An Introduction To

Period Trekking
A Brief Dissertation on Time Travel,
and How to Not Be Discovered
Assembled from Documents and Articles Written by a
ariety of Aut!ors
W"#$%&" T% P"'I%D T'"((IN)
Perod trekkng can bud character n one's sef and n one's outft; t can underscore
what one knows about hstory; and t can verfy what one thnks s true. It can teach
secrets ony hstorca expermentaton can whsper n the perod trekker's heart. --
Mark A. Baker
)%A#*+
--To expore some of the phosophy behnd Perod Trekkng, and to take a bref ook at
how vng hstory and expermenta archeoogy combne wth backpowder to create
18th century "trekkng."
--To expore some of the basc concepts behnd "tme warpng" or hstorca
smuaton, such as cothng and gear, sks and knowedge, actvtes, persona, and
personaty.
--To expore how a sma number of peope are approachng fe n the 18th century to
gan an understandng of "what t was ke."
--To share some thoughts and deas, as we as resources that partcpants may be
abe use for themseves.
)#%**A',
Artfact-- An artfact s an artce or tem of cothng, gear, or equpment from the 18th
century that has been preserved and survved to today. An "orgna" from the Perod.
Copy-- A copy s an exact recreaton or a dupcate of an artfact.
Expermenta Archeoogy-- Expermenta archeoogy s the exactng recreaton of
cothng, gear, and equpment from the Past and then usng those recreatons n a
strct hstorca envronment to experence "what t was ke" to ve n the Past.
Frst Person Impresson-- Approachng the study of the Past from the perspectve of
someone actuay vng n t. When takng, references are to "I am" or "I hunt" or "I
do ths. " A "persona."
Hstorca Archeoogy-- Hstorca archeoogy s the use of wrtten materas such as
|ournas, dares, etters, documents, etc. to suppement artfacts n ganng an
understandng of vng n the Past.
Hstorcay Correct-- Proper to the Perod, or "Perod Proper." Meanng that the
recreated tem s done wthn the matera cuture of the18th century n terms of
materas and constructon methods. "Perod Correct".
Lvng Hstory-- The technque of studyng hstory not from books but from havng to
experence as many of the same aspects (cothng, food, actvtes) as someone woud
have n the 18th century. "Lvng" the hstory that you are presentng.
Perod-- The "date" or "tme" n the Past beng studed. Meanng, what actuay exsted
or took pace on a certan date n Tme. Tme perods may be vewed as a defntve
perods, such as the French and Indan War Perod (1755 to 1763), or the
Revoutonary War Perod (1774-1783), or they may be more broad n concept, such
as the Fur Trade era (begnnng wth the orgna coonst and endng n the eary
1840's), or the Coona Era ( begnnng wth the frst coonst and extendng through
the begnnng of the Revoutonary War) .
Pan, Everyday, and Common-- A standard for cothng, gear, and equpment that
gnores the outrageous, the rare, the one-of-a-knd, the excepton and strves for what
s correct for the soco-economc cass and geographca1 ocaton of the ndvdua.
Prmary Account-- A record of an event that was wrtten at the tme t took pace.
Prmary documentaton, wrtten by the peope who were actuay vng the hstory
wrtten about.
Reenactng-- The recreaton of hstorca events, or "reenactng" what took pace.
Usuay appes to mtary hstory.
Rec-- An artfact that has not been we preserved. Usuay appes to
archaeoogcay "dug" tems n rusted or poor condton.
Research and Documentaton--The combnaton of the study of Perod accounts wth
the use of survvng artfacts to recreate cothng, gear, and equpment that was
actuay used n the Past.
Reproducton-- To be "produced" agan. Meanng a contnuaton of materas and
constructon methods used to produce the ast of somethng as though the process
was started up agan at a ater tme. The modern use of "reproducton" usuay means
somethng s "knd of ke" or "nspred by" or "taken from" somethng wthout copyng
t exacty. So, a "reproducton" coud be anythng from a 100% copy to a 1% copy.
Secondary Account-- A record of an event that was recorded after the fact or at a
atter tme. A prmary account s usuay gven by the person somethng happened to
at the tme. A secondary account coud be that person teng t to ther son or
daughter years ater and son/daughter gvng or wrtng the account.
Scout-- The term now beng apped to 18th century "trekkng" that nvoves the use
of frst person mpresson or persona and a structured, hstorcay constructed settng
of a woods or wderness type envronment. "We went on a scout of the area."
Thrd Person Impresson-- Approachng the study of the Past from the perspectve of
"they dd ths" or "they dd t ths way." It s approached, or presented to the pubc, as
the hstorca way thngs were done by those from the Past.
Tertary Account-- A record of an event wrtten by someone not connected to actua
event. For exampe, a modern wrter wrtng about 18th century hstory. Tertary
accounts can range from myth through fcton to we-researched and factua wrtng.
Trek or Trekkng- A term taken from the Boer word whch means to undertake a ong
trave. It s beeved to be frst coned by Mark A. Baker n 1986 to descrbe
researched and documented vng hstory "experments" where the resuts of hs trps
n whch hs research was tested n woods or wderness settngs as a study nto fe n
the Past.
A Brief !istory of #IIN) HI*T%',
Athough cutures have aways measured themseves by ther past, there s a
dstncton between cassca hstory and what has come to be caed "vng hstory."
Rememberng or recang the past through ora or wrtten tradtons s perhaps
tmeess. Recreatng, reenactng, or re-experencng the past s not so od.
The mode, or prototype for vng hstory, es wth an attempt to remove the concept
of hstory from the museum shef and gass case to the "open ar." Perhaps the
earest achevement n the area of "open ar" museum can be traced back to Sweden
n the 19th century, n the person of Artur Hazeus (1833-1901).
Artur Hazeus was the son of a Swedsh genera who had non-tradtona deas about
how hs son was to be rased and educated. Artur's father dd not want hm to be
educated n the negatve urban envronment of Stockhom, but rather n the country
where he coud be coser to nature and "farm fok." Artur prospered n the country
envronment, becomng a ngust who traveed across Sweden studyng Swedsh
vernacuar speech and coectng nformaton on daects and regona fokore.
In 1872 hs traves took hm back to a sma town caed Daecara where he had
grown up and went to schoo. He was shocked and dsmayed at the changes that had
taken pace n the few short years snce he had eft. A combnaton of hgh-
Vctoransm and regous fundamentasm had attacked the regona fokways and
changed them nto affectatons for the toursts (where have we seen that before?) or
aboshed them totay as part of a purtan-ke revva.
Hazeus had an dea. He apped for a grant from the Swedsh Antquaran
Assocaton, and returned to Daecara n the fa of 1872 to begn documentng the
vanshng Daecara fokore. He empoyed and ntervewed a number of "nformants,"
and started coectng not ony ora tradtons but fok art as we. In 1873, he and hs
wfe opened a sma museum of Scandnavan fokore n Stockhom caed the
Nordska Museet (Northern Museum).
In the sprng of 1874, Hazeus' wfe ded n chdbrth. A profound oss, Hazeus
commtted hmsef to the dea that the Nordska Museet coud become a natona
nsttuton that coud awakened and preserve a natona conscousness and foster a
sense of Swedsh natona dentty rooted n fokore. A powerfu speaker, Hazeus
ganed the support of the Swedsh Parament and more mportanty weath backers
and the Swedsh peope. A arge ndoor museum was but, and by 1880, ts exhbts
were extremey popuar.
What was dfferent about Hazeus' museum was that he beeved that the fok art he
and hs wfe had coected n Daecara shoud be dspayed and presented n ther
cutura context and not on a stere shef behnd a gass case. Borrowng from
regona panters and documentary photographers, Hazeus reocated entre rooms
and portons of houses from the outyng provnces and set them up compete wth
authentcay costumed wax fgures, furnture and furnshngs, and sma artfacts.
Hazeus knew what hs audence ked. Hs dspays, or "tabeaux" were desgned to
show everyday fe, and as he wrote to gve a "ve mpresson of peope's moods and
customs." One of hs tabeaux was the deathbed of a tte Daecara gr compete
wth mnster, mother and father, two ssters, and the dead nfant n her crb
But Hazeus was not done. He had a grander vson of a pace where Swedes "coud
see ther greaty oved country n summary." To Hazeus, ndvdua rooms and
tabeaux dd not go far enough. Durng the 1880's, he began to coect entre farms,
churches, manor houses, cottages, workshops, stores, wndms, natve pants and
anmas, and nvented the frst frechtmuseen, or "open ar museum," whch he
caed Skansen.
Hazeus was a functonast, beevng that matera cuture coud ony be understood
n terms of ts cutura envronment. That concept w become very mportant for the
concept of expermenta archeoogy a bt ater. Hazeus beeved that artfacts shoud
be dspayed n ther own actua settng or envronment. For exampe, cookng
utenss shoud be dspayed n a peasant ktchen and not on a stere shef. He
coected more than |ust artfacts, he acqured budngs and structures as we as
artfacts from the 1600's to the present and reestabshed them n somethng that
was part natura hstory park, part hstorca museum, and even part zoo. When
Skansen opened on October 11, 1891, t was an mmedate natona success.
Hazeus was not entrey happy. In 1898 he wrote, "We want to exhbt fokore n
vng stye." He fet that wthout actvty, Skansen woud be |ust another coorfu but
"dead" museum-a dry she of the Past. At frst hs concept was more entertanment
than anythng ese. Hazeus brought n fok muscans to pay fddes and dances
were hed. Museum staff and vstors danced around the Maypoe on Mdsummer's
Eve. Fok musc and dances were created durng the warm months and handcraft
markets and fars were hed n the wnter.
Wth 150 budngs on 75 acres, Skansen became an mmedate success creatng
physca wndows nto 300 hundred years of Swedsh hstory. The dea caught on.
Oso, Norway estabshed ther Norsk Fokemuseum n 1894. Copenhagen, Denmark,
estabshed the Frandsmuseet n 1897. And, the Netherands estabshed the
Nederands Openuchtmuseum n Arnhem n 1912. In 1974, the European Open Ar
Museum Assocaton commssoned a gudebook that contans 314 sgnfcant open-
ar museums n 21 European countres.
But open-ar museums are not vng hstory museums. Open-ar museums are,
perhaps, at best, hstorca "theme parks." They are perceved as a peasant pace for
a pcnc unch and ght entertanment. In Europe they are referred to as "fok parks."
But, by and arge, they a fa short n the area of "nterpretaton." Wthout
"nterpretaton" these fok museums are st statc tabeaux.
But there are probems wth nterpretaton. Coectons of artfacts, whether entre
structures or everyday toos and utenss, are put at rsk when fe n the Past s
recreated or smuated. There, the decson s made to et the dspays be passve,
nactve, or statc and et a "gudebook" or gude provde the "educaton." The
demonstratng of toos or farm equpment as the norma, everyday, practces of a
farmer or backsmth, for exampe, s not done.
There s a great fear fueng that debate, caed n Germany "fokorsmos." Hazeus
came under sharp crtcsm that hs muscans and dancers provded more
entertanment than hstorca educaton and were actuay "hokng up" the Past by
creatng fake fokore, or fakeore. The crtcsm s that such actvtes cheapen
natona hertage or regona hertage. Ths practce s somethng akn to crtcsms of
"Doywood" n Tennessee. Of a these open-ar museums, few, f any have contnued
on wth Hazeus' Skansen concept. As G. Es Burcaw wrote n 1980, "On the vng
hstory contnuum, hstory on the Contnent s dead; beautfuy embamed, but dead.
The farmsteads are empty huks of peasant cuture, coected as curostes, not as
settngs for the expcaton of soca hstory."
Durng the summer of 1876, Artur Hazeus sent sx tabeaux to the Unted States for
the Swedsh exhbt at the Centenna Exhbton n Phadepha. It was a popuar
dspay. Aong sde t was another nterestng and popuar dspay, ths one Amercan.
It was a one-story og cabn, tted "New Engand Farmer's Home" and a "Modern
Ktchen." The two exhbts were desgned to compare modern 1876 ktchen fe wth
poneer ktchen fe.
Oddy enough, ths experment wth vng nterpretaton predated Skansen by ffteen
years, thanks to the efforts of George Dow (1868-1936). Dow was an antquaran,
keeny nterested n New Engand fok hstory. In 1898, he became secretary of the
Essex Insttute n Saem, Massachusetts, and attempted to appy Hazeus'
technques. In 1907, Dow created three rooms there: a perod 1750's ktchen, 1800
bedroom, and 1800 paror.
In 1909, Dow acqured the od |ohn Ward house, datng from 1685, and Saem's odest
structure. It was removed and reocated to a ot next to the museum. Between 1909
and 1913, Dow restored the Ward house for the Essex Insttute. Hs goa was frst to
refurnsh the house n a reastc way, and then to present "a truthfu pcture of 17th
century househod fe n Saem." Dow had Sarah Symonds and her staff work out of
the second foor of the house as "custodans" dressed n homespun costumes that
woud greet vstors when the cowbe rang at the front door.
Dow went further. He obtaned an apothecary shop, spnnng and weavng room,
shoemaker's shop, a genera or "cent" store, and a shed for storng the toos. He
panted an "od fashoned fower garden and two pear trees. In the course of four
years, Dow had estabshed Amerca's frst open-ar museum.
In 1923, Henry Ford vsted the Socety for the Preservaton of New Engand
Antqutes to ook over the coecton and to chat wth Dow and the Socety's
nfuenta secretary Wam Sumner Appeton. Ford was n the mdde of a pro|ect to
restore hs boyhood home back to ts 1876 condton. Ford was aso thnkng about
budng hs own open-ar museum, centerng around the Waysde Inn at South
Sudbury, Massachusetts. He went ahead wth the Waysde Inn pro|ect, snkng
mons nto t. When t opened n 1926, he hed a country ba wth everyone n
coona costumes.
Beng the '20's, Ford thought that Massachusetts was too far a trp from Dearborn,
Mchgan. In 1927, he restored the Botsford Inn n Dearborn, where he had danced as
a boy and young man, at a cost of haf a mon doars. It became a center for od-
tme and evenng dancng. Ford ceary understood the vaue and educatona
potenta of a "vng museum." Two years ater, Ford began workng on Greenfed
Vage-- the frst reay arge-scae open-ar museum n Amerca, based on Skansen.
By 1935, Ford was abe to move and restore more than ffty hstorc budngs.
Whe Henry Ford was assembng hs tte sce of Amerca at Greenfed, |ohn D.
Rockefeer, |r., was embarkng on a smar pro|ect of hs own n Wamsburg,
Vrgna. In 1926, Rockefeer had agreed to provde fundng for. the restoraton,
reconstructon, and refurnshng of the od coona capta. Eventuay, over 500
structures were restored or rebut n an accurate "andscape."
The dea for recreatng an entre town had come from the rector of the 1715 Bruton
Parsh Church n Wamsburg, Wam Goodwn. Goodwn had come to Wamsburg
at the turn of the century to supervse the reconstructon and restoraton of the
church budng. In 1907, he wrote about restorng the church, and ad out hs goa of
restorng the whoe town. In 1924, he suggested to the Fords that the area around
hstorc Wamsburg coud be purchased for a "mere four or fve mon." Henry Ford
turned hm down, for a number of reasons-the man one beng Ford's own Greenfed
Vage pro|ect. Goodwn turned to Rockefeer, who had vsted Wamsburg on
November 26, 1926. Rockefeer was mpressed, and asked Goodwn to prepare a
master pan. In addton, Rockefeer aso had defnte deas about the educatona
vaue of the Wamsburg pro|ect, but t was Goodwn who strongy advocated for the
concept of ste nterpreters.
In 1932, Kenneth Chorey, who had been hred to supervse and drect the pro|ect,
suggested that oca peope be hred as hostesses on a part-tme bass. On September
16, 1932, Martha Dove and Dors Macomber, dressed n coona costumes, greeted
vstors to the Od Raegh Tavern- the frst of Wamsburg's exhbtons to open.
By the 1940's, Wamsburg was utzng a "corps" of nterpreters to smuate fe and
everyday work n the restored houses and shops wth not ony expanaton and
nterpretaton, but aso hstorcay accurate craft demonstratons. It was a great
success.
A number of other Amercan open-ar museum concepts were comng together durng
the same perod, and Wamsburg's success had an mpact on ther deveopment as
we. Pmoth Pantaton, Od Sturbrdge Vage n Massachusetts, the Farmer's
Museum n Cooperstown, New York, and Mystc Seaport n Connectcut were a
nspred by Wamsburg's use of costumed nterpreters and craft demonstratons.
Each of these open-ar museums sought to become a "vng museum" based on the
beef that regona fok fe was hstorcay sgnfcant and that ts matera cuture
shoud be coected, preserved, studed, and actvey nterpreted. Athough each
dffered somewhat, the centra theme nvoved reocated or recreated budngs set n
a "vage" andscape wth a smuaton of the ves and actvtes of the ordnary
peope who woud have ved there. Based on the groundwork ad by Skansen, the
Essex Insttute, Greenfed Vage, and Coona Wamsburg, a unquey "Amercan
way of hstory" had emerged.
Through the 1940's and the 1950's, these museums served as great attractons for
mons of Amercans, and the rse of the post Word War II phenomena of "esure
tme" acceerated ths nterest. Oddy enough, t was the Natona Park Servce that
reay took the concept of "costumed nterpreters" a step farther. In 1957, Freeman
Tden, the Park Servce's eadng spokesman for ste nterpretaton, chaenged ste
rangers and nterpreters to "peope" ther stes to keep budngs and furnshngs from
havng been "frozen at the moment of tme when nobody was home." Tden
advocated for demonstratons, partcpaton, and anmaton. The Natona Park
Servce took up Tden's chaenge, partcuary n the area of "anmaton."
But, "anmaton" sounded more ke somethng from cartoons, and n the 1960's
repaced "anmaton" wth "vng hstory." In 1970, and ater n 1974, the Park Servce
pubshed two gudes for "vng hstory" detang not ony how a ste manager coud
use vng hstory as a mode of nterpretng, but aso how to scrpt, set, equp, drect,
and present hstory from a stage or drama background. Unfortunatey, a certan
presdent by the name of Rchard Nxon woud severey cut back on the Park Servce's
vng hstory programs n the eary '80's.
Paraeng vng hstory as a method of ste nterpretaton, n the 1960's and 1970's
there was an outsde movement n the area of vng hstory "farms", where the day
tasks and festyes of farmers was ustrated through the actua runnng of a workng
farm as a vng museum.
But there was a fy n the ontment. Athough many prased the vng museum
concept, many came away wth an mpresson that even the most earthy reasm and
envenng actvtes at these stes was st ony artfcay smuatng hstory n an
"antseptc" manner-- often overy smpfed, overy shaow, or |ust pan wrong.
In 1978, Thomas Schereth, head of the Amercan Studes program at Notre Dame,
wrote that hstorca museum vages were "peaceabe kngdoms, panned
communtes wth over-mancured andscapes or dyc sma towns where the entre
popuaton ves n harmony." He added that "the vstor to such stes... comes away
from the museum vage wth a romantczed, even Utopan perspectve of the
popuary accamed 'good od days.'
Schereth was gettng at the fase sense of "homogenety" of museum vages not
ony n that acked drt, garbage, fes, and sweat. but aso that were popuated by
"whte, Ango-Saxon, nondenomnatona Protestant maes." He argued that the vstor
dd not see a true representaton of fe n the Past.
Cas for a carfcaton of vng hstory purpose prompted many museums to ook at
|ust what themes hstorca museums had the abty to best address. Four ma|or
"themes" emerged from the dscussons n the 1960's and 1970's:
--what s the hstorca context of the ste?
--what processes went on there?
--what manner of unque fok fe was evdent?
--what cutura dfferences are there from today's word?
Lvng museums sowy began to adopt "programs" that deat wth the "ns and outs"
of everyday fe n the Past, focusng on "peope" nstead of takng about budngs
and furnshngs. What peope dd n the Past sowy became more mportant, perhaps,
than a restored or recreated structure. Taken together, the four concepts of context,
processes, fok fe, and dfferences from today evoved nto a dfferent approach.
As part of that process, "experments" or "smuatons" that started out as somethng
ke "ths s how a pow works" or "ths s how a oom or spnnng whee works" or "ths
s how they baked bread" suddeny took on a new meanng. At frst these actvtes
were done more so as "anmatng" or "envenng" or even "entertanng" at hstorca
stes and vng museums. In a arge sense they were done to "ustrate" fe n the
Past and sometmes to even wax nostagc.
But a search started and grew. That was a search for the meanng behnd the recs,
artfacts, and structures. Part of that search for knowedge created a "new"
dscpne-- hstorca archeoogy. Instead of |ust dggng up artfacts, anayzng them,
wrtng about them, and then puttng under gass n museums, attempts at
reproducng past condtons and crcumstances surroundng ther creaton and use
can provde greater nsght nto ther mportance, the probems assocated wth ther
constructon and use, and what they have to say about the vaues of the makers and
ther ves. But above a, ths type of study s desgned to ook at what knd of human
beng the maker and user was, what hs technca abtes were, and hs reasons for
choosng one course of acton over another.
It woud take the comng together of two dscpnes to set the stage for what we do:
the combnng of hstorca archeoogy wth expermenta archeoogy. Oddy enough,
we tend to thnk of these thngs as a "process" that has deveoped over tme. In a
sma-sense that s true, but n the arger sense t s nothng a that "new." What s
new s that we are appyng t n an area where tradtonay t had not been done
qute n the same way before-- and that s n the area of backpowder.
But, "expermenta archeoogy" was deveoped n the ate 19th century; about the
same tme Hazeus was estabshng Skansen!
A Brief History of "-P"'I&"NTA# A'$HA"%#%), as related to #IIN)
HI*T%',
Expermenta archeoogy was deveoped n the ate 19th century, roughy at the same
tme Artur Hazeus was estabshng Skansen. Perod archaeoogsts came-to see
"expermentng" as a practca means of testng ther theores about cutura behavor
n the Past. Secondy, ther focus was on the technoogca processes surroundng the
makng and use of toos. Between the two, expermenta archeoogy was seen as a
method for obtanng data that coud not be had as a resut of the more tradtona
anayss of artfacts or hstorca research. Ths new data coud then be used as a base
for generatng addtona data about hstorc economc and cuture systems. Because
the expermenta archaeoogst worked at "mtatng," "repcatng," or "recreatng"
the orgna actvty or process as cosey as possbe, some oder accounts refer to
expermenta archeoogy as "mtatve archeoogy."
