Vintage Boots: Moccasins Direct

Moccasins Direct

Lewis Wetzel, giant of the American frontier, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the fourth of seven children to Mary and John Wetzel. His father was a German immigrant, a former indentured slave who had risen above his station to win the hand of the daughter of the well established Bonnet family, who had already been living on American soil for several generations.

When Lewis was just one year old, his family packed up with some other hardy settlers and moved across the Allegheny mountains to take possession of land that was now up for grabs as a result of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. They settled in an area of forest clearing along Big Wheeling Creek, not far from the Ohio River.