Every Frontier Partisan’s closet should be home to at least one pair of desert boots. They’re classic masculine footwear — comfortable, practical and … somehow… timelessly stylish.
“Desert Boot” is kind of a misnomer — the famous Clarks Desert Boot is really a Veldskoen. A what you say? A veldskoen. A “field shoe.” It’s Afrikaans. The veldskoen dates back to the 17th century, when Dutch settlers in the Cape made them from rawhide. The veldskoen was the moccasin of the South African frontier, the national footgear of the Boer Great Trek, the favored shoe of the great early African white hunters.
Boer hunter/reenactor/veldskoen-maker MC Heunis notes:
Boer, Brit, Black or Khoi, there is one thing that our pioneering forefathers all wore at some stage; the ubiquitous veldskoen. Easy to make, without the use of tacks or nails, these lightweight and extremely tough walking shoes could withstand the harsh conditions of the Southern African frontiers and became a legend in their own right… The veldskoen walked the trails of southern Africa and wherever the Trekboere, frontiersmen and hunters went, the veldskoen became part of their lives and part of history. Even foreign hunters equipped themselves with these die-hard shoes.
Our friend MC Heunis again. Hunter, Boer re-enactor, maker of vellies. I am not as cool as he is.
The vellie moved north with the Pioneer Column into Rhodesia, and Nathan Clark was inspired to make his desert boot by examples he found in Egypt — imported from South Africa.
I have a pair of Clarks I practically stole at a sale at Macy’s in Portland. Love ’em. My daughter Ceili says they’re almost hip. Don’t know about that. They are, however, timeless.
When I wear ’em with my tweed Orvis Norfolk Jacket (more stuff that works) and a Baldwin hat I feel ready to party like it’s 1899.
Which is exactly where I like to be.
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Speaking of Der Boers….
I recently discovered a Frederick Remington illustration that adorned the cover of Harper’s Weekly, October 14, 1899, at the very beginning of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Didn’t know Remington had touched the Boer War, though it is perfect for him. Craggy, bearded, armed men in a rugged landscape — pure Remington.
•••••
Coming soon….
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You can get your copy of Warriors of the Wild Lands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans through my favorite trading post — Paulina Springs Books of Sisters, Oregon.
Bill Valenti says
I remember my first pair of Clarks Desert Boots. Wore them every day in high school, and my mother snatched them from my bedside when the odor became too much, and tossed them out.
JimC says
Nooooo……
Black Tyrone says
Ah yes desert boots! Lived every waking hour in them in the late 1960s. Pea Jacket/coat too Merry Christmas
JimC says
And to you, Black Tyrone.
Pat_H says
I have a pair that was made by Bata in Kenya. I love them. They are unfortunately a bit too large, but I’ve kept them in use all these years even though I messed up the gum soles by getting them too close to a campfire years ago.
In the nature of sort of a fun fact, although one that when you mention it can cause some people to bristle, the modern Grey’s Scouts of the Rhodesian Army, as opposed to the unit by the same name from quite a bit earlier, wore boots that were modified from the then Rhodesian Army pattern to feature gum soles like on desert boots. They were also made by Bata.
Hmmm. . . maybe I should update my Christmas list for a pair of Clark’s that actually are the correct size.
JimC says
There you go… Santa is listening…
Matthew says
My daughter Ceili says they’re almost hip. Don’t know about that. They are, however, timeless.—
Timeless is better than hip. Hip changes too fast.
JimC says
Yeah, I can do the one, but not the other.
Pat_H says
Well, things that are truly hip circle back around. For example, I’ve worn low cut Muson last boots, the same pair, for some things now approaching 30 years. The same kind I wear, made by Chippewa, are now the official footgear of Hipsters.
Same thing with a good A2 flight jacket. I’ve had the same one now for nearly 30 years. A good horsehide one. It comes in and out of style.
JimC says
There ya go!
Matthew says
Handlebar mustaches and Mountain Man beards of have to some degree come back. Who’d of thought?
Pat_H says
There you go. I’ve sported a Pancho Villa mustache since I was in my 20s. And I wear a pair of those rimless glasses that were in style in the 30s and 40s, with my frames being that old, as they have small lenses and are comfortable.