Perhaps the frst exampe of expermenta archeoogy nvoved the excavatng of two
Vkng bura shps at Gokstad and Oseberg, Norway begnnng n 1880. Up to that
pont, much of the hstory and archeoogy of the Vkng cuture was a mxture of
myth, romantc 19th century wrtngs, and some decdedy ant-Vkng wrtngs by the
9th and 10th century monks n the Engsh monasteres they ooted. These two shps
fueed both knowedge and the desre for research. A copy of a Vkng shp was
handcrafted, and saed across the Atantc to gan an understandng of the
technoogy and knowedge and sk requred to strke Amerca.
But expermenta archeoogy has been much more wdey practced than wrtten
about. A number of peope tend to ook at |ohn Coes, a professor of archeoogy at
Cambrdge Unversty, as the "father of modern expermenta archeoogy". Hs 1973
ARCHEOLOGY BY EXPERIMENT, and 1979 EXPERIMENTAL ARCHEOLOGY but on an
nterestng 1961 work by Robert Asher entted "Expermenta Archeoogy" n the
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 63. Coe, n hs two books, covered more than three
hundred expermenta archaeoogca pro|ects coverng prehstory as we as hstory.
Some are as smpe as fakng a fnt spear pont or knfe bade, and then usng t.
Asde from the tte experment of the Vkng shp n 1893 (1892-93), t woud take
another knd of shp to gan hgh pubcty for expermenta archeoogy.
Thor Heyerdah was born n Larvk, Norway n 1914. Hs father was a weathy
busnessman and hs mother a freethnkng Soca Darwnst. Oddy enough, they
chose to educate Thor n the same manner as Artur Hazeus' parents had-- a heavy
emphass on the soca scences and a great dea of tme n the "back country." That
"back country" was 100 mes from Daecara where Hazeus had done hs fedwork.
For the next ffty years or so, Heyerdah ooked at the modern word from the
perspectve of a prehstorc one. In 1937 he eft wth hs wfe, Lv, for the South Seas
to ve for a year on the prmtve sand of Fatu-Hva. Usng the proceeds from the
book of hs experences, Heyerdah moved to a remote mountan area of Brtsh
Coumba two years ater. Whe there, Heyerdah worked on hs theores of North and
South Amercan nfuences on Poynesan cuture-partcuary that there may have
been two mgratons from the Amercas to Poynesa. The frst was from Peru, va
Easter Isand, and the second through Hawa, from Brtsh Coumba. After havng
researched basa wood rafts used by ndgenous Peruvans, Heyerdah but a raft n
the sprng of 1947. Obvousy snce there were orgnas to copy, he had to
reconstruct one, much n the manner Pmoth Pantaton had to do, based on hs
research.
On Apr 28, 1947 the un-seaworthy ookng raft, named Kon-Tk, set sa from Caao,
Peru. One hundred and one days ater, the shp reached the Tuamotu Isands some
four thousand mes away. But the raft was the ob|ect of hs "experment.'' They dd
not ve on the raft-as ancent Peruvans dd; they dd not eat a perod det; and they
dd not wear tradtona cothes. But Heyerdah accompshed what he set out to do,
and nspred a new generaton of expermenta archaeoogsts. Heyerdah's book KON-
TIKI provoked schoars and ntrgued armchar adventures. Heyerdah had apped the
gudng prncpe of scence-that theory shoud be checked out wth expermentaton--
to a hstorca probem. And a across the country, f not word, there were new
methods of "expermenta hstorca research."
Snce then there have many, many expermenta archaeoogca pro|ects, too
numerous to menton n such a short artce. But somethng ese happened somethng
that woud shft the emphass from pure anaytca research to "recreaton," "pay," or
"fun" under the name of "vng hstory" or "expermenta archeoogy."
As the Centenna Exposton of 1876 drew to a cose n Phadepha, a group of
hstorcay mnded ndvduas put on a "show" on October 19, 1876 that was to
change the future. October 19th was Vrgna Day, and n ceebraton, the Southern
states staged, or reenacted, a medeva tournament (shades of the SCA...). There
were ffteen knghts representng each of the orgna coones as we as one for the
Unon, and one for the Centenna. Mounted, ther actvty was to spear rngs from
horseback usng ances. 5,000 Vrgnans came to watch aong wth 60, 000 other
spectators, makng t second ony to Pennsyvana's "day." The newspaper account
seems to ndcate that t was done n the sprt of fun, a a the SCA, and not n pursut
of any great authentcty of cothng, gear, or actvty. That evenng, a "Oueen of Love
and Beauty" was crowned, and a ha furnshed wth bronze fgures of knghts and
pyramds of "rare exotcs." Those n attendance were there for the fun aone.
However t woud be the muzzeoadng rfe and-not the ance and sword that woud
become the center-pece for "vng hstory buffs." For many years, partcuary n the
South, where tradton and poverty had kept the muzzeoader ave ong after snge-
shot and repeatng cartrdge guns came to domnate shootng sports, "shootng
matches were a common pastme. In Portsmouth, Oho, on February 22, 1931, at one
such match hed by the Norfok and Western Raroad's YMCA, an argument over the
accuracy of the od muzzeoaders came up. The cub's secretary, Oscar Smth,
suggested a match between od and new. Sxty-seven rfemen showed up wth
seventy rfes, "the youngest of the ot datng back to 1880." A second match, hed a
year ater, turned out a number of od-tme gunsmths, and n 1933, more than 260
compettors and 2,000 spectators came to Frendshp, Indana. Year after year, they
came back to partcpate n the assocaton they had founded, the Natona
Muzzeoadng Rfe Assocaton. By 1939, the NMLRA had grown arge enough to
produce a four-page newsetter.
After Word War II, and what many consder the nventon of "esure tme," three
groups evoved wthn the NMLRA:
--1. Those concentratng on the rfes themseves and who fet target shootng and
huntng wth them were suffcent,
--2. Those nterested n experencng the cothng and festye of the "prmtve"
cuture that went aong wth frontersmen and mountan men
--3. Those who took up nterest n the Cv War
In 1949, a match was organzed between those nterested n Cv War mtary
shootng at the Berwyn Rod and Gun Cub n Maryand. It proved popuar, and was
repeated n May of 1950 wth a "Southern" unt competng aganst a "Northern" unt.
For months, partcpants had scoured antque shops to turn out as authentcay as
they coud (or knew how). The guns were orgna, and so was the equpment-- much
comng from Bannerman's. Severa hundred spectators showed up, and set the stage
for many smar events to come through the 1950's. The Cv War Centenna sweed
the ranks of the new North-South Skrmsh Assocaton founded n 1958.
In the eary '60's, nterest began to take form n the Revoutonary War, but dd not
reay take off unt preparatons for the Bcentenna (or Buy-centenna as some us
remember t...) got under way. In the eary '60's, an umbrea organzaton was
founded, the Brgade of the Amercan Revouton (BAR) by more "serous buffs."
Smar n organzaton to the N-SSA, the brgade paced extraordnary (for the tme)
emphass on standards of authentcty and safety. The mpact of the BAR on vng
hstory was mmense durng the Bcentenna. Its newsetter, THE DISPATCH, was
wdey crcuated, ts camps vsted and studed, and ts dr and evoutons cosey
watched. The 200th Annversary reenactments set new eves for versmtude--
partcuary for the 3,000+ partcpants at Yorktown n 1981.
It had been sad that Yorktown was the doom of mtary vng hstory (then aways
caed "reenactng "). By the wnter of 1981-82, the ranks of the Revouton had
thnned drastcay. It was reported that 1/3 remaned, whe 1/3 went nto the Cv
War for the upcomng 125th-Seres, and 1/3 went n French and Indan War
reenactng. And, on a smaer scae, someone, somewhere, was reenactng |ust about
every war the U.S. had except the Nam!
|ust as the BAR had set the standards for vng hstory n terms of research and
authentcty through the '70's, another organzaton was gong n a drecton away
from the mtary. In San Dego, Caforna, n 1968, Water Hayward organzed the
Amercan Mountan Men. Eary members seemed to have been a combnaton of both
hstory "buff" and wderness "survva experts." Interest spread east, attractng new
members from the NMLRA who wanted somethng more than paper target match
shootng. The AMM went about settng tough membershp requrements, wantng
men "who are wng to step back n tme, to attempt, for a short tme, at east, to ve
fe as man was meant to ve t, a Free Indvdua, a true Son of the Wderness." The
AMM had set standards for ts members that were a combnaton of knowedge, sk,
craft, and demonstrated appcaton wthn the hstorca parameters of the "mountan
man."
In the md 1980's, there were two ndependent deveopments. One was nterest n the
upcomng Cv War 125th Annversary. The other was nterest n somethng, for ack
of better term,-known as "hstorca trekkng." Seen by many as a "unatc" or "radca
frnge," an evouton was takng pace. |ust ke the NMLRA and N-SSA started out as a
vehce to shoot "od tmey" guns, evoved nto reenactng, and then evoved nto
vng hstory, there has been a further evouton among these groups to produce a
new actvty.
Lvng hstory s a medum wth three components: hstorca research, nterpretaton,
and ceebraton. Athough we can never truy "recreate" the Past, we are chaenged
to experence as many aspects of t as s possbe. That paces vng hstory, and I do
not mean "vng hstory" as now beng apped to anyone puttng on a "costume" of
one knd or another and paradng around a craft far or gun show, outsde of
tradtona and estabshed academc and pubc hstory. Each person, whether an
ndvdua, museum, or pro|ect must make a covenant wth hstorca truth and set
how t w carry on ther own daog wth the Past.
That covenant cas for a tough-mndedness. It seems we are harsher and more
crtca of ourseves, as "vng hstorans" or "expermenta archaeoogsts," than any
outsde academc or pubc hstoran coud ever be. Here s an excerpt from a 1983
etter that s st vad today:
"We have lived cheek-by-jowl with many, many recreation groups... Few are
totally authentic; they compromise on important things and totally ignore the
small. Some o this is e!cusable, i you know and recogni"e and admit that
you aren#t up to snu due to cost, lack o time, etc. $ut willully ignoring
authenticity is a crime.
%n the ield, such groups are known as F&'$S and are (uickly disassociated
rom the mainstream. )o it right, or try to do it right. %t#s not easy, but what is,
i it#s to be worthwhile?"
That was 1983, and athough the standards have changed mmensey, the opnon s
st |ust as vad as when t was penned. Ths s where expermenta archeoogy has
changed the face of reenactng. Ths s where expermenta archeoogy has changed
the face of vng hstory.

As I earned hstory through eementary schoo, |unor hgh, senor hgh, and
coege, eadng to a BA n hstory/prehstory, I rarey saw hstory not fang to study,
nterpret, and experence the everyday reaty of ordnary peope n the Past. It was
aways some potcan or dctator, some genera, some batte on such and such a day.
The goa of expermenta archeoogy s to step back n-the hstorca context of a
pace and tme and to come away wth an understandng, apprecaton, and fee for
the peope who were there.
The new queston s not where you went to schoo, what degrees you earned, or who
you know. The new queston s, do you have the rght stuff? It ther own way, each of
the organzatons mentoned above have poneered and broken new ground and
pushed nto new terrtores--often that were radca and "unatc" at the tme. In
smpe terms, the "state of the art" n 1994 was dfferent that that of 1984, whch was
dfferent than that of 1974, 1964, 1954, 1944, 1934, 1924, and so on.
There seems to be a deveopmenta pattern that emerges. As a parent organzaton s
created, deveops, and grows, t seems to estabsh ts own cuture. As tmes change,
and peope's nterests change, that cuture no onger provdes what some members
are ookng for. They then eave, takng wth them what s good and eavng behnd
what no onger s workng for them. It never seems to be a ma|orty, |ust the "unatc
frnge" as t were. It can be seen that the od "unatc frnge" that rebeed aganst an
organzatona status quo, often fnds tsef "outdated" and rebeed aganst by the
next generaton of payers.
The concept of evouton, n regards to standards, s a compex one. Lookng back on
the past three decades, t s qute obvous that there has been progress made, and
consderabe progress at that. By and arge, the days of "buffs" runnng around wth
gray |.C. Penney permanent work suts wth chevrons sewed on and M-1 Garand rfes
shootng banks are gone (athough I do know some N-SSA "od-tmers" who were abe
to except themseves from unform standards and st wear that eve of "unform").
Most a, "hstorca groups" espouse some eve of authentcty to some degree.
Perhaps the excepton to ths process s the SOCIETY FOR CREATIVE ANACHRONISMS
or the SCA. In ther defense, I woud say that they shoud be exempted from hstorca
scrutny because "hstory" s not what they are about. The SCA s dedcated to
recreatng "the Mdde Ages, not as t was, but as t shoud have been, dong away
wth the strfe and pestence and emuatng the beauty, grace, chvary, and
brotherhood."
The SCA sees the Mdde Ages not from a hstorca or archaeoogca stand pont, but
from a magca, comc book, "Prnce Vaant" pont of vew. Where groups ke the
Amercan Mountan Men and Socety of Longhunters requre a year's probaton, the
SCA courteousy and generousy nvte any and a to "pay" at ther recreated courts,
reves, and tournaments.
Founded at Berkeey, Caforna n 1966, two frends, Dave Thews and Ken de Maffe,
threw a costumed gong away party for ther frend Dana Paxton. They had so much
fun, they agreed to meet n a park sx weeks ater. |ust before the event, Maron
Zmmer Bradey coned the term "Socety for Creatve Anachronsms".
For that "event", two dozen compettors showed up compete wth rattan swords,
cothes hanger chan ma, and fat-ron sheds. They were |oned by spectators, some
scence fcton fans, and veterans of a 1962 "Renassance Far". The combnaton of
fun, fantasy, and neo or pseudo medeva marta arts was a rousng ht. Wthn ten
years, the SCA had grown to over 5,000 members, embracng the years 499 through
1500. The "Known Word" (North Amerca) was reordered aong feuda nes nto
shres, barones, and kngdoms. One member wrote qute accuratey:
"&n anachronism is a tradition which has outlived its original purpose, but
which has survived just because it#s a lot o un. *hat#s probably the best description
o our group, since you can make anything you want rom it. For some it#s a means o
serious research into +edieval culture, by trying to re-learn the skills, knowledge, and
lie-style o our ancestors. For others, it#s a hobby, a way o rela!ing ater a normal
,"mundane"- day, and an e!cuse to pursue interests and crats they never ound time
or beore. For many o us, it#s the most interesting continuous costume party we#ve
ever been to. & ew members joined with an interest in history, drama,and olklore
.having/ ound them dull as traditionally studied."
The SCA s meant to be FUN, not hstory, not archeoogy. It s a ceebraton of sprt
and peasure. Through ther enthusasm, the SCA ustrates "hstory" as a pure form
of recreaton.
I have ncuded the SCA because ther phosophy carres over nto what we do and
others do not do. The frst SCA member I ever saw, a Mr. Wams, posed for our
coege art cass n 1972. He was dressed n a "tunc" of fabrc prnt eopard fur, wore
a wedng tank tp as a hemet, and carred a sword consstng of a broom hande
wrapped wth foam rubber and seaed wth duct tape. Yet, I know of SCA members,
partcuary n Engand, who have ther armor and weapons hand forged from
orgnas. For most of an estmated 200,000 members around the word, that eve of
research and appcaton s the rare excepton n the SCA. Smpy put, the
membershp s nto the SCA for the mrth, fantasy, and recreaton, and t does not
matter f R&D means Rayon and Dacron, not research and documentaton. It s not
suppose to. If you go to an SCA "Renassance Far", you know exacty what to expect,
and what you w see. As Cff Nage once sad to me, "Research s fne, but t can get
n the way of the fun." Groups ke the SCA don't et t.
When you cross over to backpowder, t s not the same. To a arge extent, the
bucksknners' "rendezvous" s much ke the SCA's "Renassance Far." You may fnd
the rare SCA member wth forged weapons and hand-forged chan-ma, |ust ke you
may fnd the rendezvouser n a bran-tanned, smoked, and qued ek skn shrt. And,
much ke "Renassance Far" has tte assocaton wth the hstorca event,
"rendezvous" has tte assocaton wth an actua fur trade era commerca
rendezvous between traders and companes and/or free trappers. I thnk a ma|or
dfference s that the SCA member woud say that t's not supposed to, whe the
rendezvouser woud argue that t does.
T!e .Trekking. P!enomena as #iving History and "/0erimental
Arc!eology
$#%THIN) AND A$$%1T'"&"NT*
". . . *hroughout all this country, and in every back settlement in &merica, the roads
and paths are irst marked out by bla"es on the trees, cut alternately on each side o
the way, every thirty or orty yards . . . *he convenience and simplicity o this mode
has rendered it universal throughout the whole back country.
"%t became the more readily adopted, as all who travel beyond the roads and beaten
tracks, always have tomahawks in their belts; which, in such situations and
circumstances, are more useul than anything, e!cept the rile-barreled irelocks;
both o which all the male inhabitants habituate themselves constantly to carry along
with them everywhere.
"*heir whole dress is also very singular, and not very materially dierent rom that o
the %ndians; being a hunting shirt, somewhat resembling a waggoner#s rock,
ornamented with a great many ringes, tied round the middle with a broad belt, much
decorated also, in which is astened a tomahawk, an instrument that serves every
purpose o deense and convenience; being a hammer at one side and a sharp
hatchet at the other; the shot bag and powder-horn, carved with a variety o
whimsical igures and devices, hang rom their necks over one shoulder; and on their
heads a lapped hat, o a reddish hue, proceeding rom the intensely hot beams o
the sun.
"Sometimes they wear leather breeches, made o %ndian dressed elk, or deer skins,
but more re(uently thin trowsers .sic/.
"0n their legs they have %ndian boots, or leggings, made o coarse woolen cloth, that
either are wrapped around loosely and tied with garters, or are laced upon the
outside, and always come better than hal way up the thigh1 these are a great
deence and preservative, not only against the bite o serpents and poisonous
insects, but likewise against the scratches o thorns, briars, scrubby bushes and
underwood, with which this whole country is inested and overspread.
"0n their eet they sometimes wear pumps o their own manuacture, but generally
%ndian moccossons .sic/, o their own construction also, which are made o strong
elk#s or buck#s skin, dressed sot as or gloves or breeches, drawn together in regular
plaits over the toe, and lacing rom thence round to the ore part o the middle o the
ankle.sic/, without a seam in them, yet itting close to the eet, and are indeed
perectly easy and pliant.
"*hus habited and accoutered, with his rile upon his shoulder, or in his hand, a back-
wood#s man is completely e(uipped or visiting, courtship, travel, hunting or war.
"&nd according to the number and variety o the ringes on his hunting shirt, and the
decorations on his powderhorn, belt and rile, he estimates his inery, and absolutely
conceives himsel o e(ual conse(uence, more civili"ed, polite and more elegantly
dressed than the most brilliant peer at St. 2ames#s in a splendid and e!pensive
birthday suit, o the irst ashion and taste, and most costly materials.
"*heir hunting, or rile shirts, they have also died .sic/ in variety o colours, some
yellow, others red, some brown and many wear them (uite white.
"Such sentiments as those % have just e!posed to notice, are neither so ridiculous nor
surprising, when the circumstances are considered with due attention, that prompt
the back-wood#s &merican to such a train o thinking, and in which light it is, that he
eels his own conse(uence, or he inds all his resources in himsel.
"*hus attired and accoutered, as already described, set him in the midst o a
boundless orest, a thousand miles rom an inhabitant, he is by no means at a loss,
nor in the smallest degree dismayed.
"With his rile he procures his subsistence; with his tomahawk he erects his shelter,
his wigwam, his house or whatever habitation he may chuse .sic/ to reside in; he
drinks at the crystal spring, or the nearest brook; his wants are all easily supplied, he
is contented, he is happy. For elicity, beyond a doubt, consists, in a great measure, in
the attainment and gratiication o our desires, and the accomplishment o the
utmost bounds o our wishes.
"*his digression, which % thought necessary to impress an idea o the singular
appearance and sentiments o these men, or that reason, % am hopeul, will be
e!cused; and or which, % latter mysel, this will be deemed a suicient apology."
|.F.D. Smyth, Tour In The Unted States of Amerca, 1784.
---------------------------------------------------
". . . *he uniorm o +organ#s 'egiment was a short rock made o pepper and salt
colored cotton cloth like a common working rock worn by our country people, e!cept
that it was short and open beore, to be tied with strings; pantaloons o the same
abric and color, and some kind o a cap, but % do not now remember its orm. *his
was their summer dress."
19th Century Penson Papers. Descrbng Dane Morgan's Company of Rfemen In
1775.
---------------------------------------------------
")eclarant states that he was then stationed at Fort 3itt, the place aoresaid.
)eclarant states that in obedience to the order o his said 4aptain $rady, he
proceeded to tan his thighs and legs with wild cherry and white oak bark and to e(uip
himsel ater the ollowing manner, to Wit, a breechcloth, leather legging, moccasins
and a cap made out o a racoon skin, with the eathers o a hawk, painted ater the
manner o an %ndian warrior. 5is ace was painted red, with three black stripes across
his cheeks, which was a signiication o war. )eclarant states that 4aptain $rady#s
company was about si!ty-our in number, all painted ater the manner aoresaid."
George Roush, 19th Century Penson Papers. Descrbng Hs Cothng In 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"4aptain 5ugh Stephenson#s rende"vous was Shepherd#s *own ,not +artinsburg- and
4aptain +organ#s was Winchester. 6reat e!ertions were made by each 4aptain to
complete his company irst, that merit might be claimed on that account. 7olunteers
presented themselves in every direction in the vicinity o these towns, none were
received but young men o character, and o suicient property to clothe themselves
completely, ind their own arms, and accoutrements, that is, an approved rile,
handsome shot pouch and powder horn, blanket, knapsack, with such decent
clothing as should be prescribed, but which was at irst ordered to be only a hunting
shirt and pantaloons, ringed on every edge and in various ways."
