Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Mike and Bonnie Johnson have been honing their blacksmithing skills for 15 years, and they create practical and artistic pieces in their forge at their home in Indian Draft, hence their business name – Indian Draft Forge.
Mike has had an interest in blacksmithing since he was a child and clearly remembers his introduction to the craft.
“[It] started in the summer of ’54, ’55, when my grand-pa took me and one of my sisters down to Colonial Williamsburg, and we went to the blacksmith shop,” he said. “The blacksmith was making horseshoes and putting people’s names on them. Papa had one made for me with my name on it and this is it.”
Mike still has the small horseshoe that sparked his interest all those years ago.
Bonnie came by it in a very different way.
“I’ve always been interested in traditional crafts,” she said. “I grew up in New England, and there’s a lot of that there. I’ve always had an interest in that kind of thing and I’ve always liked metal; the look and the feel of metal.”
“She’s a machinist, as well,” Mike added.
“I got into that field – the machining and engineering,” she said. “It went right into blacksmithing.”
The couple joined a blacksmithing guild and have attended events where they have learned a lot about the craft from expert blacksmiths.
Mike likes to recreate 18th century designs and while Bonnie does the same with her work, and she also creates her own designs.
“She has turned out to be the more artistic of the two of us,” Mike said.
One of Bonnie’s most recent creations includes flooring that was manufactured by Mower Lumber Company in Cass. A neighbor was remodeling their home and tore up the old floor. The neighbor asked if Mike and Bonnie would like to have the wood, and they did.
“I thought that’s really neat, I like that,” Mike said. “Bonnie almost immediately saw a coat rack. That’s the artistic thing. I saw a board.”
“I thought people would really like that,” Bonnie said.
Bonnie cuts the wood to a certain size and adds a metal bar and hooks to turn it into a coat rack.
Both have been traveling to Pocahontas County for years and, in 2002, they bought their now full-time home as a vacation spot. They knew they found the right place when they realized Mike had encountered the seller before.
“I guess I have the dubious distinction of having been one of the few people to be hauled out of Swago Pit by the rescue squad,” he said.
Mike was a cave enthusiast when he was in college at University of Maryland. He and some friends came to Pocahontas County one January to cave and, long story short, they had to be pulled out of the cave by a rescue crew.
“We came into town to get a cup of coffee,” he said. “I remember the waitress came up, and she was a young lady. I remember asking her to bring as much coffee as you could brew.”
That was at French’s Diner. Fast forward to 2002 when they were talking to Pat McNabb about buying some property and the cave story came up in the conversation.
“I told her that story about the cave and her mouth dropped,” Mike said. “She said, ‘my God, I remember that. I was the waitress that brought you the coffee.’”
“So we knew we were in the right place,” Bonnie said. “It’s funny how things go around like that.”
The couple moved permanently to Pocahontas County in 2018. Near the house, they have a workshop where both have a forge.
“We used to share, but it got to where if she was doing something, I had to sit and twiddle my thumbs,” Mike said. “Last year, I had to have my shoulder replaced. I thought when I get back, I don’t want to be standing around, waiting for a turn because for several months I couldn’t do anything. She kind of took it over.”
“I wasn’t going to give it back,” she said, laughing.
Among the materials in the workshop is a special anvil that dates back to 1831 England. It belonged to a dear friend who was also a blacksmith. When he passed away, his widow asked Mike if there was anything he wanted to remember him by and he asked for the anvil.
It is the anvil Mike uses every time he crafts something.
The couple do both their own designs as well as commission work and currently have work for sale at Handmade WV Market in Marlinton. They also travel to fairs and festivals, including Watoga Art in the Park, where they demonstrate.
“We’re going to get into doing more demonstrations,” Bonnie said. “We do sell more when we’re demonstrating, rather than just having something in a shop. We’re going to try to do that more this year.”
Mike and Bonnie both take great joy in blacksmithing and enjoy both the artistic element as well as the historical significance of the art. Their love of the craft is evident to anyone who visits their home, which is decorated with several pieces of their own work, including a special ironwork door on their kitchen counter which allows their cat to get a drink from the kitchen sink.
“It’s a joy,” Mike said. “There is an art – a real art in it.”