Blazing a way to hipness for decades without even trying. . . just like all of us here. Frontier Hip Partisans.
Breaker Morant says
Thanks, finally something I want for Christmas. I just told the wife and she rolled her eyes.
I wonder how they compare with “Zim (Zimbabwe) Farmer Boots.” I run across that term once in awhile and I want some.
As I farm, I have Minnesota farmer boots (Red Wing). On a trip to the area south of Cancun, I wanted to bring a pair along. My argument was-“What if there is a revolution of something and we end up fleeing through the jungle?” I didn’t win that argument.
In my defense, we had previously been to Mazatlan in 1994 and there was some wierd stuff going on. Labor troubles and heavily armed troops patrolling the tourist quarter.
Per the Boers-I am moving T. V. Bulpin towards the top of my TBR pile. I have 2 of his books-“Lost Trails of the Transvaal” and “To The Banks of the Zambezi.”
It is fruitless for me to try and resist the the call of a book called “Lost Trails of the Transvaal.”
JimC says
Uh-oh…
You got me.
Breaker Morant says
Figured those might catch your eye. We should have a FP lending library or something.
I am reading “Wildlife at War in Angola” and Lane Batot keeps jumping into my mind as I read it.
My 2 high-schoolers are on the Knowledge Bowl team and they just ignore me when I try to help them study for contests.
You never know when they might ask you who the father of Angolan botany was? or what national park is located in the southwest corner of Angola?
JimC says
I am calling you out in a post. Breaker Of Book Budgets.
Eccentric Cowboy says
Most interesting. I do after all need a new pair of trail shoes, since I wore my old ones into scrap.
Very good article! For some reason written pieces like this are the only things that get my interest for apparel. Rawhide is still the best!
lane batot says
Whaddya BET that Boer re-enactor Heunis feller has some Rhodesian Ridgebacks he takes out with him, as the functional Boer bush dogs of choice? A breed I’ve been seriously contemplating acquiring myself, hopefully one day, and that would fit in admirably with my present lifestyle and need of good “Trespassing Dogs” where I presently live and roam……And Breaker Morant–“Angola Wildlife Wars”? Sigh. The “To Read” stack is doomed to grow higher….I never got in any wildlife fights when I was in Tanzania, but my two-legged wolverine trapline raiding that I perpetrated(and got SHOT AT for!) would make for a good “Frontier Partisan” tale–safely so, I think, as the Statue of Limitashunz should be expired on THAT decades ago!…as for shoes–I HATE stiff, heavy boots of any kind–old-fashioned(and now hard to find) tennis shoes have always been the wilderness shoes of my choice. I only wear boots in the deepest of snows. Tennis shoes can make admirable shallow snow foot wear–just save yer plastic bread bags and slide them over yer socks before putting on the shoes! Better take some extra bags along if yer out for an all day(or night) ramble, though…..
JimC says
I WANT that story.
And I want a Rhodesian Ridgeback.
lane batot says
Okee-dokee, but it’ll havta be sent as a private E-mail–it’ll likely take a bit of pecking to git told–you can post it here if you wish; it might fit the Frontier Partisan theme somewhat, if in a quirky sorta way……As for Ridgebacks–I’ve known a few(but not had any of my own–YET!), and really admired them. My BEST human friend ever, had them, she was also a HUGE Laurens Van Der Poste fan, and some of her favorite books were “A Story Like The Wind”, and the sequel(made into the Disney movie) “A Far Off Place”, with Hintza the Ridgeback a major character. They are what I consider EXCELLENT wilderness and even more suburban “trespassing dogs”–they stick close, are quite protective and suspicious of strangers(like land owners!), are well camoflouged in coloring(dogs with a lot of white can be seen at quite some distance, and I find that a liability), and CAN be well-trained, despite their rather independent/stubborn reputations. I rather prefer an “independent” type dog–they’re the ones who will often teach YOU what oughta be done, if only you will stay open-minded and not the Nazi-controlling type “master”. Thing is, Ridgebacks–in the U. S.A., tend to be DAMN EXPENSIVE($1000 plus!!!), being(alas) mostly in the hands of Conformation Show people.There ARE a few hunters that use them–mostly Hog hunters–that you might get a cheaper, healthier(not so much INBREEDING for Show purposes), functional dogs. And they likely won’t be as expensive, either. THAT’S where I’m gonna try to find a pup–whenever my present dog numbers have dwindled a bit more(I stillhave 8, but 6 of them are OLD)……
lane batot says
….and an afterthought–as I like to name my dogs something in the language or otherwise pertaining to their breed origins(if known!)–wouldn’t “Vellie” be a great name for a Ridgeback bitch?