Ma|or Henry Bednger, Letter to a Son Of Genera Samue Fney, Descrbng The
Rfemen Of Hs Unt In 1775, wrtten some tme ater.
---------------------------------------------------
". . . % have had the happiness o seeing 4aptain +ichael 4resap marching at the head
o a ormidable company o upwards o one hundred and thirty men, rom the
mountains and backwoods, painted like %ndians, armed with tomahawks and riles
dressed in hunting shirts and moccasins, and though some o them had traveled near
eight hundred miles, rom the banks o the 0hio, they seemed to walk light and easy,
and not with less spirit than at the irst hour o their march. 5ealth and vigor, ater
what they had undergone, declared them to be intimate with hardship and amiliar
with danger . . ."
Extract From a Letter To a Genteman n Phadepha. 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"5undreds o backwoodsmen collected at Fredericksburg, 7irginia and continued
there one or two days longer should have had upwards o ten thousand men. &ll the
rontier counties were in motion . . . Fredericksburg never was so honored with so
many brave hearty men . . . every man rich and poor with their hunting shirts, belts
and tomahawks i!ed . . . in the best manner."
Mchae Waace, Letter to Gustavus Waace. 1775
---------------------------------------------------
An eyewtness descrbed the southern rfemen as ". . . 8ot over-burdened with at,
but tall, raw-boned and sinewy."
Drury Maths, Loyast Captured at Kng's Mountan. 1780.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he committee appointed me captain o this company o rangers, and gave me the
appointment o my subalterns. % chose two o the most active young men that % could
ind, who had also been long in captivity with the %ndians. &s we enlisted our men, we
dressed them uniormly in the %ndian manner, with breech-clouts, legging, mockesons
.sic/ and green shrouds, which we wore in the same manner that the %ndians do, and
nearly as the 5ighlanders wear their plaids. %n place o hats we wore red
handkerchies, and painted our aces red and black, like %ndian warriors. % taught
them the %ndian discipline, as % knew o no other at that time, which would answer the
purpose much better than $ritish. We succeeded beyond e!pectation in deending
the rontiers, and were e!tolled by our employers."
|ames Smth, Lfe and Traves of Coone Tames Smth. 1799, descrbng the dress of
hs "Back Boys" when formed n the eary 1760's.
---------------------------------------------------
"0ur clothing was all o domestic manuacture. We had no other resource or
clothing, and this, indeed, was a poor one. *he crops o la! oten ailed, and the
sheep were destroyed by the wolves. 9insey, which is made o la! and wool, the
ormer the chain and the latter the illing, was the warmest and most substantial
cloth we could make. &lmost every house contained a loom, and almost every
woman was a weaver.
":very amily tanned their own leather. *he tan vat was a large trough sunk to the
upper edge in the ground. & (uantity o bark was easily obtained every spring, in
clearing and encing the land. *his, ater drying, was brought in and in wet days was
shaved and pounded on a block o wood, with an a!e or mallet. &shes was .sic/ used
in place o lime or taking o the hair. $ears# oil, hog#s lard and tallow, answered the
place o ish oil. *he leather, to be sure, was coarse; but it was substantially good.
*he operation o currying was perormed by a drawing knie with its edge umed,
ater the manner o a currying knie. *he blacking or the leather was made o soot
and hog#s lard.
"&lmost every amily contained its own tailors and shoemakers. *hose who could not
make shoes, could make shoepacks. *hese, like moccasons .sic/, were made o a
single piece o leather with the e!ception o a tongue piece on the top o the oot.
*his was about two inches broad and circular at the lower end. *o this the main piece
o leather was sewed, with a gathering stitch. *he seam behind was like that o a
moccason .sic/. *o the shoepack a sole was sometimes added. *he women did the
tailor work. *hey could all cut out and make hunting shirts, leggins and drawers."
Reverend |oseph Doddrdge, Notes on the Settements and Indan Wars of the
Western Parts of Vrgna and Pennsyvana, 1763-1783.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he principle distinction between us, was in our dialects, our arms and our dress.
:ach man o the three companies bore a rile-barreled gun, a tomahawk, or small
a!e, and a long knie, usually called a #scalping knie,# which served or all purposes,
in the woods. 5is under-dress, by no means in a military style, was covered by a deep
ash-colored hunting shirt, leggins and moccasins, i the latter could be procured. %t
was the silly ashion o those times or the rilemen to ape the manner o savages . . .
"+y wardrobe was scanty and light. %t consisted o a roundabout jacket o woolen, a
pair o hal-worn buckskin breeches, two pairs o woolen stockings, ,bought at
8ewburyport,- a hat with a eather, a hunting shirt, legging, a pair o mockasins .sic/,
a pair o tolerably good shoes, which had been closely hoarded . . .
" .6eorge/ +erchant was a tall and handsome 7irginian. %n a ew days, he hunting-
shirt and all, was sent to :ngland, probably as a inished specimen o the rilemen o
the colonies. *he government there very liberally sent him home in the ollowing year
. . .
"$y-and-by .)aniel/ +organ came, large, a commanding aspect, and stentorian voice.
5e wore legging, and a cloth in the %ndian style. 5is thighs, which were e!posed to
view, appeared to have been lacerated by the thorns and bushes
"+y gloves were good and well lined with ur, and my mockasins .sic/ o the best
kind, well stued . . .
"5aving on a ine white blanket coat, and turning my cap or #bonnet rouge# inside out,
the inside being white, made me, as it were, invisible in the snow . . .
|ohn |oseph Henry, An Accurate and Interestng Account of the Hardshps and
Sufferngs of That Band of Heroes, Who Traversed Thru The Wderness n the
Campagn Aganst Ouebec n 1775,1812. --
---------------------------------------------------
|ames Smth as an Indan:
"*hey gave me a new ruled shirt, which % put on, also a pair o leggins done o with
ribbons and beads, likewise a pair o mockasons .sic/, and garters dressed with
beads, porcupine-(uills and red hair also a tinsel laced cappo. *hey again painted my
head and ace with various colors, and tied a bunch o red eathers to one o these
locks they had let on the crown o my head, which stood up ive or si! inches . . .
And Smth as a returnng Long Hunter:
"When % came in to the settlement my clothes were almost worn out, and the boy had
nothing on him that ever was spun. 5e had buck-skin legging, mockasons .sic/, and
breech-clout a bear-skin dressed with the hair on, which he belted about him, and a
raccoon-skin cap ...
"% went to a magistrate, and obtained a pass, and one o my old ac(uaintances made
me a present o a shirt. % then cast away my old rags, and all the clothes % now had
was an old beaver hat, buck-skin legging, mockasons ;sic/, and a new shirt; also an
old blanket, which % commonly carried on my back in good weather. $eing thus
e(uipped, % marched on, with my white shirt loose, and 2amie with his bear-skin about
him1 mysel appearing white, and 2amie very black alarmed the dogs wherever we
came, so that they barked violently."
|ames Smth, An Account of the Remarkabe Occurances n the Lfe and Traves of
Coone |ames Smth, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he people all travel on horseback with pistols and swords, an a large blanket olded
up under their saddle, which last they use or sleeping in when obliged to pass the
night in the woods.
"*he moccasin is made o the skin o the deer, elk or bualo, which is commonly
dressed without the hair, and rendered o a deep brown colour by being e!posed to
the smoke o a wood ire. %t is ormed o a single piece o leather, with a seam rom
the toe to the instep, and another behind, similar to that in a common shoe; by
means o a thong it is astened round the instep, just under the anklebone, and is
thus made to sit very close to the oot. 'ound that part where the oot is put in, a lap
o the depth o an inch or two is let, which hangs loosely down over the string by
which the moccasin is astened; and this lap as also the seam, are tasteully
ornamented with porcupine (uills and beads1 the lap is edged with tin or copper tags
illed with scarlet hair, i the moccasin be intended or a man, and with ribbands .sic/
i or a woman. &n ornamented moccasin o this sort is only worn in dress, as the
ornaments are e!pensive, and the leather soon wears out; one o the plain leather
answers or ordinary use. +any o the white people on the %ndian rontiers wear this
kind o shoe; but a person not accustomed to walk in it, or to walk bareoot, cannot
wear it abroad, on a rough road, without great inconvenience, as every unevenness
o surace is elt through the leather, which is sot and pliable1 in a house it is the
most agreeable sort o shoe that can be imagined1 %ndians wear it universally.
"&bove the moccasin all the %ndians wear what are called leggings, which reach rom
the instep to the middle o the thigh. *hey are commonly made o blue or scarlet
cloth, and are ormed so as to sit close to the limbs, like the modern pantaloons; but
the edges o the cloth anne!ed to the seam, instead o being turned in, are let on
the outside, and are ornamented with beads, ribands .sic/, <4., when the leggings
are intended or dress. +any o the young warriors are so desirous that their leggings
should it them neatly, that they make the s(uaws, who are the tailors, and really
very good ones, sow .sic/ them tight on their limbs, so that they cannot be taken o,
and they continue to wear them constantly till they are reduced to rags. *he leggings
are kept up by means o two strings, one on the outside o each thigh, which are
astened to a third, that is tied around the waist.
"*hey also wear round the waist another string, rom which are suspended two little
aprons, somewhat more than a oot s(uare, one hanging down beore and the other
behind, and under these a piece o cloth, drawn dose up to the body between the
legs, orming a sort o truss. *he aprons and this piece o cloth, which are all astened
together, are called the breech cloth. *he utmost ingenuity o the s(uaws is e!erted
in adorning the little aprons with beads, ribbands .sic/ <4.
"*he moccasins, leggings, and breech cloth constitute the whole o the dress which
they wear when they enter upon a campaign, e!cept indeed it be a girdle, rom which
hangs their tobacco pouch and scalping knie, <4; nor do they wear anything more
when the weather is very warm; but when it is cool, or when they dress themselves
to visit their riends, they put on a short shirt, loose at the neck and wrists, generally
made o coarse igured cotton or calico, o some gaudy pattern, not unlike what
would be used or window or bed curtains at a common inn in :ngland. 0ver the shirt
they wear either a blanket, large piece o broad cloth, or else a loose coat made
somewhat similarly to a common riding rock; a blanket is more commonly worn than
anything else. *hey tie one end o it round their waste .sic/ with a girdle, and then
drawing it over their shoulders, either asten it across their breasts with a skewer, or
hold the corners o it together, in the let hand. 0ne would imagine that this last
mode o wearing it could not but be highly inconvenient to them, as it must deprive
them in a great measure o the use o one hand; yet it is the mode in which it is
commonly worn, even when they are shooting in the woods; they generally, however,
keep the right arm disengaged when they carry a gun, and draw the blanket over the
let shoulder."
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States Of North Amerca, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"=ou e!pressed apprehension that the rile dress o 6eneral +organ may be mistaken
hereater or a waggoner#s rock, which he, perhaps, wore when on the e!pedition
with 6eneral $raddock; there is no more resemblance between the two dresses, than
between a cloak and a coat; the waggoner#s rock was intended, as the present
cartman#s to cover and protect their other clothes, and is merely a long coarse shirt
reaching below the knee; the dress o the 7irginia rilemen who came to 4ambridge
in >??@ .among whom was +organ/ was an elegant loose dress reaching to the
middle o the thigh, ornamented with ringes in various parts and meeting the
pantaloons o the same material and color, ringed and ornamented in corresponding
style. *he oicers wore the usual crimson sash over this, and around the waist, the
straps, belts, etc. were black, orming, in my opinion, a very pictures(ue and elegant
as well as useul dress. %t cost a trile; the soldier could wash it at any brook he
passed; however worn and ragged and dirty his other clothing might be, when this
was thrown over it, he was in elegant uniorm."
|ohn Trumbu, Persona Letter, crca 1780.
---------------------------------------------------
"9eggers, leggins, or %ndian spatterdashes, are usually made o rie"e or other coarse
woolen cloth; they should be at least three (uarters wide ,which is A ! A- then double
it, and sew it together rom end to end, within our, ive or si! inches o the outside
selvages, itting this long narrow bag to the shape o the leg; the laps to be on the
outside, which serve to wrap over the skin, or orepart o the leg, tied round under
the knee, and above the ankle, with garters o the same colour; by which the legs are
preserved rom many atal accidents, in marching through the woods. *he %ndians
generally ornament the laps with beads o various colours, as they do their
moggasan .sic/, or my part, % think them clumsy, and not at all military; yet % coness
they are highly necessary in 8. &merica; nevertheless, i they were made without the
lap and to button the outside o the leg, in like manner as a spatterdash they would
answer ull as well1 but this is a matter o opinion."
Captan |ohn Knox, Hstorca |ourna, 1757.
---------------------------------------------------
"&t the head o the column marched a group o woodsman, all o course, bearing
riles. Some strode on oot, but many o them, perhaps the majority, were mounted
on horses that walked slowly along.
"*hey wore loose hunting shirts, and trousers o dressed deerskin, gayley .sic/
decorated with the colored ringes so widely aected as a backwoods ashion. *heir
eet were clad in moccasins and on their heads were many sorts o antastic caps o
skins or o linsey-woolsey, each ashioned according the whim o its owner. :very man
was girt with a leather belt rom the right side o which hung a tomahawk to be used
either as a hatchet or or some more violent purpose. 0n his let side he carried his
hunting knie, a ull powder horn, a leather pouch o home made bullets and another
large leather pouch holding a (uart or two o parched corn."
Anonymous Descrpton of a Party of Long Hunters, 1773.
---------------------------------------------------
"% am o opinion that a number o hunting-shirts, not less than ten thousand, would in
a great degree remove this diiculty, in the cheapest and (uickest manner. % know
nothing in a speculative view, more trivial, yet which, i put in practice, would have a
happier tendency to unite the men, and abolish those provincial distinctions that lead
to jealousy and dissatisaction."
George Washngton, Letter to the Presdent of Congress, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"5unting shirts with long breeches . . . it is a dress justly supposed to carry no small
terror to the enemy who think every such person a complete marksman."
George Washngton, |uy, 1776.
---------------------------------------------------
Nchoas Cresswe recaed that hs companons on a |ourney aong the Kentucky
Rver had not two pars of breeches among them. "*he rest wear breechclouts,
leggins and hunting shirts, which have never been washed, only by the rain since
they were made.
"%t is a custom with our company, as soon as it begins to rain to strip naked and
secure their clothes rom the wet. % have attempted it twice today, but the drops o
rain are disagreeable to my skin, that it obliged me to put on my shirt. " 4resswell
noted that the rontier was "an asylum or rascals o all denominations."
|ourna of Nchoas Cresswe, 1774-1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he %ndians, who have any dealings with the :nglish or &merican traders, and all o
them have that live in the neighborhood, and to the east o the +ississippi, and in the
neighborhood o the great lakes to the north-west, have now totally laid aside the use
o urs and skins in their dress, e!cept or their shoes or moccasins, and sometimes
or their legging, as they ind they can e!change them to advantage or blankets and
woolen cloths, <4. which they consider likewise as much more agreeable-and
commodious materials or wearing apparel."
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States of North Amerca, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"0n the rontiers, and particularly amongst those who were much in the habit o
hunting, and going on scouts and campaigns, the dress o the men was partly %ndian,
and partly that o civili"ed nations.
"*he hunting shirt was universally worn. *his was a kind o loose rock, reaching
halway down the thighs, with large sleeves, open beore and so wide as to lap over a
oot or more when belted. *he cape was large, and sometimes handsomely ringed
with a raveled piece o cloth o a dierent color rom that o the hunting shirt itsel.
*he bosom o this dress served as a wallet to hold a chunk o bread, cakes, jerk, tow
or wiping the barrel o the rile, or any other necessary or the hunter or warrior.
"*he belt, which was always tied behind answered several purposes, besides that o
holding the dress together. %n cold weather the mittens, and sometimes the bullet-
bag, occupied the ront part o it. *o the right side was suspended the tomahawk and
to the let the scalping knie in its leather sheath. *he hunting shirt was generally
made o linsey, sometimes o coarse linen, and a ew o dressed deer skins. *hese
last were very cold and uncomortable in wet weather. *he shirt and jacket were o
the common ashion. & pair o drawers or breeches and legging, were the dress o the
thighs and legs; a pair o moccasons .sic/ answered or the eet much better than
shoes. *hese were made o dressed deer skin. *hey were mostly made o a single
piece with a gathering seam along the top o the oot, and another rom the bottom
o the heel, without gathers as high as the ankle joint or a little higher. Flaps were let
on each side to reach some distance up the legs. *hese were nicely adapted to the
ankles, and, lower part o the leg by thongs o deer skin, so that no dust, gravel, or
snow could get within the moccason .sic/.
"*he moccasons .sic/ in ordinary use cost but a ew hours labor to make them. *his
was done by an instrument denominated a moccason .sic/ awl, which was made o
the backspring o an old clasp knie. *his awl with its buckhorn handle was an
appendage o every shoe pouch strap, together with a roll o buckskin or mending
the moccasons .sic/. *his was the labor o almost every evening. *hey were sewed
together and patched with deer skin thongs, or whangs, as they were commonly
called.
"%n cold weather the moccasons .sic/ were well stued with deer#s hair or dry leaves,
so as to keep the eet comortably warm; but in wet weather it was usually said that
wearing them was #a decent way o going bareooted,# and such was the act, owing
to the spongy te!ture o the leather o which they were made.
"0wing to this deective covering o the eet, more than to any other circumstance,
the greater number o our hunters and warriors were alicted with the rheumatism in
their limbs. 0 this disease they were all apprehensive in cold or wet weather, and
thereore always slept with their eet to the ire to prevent or cure it as well as they
could. *his practice un(uestionably had a very salutary eect, and prevented many
o them rom becoming conirmed cripples in early lie.
"%n the latter years o the %ndian war our young men became more enamored o the
%ndian dress throughout, with the e!ception o the matchcoat. *he drawers were laid
aside and the leggins made longer, so as to reach the upper part o the thigh. *he
%ndian breech clout was adopted. *his was a piece o linen or cloth nearly a yard long,
and eight or nine inches broad. *his passed under the belt beore and behind leaving
the end or laps hanging beore and behind over the belt. *he laps were sometimes
ornamented with some coarse kind o embroidery work. *o the same belt which
secured the breech clout, strings which supported the long leggins were attached.
When this belt, as was oten the case, passed over the hunting shirt the upper part o
the thighs and part o the hips were naked.
"*he young warrior instead o being abashed by this nudity was proud o his %ndian
like dress. %n some ew instances % have seen them go into places o public worship in
this dress. *heir appearance, however, did not add much to the devotion o the young
ladies."
Reverend |oseph Doddrdge, Notes on the Settements and Indan Wars of the
Western Parts of Vrgna and Pennsyvana 1763-1783.
---------------------------------------------------
&A'(*&AN*HIP AND "22"$TI"N"**
"4olonel, now 6eneral, *arleton, and mysel, were standing a ew yards out o a
wood, observing the situation o a part o the enemy which we intended to attack.
*here was a rivulet in the enemy#s ront, and a mill on it, to which we stood directly
with horses# heads ronting, observing their motions. %t was absolutely a plain ield
between us and the mill; not so much as a single bush on it. 0ur orderly-bugler stood
behind us about three yards, but with his horse#s side to our horses# tails. & rileman
passed over the milldam, evidently observing two oicers, and laid himsel down on
his belly, or in such positions they always lie, to take a good shot at a long distance.
5e took a deliberate and cool shot at my riend, at me; and at the bugle-horn man.
8ow observe how well this ellow shot. %t was in the month o &ugust, and not a
breath o wind was stirring. 4olonel *arleton#s horse and mine, % am certain, were not
anything like two eet apart; or we were in close consultation, how we should attack
with our troops which laid ABB yards in the wood, and could not be perceived by the
enemy. & rile-ball passed between him and me; looking directly to the mill % evidently
observed the lash o the powder. % directly said to my riend, #% think we had better
move, or we shall have-two or three o these gentlemen shortly amusing themselves
at our e!pense. *he words were hardly out o my mouth when the bugle-horn man
behind me, and directly central, jumped o his horse and said, #Sir, my horse is shot.#
*he horse staggered, ell down, and died . . . 8ow speaking o this rileman#s
shooting, nothing could be better . . . % have passed several times over this ground
and ever observed it with the greatest attention; and % can positively assert that the
distance he ired rom at us was ull CBB yards."
Coone George Hanger, To A Sportsmen and Partcuary to Farmers and
Gamekeepers, 1814.
---------------------------------------------------
"*hey are remarkable at 3hiladelphia or making riled $arrell 6unns, .sic/ which
throw a $all above ABB yards, vastly well, < much better than any other $arrells.
3eople here in general Shoot very well with $all, but don#t doe .sic/ much with Shot."
Sr Wam |ohnson Papers, 1761.
---------------------------------------------------
"& large part o the provincials are armed with grooved riles, and have their molds.
9ead in bars will suit them better than bullets likewise the %ndians, but they also need
ine powder FF."
Coone Henry Bouquet. Carse. Pennsyvana, 1758.
