BLANKETS

Raising our flocks on land explored by Lewis and Clark, we are keenly aware of the significant contributions the Corps of Discovery made to our great country.

In light of the 200 year anniversary of that expedition, we have created a limited edition of blankets that are historically accurate to the ones brought by the expedition for both personal use and for trade with the people they encountered along the way. After considerable research, we found that that blanket is what is referred to as the Double Three Point.

Three point blankets were the standard of trade in the new frontier since the late 1600's. This was an era of transition from cottage industry to commercial textiles and both commercially-loomed and hand-woven blankets were available.

Hand-loomed blankets were often made by traveling teams composed of one weaver and six spinners who traveled to sheep farms where they spun and wove that year's wool clip into blankets. To save time during the looming, the blankets were made double long (end to end). These double-long blankets were predecessors to our modern-day sleeping bags. One half was laid on the ground while the other half was folded up and over one's feet and used as a covering.

If someone desired just a single blanket, the blankets were cut apart at the time of purchase. Therefore the "price tag" was attached near both ends of the blanket in the form of woven-in, short "points" which were lines about the size of one's finger. Each point signified what the blanket was worth in prime beaver skins. The double three point had three points woven near each end of the double-long blanket. Therefore, the price of that double-long blanket was six prime beaver pelts.

Since blankets were the most readily available cloth to be found in the areas away from civilization, they were often also cut up and sewn into capotes and other practical articles of clothing.

Since looms varied in size and spinning techniques as well as differing types of wool produced differences in yarn, there was as much as a ten inch difference in the size of the blankets from one weaver to the next. Ours measure 50 inches by 152 inches.

Like the originals, ours are not bound nor finished on the ends. They will fray slightly then self heal just like the original ones did.

Unlike the original blankets, ours are soft. Our careful, selective breeding under the direction of wool grader Dick Everett since 1987, has produced a wool only Lewis and Clark could have wished for, eliminating the prickle factor. Since only a very limited amount of this soft, Targhee Merino wool is produced each year, blanket production is limited to the size of each year's wool clip.

"Quality wool products without the itch."™

Home | Trade Blankets | Order Here | The Sheep | Lewis & Clark