Early American Hoof Boots: Lewis and Clark Needed Buffalo Hide Moccasins for Their Barefoot Horses in 1806

Once again, many trips to the library and late nights on the Internet yield evidence that ingenious and impromptu hoofcare--or perhaps untimely hoof problems--may have changed the course of history.

One of the most remarkable documents of American literature isn't anything like a Mark Twain novel or a Walt Whitman poem or an Arthur Miller play. It's the real thing, a day-by-day account of