---------------------------------------------------
"0n Friday evening last arrived here, on their way to the &merican 4amp, 4aptain
,+ichael- 4resap#s 4ompany o 'ilemen, consisting o >AB active, brave young
ellows; many o whom had been in the late e!pedition under 9ord )unmore, against
the %ndians. *hey bear in their bodies visible marks o their prowess, and show scars
and wounds, which would do honour to 5omer#s %liad, etc. *hey shew.sic/ you, to use
the poet#s words--#Where the goar#d bull bled at every vein.#
"0ne o these warriors, in-particular, shows the cicatrices ,scar tissue- o our bullet
holes through his body. *hese men have been bred in the woods to hardships and
danger rom their inancy. *hey appear as i they were entirely unac(uainted with,
and had never elt, the passion o ear. With their riles in their hands they assume a
kind o omnipotence over their enemies. =ou will not much wonder at this when %
mention a act, which can be ully attested by several o the reputable inhabitants o
this place, who were eyewitnesses o it. *wo brothers in the company took a piece o
board, ive inches broad, and seven inches long, with a bit o white paper, about the
si"e o a dollar, nailed in the center, and while one them supported this board
perpendicularly between his knees, the other at the distance o upwards o si!ty
yards, and without any kind o rest, shot eight bullets successively through the board,
and spared a brother#s thighsD
#&nother o the company held a barrel stave perpendicularly in his hand, with one
edge close to his side, while one o his comrades at the same distance, and in the
manner beore mentioned, shot several bullets through it, without any apprehensions
o danger on either side. *he spectators, appearing to be ama"ed at these eats,
were told that there were upwards o ity persons in the company who could do the
same thing; that there was not one who could not plug >E bullets out o FB ,as they
termed it- within an inch o the head o a ten-penny nail; in short, to evince the
conidence they possessed in their de!terity at these kinds o arms, some o them
proposed to stand with apples on their heads, while others at the same distance
undertook to shoot them o; but the people who saw the other e!periments, declined
to be witnesses o this. &t night a great ire was kindled round a pole planted in the
courthouse s(uare, where the company with the 4aptain at their head, all naked to
the waist and painted like savages ,e!cept the 4aptain, who was in an %ndian shirt-,
indulged a vast concourse o the inhabitants with a perect e!hibition o a war dance,
and all the manoeuvres .sic> o %ndians holding council, going to war, circumventing
their enemies, by deiles, ambuscades, attacking, scalping, etc. %t is said by those
who are judges, that no representation could possibly come nearer the original. *he
4aptain#s agility and e!pertness, in particular, in these e!hibitions, astonished every
beholder.
#*his morning they will set out on their march to 4ambridge."
Pennsyvana Packet, August, 1775 Lancaster, Pennsyvana
---------------------------------------------------
"=esterday the company was supplied with a small (uantity o powder rom the
maga"ine, which wanted airing, and was not in good order or riles; in the evening,
however, they were drawn out to show the gentlemen o the *own their de!terity at
shooting. & clapboard, with a mark the si"e o a dollar, was put up; they began to ire
ohand, and the bystanders were surprised, ew shots being made that were not
close to or in the paper. When they had shot or a time in this way, some lay on their
back, some on their breast or side, others ran twenty or thirty steps, and iring
appeared to be e(ually certain o the mark. With this perormance the company was
more than satisied, when a young man took up the board in his hand, not by the
end, but by the side, and holding it as it was held beore, the second brother shot as
the ormer had done. $y this e!ercise % was more astonished than pleased. $ut will
you believe me when % tell you, that one o the men took the board, and placing it
between his legs, stood with his back to the tree while another drove the center.
What would a regular army o considerable strength in the orests o &merica do with
one thousand o these men, who want nothing to preserve their health and courage
but water rom the spring, with a little parched corn, with what they can easily
procure in hunting; and who, wrapped in their blankets, in the damp o night, would
choose the shade o a tree or their covering, and the earth or their bedG"
Extract of a Letter to a Genteman n Phadepha. Descrbng a Shootng Match Hed
by Captan Mchae Cresap's Company of Rfemen , 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he inhabitants o 'ed $ank are only hunters, or what are called oresters. *hey
cultivate no ground, but subsist on the produce o their hunting and ishing, and are
almost naked. *he ollowing trait may serve to give an idea o their character. &t our
arrival we ound a number o these hunters who had assembled to regale themselves
on the banks o the river with the spoils o their chace .sic/ on the preceding day,
when they had killed a very ine bualo. *hey had drunk plentiully o whiskey, and
though the greater number were into!icated, they were amusing themselves in iring
with carabines .sic/ against a piece o plank tied to a tree, which is called shooting at
a mark. *he board, probably ill-astened, ell at each shot; one o the party at length
losing patience, took it up, and placing it between his legs, called out to his
companion, #8ow ire awayD# which they did immediately, and always with the same
address; whilst he who held the board e!claimed at each shot, #%t is inD# *his
amusement, which lasted two hours without any accident taking place, may appear
incredible to those who are not ac(uainted with the singular skill o these men; but it
is suicient to observe that they will aim at the head o a s(uirrel or a turkey and
very rarely miss. *he seeming intrepidity o the man who held the board becomes,
thereore, only an ordinary circumstance."
Genera Vctor Caot, 1796.
---------------------------------------------------
"*heir guns are riled barrels, and they ight in ambush, ive hundred provincials
would stop the march o ive thousand regulars. &nd a whole army might be cut o,
without knowing where the ire came rom."
Genteman's Magazne, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"% have many times asked the &merican backwoodsman what was the most their best
marksmen could do; they have constantly told me that an e!pert rileman, provided
he can draw good and true sight, can hit the head o a man at FBB yards. % am certain
that provided an &merican rileman was to get a perect aim at ABB yards at me
standing still, he most undoubtedly would hit me, unless it was a very windy day . . ."
Coone George Hanger, To A Sportsmen and Partcuary to Farmers and
Gamekeepers, 1814.
---------------------------------------------------
".. . they apprehend a 'ileman grows naturally behind each *ree and $ush on the
4ontinent."
Captan Thomas Pnckney, Commentng on the Brtsh Fear of Rfemen, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
At one tme, Thomas |efferson advsed Lafayette to retreat to the west so that the
Brtsh woud be e!posed "...to their most dangerous :nemies, the 'ilemen."
Thomas |efferson, Letter to the Marqus de Lafayette, 1781.
---------------------------------------------------
We nto the war, the commander-n-chef st beeved that a ". . . corps o rilemen
will be or several purposes e!tremely useul."
George Washngton, Letter to the Secretary of War, 1778.
---------------------------------------------------
"9et us take a view o the beneits we have received, by what little we have learned
o their art o war, which cost us dear, and the loss that we have sustained or want o
it; and then see i it will not be well worth our while to retain what we have, and also
to endeavor to improve in this necessary branch o business. *hough we have made
considerable proiciency in this line, and in some respects out-do them vi". as
marksmen, and in cutting our riles, and in keeping them in good order; yet, %
apprehend we are ar behind in their manoeuveres, or in being able to surpri"e .sic/,
or prevent a surpri"e .sic/. +ay we not conclude that the progress we had made in
their art o war contributed considerably towards our success, in various respects,
when contending with 6reat $ritain or libertyG
"5ad the $ritish Hing, attempted to enslave us beore $raddock#s war, in all
probability he might readily have done it, because, e!cept the 8ew :nglanders, who
had ormerly been engaged in war with the %ndians, we were unac(uainted with any
kind o war1 but ater ighting such a subtil .sic/ and barbarous enemy as the %ndians,
we were not terriied at the approach o $ritish red-coats. --Was not $urgoyne#s
deeat accomplished in some measure by the %ndian mode o ightingG and did not
6en. +organ#s rile-men, and many others, ight with greater success, in
conse(uence o what they had learned o their art o warG Hentucky would not have
been settled at the time it was, had the 7irginians been altogether ignorant o this
method o war."
Coone |ames Smth, An Account of the Remarkabe Occurances n the Lfe and
Traves of Coone |ames Smth, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he ire was now return#d, but the enemy had a great advantage rom their riles . .
."
Coone Henry Hamton, 1779, descrbng hs defense of Fort Sackve n the Inos
Country.
---------------------------------------------------
"% cannot suiciently thank your :!cellency or sending 4ol. +organ#s corps to this
army; they shall be o the greatest service to it . . ."
Genera Horato Gates, Letter to George Washngton, 1777, durng the Saratoga
campagn.
---------------------------------------------------
"*hey either did not or would not take the signal; and though there were but two o
us, rom whom they could not possibly e!pect a design to attack, they did not cease
iring at us. % may venture to say, that not less than ten guns were discharged with
their mu""les towards us, within the distance o orty or ity yards, and % might be
nearer the truth in saying, that some were let o within twenty. 9uckily or us, it was
not our rilemen to whom we were targets
Aexander Graydon, Commentng on the Ineffectveness of Brtsh Muskets n Batte,
1776. ..
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"&n unusual number o the killed were ound to have been shot in the head. 'ilemen
took o rilemen with such e!actness, that they killed each other when they were
taking sight, so eectually that their eyes remained ater they were dead, one shut
and the other open, in the usual manner o marksmen when leveling at their
subjects."
A Loyast's Descrpton of Rfemen at Kng's Mountan 1780.
---------------------------------------------------
"Shooting at marks was a common diversion among the men, when their stock o
ammunition would allow it; this, however, was ar rom being always the case. *he
present mode o shooting o hand was not then in practice. *his mode was not
considered as any trial o the value o a gun; nor, indeed, as much o a test o the skill
o a marksmen. *heir shooting was rom a rest, and at as great a distance as the
length and weight o the barrel o the gun would throw a ball on a hori"ontal level.
Such was their regard to accuracy, in these supportive trials o their riles, and o
their own skill in the use o them, that they oten put moss, or some other sot
substance, on the log or stump rom which they shot, or ear o having the bullet
thrown rom the mark by the spring o the barrel. When the rile was held to the side
o a tree or a rest, it was pressed against it as lightly as possible, or the same
reason.
"'iles o ormer times, were dierent rom those o modern date; ew o them carried
more than orty-ive bullets ,.C? caliber- to the pound. $ullets o a less si"e were not
thought suiciently heavy or hunting or war."
Reverend |oseph Doddrdge, Notes on the Settements and Indan Wars of the
Western Parts of Vrgna and Pennsyvana. 1763-1783.
---------------------------------------------------
"%n conse(uence o the orders o 5is :!cellency 6en#l Washington, % now send +ajor
+iller or arms and clothing or the First 3ennsylvania 'egiment commanded by
4olonel 4hambers; they never received any uniorms, e!cept hunting shirts, which
were worn out and although a body o ine men, yet rom being in rags and badly
armed, they are viewed with contempt by the other troops, and began to despise
themselves. *he conduct o the 3ennsylvanians the other day, in orcing 6eneral
6rant to retire with circumstances o shame and disgrace into the very lines o the
enemy, has gained them the esteem and conidence o 5is :!cellency, who wishes to
have our riles e!changed or good muskets and bayonets, as e!perience has taught
us they are not it or the ield, and a ew only will be retained in each regiment which
will be placed in the hands o real marksmen."
Genera Anthony Wayne, Letter to the Board of War, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
Interestngy, whe Wayne acknowedged the vctory of the rfemen, he aso beeved
ther arms to be nferor. The foowng year he ssued an order to ". . . #make a return
o the number o 'iles in each $rigade, in order to :!change them or an e(ual
number o +uskets and $ayonets#."
Genera Anthony Wayne, 2nd Pennsyvana Regment's Ordery Book, 1778.
---------------------------------------------------
" Several dierent kinds o articles are manuactured at 9ancaster by 6erman
mechanics, individually, principally or the people o the town and the neighborhood.
'iled barrel guns however are to be e!cepted, which, although not as handsome as
those imported rom :ngland, are more esteemed by the hunters, and are sent to
every part o the country.
"*he riled barrel guns, commonly used in &merica, are nearly o the length o a
musket, and carry leaden balls rom the si"e o thirty to si!ty in the pound ,rom .@A
to .CF caliber-. Some hunters preer those o a small bore, because they re(uire but
little ammunition; others preer such as have a wide bore, because the wound which
they inlict is more certainly attended with death; the wound, however, made by a
ball discharged rom one o these guns, is always very dangerous. *he inside o the
barrel is luted, and the grooves run in a spiral direction rom one end o the barrel to
the other, conse(uently when the ball comes out it has a whirling motion round its
own a!is, at the same time that it moves orward, and when it enters into the body o
an animal, it tears up the lesh in a dreadul manner. *he best o powder is chosen or
the riled barrel gun, and ater a proper portion o it is put down the barrel, the ball is
inclosed .sic/ in a small bit o linen rag, well greased at the outside, and then orced
down with a thick ramrod. *he grease and the bits o rag, which are called patches,
are carried in a little bo! at the but-end .sic/ o the gun. *he best riles are urnished
with two triggers, one o which being irst pulled sets the other, that is, alters the
spring so that it will yield even to the slight touch o a eather. *hey are also
urnished with double sights along the barrel, as ine as those o a surveying
instrument. &n e!perienced marksman, with one o these guns, will hit an object not
larger than a crown piece, to a certainty, at the distance o one hundred yards. *wo
men belonging to the 7irginia rile regiment, a large division o which was (uartered
in this down .sic/ during the war, had such a dependence on each other#s de!terity,
that the one would hold a piece o board, not more than nine inches s(uare, between
his knees, whilst the other shot at it with a ball at the distance o one hundred paces.
*his they used to do alternately, or the amusement o the town#s people, as oten as
they were called upon. 8umbers o people in 9ancaster can vouch or the truth o this
act. Were %, however, to tell you all the stories % have heard o the perormance o
rilemen, you would think the people were most abominably addicted to lying. & rile
gun will not carry shot, nor will it carry a ball much arther than one hundred yards
with certainty."
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States of North Amerca, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
" 'ile +en that or their number make the most ormidable light inantry in the
world. *he si! rontier countries ,o 7irginia- can produce IBBB o these +en ,with-
their ama"ing hardihood, their method o living so long in the woods without carrying
provisions with them, the e!ceeding (uickness with which they can march to distant
parts, and above all, the de!terity to which they have arrived in the use o the 'ile
6un. *heir .sic/ is not one o these +en who wish a distance less than FBB yards or a
larger object than an 0range -- :very shot is atal."
Rchard Henry Lee, Persona Letter, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
" Sirs1 % am avor#d with yours o the >Ith. *he Spears have come to hand, and are
very handy and will be useul to the 'ile +en. $ut they would be more conveniently
carried, i they had a sling i!ed to them, they should also have a spike in the but end
.sic/ to i! them in the ground and they would then serve as a rest or the 'ile. *he
%ron plates which i! the spear head to the shat, should be at least eighteen inches
long to prevent the Shat rom being cut through, with a stroke o a 5orseman#s
Sword. *hose only intended or the 'ile +en, should be i!ed with Slings and Spikes
in the end, those or the 9ight 5orse need neither. *here will be @BB wanting or the
'ile +en, as (uick as possible."
George Washngton, Letter to the Board of War, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"% have ormed two companies o grenadiers to each regiment, and with spears o >A
eet long. *heir rile ,or they are all rilemen- slung over their shoulders, their
appearance is ormidable, and the men are conciliated to the weapon. % am likewise
urnishing mysel with our-ounced rile-amusettes, which will carry an inernal
distance; the two-ounced hit a hal-sheet o paper @BB yards distant."
Chares Lee, Letter to George Washngton, 1776.
---------------------------------------------------
Rfemen pcked off Tores, too, at Saratoga: "*his misortune accelerated their
estrangement rom our course and army."
Sergeant Roger Lamb, Brtsh Soder, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"%n the open ield the rebels do not count or much, but in the woods, they are
ormidable."
A Brunswcker, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
As for the Indans at Saratoga: ". . . not a man o them was to be brought in within
the sound o a rile shot."
Brtsh Offcer, Conduct of the Canada Campagn, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"*hese .rebel rilemen/ . . . hovered upon the lanks in small detachments, and were
very e!pert in securing themselves, and in shiting the ground . . . many placed
themselves in high trees in the rear o their own line, and there was seldom a
minute#s interval in any part o our line without oicers being taken o by a single
shot."
Genera |ohn Burgoyne, State of the Expedton. 1777 |Surrender of Burgoyne at
Saratoga. October. 1777|.
---------------------------------------------------
" . . . their rile-barrel guns with a ball slit almost in our (uarters, when ired out o
those guns breaks into our pieces, and generally does great e!ecution."
Vrgna Gazette, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he &mericans load their rile-barrel guns with a ball slit almost in our (uarters,
which, when ired out o those guns, breaks in our pieces and generally does great
e!ecution."
London Chronce, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"% cannot help mentioning one thing, which seems to show the hellish disposition o
the accursed rebels1 by parcels o ammunition which were let on the ield, their balls
were all ound to be poisoned."
A Loyast Merchant, Boston, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"8o man could stand at the helm in saety; i the men went alot to band the sails,
they were immediately singled out."
Acton Off Hampton Roads. Vrgna, 1775, where rfemen fred upon the enemy from
the shore.
---------------------------------------------------
" . . . the 'ilemen had in one day killed >B men o a reconnoitering party, and it is
said they have killed three oicers. & sentry was killed at F@B yards distance."
Pennsyvana Gazette, Reportng news from the sege of Boston n 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
|The/ ". . . shirt-tail men, with their cursed twisted guns, the most atal widow-and-
orphan-makers in the world. "
London Newspaper, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he e!press, who was sent by the 4ongress, is returned here rom the :astward, and
says he let the 4amp last Saturday; that the rilemen picked o ten men in one day,
three o whom were Field-oicers that were reconnoitering; one o them was killed at
the distance o F@B yards, when only hal his head was seen."
Pennsyvana Packet, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
A rfemen had ked from a dstance of 400 yards to whch was added "take care,
ministerial troops."
Vrgna Gazette, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"9ord )unsmore, it is said, is much araid o the rilemen, and has all his vessels
caulked up on the sides, above men#s height."
Edmund Pendeton, Letter to Rchard Henry Lee, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he time or which the rilemen enlisted will e!pire 2uly >st, and as the loss o such a
valuable and brave body o men will be o great injury to the service, % would submit
to the consideration o 4ongress whether it would not be best to adopt some method
to induce them to continue. *hey are indeed a very useul corps; but % need not
mention this, as their importance is already well known to the 4ongress."
George Washngton, Letter to the Presdent of Congress, 1776.
---------------------------------------------------
"%t is a certain truth, that the enemy entertain a most ortunate apprehension o
&merican rilemen. %t is e(ually certain that nothing can contribute to diminish this
apprehension so inallibly as a re(uent ineectual ire. %t is with some concern,
thereore, that % am inormed that your men have been suered to ire at a most
preposterous distance. Jpon this principle % must entreat and insist that you consider
it as a standing order, that not a man under your command is to ire at a greater
distance than an hundred and ity yards, at the utmost; in short, that they never ire
without almost a moral certainty o hitting their object."
Genera Chares Lee, Letter to Coone Wam Thompson, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"&t the distance, perhaps, o one hundred and ity yards, nothing but his head above
water, a shooting-match took place, and believe me, the balls o +organ, Simpson,
5umphreys, and others, played around, and within a ew inches o his head . . ."
|ohn |oseph Henry, Campagn Aganst Ouebec, 1812, ndcatng that these rfe
offcers aso used ong arms
Rfemen. "can hit a man i within F@B yards, and his head i within >@B."
Vrgna Gazette, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"& gentleman rom the &merican camp says - #9ast Wednesday, some rilemen, on
4harlestown side, shot an oicer o note in the ministerial service, supposed to be
+ajor Small, or $ruce, and killed three men on board a ship at 4harlestown erry, at
the distance o ull hal a mile," |800 yards!?! |
Pennsyvana Gazette, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he provincials have not a rileman among them, not one being yet arrived rom the
southward; nor have they any rile guns; they have only common muskets, nor are
these in general urnished with bayonets; but then, they are almost all marksmen,
being accustomed to sporting o one kind or other rom their youth."
Dr. Wam Gordon, Persona Letter, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
|It s| ". . an unair method o carrying on a war."
Wam Carter, Brtsh Soder, 1775, expressng the typca redcoat opnon of the use
of rfes n warfare.
---------------------------------------------------
|They| ". . . do e!ecution with their rile guns at an ama"ing distance."
Warren Adams, Persona Letter, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*hey are grown so terrible to the regulars that nothing is to be seen over the
breastwork but a hat."
Dr. |oseph Reed, Persona Letter, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"+aryland, )ecember FB, >??@ . . . 'iles, ininitely better than those imported, are
daily made in many places in 3ennsylvania, and all the gunsmiths everywhere
constantly employed. %n this country, my lord, the boys, as soon as they can
discharge a gun, re(uently e!ercise themselves therewith, some a-owling and
others a-hunting. *he great (uantities o game, the many kinds and the great
privileges o killing, making the &mericans the best marksmen in the world, and
thousands support their amilies principally by the same, particularly rilemen on the
rontiers, whose objects are deer and turkeys. %n marching through woods, one
thousand o these rilemen would cut to pieces ten thousand o your best troops."
A Mnster of the Church of Engand to the Ear of Dartmouth, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"*his province has raised >,BBB rilemen, the worse o whom will put a ball into a
man#s head at the distance o >@B to FBB yards; thereore, advise your oicers who
shall hereater come out to &merica to settle their aairs beore their departure."
London Chronce, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"%n this situation =our :!cellency would not wish me to part with the corps the army
o 6eneral $urgoyne are most araid o."
Genera Horato Gates, Letter to George Washngton n Reference to Morgan's
Rfemen, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"#. . . riles peculiarly adapted to take o the oicers o a whole line as it marches to
an attack,# and that each rileman was attended by two men to load or him, #and this
is the real cause o so many o our brave oicers alling, they being singled out by
these murderers, as they must appear to be in the eyes o every thinking man."#
London Chronce, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"& party o these men at a late review on a (uick advance, placed their balls in poles
o ? inches diameter, i!ed or that purpose, at the distance o F@0 yards."
London Chronce, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
"Sir, you command the inest regiment in the world."
Genera |ohn Burgoyne, Words Reputedy Spoken to Coone Dane Morgan, 1777.
---------------------------------------------------
"&ugust . . . Several companies o rilemen, amounting, it is said to more than >CBB
men, have arrived here rom 3hiladelphia and +aryland, a distance o rom @BB to
?BB miles. *hey are remarkably stout and hardy men; many o them e!ceeding I eet
in height. *hey are dressed in white rocks, or rile shirts, and round hats. *hese men
are remarkable or the accuracy o their aim; striking a mark with great certainty at
FBB yards distance. &t a review, a company o them, while on a (uick advance, ired
their balls into objects o ? inches diameter, at the distance o F@B yards. *hey are
now stationed on our lines, and their shot have re(uently proved atal to $ritish
oicers and soldiers who e!pose themselves to view, even at more than double the
distance o common musket shot."
Dr. |ames Thatcher, Mtary |ourna Durng the Amercan Revoutonary War, 1775.
---------------------------------------------------
". . . about twilight is ound the best season or hunting the rebels in the woods, at
which time their riles are o very little use; and they are not ound so serviceable in a
body as musketry, a rest being re(uisite at all times, and beore they are able to
make a second discharge, it re(uently happens that they ind themselves run
through the body by the push o bayonet, as a rileman is not entitled to any (uarter."
