Recommended reading - The Book of Buckskinning Series

Published: 2026-03-30

What would you recommend me to read? is a question we often get from fellow buckskinners. Especially people new to the hobby.

Regardless if you care about authenticity or not, no other book series gives you a broader view or has contributed more to the buckskinning hobby over the years than the Book of Buckskinning series (according to S.M.M.). With eight volumes published by Scurlock Publishing from 1983-1999, the series offers inspiration, general buckskinner know-how as well as useful and detailed how-tos and in-depth researched articles on historical material culture. A buckskinners encyclopedia of sort, useful for all buckskinners regardless if you're a first time rendezvous participant or experienced stitch counting fanatic.

Although they are no longer in print, a few unused volumes are still available. But for most of them the second-hand market is your only choice. If getting the entire series isn’t an option, you might want some help prioritizing which volumes to get. What can be a better help than a table of contents?

Books of Buckskinning (Volume 1)

The Philosophy of Buckskinning
How to Get Started
Rendezvous & Shoots
The Lodge
The Guns
The Clothing
Accoutrements & Equipment
The Skills
Women in Buckskinning
The Crafts

Book of Buckskinning II (Volume 2)

Why Buckskinners Create
Working With Leather
18th Century Clothing
Horseback Travel
Design & Construction of Powder Horns
Firemaking
Travelling Afoot & By Canoe
Making Camp Gear
Gun Tune-Up & Care

Book of Buckskinning III (Volume 3)

Historic Guns & Today’s Makers
Quiltworking
Trade Beads
18th & 19th Century Cooking
The Hunting Pouch
Beadworking
Techniques for Making Footwaer
Period Shelters

Book of Buckskinning IV (Volume 4)

Traditional Blanksmithing
Blankets in Early America
From Raw Hides to Rawhide
Styles of the Southwest
Smoothbores on the Frontier
Trade Silver
Backwoods Knives
Lighting the Primitive Camp
Historic Sites & Museums

Book of Buckskinning V (Volume 5)

Trade Goods for Rendezvous
Games, Sports & Other Amusements
Fur Trade Indian Dresses
Tipi Know-How
Engraving & Carving
Old Time Music & Instruments
Pack Saddles & Panniers
Museums & Historic Sites II

Book of Buckskinning VI (Volume 6)

The Traditional Hunting Pouch
Horse Gear – East & West
Making A Wooden Bow
American Powder Horns
Frontier Trail Foods
Old-Time Shooting Matches
Period Trekking
Finger Weaving

Book of Buckskinning VII (Volume 7)

Clothing of the Rocky Mountain Trapper, 1820-1840
Indian-Influenced Woodsmen of the Cane
Art & Writing on the Frontier
Great Lakes & Eastern Woodlands Knife Sheaths
A Wardrobe for the Frontier Woman, 1780-1840
A Typical Day’s Journey in Winter
Goods of the Trunk Maker & his Trade
Tools & Techniques of Bark tanning

Book of Buckskinning VIII (Volume 8)

Gear of the Rocky Mountain Trapper
Beaver Hunting, Wing
Shooting with a Flintlock Shotgun
History of the Horse in the Fur Trade
18th Century Tatooing
The History & Trade Ledgers of Fort Hall
Independent Women of America's Past
Beadwork in the American West before 1850
The Evolution of the Cocked Hat.

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