Wow! Thanks for the info. Bert invited myself and a hand full of others to tour his collection back in the 80's. It was shortly after making his decision to donate it to one of the University museums. One of the last opportunities to see it complete before he started parting it out.
I'll never forget as he was walking and talking us through everything when he gets to the north american plains indian collection. He had everything organized and catagorized as to what part of the world he had collected it from, it's place in archery history etc, It was unbelievable. I asked about a particular bow that had caught my attention. Unstrung hanging on it's peg it formed a near full circle about two feet in diameter, hard to believe it was really a bow.
He proceeded to explain it was of Sioux origin over 700 years old and of the type they hunted buffalo from horses with, as he takes it off the wall and hands it to me to look at. Made of a juniper wood core sandwitched with bighorn sheep horn and elk antler all laminated with hide glue and wrapped in sinew. I was amazed and am sure my eyes were now the size of dinner plates, especially as he askes..You want to draw it?? I looked up and replied, you sure? and this is how old?. He took it from my hand and said "lets string it". He stepped his left foot through between the bow and string and rested the bottom part of the circle over the top of his right thigh. With both hands he took the top limb and pulled back as he sat down on his haunches and asked me to put the loop (sinew string) in the notches of the bow. This thing was creaking like mad and I was sure it was gonna blow up..but it didn't. whew!
Finally it really looked like a bow but it was only about three feet long. He flexed the string back and forth explaning and showing how they drew them just to the arm pit. He then hands it to me to try...and I was amazed with it's strength, must have drawn 70 lbs at 22". It was creaking and popping with every inch of draw and I was sure it was gonna go at any minute. He then took it back, stepped through it, sat down on it, and asked me to aid him in unstringing.. which I did. He hung it back up on it's peg on the wall and we went on.....we had soooo much to look at that day.
So I say, thank you Bert!. You gave me a treasure that day I will carry with me to my grave. So sorry to hear that you have passed on. However i'm sure you have just been choozen by the man upstairs to travel and collect artifacts throughout the universe for you, him and all of us to enjoy once we get there.
Topic: We lost another Legend and Pioneer (Read 476 times)