Mddesex |ourna, 1776.
---------------------------------------------------
". . . meeting a corps o rile-men, namely rilemen only, % would treat them the same
as my riend 4olonel &bercrombie . . . treated +organ#s rilemen. When +organ#s
rilemen came down to 3ennsylvania rom 4anada, lushed with success gained over
$urgoyne#s army, they marched to attack our light inantry, under 4olonel
&bercrombie. *he moment they appeared beore him he ordered his troops to charge
them with the bayonet; not one man out o our had time to ire, and those that did
had no time given them to load again; the light inantry not only dispersed them
instantly but drove them or miles over the country. *hey never attacked, or even
looked at, our light inantry again without a regular orce to support them."
Coone George Hanger, To A Sportsmen and Partcuary to Farmers and
Gamekeepers 1814, evdenty referrng to the acton at Whtemarsh, December
7,1777. Ths account s not vouched for n any other contemporary descrpton of
that batte.
---------------------------------------------------
"'ilemen as rilemen only, are a very eeble oe and not to be trusted alone any
distance rom camp; and at the outposts they must ever be supported by regulars, or
they will constantly be beaten in, and compelled to retire."
Coone George Hanger, To A Sportsmen and Partcuary to Farmers and
Gamekeepers, 1814.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he rilemen, however de!terous in the use o their arm, were by no means the most
ormidable o the rebel troops; their not being armed with bayonets, permitted their
opponents to take liberties with them which otherwise would have been highly
improper."
Leutenant Coone |ohn Smcoe, Smcoe's Mtary |ourna, New York, 1844.
---------------------------------------------------
"% muskets were given them instead o riles the service would be more beneited, as
there is a superabundance o rilemen in the &rmy. Were it in the power o 4ongress
to supply musketts .sic/ they would speedily reduce the number o riles and replace
them with the ormer, as they are more easily kept in order, can be ired otener and
have the advantage o $ayonetts .sic/."
Rchard Peters, Letter to the Counc of Safety, 1776.
---------------------------------------------------
"*he inhabitants o the 0hio country in general have very little o that unmeaning
politeness, which we so much praise and admire in the &tlantic States. *hey are as
yet the mere children o nature, and neither their virtues nor their vices are
calculated to please reined tastes. *hey are brave, generous, and humane, and, in
proportion to the population, are able to produce the most eective military orce o
any in our country.
"*his preeminence may chiely be attributed to their e!posed situation on an %ndian
rontier, where they were not only kept in constant danger and alarm, but even ound
it necessary to teach their sons and daughters, as soon as they were big enough to
raise a gun, to load and level the rile. 0n more than one occasion have % seen these
Spartan emales, while engaged at the spinning wheel, or in some other domestic
occupation, snatch up the loaded rile, and ell the bounding deer as he incautiously
passed within shot o the cabin. $ut since peace has been established with the
%ndians, ,most o whom have removed to a greater distance rom the whites,- the rile
has become the target o honour among these hardy &mericans; and a Hentuckian
would scorn to shoot a s(uirrel, or even a swallow, unless with a rile; in the choice o
which they are even more particular than in selecting a wie. *here are a number o
rile manuactories established in this country, but the best and handsomest % have
seen are to be procured in Hentucky and *ennessee, where they are made o every
si"e rom twenty balls ,.I> caliber- to the pound up to one hundred ,.AI caliber-, and
the price rom iteen to a hundred dollars."
Chrstan Schutz, Traves on an Inand Voyage, 1810.
---------------------------------------------------
$HA'A$T"'I*TI$* AND B"HAI%'
"& day or two preceding the incident % am about to relate, a rile corps had come into
camp rom 7irginia, made up o recruits rom the backwoods and mountains o that
state, in a uniorm dress totally dierent rom that o the regiments raised on the
seaboard and interior o 8ew :ngland. *heir white linen rocks, ruled and ringed,
e!cited the curiosity o the whole army, particularly . . . the +arblehead regiment,
who were always ull o un and mischie. ;*hey/ looked with scorn on such an rustic
uniorm when compared to their own round jackets and ishers# trousers, .and they/
directly conronted rom ity to an hundred o the rilemen who were viewing the
college buildings. *heir irst maniestations were ridicule and derision, which the
rilemen bore with more patience than their wont, but resort being made to snow,
which then covered the ground, these sot missives were interchanged but a ew
minutes beore both parties closed, and a ierce struggle commenced with biting and
gouging on the one part, and knockdown on the other part with as much apparent
ury as the most deadly enmity could create. 'einorced by their riends, in less than
ive minutes more than a thousand combatants were on the ield, struggling or the
mastery.
"&t this juncture, 6eneral Washington made his appearance, whether by accident or
design % never knew. % only saw him and his colored servant, both mounted. With the
spring o a deer, he leaped rom his saddle, threw the reins o his bridle into the
hands o his servant, and rushed into the thickest o the melee, with an iron grip
sei"ed two tall, brawny, athletic, savage-looking rilemen by the throat, keeping them
at arm#s length, alternately shaking and talking to them. %n this position, the eye o
the belligerents caught sight o the general. %ts eect on them was instantaneous
light at the top o their speed in all directions rom the scene o the conlict. 9ess
than iteen minutes time had elapsed rom the commencement o the row beore the
general and his two criminals were the only occupants o the ield o action. 5ere
bloodshed, imprisonment, trials by court-martial were happily prevented, and hostile
eelings between the dierent corps o the army distinguished by the physical an
mental energies timely e!erted by one individual."
Israe Trask, 19th Century Penson Papers
---------------------------------------------------
"& large portion o the backsettlers, living upon the %ndian rontiers, are, according to
the best o my inormation, ar greater savages than the %ndians themselves. %t is
nothing uncommon, % am told, to see hung up in their chimney corners, or nailed
against the door o .their cabins, scalps. *hey have/ employed their skins as they
would have done those o a wild beast, or whatever purpose they could be applied
to. &n %ndian is considered by them as nothing better than a destructive ravenous
wild beast, without reason, without a soul, that ought to be hunted down like a wol
wherever it makes its appearance; and indeed, even amongst the bettermost sort o
the inhabitants o the western country, the most illiberal .intolerant, narrow-minded/
notions are entertained respecting these unortunate people, and arguments or their
banishment, or rather e!tirpation, are adopted, e(ually contrary to justice and to
humanity. #*he %ndian,# says they, #who has no idea, or at least is unwilling to apply
himsel to agriculture, re(uires a thousand acres o land or the support o his amily;
an hundred acres will be enough or one o us and our children; why then should
these heathens, who have no notion o arts and manuactures, who never have made
any improvement in science, and have never been the inventors o any thing new or
useul to the human species, be suered to encumber the soilG#-#*he settlements
making in the upper parts o 6eorgia, upon the ine lands o the 0conee and
0kemulgee rivers, will,# says +r. %mlay, speaking o the probable destination o the
%ndians o the south western territory, #bid deiance to them in that (uarter. *he
settlements o French $road, aided by 5olston, have nothing to ear rom them1 and
the 4umberland is too puissant .powerul/ to apprehend any danger. *he Spaniards
are in possession o the Floridas ,how long they will remain so, must depend upon
their moderation and good manners- and o the settlements at the 8atche" and
above, which will soon e!tend to the southern boundaries o 4umberland, so that
they ,the %ndian- will be completely enveloped in a ew years. 0ur people ,alluding to
those o the Jnited States- will continue to encroach upon them on three sides, and
compel them to live more domestic lives. and assimilate them to our mode o living,
or cross to the western side o the +ississippi."#
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States of North Amerca, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
" .*here were/. . . a great number o &merican rilemen along with the redcoats, who
scattered out, took trees, and were good marks-men; thereore they ound they could
not accomplish their design, and were obliged to retreat. When they returned rom
the battle to Fort )uKuesne, the %ndians concluded that they would go to their
hunting. *he French endeavored to persuade them to stay and try another battle.
*he %ndians said i it was only the red-coats they had to do with, they could soon
subdue them, but they could not withstand &shalecoa, or the 6reat Hnie, which was
the-name they gave the 7irginians."
Coone |ames Smth, An Account of the Remarkabe Occurances n the Lfe and
Traves of Coone |ames Smth, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"*homas and )aniel 4resap ,sons o 4olonel 4resap- went out about three weeks
since, with si!ty 3eople, dressed and painted like %ndians, to kill the Women and
4hildren in the %ndian towns, and scalp them, while their Warriors are committing the
like )estruction on our Frontiers."
Maryand Gazette, 1756.
---------------------------------------------------
"$etween this place ,7irginia- and the $lue +ountains the country is rough and hilly,
and but very thinly inhabited. *he ew inhabitants, however, met with here, are
uncommonly robust and tall; it is rare to see a man amongst them who is not si! eet
high. *hese people entertain a high opinion o their own superiority in point o bodily
strength over the inhabitants o the low country. & similar race o men is ound all
along the $lue +ountains."
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States of North Amerca, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
". . . the irst settlers on the rontiers; in general they are men o a morose and
savage disposition, and the very outcasts o society, who bury themselves in the
woods, as i desirous to shun the ace o their ellow-creatures; there they build a
rude habitation, and clear perhaps three or our acres o land, just as much as they
ind suicient to provide their amilies with corn1 or the greater part o their ood
they depend on their rile guns. *hese people, as the settlements advance, are
succeeded in general by a second set o men, less savage than the irst, who clear
more land, and do not depend so much upon hunting as upon agriculture or their
subsistence. & third set succeed these in turn, who build good houses, and bring the
land into a more improved state. *he irst settlers, as soon as they have disposed o
their miserable dwellings to advantage, immediately penetrate arther back into the
woods, in order to gain a place o abode, suited to their rude mode o lie. *hese are
the lawless people who encroach, as % have beore mentioned, on the %ndian territory,
and are the occasion o the bitter animosities between the whites and the %ndians.
*he second settlers, likewise, when displaced, seek or similar places to what those
that they have let were when they irst took them. % ound, as % proceeded through
this part o the country, that there was scarcely a man who had not changed his
place o abode seven or eight dierent times."
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States of North Amerca, 1799.
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"4ome and help me ight the Hing#s regular *roops . . . =ou know they stand all along
close together, rank and ile, and my men ight as %ndians do."
Coone Ethan Aen, An Appea to the Iroquos Confederacy, 1775.
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"*his distinguished race o men are more savage than the %ndians, and posses every
one o their vices, but not one o their virtues. % have known one o these ellows .to/
travel two hundred miles through the woods never keeping any road or path, guided
by the sun by day and the stars by night, to kill a particular person belonging to the
opposite party. 5e would shoot him beore his own door and ride away to boast o
what he had done on his return." D
Coone George Hanger, To A Sportsmen and I Partcuary to Farmers and
Gamekeepers, 1814.
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The earest setters of Kentucky were descrbed as ". . . a set o scoundrels who
scarcely believe in 6od or ear a devil . . ."
Rchard Henderson, of the Transyvana Company, 1775.
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"0 all useless sets that ever encumbered an &rmy, surely the boasted 'ile-men are
certainly the most so. *o be sure, there never was a more mutinous and undisciplined
set o villains that bred disturbance in any camp."
Ben|amn Thompson, (ater Count Rumford) Boston, 1775, who ater became a
professed Loyast.
---------------------------------------------------
"*hey conduct themselves with a barbarity worthy o their savage neighbors. *he
erocious practice o stagebo!ing in :ngland, is urbanity, compared with the 7irginian
mode o ighting. %n their combats, unless specially precluded, they are admitted ,to
use their own terms-, #to bite, b-ll-ck, and goudge,# which operations, when the irst
onset with ists is over, consists in astening on the nose or ears o their adversaries,
sei"ing him by the genitals, and de!terously scooping out an eye; on which account it
is no uncommon circumstance to meet men in the prime o youth, deprived o one o
those organs."
Marqus de Chasteux, Traves n North Amerca n the Years 1780. 1781. 1782 and
1787. 1827.
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"0 all the uncouth human beings % met with in &merica, these people rom the
western country were the most so; their curiosity was boundless . . ."
Isaac Wed, Traves Through the States of North Amerca, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"We may learn o the %ndians what is useul and laudable, and at the same time lay
aside their barbarous proceedings. *his much to be lamented that some o our
rontier rile-men are prone to imitate them in their inhumanity."
|ames Smth, An Account of the Remarkabe Occurances n the Lfe and Traves of
Coone |ames Smth, 1799.
---------------------------------------------------
"*hey are such a boastul, bragging set o people, and think none are men or can
ight but themselves."
A Vrgnan's Descrpton of Rfemen, ca 1780
---------------------------------------------------
P"'*%NA#IT,
Perhaps the utmate goa of pursung ths "hobby" aong hstorca nes s to work
towards the "Tme Machne Test." The Tme Machne Test says that shoud you go
back n tme to you woud ft n wth the orgna (f n the bank= onghunter, Rev
War soder, Cv War soder, etc.) and not be notced. Not be notced? Not beng
notced s the utmate hstorca chaenge because t takes n so many aspects:
1. Cothng, gear, and equpment. 2. Sks and knowedge.
3. Actvtes. 4. Persona.
5. Personaty.
These fve aspects represent a tered system, meanng that one overfows up, and
nto, the next hgher eve. If you were a woodsman n the year 1781, the men you
were wth woud exhbt certan quates n a fve areas. They woud have the certan
"onghunter" ook about them n regards to the cut, stye, and choce of cothes they
were. Lkewse for ther ongrfe, knfe, and bet ax, etc. Ther woods sks as
demonstrated n ther handng of themseves n the forest woud have somethng to
say. The actvtes that they engaged n, from huntng deer to sharpenng a knfe
woud be the tasks and chores of woodsman. They woud have a woodsman's
"persona" about them. And ast, each and every one of them woud be an ndvdua
wth hs own unque personaty.
Thnkng of ndvduas I have known and met over the past twenty years, I coud
count on one hand those who made t through a fve aspects. Thnkng back, I reca
many ndvduas who were exceent hstorans and researchers nto the prnted
record-but who were very poor n researchng the matera cuture and artfacts of the
18th century. One of the best Rogers' Rangers hstorans around has some of the
worst cothng and gear-nspred by Hoywood, magnaton, and extensve borrowng
from the Rev War perod. Hs actvtes are those of sttng around a marquee, or
drectng assauts across crowded parkng ots and we mown awns. Yet, the
ndvdua s a treess researcher n |ournas, deserter reports n perod newspapers,
etc., and one of the best Ranger hstorans around.
In prevous edtons of YE SOCIETY PAGES, we have deat wth cothng and gear, sks
and knowedge, actvtes, and personae. But, we have never ooked at personaty. I
suppose tryng to emuate the orgna frontersman-whether onghunters, commerca
hunters, renegades, or soders requres us to ook at a fve aspects. So, what s the
dfference between persona and personaty?

Persona s those eements of heredty and envronment that make a person an
ndvdua. A those wonderfu eements that are sted for a persona such as regon,
soco-economc cass, educaton, occupaton, work hstory, sgnfcant fe events,
reatonshps, tastes, kes, preferences, beefs, pre|udces, hates, oves, habts, etc.,
etc.; a come nto pay n gvng a person a personaty!
I suppose personaty s the hardest eement to understand. Ha, we have a hard tme
understandng our own modern seves et aone tryng to understand a compex
ndvdua from the 18th century! But, when you go about puttng the eements
together that go nto a persona, you shoud aso gve thought to how those eements
are gong to affect personaty. For exampe, f under the category of educaton, your
chosen persona has no forma educaton-then speech patterns, choce of words,
grammar, etc., are gong to refect t. If under the category of soco-economc
stuaton, your chosen persona comes from a drt poor famy-then they may not know
how to use a fork and knfe propery.
Atttudes, hates, and pre|udces based on educaton receved n the home whe
growng up, or based upon fe experences w aso affect personaty. If you are from
a poor Irsh cathoc famy-you are gong to have certan feengs (or hatreds) aganst
the Engsh. Or f your famy was ked by Indans, you are gong to have certan
hoste feengs towards them (uness, n the rare excepton, you were kdnapped and
adopted as a very young chd and rased as a "whte Indan").
The creaton of a personaty to go aong wth a persona s not as dffcut or steeped
n soco-psychoogy as t may sound. Havng worked out the eements of a persona,
the next stepped s to fgure out how you (your persona!) fees about those thngs. In
my gude to personas, I sted some of the ma|or "events" of the Perod and asked you
to st your feengs on them. That shoud have gven you the foundaton to have
aready added your feengs and opnons as though they were part of your
personaty.
The use of personaty coses paraes the concept of pro|ecton. Havng pro|ected
yoursef back to 1781, n terms of envronment, or the physca word usng
personaty smpy puts your menta state n sync wth your physca word.
Much ke some actors and actresses study the hstory of the characters they are
about to pay, usng a persona and personaty shoud put you nsde of your hstorca
character's head. You are actng out hs part n hs envronment. You approach the
wderness and the thngs n t wth the same or smar set of hopes, fears, desres,
needs, expectatons, motvatons, and key responses to the hstorca stuatons you
are key to experence n an 1781 settng.
In a dscusson on personae, I was once asked why a person coud not "stay
themseves" and pro|ect themseves back to the 18th century |ust the way they were?
My answer was "cutura baggage", that beng, that we have ntmate knowedge from
an aen and unknown word n terms of the 18th century. It woud work out
somethng ke ths:
"Yeah, I reckon' I' be a'gon' te Fort Ptt fer suppes. Then south te
Tennessee Country. Care fer some |erky?"
"Is that buffao |erky?"
"Yeah."
"Where 'd you get buffao?"
"From a buffao."
"Where dd you get a buffao?"
"Shot one ast week."
The second speaker n ths true daog from a trek n Pennsyvana faed to grasp the
concept of pro|ecton and that-the frst speaker was n "frst person" speakng from
the year 1781 as that person WOULD have spoken had t been 1781.. The second
speaker was nowhere near the same eve of hstorca nteracton as the frst. The
second speaker, athough wearng the cothng and carryng the gear of a onghunter,
was st n a modern word wonderng where n the modern word hs trekkng partner
had gotten buffao meat to |erk. The frst speaker, not about to come out of hs
persona or that persona's personaty refused to come down to the eve of the
questoner
Is t reay necessary, though, to aways work from the poston of a persona and a
persona's personaty? No. There s nothng wrong wth beng yoursef n 1781. At
east, that s, f you make yoursef rea to the year 1781 (and not your 1994 sef n
1994 woods). For exampe, beng a back bet n Oknawan karate, my 1994 response
to an attack woud be based on years of marta tranng n orenta methods of attack
and defense. Beng a renegade n 1781, my response to an attack woud be based
ony upon what I may have earned about hand-to-hand combat from the Indans, or,
perhaps what I earned about street and bar room brawng.
The same s true for educaton. In a perod when most a frontersman were terate,
you cannot make use of an advanced coege degree (no Oxford educated Cherokee,
ke Mngo Ed Ames...).
"Actng the part" of a frontersman can go a ong way n understandng them and how
they ft nto ther word. If we strve to emuate them, we shoud strve to not ook ke
them-but act ke them too!
The danger wth personae and personaty s the temptaton to want to be fronter
notabes such as Smon Kenton or Dane Boone whose egendary sks and feats fre
the magnaton of the woud-be woodsman. A persona, much ke cothng and gear,
shoud refect a concept of panness, commonness, and everydayness. The smper
the persona-the easer t s to use and the more beevabe t s to you and the peope
around you! Create or deveop a persona that matches not ony your own personaty
but aso matches your eve of sk and knowedge. |ust ke on the fronter, your
persona-w grow as your own knowedge and sks grow.
"%t was here on the rontier on the middle and upper South the %ndian Wars
rose to their iercest and cruelest pitch. 5ere the savage was taught his
lessons in peridy by masters o the trade."
H. Caud
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Personaty Profe of Mchae Archer
In deveopng a workabe persona, the eement of personaty can pay an mportant
part. Yet, personaty can go beyond |ust a workng persona to become an aspect a
ts own. Emuatng a frontersman, whether onghunter, borderer, or renegade, takes
n hstorcay accurate cothng, gear, sks, nteracton, and personaty. I thought I
woud take a ook at Mchae Archer's personaty.
Mchae Archer's personaty has been ost to hstory. The sketchy records of hs fe
are so thn that t s next to mpossbe to hstorcay reconstruct what Mchae Archer
was ke. In the absence of accounts and records (few, even we documented
ndvduas, have "personaty" neaty recorded for us to examne) we can ony ook
towards the Perod and the envronment to attempt to overay hstory or soca hstory
wth the psychoogy of the nner mnd. Snce heredty s of tte hep, I have to ook at
the hstory of the fronter and the happenngs that were gong on around the Archer
famy. To a arger extent, the hstory of the Archers s amost stereotypca fronter
hstory.
The Archer famy setted east of Fort |ackson, Westmoreand County (ater reformed
nto Greene County n 1796), Pennsyvana-that beng the southwest most county
borderng on the Oho and Vrgna fronter. The Archers took up and n the vcnty of
the od doube brdge at Morrsve. A Wam Rhodes, who ran the tradng post at
Fort |ackson, made a note n hs |ourna that the Archers were a famy of "rovng
hunters," and that |ames Archer was the frst to come west. Rhodes aso notes that
the Archers were the frst Roman Cathoc famy to sette n that area. (Note, the
Archers are gven credt for estabshng the frst Cathoc church n Oho...) |ames
went "back of the mountans" and convnced hs father, Patrck Archer, to come west
wth hm. Patrck Archer then brght hs whoe famy to Fort |ackson, whch conssted
of fve sons and three daughters. When game got scarce and the threat of Indan
attack made "fortng up" no onger necessary, the Archers moved further west nto
Oho.
