The most common question I would always get was “Have you thought about doing a book about O.L. Butcher?”  My answer was always that I had, but I had not been able to find a source of information besides his catalogs and books.  It is really hard to write a book with only those items for information. 

All that would change at the Northeast Regional National Trappers Association Convention in Bethel Maine at Neil Olson’s in 2025.  A chance meeting of an individual who asked me the same question as I usually get, to which I responded with the usual answer I give.  After our talk, unknown to me, he talked to someone who could help me.  He went out of his way to put me in contact with a gentleman who knew a couple people who were supportive of the book and sharing their information.  The foundation for this book was built.

Two weeks later, I would meet these supportive people at the New York State Trappers Association convention.  I was given the opportunity to scan the photographs and information they had.  It took me five hours to scan five hundred photographs, of which most are included in this book.  A stop at the Trap Museum in Galloway, Ohio on the way home and discussions with the Washington County, New York, Historian rounded out the research.  Usually, research for a book can take six months to a year depending on sources, this one took two weeks, unheard of when starting from scratch.

One drawback was that Okey had not written as many magazine articles as Dick Wood, EJ Dailey or Walter Arnold to use for source information.  There were some articles.  However, as noted above, a number of photographs were also available providing their own storyline.  So, some chapters are primarily photographs, but they say each is worth a thousand words.

Okey’s lures were known nationwide with a reputation for quality and effectiveness.  Jim Geffert of Night Owl Lures told me that in comparisons of catches between Okey’s lures and E.J. Dailey’s lures, that he had better success with Okey’s. 

Okey’s love of the red fox is evident with the many pictures of him with litters of small ones, all with leashes and collars.  He carried for them the same as domestic dogs, he would get them shots and feed them appropriately.  They were tame and provided the urine for his business to sell.  He went through many tame foxes with some being allowed in the house, similar to a dog.

One thing that cannot be understated is the importance that Alice, Okey’s second wife, had on him and his business especially after he died in 1967.  She was thirty years younger than him and ran the business for another twenty years with the eventual sellout in 1986.  She fished, trapped and even hunted bear.  In the 1962-1963 catalog, Okey had a caption that read “Women Trap Too” under a photograph of Alice. 

I also recommend getting the DVD titled “Trapping with O.L. Butcher” available through my website.  It is an hour-long movie showing O.L. Butcher on the line making catches of fox, coyote, bobcat, fisher, mink and beaver in the Adirondacks.  It shows him on the line from the beginning of season through his annual trapping trip to Arizona and then trapping beaver under ice.  The film was made in the 1960s and originally on 8 mm film, then VHS and finally digitized on DVD.  It is a silent film with musical overlay.  Okey communicates with the audience through written messages.  It is in color and is a great companion piece to this book.  See a legend actually working at his trade and racking up the catches.  I think the best part of the DVD is watching Okey play with his pet fox and seeing the fox jump on Okey’s back.

You will find contradicting information in this book.  If two different sources had different information that I could not confirm either, I left them as they were.  Two items that had contradicting information from many different sources was Okey’s date of birth and height.  His date of birth was December 6, 1897.  I think the issue with this being misreported comes from an article done in 1962 titled “He Sells Sly Smells.”  I put this article first in the book as it gives a good overview of Okey’s life, but I think the author tried to make the article more interesting by saying Okey was born in 1901 and therefore underage when he signed up for the U.S. Navy in 1917.  Many of the sources show 1901 as his date of birth. 

The second is Okey’s height which is reported anywhere from 5 foot 11 inches to 6 foot 4 inches.  I think it leans toward the latter as he usually towers above people in photographs. 
I included photographs that were in articles.  If I had scanned an original photograph that was in an article, I used the original instead of the copy from the magazine. 

There were also groupings of photographs which seemed to be “on the same roll.”  If there were photographs that seemed to be taken at the same time, I tried to put all of them together. 
Most of the photographs in this book were taken by Okey or Alice.  They not only share information about trapping but also the private side of Okey’s life.  Lots of photographs in this book which I hope you enjoy.