Once when were in the Yukon, we had the opportunity to talk with a shoemaker who handmade boots and shoes exactly like the footwear that people wore during the Klondike Gold Rush. The shoemaker sold these shoes and boots to tourists who paid a handsome price.

I recall looking at and trying on a pair of boots and it struck me that even though the workmanship was excellent, the boots were very uncomfortable as there was no arch support or padding of any type and with no tread whatsoever on the soles.

The shoemaker told us that in the winter, those would be gold seekers who could not afford better and fur insulated boots often purchased boots 2-3 sizes bigger then they needed so that they could wear multiple pairs of socks in an attempt to keep their feet warm in temperatures down to -50F. Often the boots would get wet and freeze solid on the men's feet and there was a lot of frozen toes that had to be amputated every winter.

To this day, whenever I go out in the winter and walk through snow and ice cold water in my modern waterproof and insulated boots, I cannot help but think of how those old timers endured the crude footwear more then a century ago.

BTW, the spiked or nailed soled boots mentioned by a couple of posters, these boots are often called cork or caulk boots in my AO. Though not as popular as they used to be, there are still a lot of these boots to be found in many of the northen men's workwear supply stores.