The Chdren of Patrck Archer:
1. |ames Archer, was an ensgn n Captan Davd Owens' Company of Fronter Rangers
n 1776. When Captan Owens was dsmssed, |ames became captan. |ames was
known for beng a fearess commander and an mpacabe foe of the Indans. Hs
reputaton may have contrbuted to the massacre of hs and hs father-n-aw's
(Robert McCeand) fames who shared the same cabn. Severa members of both
fames were ked durng an Indan attack. |ames' frst wfe was Sopha McCeand,
and hs second |ane Lnccum. Chdren:
1. ??? ked by Indans
2. ??? ked by Indans
3. |ane, born February 20, 1778. Durng the Indan attack |ane was scaped but
survved by
crawng under some bed covers. She was nursed back to heath. Marred
Henry Church
and remaned behnd n Pennsyvana when the rest of the famy moved to
Oho. Ded n
1814 (?). Henry Church ater marred her sster Nancy.
4. |ames, |r. Born October 15, 1779
5. Nancy
6. Susan
7. |oseph
8. Rache
9. Mchae
10. |acob
11. Sarah
12. Smon
13. Nathan
14. Ezabeth
15. Mary (Poy)
2. |oseph Archer served n hs brother's mta company. He marred Margaret (the
daughter of George and |ane Church), the sster of Henry Church who marred |ames'
daughter |ane (and then Nancy when she ded). |oseph moved to Guernsey County,
Oho and then west.
3. Mchae Archer was on hs way to |on Captan |ames Harrod on a scoutng party
when he was ambushed by Indans (probaby Shawnee) on Fshng Creek off the Ek
Rver n 1787. Captan Harrod's men ater dscovered the body and reported from the
evdence they found. They reconstructed the fght whch must have taken pace.
Mchae Archer's body was bady scratched and cut wth many bones beng broken,
whe n hs hands hs cutched har pued from hs attackers.
Mchae's wfe Ezabeth went to ve wth her brothers, and ater foowed them to
Tyer County, Western Vrgna. The census of 1790 sts Ezabeth Was Archer wth
one chd |oseph.
4. Smon Archer, served n hs brother |ames' mta company. .
5. |acob Archer. Is sted n the 1790 census as beongng to a famy wth one mae
over 16, two maes under 16, and two femaes.
6. Ezabeth (AKA Bett, AKA Betsy) Archer.
7. Poy Archer.
8. Nancy Archer.
Other than the fact that the Archers were Scots-Engsh, there s tte I have been
abe to fnd. So, to make the hstorcay "thn" Mchae nto a workng persona, I had
to "borrow" from the Perod to fesh out the skeeton and make hm as rea a person
as possbe.
Mchae Archer was born on December 8, 1737 (ths brth date goes back one year,
each year, so that hs age aways matches 1781). As part of a famy of "rovng
hunters`," Mchae roamed and hunted western Pennsyvana and the Oho Country
from the age of tweve on. As the fronter crept west, so dd the Archers.
Pror to comng west n 1776, Mchae had ved n the area of Lancaster. He had
served n Ma|or Robert Rogers' Rangers n the French and Indan War. On |uy 1, 1775,
Mchae ensted n Captan Robert Cuggage's Company of Coone Wam
Thompson's Battaon of Pennsyvana Rfemen. When Thompson's (then Hand's)
Battaon was reformed nto the 1st Contnenta Regment, Mchae dd not reenst, as
dd many of the orgna members.
On |anuary 1, 1776, Mchae Archer ensted n Coone Dane Morgan's Rfemen and
served a three-year enstment, whch ncuded the abortve Ouebec Campagn, as
we as Freeman's Farm and Bems Heghts. He was promoted to Leutenant.
Hs enstment over, Mchae went west to |on hs famy at Fort |ackson, arrvng ate
n February, 1779. He served n hs brother |ames' ranger company, frst as an ensgn,
and ater n 1780 as a eutenant.
The Archers were on good terms wth the neghborng Deaware before the
encroachments of the whtes of 1774 tended to spt the Deaware nto pro-Amercan
and ant-Amercan factons.
The Archers roamed the western secton of Pennsyvana, seng deer and ek hdes
on the commerca market, and huntng for meat for Fort |ackson. Mchae came to be
adopted by the aged Connemaugh who ved n the Laure Hghands at Od
Connemack's Town (ater |ohnstown n 1796).
Havng done hs tme n the "Rebeon", Mchae Archer dd not fnd the peace and
sotude he was ookng for n the wds of Pennsyvana and Vrgna. Hs reatonshp
wth the Deaware after 1780 was straned by the attacks of the Shawnee and ant-
Amercan Deaware. Yet, the encroachments and treaty voatons of the whtes were
an equa threat to the tradtona Indan fe.
The success of |ames Archer's ranger company ed to a Shawnee attack on the
Archer/McCeand homestead n whch a number of reatves were ked and scaped.
After a number of retaatory rads aganst the Shawnee and Munsee Deaware,
Mchae found t dffcut to "st on the fence." In 1780, Mchae Archer eft Fort
|ackson and headed west by hmsef-some sad to take a prvate war to the Shawnee,
others sad to ose hmsef n the wderness.
In 1781, Mchae Archer was seen varousy at fronter forts and settements, and
sometmes camed to have been seen by traders at varous Deaware towns. Some
camed he was a renegade, whe others thought he was |ust a sotary tryng to
escape the bad memores of the war and the massacre of hs famy.
Havng created ths persona from the Archer famy hstory, and the hstory of the
western fronter, t was necessary to add an eement of personaty to the character of
Mchae Archer. I pay the character of Mchae Archer as a somewhat possessed, or
drven, man tryng to fnd a hgher meanng to fe but not fndng t no matter where
he ooks. In the wderness, Mchae has an earned reputaton for the craft of weapons
and the arts of war, as practced by the Indans. He appears and dsappears at odd
tmes. He does not dscuss hs past, and s consdered somewhat secretve as though
there are many stores that coud be tod f he woud. There s a certan competency
about hs person, no matter what the stuaton or crcumstance athough he s
pagued by sef-doubt and sef-oathng. Mchae pays the prce for hs vews and
fronter potcs, and s ether admred or hated dependng upon who s dong the
takng. He shuns gatherngs and settements, and s gven to wanderng aone or n
the company of two or three others-whether whte or red. Ths gves rse to much
specuaton-whch fues the mystery and suspcon. Beng nether on one sde, or the
other, n the border war- he s mstrusted by both sdes at the same tme. He prefers
not to comment on potcs, or fronter dongs, makng t hard for others to reay get a
hande on hm, or abe hm.
The rest of Mchae Archer's personaty s |ust the pay of hs fe's experences-some
good, mosty bad. He s a oner, a sotary, and much ke Lews Wetze, fnds peasure
ony n the company of chdren and dogs. He has no frends, but can occasonay be
found on a huntng party of Deaware, tradng for suppes at a fort, or chasng
maraudng Shawnee. Such a fe makes hm moody and suen, amost tacturn and
btter.
Ti0s on Develo0ing a Persona
One of the hardest research toos to use we s the concept of "frst person
mpresson" or persona. Deveopng a persona proves to be most troubng to many
peope, and we even had a potenta member qut after severa months because he
camed to be havng dffcutes wth the persona, even though he had created and
deveoped a fne one. The use of a persona fas nto two areas:
1) a persona research too
2) a vehce by whch other peope can reate to you and the hstorca envronment
we try to create/recreate.
As an Expermenta Archaeoogst, you are portrayng an ndvdua n an earer tme.
Whether that ndvdua s based on a rea person, or an nvented person, there are
st eements that go nto a person that makes hm/her who and what they are:
dentty, famy, occupaton, regon, potcs, socoeconomc cass, personaty, sks,
knowedge, experences, etc., etc. That person exsts n a arger Word as we, where
there are other peope and other thngs happenng a of the tme.
In tryng to research and understand fe n the 18th century, t s mportant to ook at
other thngs other than |ust a ongrfe of a partcuar stye or schoo or how knves
were forged, etc., etc. |ust puttng on the cothng and usng the equpment w not
get you there. The easest way to approach a persona s to consder that peope are
|ust peope no matter what perod of tme they happened to be born n. They were
born, they grew up, they made a vng, they made a famy, and they ded. Through
a of those eements, thngs are happenng to them, and they are dong thngs. They
have dreams, they have deas, and they have opnons and vews on the potca,
soca, and regous ssues of the day.
I am gong to recyce my "Ye Oucke Gude to Personas" to hep you aong. Once you
f ths assgnment/gude n, you w fnd the gong a whoe easer. Aso, these bascs
w open the door for you nto further nqures and studes. Obvousy, the more
ayers of "beevabty" you can add to your basc persona, the better you w fnd
yoursef, and the better other assocates can react and nteract wth you n a reastc
and beevabe manner.
Havng deveoped the bascs for a persona, the next step s deveopng the abty to
use t as a research too. Frst off, |ust answerng the questons and fng n the
banks w get you far towards begnnng to understand the soca hstory of the 18th
century. Second, dong |ust that much w aso gve you some of the bascs for
nteractng wth other assocates. Interactng shoud be natura and not forced. How
tte or how much you do nteract s up to you and how you see your chosen persona.
Some say much, some naturay say tte. Too much can be unnatura and forced,
especay when you start askng "detaed questons n 1781 that you woud not ask
someone ese n the 21st century.
Some peope who are uncomfortabe wth personas have the noton that they need to
nvent, renvent, memorze, and recte tons and tons of hstorca data, ke reatves'
names, brthdates, etc. Someone n 1781 s no more key to ask you your sster's
brth date or your parents' brthdates than someone woud n 2003. But, someone
may ask around the campfre f you served n the army, or where you got your
ongrfe, or what are dong n these parts?
A basc persona starts sma and grows over tme. You do not usuay fa nto a
detaed account of another person's fe overnght. How far you go w depend upon
the eve of your nterest and the tme you are wng to nvest n researchng. The
frst round of questons shoud revove around:
1. Your name?
2. How you came to be a (your persona)?
3. What have you been dong up to (your chosen tme)?
If you can answer those three questons, you are aready we on your way to beng
abe to partcpate n campfre dscussons. One of the easest ways to work a
persona s smpy to say nothng modern! Or, for that matter, say nothng at a!
Sence s the easest persona to work.
The "cuture" of the Lvng Hstorans w start teng about you to other hstorans n
the way you dress, your choces of gear and equpment, the wear and tear (or ack of)
on your cothng and gear, how you carry yoursef, AND most mportanty your sks.
If you devate from the "norm" n any of these areas t w SPEAK about you and nvte
questons, comments, or concerns.
One of the hardest eements to avod n the creaton of a persona s ego/ fantasy! WE
ALL woud ke to et our egos run wd n the woods, makng the mpossbe shots,
makng the darng escapes, and rescung the nnocents from the vans! But, the
persona shoud be as cose to you as an ndvdua as you can make t. DO NOT chose
Smon Kenton as your persona, or any famous person for that matter: 1) because you
w have to remember a ton of facts, and 2) you had better have the knowedge,
sks, and abtes to go wth the name.
Perhaps the second most apparent feature (after ts research vaue) of a persona s
not that you need to "perform" t, but rather you are ready and abe to use t as the
stuaton requres. You may never be asked about your persona's feengs, but
sometme or another the conversaton may |ust revove around to an ssue or topc of
debate. At that pont n tme, you may |ust st around the campfre n sence, or you
may |ump n--whenever and wherever you fee comfortabe. A good tp s to et other
peope more comfortabe start out, and then you can add a comment or two here and
there.
Some treks w be desgnated as "persona" or "frst person". Most treks are
undertaken wth a "persona" umbrea but not strcty frst person. Some treks are
undertaken as a "thrd person" earnng experence where onghunter gear and
habts/practces/sks are dscussed for ther hstorca vaue. Revewng treks over the
past four years, most are done wth the "persona" umbrea and the ban on anythng
"modern".
Up to a pont, the proper utzaton of one's persona s somethng cose to actng a
part wthout havng fxed nes of daog to memorze and recte. Essentay, hstory s
the scrpt but has no specfc daog, f that makes better sense? You need to
understand your character's pace n the Scrpt (hstory), even f you do not have a
"speakng part" to pay.
Havng a workng and beevabe persona w enabe you to obtan the maxmum
benefts and en|oyment from Pro|ecton.
,e 3uickie )uide to Personas
Part I. Basc Facts about yoursef.
Name: Brth date: Age:
Pace of Brth:
Soca Cass (soco-economc):
Ethncty:
Regon:
Present Occupaton:
Prevous Occupaton:
Educaton:
Part II. Famy Background
.
Father's Name: Mother's Name:
Father's Occupaton: Mother's Occupaton:
Father's Ethncty Mother's Ethncty
Father's Educaton other's Educaton:
Pace and Date of Parent's Marrage:
Parent's Resdence:
Sbngs (names and brthdates):
Part III. Frends and Key Reatves (Incude: Name, Reaton To You, & Key Informaton)
Part IV. Persona Hstory (use addtona sheets as needed)
1. What remarkabe or noteworthy events have occurred durng your fetme (wars,
revoutons, meetng famous peope, beng nvoved n what hstorca events, paces
you have been, thngs that have happened to, etc.)
2. What are your vews, beefs, opnons, postons, etc. on the foowng sub|ects:
French and Indan War Treaty of Pars 1763
Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Intoerabe Acts Brtsh Government
Contnenta Government Revoutonary War
Indan Pocy Coona Expanson
Regous Freedoms
3. How and where were you rased and educated (schoo, home earnng,
apprentceshp, etc.)
4. What memorabe thngs happened to you as a chd?
5. What memorabe thngs happened to you as an adut?
6. How have you come to be where you are now, dong what you are dong now?
T!is is a sam0le *cenario
," )'AND *$%1T
Basc Rues and Consderatons
1. In the event of any emergency, notced or even suspected, I am to be mmedatey
nformed.
2. |ust before we enter the forest, we w open up our knapsacks, tumpnes,
haversacks, huntng pouches, etc. for nspecton to nsure that no ncorrect
equpment, food, accouterment, etc. s nadvertenty brought aong that w corrupt
the ntegrty of the entre pro|ect. Ths s not to embarrass or reprmand, but merey
to further nsure that nothng happens on the tra to compromse or dmnsh the
ncredby hgh eve of authentcty ths group s capabe of. (Exceptons: contact
enses, medcatons, frst ad kts - a to be carred n approprate 18nth century
contaners).
3. On the tra we functon as a snge cohesve group. No sma scoutng partes to
spontaneousy shear away from the body wthout my knowedge and approva.
4. Absoutey no tak even remotey connected to the 20th century on ths scout! We
w tak, vst, and take pctures pror to, and at the concuson of, the scout and at
great ength at a nce restaurant. No cameras w be aowed on the tra.
5. Takng whe on the tra sha be quet and guarded. No unnecessary, "vstng".
We enter a hoste stuaton here as our ong |ourney carres us nto the northern-most
reaches of the Cherokee, wth whom we are now embroed n a nasty tte war. In
addton, George Croghan has done hs best to agtate the Oho Vaey natons aganst
a southerners n genera and The Oho Vaey Land Company of Vrgna n partcuar!
- Reman aert at a, tmes!!!
We are charged however, wth the responsbty to engage and dea wth any and a
natons beng desrous of estabshng peacefu trade reatons wth ourseves. So,
whe not appearng to be openy "war-ke", we must of necessty reman focused and
vgant.
6. (Optona) As a courtesy to members, no "man-made" persona sheters of any
knd (.e. smpe ean-tos or Russa sheetng), w be brought aong or used n any way
7. When the, entre party s movng, we w empoy two forward scouts, one fanker
on each sde, when feasbe, and two spes to cover our back tra.
8. We w never cook and camp n the same spot uness we run nto extremey fow
weather. Otherwse, we w keep a "cod" camp. Our cookng fres shoud be few,
sma, and bref. The choppng and breakng of arge peces of frewood s to be
avoded. Ths excessve nose carres through the forest and betrays our
encampment. Larger peces of wood (n excess of 1" to 1 1/2") shoud be burned n
two.
9. In camp, two guards w be posted from sunset to sunrse. A w be expected to
take ther turn at "the watch".
10. Durng the day, scouts, fankers, and spes sha communcate wth the rest of the
party usng turkey cas. A "gobbe" means stop or danger! Three "cucks" means a
s we! Evenng scouts and/or sentres on watch w communcate by usng pre-
agreed upon nght brd sounds; .e. oons, ows, whppoorws, bob whte qua, etc.
Any "ca" made durng the nght w ndcate "danger" or "be on the aert". Word w
be quety passed from man to man when a s we.
11. Men w seep wth ther weapons; (guns, knves, tomahawks, etc.). A
equpment shoud be ceaned up, put neaty away, and be worn whe seepng or be
ready to be worn n the bnk of an eye. We may very we be attacked and chased
out by Cherokee durng the mdde of the nght.
Our goa s to make ths the most ncredby reastc scout any of us has ever been
on. Ths smpy cannot be done f we aow ourseves to chatter and "carry on" ke a
bunch of cub scouts on a fed trp.
On ths scout, we must see wthout beng seen, observe wthout beng observed. Our
actons ought to be a compment to those we emuate. I woud be qute ashamed of
mysef f we were to be dscovered competey unawares by a rowdy pack of mountan
bkers or a happy-go-ucky group on horseback.
On ths partcuar foray we w not be content wth beng merey "eye ba" correct.
We w attempt to capture the very essence and personaty of a post F&I War mdde
ground scout; aong wth the outook, atttude, and behavora characterstcs of those
men who actuay dd ths sort of thng.
Our Reasons & |ustfcaton for Beng Where we Are and What We are Dong
Ths s not |ust a ong tme ago when guys carred muzzeoaders. Ths s not |ust back
n the 18th century. Ths s not even |ust back n the "1760's". Ths s a specfc day n
the year 1761. The French & Indan War s over. Barrers and potcs of the ate
hosttes are sowy grndng to a hat.
The Offcer n command has been commssoned by the Oho Vaey Land Company of
Vrgna to organze and ead a szabe, we-equpped party of ony the fnest, most
darng woodsmen and scouts. We are a party of over 50 men; foatng down the Oho
Rver n 11 boats protected by sma swve cannon and oaded wth horses, trade
goods, and suffcent suppes to sustan us for three months.
We are charged wth the responsbty of exporng as we as carefuy and thoroughy
assessng the vaue and the varous assets and natura resources of 800,000 acres of
and chartered to our company by the Crown. In addton we are requred to estabsh
frendy and equtabe reatonshps wth any and a Indan natons we may encounter
aong the way.
I have taken the berty to engage a few hghy regarded French traders as we as
severa we known Natve warrors to assst us n ths endeavor due n part to the
tactcs empoyed by George Croghan and the Loya Company.
Our |ourney began March 1st at Redstone on the Monongahea, from thence to Ft.
Ptt, --wth a 3rd rendezvous pont beng haf a eague down the Oho at Logstown to
gather the remander of our men and have a word wth Mr. Croghan at hs tradng
post.
We w trave as far west as the vage of Vncennes n Pankashaw country. Our
|ourney down the Oho w be devoted to the company's and hodngs to the south.
Two weeks ago we scouted the Kanawha to the Ek Rver; eary ast week, the Bg
Sandy. We now expore the vaey of the Lckng Rver.
Upon reachng Vncennes, I have been empowered to re-equp wherever necessary
and re-suppy our group for the return trp. A parta payment of funds due w be
made to each man upon our arrva at Vncennes for any "persona" busness he may
deem necessary.
Our return route w be overand; roughy paraeng the northern shore of the Oho
Rver, passng through and deang wth the natons of the Mam, Deaware,
Shawnee, and Seneca n the Oho country. Upon arrva at Ft. Ptt n the eary fa our
busness w be fnshed and our party pad n fu and dsbanded.
I am then requred to |ourney on to Wamsburg wth a fu detaed account of the
entre proceedngs...
We carry the foowng ratons from our boats. Ths s a we have; use them n any
combnaton you ke.
Parched Corn Dred Corn Corn Mea
Sat Sma Irsh Potatoes Sma Yeow or Whte
Onons
Brown Rce Wanuts Rasns
Perod Correct Chocoate Perod Correct Tea Muscavado Cone Sugar
Raw Cone Sugar Mape Sugar |erky
Sat Pork
Snce we are a group of hunters n the "great huntng grounds'; one woud expect to
see raw "hunks" of meat roastng on green stcks everywhere around our cook fres. If
you don't have venson, buffao, or ek at home, fee free to substtute rough,
unprofessona ookng cuts of ean beef to serve as freshy shot game.
[Note: The second half of this document is comprised of excerpts from various issues of the Society of
Longhunter's journal. Y S!"#TY $%&S. Some of the articles are a continuation of a previous article or
'ill (e )continued next month). %s this is a sampling* some of these pieces are missing.+
From Php Tomes' PIONEER LIFE or, THIRTY YEARS A HUNTER:
"#( H1NTIN) %N TH" *1*31"HANNA.
"When % lived on Hen"ua Flats, in >L>I, % went to see 4ornplanter, about catching
some elk. 5e said that % could not do it; that no %ndian o the Si! 8ations had done it,
or any white man that he knew o. 5e said that young elk three or our months old
have been caught, but no live, ull-grown one could be they were lords o the orest. %
told him that % had caught or assisted in catching and leading in three. 5e asked how
we had led them, and % inormed him. 5e said he did not know but it was possible, but
he did not believe % could take one that winter on the &llegany, as he thought they
were larger and wilder than those on the Sus(uehanna. % told him that i he would
show me the track o an elk-% did not care how large- the larger the better; % would
willingly wager a small sum o money that % would bring one in alive. 5e said that he
could show plenty o elk-tracks. % told him to ind a man that % could hire, and % would
employ him. 5e brought a man who charged a dollar a day, which % had agreed to pay
him on condition that he would ind a track. 5e said there was no doubt but that we
could ind one. *here was no rope to be procured e!cept on that belonged to
4ornplanter, or which he wanted two dollars, but agreed to reund the money i %
returned the rope uninjured. % agreed to his terms, and let the money. &s we parted
he wanted to shake hands, saying that he never e!pected to see me again i %
attempted to catch an elk alive. *he ne!t morning the %ndian % had engaged joined
me, and % entered into a partnership with a +r. 4ampbell, each o us to stand hal the
e!pense and have hal the proits. We hired two other men who were to have all they
killed and hal that we killed. 0n the third day o 2anuary, 4ampbell and mysel, the
two white men, the %ndian, and our dogs started up Hen"ua 4reek. We went about
twelve miles up the south branch, and encamped or the night. *he ne!t morning we
continued about si! miles, to the top o a hill, and halted. *he %ndian said we would
ind elk within our or ive miles o this spot. % proposed to divide, 4ampbell, mysel
and the %ndian each taking a separate course while the two others should remain to
build a camp where we would all meet at night. &ccordingly as soon as we had eaten
dinner we all started, and remained out until dark, when we met at the camp. 8o one
had discovered any indications o elk. *he ne!t morning % told them we would hunt
one day more, each upon a dierent course. % took a direct easterly course, and the
others chose each his own route. &t night all but the %ndian came in, without having
discovered any signs o an elk. % told 4ampbell % thought it useless to hunt here
longer, as there were probably no elk in the vicinity. &bout eight o#clock one o the
party discovered the %ndian coming in, ollowed by one o the dogs. 5e remarked
that one o the dogs was loose, and ollowing the %ndian in. % ound the dogs all in
their places, and told the men % thought it was a wol they saw. &t this moment he
stopped and we saw at a glance that it was a panther. We sprang orward with our
guns, without obtaining a shot at him, when we returned to the camp. We paid the
%ndian and let him go. % told 4ampbell % would not be disappointed in this manner, but
would hunt all winter rather than give up. We concluded to go to the headwaters o
the Sus(uehanna, and accordingly started on the eighth o 2anuary, going about
iteen miles up the Hen"ua, and encamped or the night. *he ne!t day, when we had
proceeded about twelve miles we arrived at a place where a village now stands, but
at that time was but a solitary house in which lived a amily named Smith. *he man
had gone to procure a barrel o lour, and since his departure a deep snow had allen.
