The Leatherman's Caves
For thirty years, from about 1857 to 1889, a silent man walked a 365-mile loop through Connecticut and New York. He wore clothes made entirely of leather - crudely stitched patches weighing 60 pounds. He spoke little, accepting food at farmhouses along his route but refusing money or beds. He slept in rock shelters and caves. He completed his circuit every 34 days, so predictably that families along his route knew exactly when to expect him. They called him the Leatherman, and he became one of 19th-century New England's most famous mysteries. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did he walk? He never told anyone. He left behind caves, legends, and questions that have never been answered.
The Route
The Leatherman's circuit traced a roughly triangular path from the Connecticut River to the Hudson River and back, passing through Westchester County, New York, and western Connecticut. He followed the same roads, stopped at the same houses, slept in the same rock shelters - never varying. His 34-day cycle was so precise that farmers' wives prepared food for 'Leather Day.' He avoided cities, preferring small towns and rural roads. The route seemed designed for maximum isolation while maintaining human contact - stopping at farmhouses for meals but never engaging in conversation beyond grunts of thanks.
The Man
He was about 5'10", heavily built, with a scarred face. His leather outfit covered him completely, even in summer - patched and repatched until it was described as more rivets than leather. He carried a leather bag with crude cooking implements. He accepted food but refused money, lodging, and sustained conversation. When asked his name, he pointed to his leather clothes. When asked about his past, he fell silent or walked away. The few words he was heard to speak were in French, leading to speculation that he was a French-Canadian. Some said his face was burned; others that it was deliberately scarred.
The Legend
Stories accumulated around the silent walker. The most popular held that he was Jules Bourglay of Lyon, France, a prosperous leatherworker who had fallen in love with his employer's daughter. Her father agreed to the marriage if Jules proved his business acumen by making a major leather investment. He did - and the market crashed. Ruined, rejected, and humiliated, he fled to America and vowed to wear leather for the rest of his life in penance. This story is almost certainly false - invented by newspapers - but it captured the public imagination. The truth may be simpler: a man who preferred walking and solitude to whatever life he'd left behind.
The Death
On March 24, 1889, a man checking one of the Leatherman's caves near Ossining, New York, found him dead. He was estimated to be about 60 years old. Cancer of the mouth - possibly from his habit of smoking a corncob pipe - had killed him. His few possessions included his leather outfit, some crude tools, a pipe, and a French prayer book. He was buried in Ossining's Sparta Cemetery. In 2011, his grave was exhumed when highway construction threatened it; DNA testing failed. He was reburied with a new headstone: 'The Leatherman - Final resting place.' His real name remains unknown.
Visiting the Leatherman's Trail
Several of the Leatherman's caves survive and can be visited. The most accessible is in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Cross River, New York - a large rock overhang where he regularly sheltered. Leatherman Cave in Black Rock State Park, Connecticut, is another known shelter. The Leatherman Trail in Mattituck, NY, commemorates his passage. His grave is in Sparta Cemetery, Ossining, NY (Scarborough section). The route he walked is partly traceable through Westchester County, NY, and Fairfield and Litchfield counties, CT. The Connecticut Historical Society has artifacts related to his story. Westchester County Airport is the closest airport; Metro-North serves the region.
From the Air
Located at approximately 41.27°N, 73.72°W (Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, one of his caves) in Westchester County, New York. The Leatherman's route traced a 365-mile loop visible from altitude as passing through the wooded hills between the Hudson and Connecticut River valleys. The terrain is typical New England - forested ridges, small valleys, and rock outcrops that provided his shelters. His route connected small towns now suburban, then rural. Westchester County Airport is nearby; New York City lies to the south.