JimC says
Aye, so it would!
Love the piece you e-mailed.
C Jacobs says
Boere didn’t use Ridgebacks, they used Boerboels. A mastive type dog, specifically bread to be larger and more intimidating than Ridgebacks to protect farmsteads and family. Commonly a Boerboel would be paired with a smaller terrier type breed like Jack Russel, or Fox terriers. The smaller dog’s role is to alert the larger dog to any threats, and the Larger dog’s job is to annihilate said threat.
Rhodesians were English settlers. Boers are Afrikaans, which is a mixture of predominantly Dutch and French Huguenot. These are very different cultures. Rhodesians considered themselves Crown subjects in Africa (in a similar fashion as English settlers in South Africa), until the crown turned its back on the colony in later years, and they had to fight for survival. Their culture is English culture, practiced in Africa, or in other words, they didn’t have a distinct culture.
Boer culture is very different. It is a mixture of Europe (Dutch, French, German, Scandanavian), Indonesian and African. It is a group of people who didn’t want to bend the knee to a monarch and wanted to make a go of Africa by themselves.
If you know your history, you would know why a Rhodesian Ridgeback is not typically a Boer’s dog.
Saddle Tramp says
Well Jim you certainly struck a foot [note] in my history. You truly have me walking down memory lane with a pair of Clark’s desert boots on. I was an early adopter and went through several pairs. Levi cords or Levi 501 red tab button fly jeans were a staple matchup as well at the time. I always try to dress for comfort or practicality as the situation warrants. Clark’s could serve both needs at times and even worked great during a summer roofing job I had putting on wood shingles. They adhered well to cedar shingled roofs. No safety harnesses in those days, only my trusty Clark’s…
Saddle Tramp says
Another item of nostalgia and repurposed safety items. Along with the Clarks were roofing seats for cedar shingle roofing. A homemade device consisting of beer can openers nailed to the bottom of two triangles cut from a 2×8 with a carpet covered plywood nailed to both. When you were up on a steep pitch house roof 4 stories off the ground these beer can opener cleats were all that held you between you and the ground. Clarks and beer can openers holding on for dear life…
JimC says
My brother roofed in similar conditions as a young feller. I have t ask him about beer opener cleats. Sounds like his kind of field-expedient fix.
Saddle Tramp says
“field-expedient fix.”
I like that!
We would call it in the vernacular as a hobo fix. A hobo adaptive measure if you will. A rose is a rose and nobody knows where the hobo goes when it snows…
My roofing was a short but intense stint. We did a lot of new work in very large home enclaves. Your brother and I are probably from the same era I surmise…
JimC says
Yep.
Thom Eley says
Better guard that Ovis Norfolk Jacket! I don’t think that they carry them anymore.
JimC says
I know!
VS says
Clarks desert boots (beeswax) are my footwear of choice for the winter. Which I realize is a bit odd…
JimC says
It’s only weird if it doesn’t work…
Betty says
So far behind…only reading December posts and we’re past the middle of March.
In case you read very late comments: Craggy, bearded, armed men and the rugged landscape are pure Remington, but the ewe-necked Western American mustangs are, too. Which makes me wonder, what did those Boer horses really look like?
JimC says
Best image I have.
JimC says
Basotho pony.
JimC says
“Boer Horse”
Federico Hanhausen says
I remember when i was reading “A hunter’s wanderings in africa” (which narates the hunting trips of the great hunter Frederick Courtney Selous) at some point he was traveling in a canoe through a marsh on his way to the victoria falls, and he had to chase some antelopes which were roaming with their legs half sumerged in the water. But before jumping off the canoe he mentions removing his veldskoens. He learned a lot from the tough boers he met living scatered around the zambezi. If those shoes were good enough for his, often several months on foot hunting trips, they are good enough for my daily 10 block comute to work.
JimC says
Reckon so.