5e had now been gone three days beyond the e!pected time, and the supply o
provisions and uel that he had let was nearly e!hausted. %n addition to the prospect
o starvation that stared them in the ace, his amily were harassed with the ear that
he had perished in the snow. *he ne!t day we prepared her a supply o irewood, let
a loa o bread and lour enough to supply her or two days, and promised to send a
man back, on our arrival at the canoe place. We arrived there a little beore night,
and engaged a man named $urt to go back to the distressed amily. 5e took with him
some corn meal and potatoes, and we continued on to %saac 9yman#s, about twelve
miles arther. 5e asked us to come in; we got to talking about elk-hunting, and %
asked him what a ull-grown live elk would be worth. 5e said rom three to our
hundred dollars. % asked him i he would purchase one i % had the luck to catch one.
5e replied that he had not the means, but would like to join us, and would urnish
three men, a horse, and all the provisions necessary, and have one-hal the proits.
&ter some consultation, 4ampbell and % inally consented to accept the proposal. *he
whole party, consisting o 4ampbell, mysel, three assistants, a horse and our dogs,
started the ne!t morning, taking the road to the Sus(uehanna 'iver. &bout twelve
miles rom 9yman#s we came upon the track o eight elk, going west. We ollowed
about our miles and encamped or the night. *he ne!t morning 4ampbell, mysel,
and one o the men continued on track o the elk, leaving the others to build a
shanty. We went about ive miles, started the elk and killed one, with which we
returned to the camp. We sent one o the men home with the meat, and started with
the other two or the Sus(uehanna. *he man who went home was to return to the
camp in three days, with a supply o provisions. &ter traveling seven or eight miles,
we came to where a large drove o elk had been some time beore. We hunted during
the day to ascertain what course they had taken, and about ive miles distant we
came to where they had lain the preceding night. 4ampbell and one o the men
6eorge &yres, went orward, while the other man and mysel remained behind with
the dogs. *hey were to call to us when they saw the elk, and we were to let the dogs
loose, though % told him % did not believe there were any there we would want to
catch, as % thought there were all awns and does. &ter they had gone a short
distance, they saw them, and counted orty-two. *hey called to us, and we let the
dogs loose. *he elk scattered, and each o the dogs took ater a separate animal, but
none o them stopped, and we did not kill any. *he dogs all came back that night, and
the ne!t morning we went so.u/theast, and ound signs o elk, but they all appeared
to be small ones. $y this time +r. 9yman#s hands wished to go home, so we told them
we would keep on the southeast, and they might go. *he ollowing morning they said
they did not like to go, as the tracks might be illed with snow. We then said we would
strike the road and they might go home rom there, while we would go to our log hut,
and procure some more provisions. When we reached the road, we told them they
might as well go to the shanty and stay with us that night, as it was late. We ound
two men there with an abundance o provisions. *he ne!t morning two men let,
while &yres and another remained."
Contnued next month...
,e Homes0un *!ot Pouc! Part ,e 4
Last month I went over the makng of my partcuar shot pouch and ths month I want
to cover the contents. In my ever-constant quest for packng ght, I am constanty
evauatng my choces of tems carred n my shot pouch. Over the ast few years, my
shot pouch and ts contents have undergone many changes. I am now carryng thngs
n my shot pouch that I ony used to carry n my knapsack. I ghtened up some thngs
and qut carryng some others. Ths s a constant earnng process and a never-endng
one for me. I have earned much by comparng what I carry and use to what other
woodsman are carryng and usng. It s wth that n mnd that I am wrtng ths artce.
Startng on the bottom of my pouch, I carry severa "non-shootng" tems: a coupe of
bran tanned thongs and a sma hank of hand twsted Indan Hemp (Dogbane)
cordage. Cordage s very usefu when n the fed. I can make sheters wth t, make
snares wth t, make repars wth t, sew-wth t f need be, te anmas to my bet wth
t, etc.. Ths cordage weghs next to nothng and s not buky, so t s not n the way.
Aso on the bottom of my pouch s my sma sewng kt. It conssts of a few hand-
forged needes n a turkey wng bone, and a deer anter tne tpped aw. Next to ths
goes a very sma nen bag contanng assorted hand forged fsh hooks, a horn
bobbn wth nen thread wound around t that doubes as fshng strng or sewng
thread. These tems are a kept at the bottom of my pouch for a severa reasons: I
don't use them as often as other tems carred n my pouch, I don't need to get to
them n a hurry, and when I need to use any of these tems I am usuay sttng down
and they are easy retreved.
The next "ayer" s my orgna hand forged buet mod, a ead bar or part of, and my
sma ght ade. My buet mod, unke popuar opnon, does have sprue cutters. My
frend By Heck sad that he has seen a coupe orgna buet mods at Fort Loudon,
that were dug up from a crca 1790 ste, that DID HAVE sprue cutters. There are other
exampes, such as Curt Schmdt's orgna Oueen Anne buet mod that has sprue
cutters, that dates back nto the ate 1600's. My ead ade s a sma ght hand forged
one that comes from Ed Wde. A green stck s |ammed nto the end for a hande. Ths
setup s not a hgh producton one to be sure, but ths s a I need to run ba whe n
the woods. The setup works we, the tems are common, and t s a very practca
setup for a mdde ground hunter. Agan, these are cose to the bottom because I do
not normay need them whe movng about. When I use them, I am normay at
camp or sttng down.
The next "ayer" s a greased deerskn cow's knee that can be retreved n damp or
rany weather, a ro of pre-greased nen for patchng, a sma creek stone for
sharpenng my knfe, and a sma bran tanned deerskn bag that contans some rfe
fnts aong wth a sma hand forged screwdrver. To change fnts, t s a smpe
procedure to grab the bag and I have everythng I need. No dggng around for my
screwdrver or fnts, as they are a together n one bag.
The next "ayer" s my ron tnderbox of fre makngs. It s fed wth charred punk
wood, a fnt and a strker that was made by my backsmth frend Denns Mes.
Denns coped the strker from Madson Grant's book "The Kentucky Rfe Huntng
Pouch". I carry my fre works n my pouch so that I am never wthout means to make
a fre, even f I don't have my bedro or knapsack. I earned ths the hard way after a
dark nght stumbng around the woods ookng for camp because my fre kt was
stored n my knapsack back at camp. Layng next to my ron tnder box s a sma tn
of pregreased, pre-cut squares of nen for mmedate use as patchng.
On top of a ths s my fna "ayer", whch conssts of a sma bark tanned deerskn
ba bag that hods about 20 bas. Lyng next to ths s an extra pece of uncharred
punk wood for fre startng. I keep t on the top so that t doesn't get crumbed up, yet
t s st out of the way when I am oadng.
Attached to my shot pouch strap s my hand-forged pck and brush set made by my
frend By Heck and my turkey wng bone powder charger. I keep these tucked nto
my shot pouch wth the charger yng on top of everythng ese so I can get to t
qucky. Aso I have recenty attached my tte buet bock to my shot pouch strap so
that I don't have to reach nto my pouch for a quck reoad.
Ths s a that I carry n my shot pouch. Pretty pan, nothng fancy, nothng out of the
ordnary. My pouch, wth a these contents, ony weghs about three pounds. Not a ot
of weght consderng that I have everythng that I need to shoot my rfe and
mantan t, run bas, make a fre, sew wth, fsh wth, and te thngs wth.
I often wonder what I woud fnd f I coud ony, for a mnute, peek nto Smon Kenton,
Dane Boone or Lews Wetze's shot pouch. How woud what I am carryng measure
up to what they carred? It s a shame that there are not more orgna woodsman's
shot pouches and contents that have survved the ages. However, by readng orgna
wrtten accounts and combnng them wth the process of expermenta archeoogy,
we can re-earn what the woodsman of od carred. But ke I sad before, ths s a
never-endng process. Through ths process, and woods-use we are constanty
earnng. How does what you carry compare?
Your Humbe Servant,
|erry DeVbss
(Sas Ramsey)
&ic!ael Arc!er5s (na0sack
There are three thngs that affect the nature of my hstorca cothng and gear:
1. Season 2. Scenaro 3. Persona preferences
My choces of hstorca gear have oft been dscussed n prevous artces, and the
optons of researched/documented and museum quaty were covered n other
artces. The purpose of these new artces on our cothng and gear s not to recover
theory, but rather to show the thnkng behnd those hstorcay correct optons.
My chosen persona s not a hunter, commerca hunter, or onghunter, as are most of
my frends. The rea, or hstorc Mchae Archer, was a member of a famy of rovng
hunters who setted n the area of Fort |ackson, n Western Pennsyvana. Durng the
Indan Wars, the Archer famy was famous as "rangers" and Indan fghters. When
there were no Indan "troubes", the Archers made a vng huntng for the fort for
meat and hdes. Mchae was ked off Fshng Creek, off the Ek Rver, n western
Vrgna n 1787. He was on hs way to Kentucky to |on up wth Harrod. When hs body
was found, t was determned that he had "gone down hard" as he was bady beaten
up, had broken bones, and some of the har from hs Indan attackers cenched n hs
fsts.
So, my chosen persona s a hunter of men as we as a hunter of anmas, and that
has a great bearng on my choces for gear, as we as the recusve and tacturn
nature of my personaty and nteracton wth others.
The tme of the year dctates most oudy to me. If you know the nature of Mdde
Ground weather, you w know that I been "fooed" nto beng hot or cod, wet or dry,
at a tmes of the year. No amount of pannng or consderaton w get me safey by
100% of the tme. Nature s ke that. So, I approach the dfferent seasons dfferenty,
as far as possbe. St, as a woodsman, I have to approach the envronment from a
combnaton of three eves:
1. Season approprate cothng and gear
2. Suppements from Nature
3. Knowedge and sk, or "trcks of the woodand trade"
To me, no one pece of cothng or gear s gong to functon perfecty 100% of the tme
for 100% of the stuatons God and Nature dream up for me. It ALWAYS takes a
combnaton of cothng/gear, asssts from Nature, and some woodsy "trcks" too. I am
no Lews Wetze or Dane Boone, |ust a common woodsman and Indan ker named
Mchae Archer (a reatve of my wfe...some 200 years removed). Unke the hstorc
Mchae Archer, I am a tte better than he, and have ved a few more years, ha, ha.
Obvousy, wnter demands more gear than summer, and whe I have never been
overdressed for summer, I have been underdressed for wnter. But frst et me tak a
tte about my concept of packng "ght."
"Packng ght" s an eterna quest that the Seasons tend to mock and augh at. I
approach that chaenge frst through the consderaton of who and what my persona
s. If I am the hunter on a scout I pack one way. If I am the securty for a group of
hunters and have to range and roam, come and go, appear and dsappear, I am gong
to pack ghter. I pack one of three ways:
1. Bare necesstes n a haversack, roed up n a banket, hung from a tumpne.
2. Bare essentas n a goat fur doube strap knapsack that has ony a Ox13 nch nen
canvas bag nsde. I know, the goat har makes t ook bg and roomy, but even a
second par of moccasns fs t up!).
3. Bare-essentas pus the uxury of wnter moccasns, mttens, a second shrt, and a
woo weskt n a New Invented Haversack/Knapsack of 1776 or a snge bag knapsack
wth doube straps. Snce I carry the same gear, and ony the cothng changes, I do
have extra room n the knapsack (the key s to avod the temptaton to f the
space!). Whether the haversack, the goat har knapsack, or the nen knapsack, they
a hod the same bascs.
For the sake of beng short, I w take a ook nsde the "bg" knapsack.
Fodng sket-- a rare tem, as I rarey have need to cook wth t.
Food Bag-- nen outer bag contanng smaer nen bags of ratons: parched corn,
dred corn,
buffao or beef or deer |erk mape sugar "cakes," sometmes sassafras roots or
muscavado sugar chunks.
Sewng Kt-- deerskn pouch hodng anter case wth needes and aw, "bobbn" of
horn
wrapped wth prewaxed nen thread, a sma spoo of unwaxed nen thread, a
sma
fragment of yeow or whte beeswax, severa sma wrappngs or bundes of o
tanned
eather "whangs," a few sma squares of o tanned eather patches for
moccasn repar.
I have been known to pu off a dangng pece of nen from the hem of my
huntng shrt
or frock and sew wth t. Scssors.
Fshng Kt-- four-fve dfferenty szed forged hooks, a few spt shot for snkers, and a
ength
of nen strng for ne.
Horn Spoon, Cow's knee, 25' of hemp ropng, a beeswax cande or two, copper boer,
banket pn or two, two "ros" of pre-waxed/greased strped nen patchng, creek
stone for sharpenng, a deerskn botte wth 35 cast bas, tn of beeswax and bear's
grease mx, a ead ade and some bar ead (1/2 pound), "charrng tn" of brass kept
fed wth charred punk wood, "weskt" fodng knfe, a scrap of tartan pad for a scarf
or rag or bandage, a "burnng ens," a bran-tanned thong or two (or sk rbbon) for
har tes,
Rfe Kt--a bran-tanned sma pouch wth spare mansprng, spare frzzen sprng, and
a spare sear sprng, tow for ceanng, fre makng, puggng buet hoes (keeps the
wound from seang), etc.
"Hygene" kt-- a chunk of ye soap and a horn comb
Those are the "bascs," and do not change a that much. It s the wnter months that
w add, and the summer months subtract the most cothng, even though the gear
remans remarkaby the same year round. A wnter "pack" w add:
--a spare shrt
--a woo weskt
--two pars of knt mttens or a par of mtts and a par of mttens
--wnter moccasns wth wooen ners
--spare stockngs
--a pece of dry punk or two, perhaps a tte dry tnder
--perhaps a arger tn of beeswax/bear's grease
As you can see, what s actuay "gear" and not cothng does not change much uness
I want to go "extra" ght due to the nature of the scenaro. A month ong hunt may
requre more than a ghtenng pursut of radng Indans where I expect to be back to
the fort (Ptt, |ackson, or Henry) wthn two or three days.
Obvousy, the bggest change n wnter attre es wth what I am wearng, and not a
that much what s n the knapsack, such as breeches, wooen eggngs or wraps,
scarf, etc., etc. As the Mdde Ground weather coos (freezes) at nght, the extra shrt
and weskt may come out of the pack. As the day warms, they may come off and
return to the knapsack. Knowng what and how much to wear and not wear comes
from woods experence (and years of bad experences...). I remember 65-70 degree
temperature drops from day to nght that can tax your abty to pack as we as your
abty to mprovse.
As I sad, whatever you pack w not be 100% suffcent for "creature comfort" 100%
of the tme. Accept that as the prce of payng at the natura man! Nature must be
used to end a hand. That coud be n the choce of a faen tree as a wndbreak. a
rock sheter, a banket sheter, a pe of dead eaves, a mattress of pne or spruce or
hemock boughs, etc.
Trcks of the trade woud take a much onger artce to begn to address propery.
"Woodand bascs" often are the earnngs of a harsh taskmaster, and t s true that
Nature s a harsh teacher. Experence s worth ts weght n god. "Readng" weather
sgn and antcpatng a thunderstorm by the sme of wnd, the up turn of eaves, the
antcs of brds settng before the bow, the crunch of eaves before a kng frost, the
cear bte of a nght that s cear and w fa to subfreezng, a of these "trcks", and
many others, that take severa fetmes to earn and master (not to menton a that
have been forgotten that we can never know...). You have to suppement your
cothng and gear so that you know what to expect so that, as the SOCIETY OF
LONGHUNTERS' motto says, "|ust dea wth t."
My wnter pack, norma wnter knapsack, wth a four-fued, pad, Wde "4 pont"
banket sandwched between the faps weghs 22 pounds, of whch the frst 7 pounds
or so are the banket. That set up s desgned for a 3-4 week scout n cooer weather.
Takng out tems, ke wnter moccasns, spare shrt, socks, and mttens, w shave a
few pounds from the tota, and a "summer" banket, a three-fued drty brown, Wde
"4 pont" or even a smaer tan and brown strped "match-coat," sheds even a few
more pounds. But, other than a pound or two more of food for onger scouts, the
"bascs" reman the same and the weght s reatvey constant.
I coud not qute end wthout mentonng persona preferences as one of the three
thngs that affect my hstorca choces for cothng and gear. Insde of ths edton of
YE SOCIETY PAGES you w fnd a wrte-up on the OLDE NORTHWEST RENDEZVOUS
and some rendezvouser nsuts about our party of four woodsmen "beonged to the
same regment" because we ooked ake to the observer.
From my persona hstorca vewpont, I am as dssmar to Sas Ramsey or |ames
Moore or Mke Aton or Mark Baker or |ohnny Manre or B Heck, etc. as anyone coud
be TO MY EYE. Granted, an 18th century shrt of nen, dyed n wanut |uce s not
gong to be too radcay dfferent amongst us a. Bran-tanned eggns and shoepack
moccasns, we, are gong to ook pretty generc. A fop hat w ook pretty much
generc. To the rendezvouser's eyes, we dd, ndeed, ook ke G.I. ssue.
To the hstorca eye, the rendezvouser's nsut was smpy wrong. Whether powder
horn or pouch, rfe or knfe or bet ax, screwdrver or buet bag, our ndvduaty s
expressed n how our persona kes and dskes, woods experences, bases and
pre|udces, and our menta mage of gear combnes to cause us to pck one thng over
another.
In that respect were are from a genercay smar matera cuture wth mted means
of producton and manufacturng methodooges. But how we pck and choose to sut
our whms, notons, and deas and then we adapt, adopt, and mprovse after our frst
round of hstorca choces are tested n the aboratory of the woods, we that s a
dfferent story ony those who "pay" n the woods can speak to.
Who we are, and what we do, utmatey ends up expressed n our choce of cothng
and gear. What works for me may or may not work for the next scout or onghunter.
What 18th century gear was avaabe to Mchae Archer at Fort Ptt or Fort Henry n
1781 may not have been the same as that avaabe from George Morgan at
Kaskaska. So we choose and choose, and so come to our own unque "personas," to
the woodsy eye as subme as fngerprnts...
Part of those hghy persona and ndvduastc choces are "tnkerngs" or
expermentaton. I constanty experment, wegh and baance, try and retry, succeed
and fa, work and rework-a the whe tryng to "fne tune" form and functon nto the
optmum choce for ME. To that end, I thnk, I observe, I borrow deas and concepts, I
anayze my experence and that of others, and I constanty "recyce" notons based
on outcomes. In a way, t s ke scuptng a statue from a bock of stone. The frst
efforts break away rough and massve chunks of stone. Further efforts become more
precse and refned. Addtona efforts serve ony to free the mage of a woodsman
captured wthn the stone, and the strokes of the maet and chse become sma and
fne. And, the fna efforts are to smooth and posh the carved mage that has been
reeased from ts mprsonment wthn the bock of stone.
Maybe someday, t can be seen as a woodsman...
Birc!bark $anoes
I reca for many years my mother-n-aw's attempt to get a paper brch tree to grow
n her front yard, and remember how many nursery store brches ended up wth dred
eaves and dead mbs. The probem was that the brch s a tree from more northern
cmes than those of the south shores of Lake Ere. Now, for those who are famar
wth Great Lakes' wnters, there can be tte dfference between those of the ower
Canadas at tmes other than the Canadas stay coder onger and the snow pes up
deeper wthout those "come and go" cyces of snow and thaw. For the woud-be
hortcuturast, perhaps the bggest reason brch do not grow we n the northern
Mdde Ground s so condtons such as acdty, etc.
But, at ast, my mother-n-aw dd get a brch to take root after so many dead
predecessors. And, on occason, you w see the whte tetae brches on a rare
suburban or exurban yard n these parts.
Havng waked a good many tras and a few mes over the Mdde Ground, I had
come to the concuson that I wanted to try "perod" canoeng and py some of the
better rvers and streams of the Mdde Ground n a canoe.
About ffteen years ago, I thought that I coud use our famy's aumnum (a-you-
mnmum, as the Engsh say) and |ust "pro|ect" t nto a seek brch bark canoe. But
every tme I ooked upon ts du sver shape I shook my head knowng that I was not
that good at pro|ecton.
Durng the research nto |ust what woud be a Perod Proper canoe for the Mdde
Ground, I had to wonder |ust how popuar were brch bark canoes n a regon that
coud not grow brch? Research ndcates that perod accounts often speak of three
types of canoes: em, spruce and smar forms of bark, brch bark, and dugouts.
Generay, any of these bark canoes coud not be cut and sewn ke brch bark, and
the sheet of bark had to be deat wth as a whoe. Because of that, em and spruce
bark canoes were constructed dfferenty. A rough frame of branches served to hod
the bark sheets together wth wde spacng and a snge, ong pece of wood was used
for each of the gunwaes. Due to the nature of the bark, and the nature of the
constructon, these canoes were heavy and they were not durabe. But, I guess, they
were ghter, faster, and more easy transported over portages than dugout canoes.
