October 10th -13th: Bill Shemie

This original fringe leather jacket, purchased in South Dakota, was exchanged by a previous den guest.  Bill decided to wear it to the wedding he was in town for.

It's very similar to the one worn by Del Gue (left), a character in the 1972 western film Jeremiah Johnson.

We first meet Gue's character, a mountain man in severe disfavor with several local Indian tribes, in the desert, where he has been buried up to his head in sand.  Johnson helps him out, and from then on, Gue is seen wearing the coat.

Bear Claw, left, who resides in a log cabin that he built, teaches Johnson everything he knows about trapping animals and living in the mountains.  At the end of the movie, Jeremiah Johnson begins building a log cabin to live in.

In exchange for his stay at the Den, Bill helped me build a miniature log cabin made out of wood from the silver maple tree under which the Den stands.