, ditching her shoes after the first day because they had become too small for her. Jane Manning James also walked over 800 miles from Conneticut to Illinois without her shoes on. Many other reports speak of pioneers starting their journeys with footwear but ending without as they became worn and tattered. Many children ran alongside wagons without shoes from the beginning. It was not a surprising occurrence.

Looks changed to worry as we began building handcarts for hauling 200 lbs of salt through the woods. "How are you going to protect your feet from rocks and thistles?" I have to admit that I wasn't sure it was possible to make the entire trip without shoes either. That's why my Classics were tucked into my packsack on my back. But as we pulled the carts across the gravel and onto the trail my doubts disappeared. Mother Nature's surfaces of dirt and grass were far more gentle on my feet than man-made surfaces like gravel and pavement. It was an absolute pleasure to walk through the woods unshod.

I spent 4 hours in bare feet that morning. Of course I had to watch where I stepped, but the constant scrutiny had me keenly aware of my surroundings and self. I remember one moment in particular when I was stopped on the side of a hill for instruction. A pile of freshly upturned soil warmed my feet after soaking up morning sun. I flexed my toes gently to stretch my digits and scare off interested ants until it was time to go again. Plants, pine needles, and rocky dirt were of little concern. Only when returning to the gravel of the main camp at the end of the morning did my feet begin feeling tender.

Hopeful after a morning with naked feet, I plan to tackle much of the reenactment in similar fashion. I'm not yet as tough as the citizens of our country who braved new frontier looking for opportunity, avoiding persecution, or following their hearts even if it meant going barefoot, so my FiveFingers will be close at hand. We'll see what the masses think of the idea in a few weeks.