It s not known exacty when, (probaby durng ther wars of empre n the eary 17th
century), but the Iroquos n New York abandoned them n favor of the far more
effcent brch bark canoes of the Agonqun trbes vng n southwestern Ouebec and
eastern Ontaro who were vng n the paper or canoe brch cmatc zones. The
Iroquos qucky came to favor the brch bark Agonqun canoes and gave them the
name of natowe tcman.
There s a technca evouton of brch bark canoes n the eastern Woodands. Edwn
Adney, the author of the cassc work on brchbark canoes, cassfed canoes on the
bass of how the buder acheved a canoe bottom that was eve but yet wde enough
to trave shaow streams. Adney argued that there were approxmatey four stages of
deveopment to the bark canoe:
1. Em and spruce bark canoes wth sght tes set at wde ntervas.
2. Prototype brchbark canoes smar to em bark canoes and spruce bark canoes,
but wth gunwae attachments that aow for ony a tte compresson.
3. Brchbark canoes wth gunwaes strengthened to aow for ncreased compresson
by the rbs.
4. Brchbark canoes wth root wrappngs cose together to make the gunwae
attachment stronger.
From there, deveopment seemed to spt nto two dfferent "schoos," one usng cose
wrappngs wth open spaces between where the rbs found secure footng, and the
other, usng a snge, rounded gunwae wth a recess for the rbs.
The system of cose wrappngs wth open spaces between the rbs seems to have
been the most popuar n the centra regon of the eastern Woodands. Probaby due
to a combnaton of trbute to the Iroquos Empre and ntertrba trade, the popuarty
of the brchbark canoe spread down nto the Mdde Ground and became the
domnant type of canoe among the Iroquos, Shawnee, and Deaware.
Orgna Agonqun brchbark canoes were rarey onger than 20 feet, the "two
fathom" and "three fathom" varetes beng the most common. The arge canoes of
the fur trade came nto exstence due to the need to transport arge amounts of
merchandse, whether trade goods gong out, or furs comng back n to Montrea. At
one pont, the wy French even tred to mt the number of canoes that coud be used
n the fur trade, and that acted to ncrease the ength of canoes as we. More than
key, the Indans made these monster canoes on order, but ater the French gave up
supervson and set up ther own producton factes such as at Tros-Rveres,
downstream from Montrea.
Our romance wth the brchbark canoe s a carry-over from ther popuarty among
ate 19th century sportsmen who extensvey used them. In western Ouebec and
eastern Ontaro brchbark canoes were probaby the most easy procured canoes at
that tme. Around the turn of the century, the ncreasng use of canvas canoes was
one of the ma|or factors n the decne of the manufacture and use of the brchbark
canoes. Yet, the brchbark canoe dd not entrey de out. Some whte sportsmen and
Indans contnued to use them for huntng, trappng, and transportaton. Some
Agonqun trbes contnued to make them unt recenty (1980). Today Indan makers
of brchbark canoes number but a coupe or so.
What s exctng, s that a few others (count them up on the fngers of one hand...) are
contnung the art of budng brchbark canoes. But ke other tems of gear, a
brchbark canoe must be researched to the Mdde Ground and athough an Abenak
or Chppewa canoe mght be appeang, one's choce s best kept wth the smpe
Agonqun stye obtaned by the Iroquos and then subsequenty traded down the
Aegheny and Oho Rvers nto the Mdde Ground.
Hopefuy, by the end of the summer, some water-born onghunters and scouts w
agan by senty sdng down Oho Country waterways...
P%$("T *%1P
It takes somethng good to get me on my soapbox, and pocket soup s GOOD. I frst
encountered ths tem whe readng my cub magazne, thought t nterestng, but a
ot of work and tme for a food source. Parched corn and |erk s much smper, and
tred and true. But at a recent natona event that was too cose to resst, a fne feow
and brother cub member took pty upon my person, and offered me a pece of ths
wonderfu tem. I took t and promsed to try t. Later that evenng, I boed up some
rce and rememberng ths odd ookng stuff I took a sma bt and tasted t. As t
meted on my tongue, I knew I was hooked. Ths stuff woud be a part of my
equpment. I tore off a quarter-szed pece and put t n to smmer wth my rce. When
eatng t, t tasted ke a fne meat stew. Ths tem s what s caed for to spce up an
otherwse band det on the tra, be t for a coupe of days, or severa weeks. The next
mornng I tred |ust bong a sma amount n my cup for a pan meat broth. Agan
wth fne resuts, I ended up wth a meat broth that woud be very wecome after a
ong day, or on a coo morn.
The foowng comes from "Hstory of the Dvdng Lne" by Wam Byrd, prnted n
1729.
"...Ths Gue s so strong, that two or three Drams, dssov'd n bong water, wth a
tte sat, w make haf a Pnt of good Broth, & f you shou'd be fant wth Fastng or
Fatgue, et a sma Pece of ths Gue met n your Mouth, and you w fnd yoursef
surprsngy refreshed.
One Pound of ths Cookery wou'd keep a Man n good Heart above a Month, and s not
ony nourshng, but kewse very whoesome. Partcuary t s good aganst Fuxes,
whch Woodsman are very abe to, by yng too near the most Ground, and guzzng
too much cod Water. But as t w be ony us'd now and then, n Tmes of Scarcty,
when Game s wantng, two Pounds of t w be enough for a |ourney of sx Months.
But ths Broth w be st more heartenng f you thcken every Mess wth haf a
Spoonfu of Rockahomny, whch s nothng but Indan Corn parched wthout burnng,
and reduced to Powder....
The foowng s a recpe for vea gue from "The Lady's Companon" 1753:
"To make a vea Gue, or Cake Soup to be carred n the Pocket"
Take a Leg of Vea, strp t of the Skn and the Fat, then take a the muscuar or feshy
Parts from the Bones; bo ths Fesh genty n such a Ouantty of Water, and so ong a
Tme, t the Lquer w make a strong |ey when t s cod: Ths you may try by takng
out a sma Spoonfu now and then, and ettng t coo.
Here t s to be supposed, that though t w |ey presenty n sma Ouanttes, yet a
the |uce of the meat may not be extracted; however, when you fnd t very strong,
stran the Lquer through a Seve, and et t sette; then provde a arge Stew-pan, wth
Water, and some Chna Cups, or gazed Earthenware; f these Cups wth |ey taken
cear from the Settng, and set them n a Stew-pan of Water, and et the Water bo
genty t the |ey becomes as thck as Gue; after whch, et them stand to coo, and
then turn out the Gue upon a Pece of new Fanne, whch w draw out the Mosture;
turn them once n sx or eght Hours, and put them upon a fresh Fanne, and so
contnue to do t they are qute dry, and keep t n a dry warm Pace: Ths w harden
so much, that t w be stff and hard as Gue n a tte Tme, and may be carred n
the Pocket wthout Inconvenence. You are to use ths by bong about a Pnt of Water,
and pourng t upon a pece of the Gue or Cake, about the bgness of a sma wanut,
and strrng t wth a Spoon unt the cake dssoves, whch w make very strong good
Broth. As for the seasonng part, everyone may add Pepper and Sat as they ke t, for
there must be nothng of that Knd put among the Vea when you make the Gue, for
any Thng of that Sort woud make t Moudy. As we have observed above, that there
s nothng of Seasonng n ths Soup, so there may be aways added what you desre,
ether of Spces or Herbs, to make t savoury to the Paate; but t must be noted, that
a the Herbs that are used on ths Occason, must be boed tender n pan Water,
and That Water must be used to pour upon the Cake Gravy nstead of Smpe Water,
so may a Dsh of good Soup be made wthout Troube, ony aowng the Proporton of
Cake Gravy answerng to the above sad drecton: Or f Gravy be wanted for sauce,
doube the Ouantty may be used that s prescrbed for Broth or Soup.
Ths artce has run penty ong enough. If you shoud decde to tacke ths recpe, I
have been tod that any good LEAN beef or Venson w suffce |ust as we.
Thank you for your ndugence.
I Reman Sr,
Denns Mes
P'%6"$TI%N+ ," 1#TI&AT" $HA##"N)"
Among the three eves or ters of vng hstory and expermenta archeoogy (R&D
gear, hstorca envronment, and pro|ecton...), the hardest to master s the sk of
pro|ectng one's sef back to an 18th century word. For the ma|orty of the
backpowder hobby, there seems to be a constant and on-gong strugge n |ust tryng
to have hstorcay accurate or hstorcay fathfu cothng and equpment. There are
a very sma number of ndvduas who have rsen above the chaenge of researched
and documented gear, and who engage n structured hstorca actvtes. There are
very few, mnscue numbers, of ndvduas who work at pro|ecton.
Pro|ecton s hard, and s the most demandng of the three ters. Once we have
researched and documented gear, and once we go out nto the woods or wderness
to earn and practce sks and knowedge assocated wth the 18th century, we are
face-to-face wth a 2003 envronment!
Athough I dd not know t at the tme, I frst earned about what I now ca "pro|ecton"
from the |apanese some 25 years ago or so. As a marta student workng towards a
"back bet" n unarmed combat and prmtve weapons, I earned that the centures-
od method of teachng marta arts n the Orent was through somethng the
|apanese caed "kata." Kata s a pre-arranged seres of punches, strkes, kcks, and
bocks that are strung together n a choreographed sequence. Snce marta arts were
consdered so etha, they coud not be practced aganst a human "target." The ony
tme they were practced "ve" was n the case of war, or n the case of beng
chaenged to a due. It was not unt the 20th century that "kumte" was deveoped,
and what was marta was modfed wth "pued punches" nto a compettve sport.
The essence of a warror's deveopment n the marta arts was measured, of course,
n combat; but t was aso gauged and practced n the "kata." Kata was not ntended
to be "shadow boxng." Kata was ntended to be an acton and reacton to a seres of
nvsbe attackers attackng from dfferent drectons. It was a sgn of deveopment
when the student acted and reacted, not aganst an magnary set of attackers, but
aganst nvsbe attackers, to the pont where you actuay saw the enemy n your
mnd's eye, fet ther presence, and coud fee the rush of the ar as they punched or
kcked or sashed at you. The "more" rea you saw t, the "more rea" the reaty of the
combat became.
In watchng students at dfferent eves, you coud see those "gong through the
moves" as f shadowboxng and you coud see those actng and reactng wth and to
every fe threatenng attack as though t were rea. Pro|ecton s remarkaby smar.
When we go out n the "woods," t s, beyond a doubt, a 2003 woods." We can be
wearng museum quaty reproductons of 18th century cothng and gear. We can go
out wth a hstorca framework as to the tme and pace, and even as to the nature of
the persona we have chosen to emuate and study, and we can engage n actvtes,
chores, and tasks that were performed n the 18th century.
For the utmate expresson of vng hstory, we need to approach the "woods" from
an 18th century perspectve, and not a 2003 perspectve! How one acts and reacts n
the woods has an mmedate and drect bearng on how one perceves the
envronment. Barreng through the forest at a hgh rate of speed, takng and sngng
oudy, pop-shootng at targets, |okng around, day-dreamng, etc. means that t w
aways be 2003 no matter how fne one's cothng and gear s or how expansve one's
persona has been deveoped.
The dfference s twofod: one, an 18th century ndvdua was n the forest for a
specfc purpose whether commerca hunter, rovng hunter, scout, spy, Indan
warror, or renegade. The nature of the actvtes undertaken by those ndvduas
determned ther approach to the woods: the greenhorn who raced through the woods
ended up a scap on a Shawnee or Deaware warror's bet and the farmer turned
commerca hunter returned to camp wth no meat.
More tmes than not, we approach the woods as a hoste envronment n the 18th
century. Ouet, steath, and cauton are the watchwords of the day for enemy warrors
may be |ust ahead behnd a tree, or a she-bear, or panther around the next bend n
the tra.
But there s more to pro|ecton than |ust thngs ke steath and "nose dscpne." I
recenty ran nto another Lvng Hstoran. He taked about a recent scout and how
they approached ther "tme wndow" from a 1763 perspectve as a sma of group of
traders pckng up on the opportuntes to be had by the French departng the Oho
and Inos Country at the end of the F&I War. He added that they were undecded
about what to do, as there had been some tak about a genera Indan uprsng but
they had seen nothng to support t. So, they decded that the fronter was heatng up
too fast and that they shoud return to the safety of Fort Ptt (not knowng Pontac had
aready beseged t...). My frend beamed at the new-found experences of havng to
dea wth the woods n a 1763 context and to have to act, react, thnk, and pan
based on what they knew was gong on at that tme n 1763. Hs persona dscovery
s what pro|ecton s a about.
Pro|ecton starts sma, and ack of t s obvous, even f you do not ook around. The
companon who buds a huge bonfre n hoste Shawnee country, or the companon
who shoots hs rfe |ust to see "f t w go off" are companons n a 21st century
woods, where the reates and dangers of the 18th century woods are truy some two
hundred years removed. Sometmes the ack of pro|ecton begns at home when
knapsacks are beng packed for a day or two and not for outngs of weeks and
months. Why carry a moud, ade, and ead when the ony round I am gong to shoot
n two or three days s the ba at the end of the scout to unoad my rfe? Why carry a
sewng kt when I w be back home n three or four days and can sew up that tear
then?
The key to successfu pro|ecton s to keep n mnd three thngs:
1. In my chosen tme perod, who and what am I?
2. In that tme perod, what I am dong here?
3. In that tme perod, and n my chosen ocae, what s gong on that s gong to have
an effect on me?
Knowng those three thngs, and actng and reactng accordngy, we put you n an
hstorca wndow or tme capsue and force you to understand the Past from the
perspectve of someone havng to ve n, and not |ust "vst" certan seect portons of
t such as wearng Perod cothes or engagng n Perod actvtes. Havng to act and
react to a more structured hstorca envronment, and to have to thnk and make
decsons based upon 18th century reates, gves us a better pcture of the 18th
century and fe's day events faced by our ancestors. As wth |apanese karate, you
need to both see and fee that Shawnee warror behnd that oak tree up ahead on the
tra...
A #%%( AT $%&&%N "I)HT""NTH $"NT1', *H"#T"'*
Recenty Curt Schmdt and I ran nto our frend |ohn Curry whe at Frendshp. |ohn
was weghng the partcuar merts of three dfferent deer anters for a knfe hande
and tryng to choose between them when we ran nto each other. We started takng
and soon |ohn asked us what we thought about hs most recent artce on ocoth
sheters n the atest Smoke & Fre News. He |okngy backed up as he asked the
queston! We had a rather engthy dscusson on the sub|ect and Curt and I spoke our
thoughts on why we fet that the orgna mdde ground woodsmen DID NOT carry
such tems. |ohn aso spoke hs mnd on why he fet they DID carry such tems. Our
dscusson ranged from the ack of documentaton, to the commonness of such tems,
to the practcaty of such tems. We must have taked for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on ths
sub|ect aone. |ohn asked me to send hm my thoughts and documentaton for perod
sheters that I had come across n dong my research. I thought that I woud share
wth you some of the detas from-my etter that I sent to hm:
As you know by now from readng past Socety Pages, we n the Socety of
Longhunters are requred to research and document each and every pece of gear,
cothng, weapon, etc, that we use. Takng that dea one step further, we aso requre
each pece of gear, cothng, weapon, etc. to conform to what we ca the pan,
common and everyday rue. Meanng was t commony used and an "everyday" tem,
and was t pany made and not extravagant. For exampe, I can document sk knee
breeches to the 1760's, so t s documentabe for me to wear a par of sk knee
breeches n my portraya as a md-eghteenth century woodsman. Ths s wrong
thnkng and I thnk that anyone coud see the faw n ths type of ogc. To accuratey
portray any persona n hstory you must use gear that was common to that partcuar
type of persona.
If we are not abe to document an tem of gear as pan, common and everyday, we
smpy do not aow t to go on a scout wth us. To some ths seems rather narrow and
sy, but to anyone who knows us, they know how serous we take our re-earnng of
the past. It s good to see that there are others out there that share our same passon
for the eghteenth century woodsmen and n beng "correct" and "common" n our
gear choces.
In my persona research of what the eghteenth century woodsmen and Indans used
as sheters, I have not yet come across one snge reference to them usng an ocoth
for sheters whe traveng on foot. However, I have found many, many references to
them usng naturay made sheters, and sheters made from ther bankets. I thought
that I woud share some of these references wth you.
Phadepha Botanst |ohn Bartram, durng hs 1743 |ourney to Fort Oswego,
descrbed the sheter made by hs Deaware Indan gudes:
"&bout break o day it began to rain, and the %ndians made us a covering o bark got
ater in this manner1 they cut the tree round through the bark near the root, and
made the incision about seven eet above it; these hori"ontal ones are joined by a
perpendicular cut, on each side o which they ater loosen the bark rom the wood,
and hewing a pole at the small end, gradually tapering like a wedge about two eet,
they orce it till they have completed the separation all round, and the bark parts
whole rom the tree, one o which, a oot in diameter, yields a piece seven oot long
and above three wide. &nd having now prepared our orked sticks, they are set into
the ground the longer in ront; on these they lay the cross poles, and on them the
bark. *his makes a good tight shelter in warm weather. " (Bartram 20-21)
Bartram aso descrbed another hurred camp made n the mdde of a sudden
ranstorm:
"0ne o our %ndians cut our sticks ive eet long and stuck both ends into the ground
at two eet distance, one rom another; over these he spread his match coat and
crept through them, and ell to singing; in the mean time we were setting poles
slantwise in the ground, tying others cross them, over which we spread our blanket
and crept close under it with a ire beore us and ell ast asleep. " (Bartram 38)
French Captan M. Pouchet gves a form of Indan sheter n wntertme:
"*hey encamp at an early hour in the thickets and construct a shelter on the side
towards the wind by orming a hal-roo with two crotches supporting little poles
covered with branches o spruce, lat oliage, or rushes gathered rom the swamp.
$eore this shelter they build a good ire. " (Pouchot 214)
Ben|amn Frankn wrote n hs autobography of the manner n whch a group of
hoste Indans had encamped cose to a fort n Gnadenhut, Pennsyvana wthout
beng detected. It was wntertme and the Indans, even though n enemy terrtory,
had to have a fre so they devsed a cever way to stay warm, a the whe conceang
ther presence.
"%t being Winter, a ire was necessary or them. $ut a common ire on the surace o
the ground would by its light have discovered their position at a distance. *hey had
thereore dug holes in the ground about three eet diameter and somewhat deeper.
We saw where they had with their hatchets cut o the charcoal rom the sides o
burnt logs lying in the woods. With these coals they had made small ires in the
bottom o the holes, and we observed among the weeds and grass the prints o their
bodies made by their laying all around with their legs hanging down in the holes to
keep their eet warm, which with them is an essential point." (Frankn 159-160)
Peter Kam, n hs |ournas, descrbed the manner n whch an Indan made a quck
sheter:
"*he %ndian made his hut which was constructed in the ollowing way. 5e had placed
pieces o birch bark and other bark on top o slender rods as a roo over himsel
where he lay and had hung an old blanket to protect himsel on the sides rom winds
and storms. 5is companion had done likewise on his side and their ire was between
them. " (Kam 591)
|ohn Heckeweder, n hs |ournas, descrbes a quck sheter erected mmedatey pror
to a storm, durng the funera of the Deaware Shngas's wfe n 1762:
" +r. 4alhoon and mysel e!pected that we might be permitted to go home, as we
wished to do, particularly as we saw a thundergust rom the west ast approaching;
but the %ndians, suspecting our design, soon came orward with poles and blankets,
and in a ew minutes erected a shelter or us. " (Heckeweder 61).
|ames Smth, n hs fne captvty narratve, detas the manner n whch he rode out a
partcuary nasty storm durng the wnter of 1756:
"&s it began to snow and blow most violently, % returned and proceeded ater my
company, and or some time could see their tracks; but the old snow being only
about three inches deep, and a crust upon it, the present driving snow soon illed up
the tracks. &s % had only a bow, arrows, and tomahawk, with me, and no way to strike
ire, % appeared to be in a dismal situation - and as the air was dark with snow, % had
little prospect o steering my course, than % would in the night. &t length % came to a
hollow tree, with a hole at one side that % could go in at. % went in, and ound that it
was a dry place, and the hollow about three eet diameter and high enough or me to
stand in. % ound that there was also a considerable (uantity o sot, dry rotten wood,
around the hollow1 % thereore concluded that % would lodge here; and that % would go
to work, and stop up the door to my house. % had a block prepared that % could trawl
ater me, to stop this hole1 and beore % went in % put in a number o small sticks, that
% might more eectually stop it on the inside. When % went in, % took my tomahawk
and cut down all the dry rotten wood % could get, and beat it small. With it % made a
bed like a goose-nest or hog-bed, and with the small sticks stopped every hole, until
my house was almost dark. % stripped o my mockasons, and danced in the centre o
my bed or about hal an hour, in order to warm mysel. % then coiled mysel up in my
blanket, lay down in my little round bed, and had a tolerable nights lodging." (Smth
76-77)
Edna Kenton descrbed the camp made by Smon Kenton, George Strader, and |ohn
Yeager n the wnter of 1773 at the mouth of Ek Rver n what s now Chareston, WV:
"So near the mouth o :lk 'iver they erected their shelter, a hal-aced camp than
which no better primitive (uarters have been invented to this day. *hey ound their
huge allen tree, cleared a s(uare in ront o it large enough or the cabin loor, and at
the ar corners sunk two orked poles. *hey laid a twelve oot pole in the orks, and
laid other poles rom it to the allen tree. *hey piled this roo oundation with brush,
dry grass, leaves, and sod, enclosed the two sides with bark and heaped logs,
gathered moss and dry leaves or their beds, and their camp was done. $eore its
wide-open ace they built their campire, cooked their meals in the open, and at night
lay down to sleep wrapped in blankets and urs with their bodies under shelter and
their eet to the coals. " (Kenton 38-40)
|ohn Cuppy reated the manner n whch he and Capt. Samue Brady set up camp for
the nght whe out on a scout:
"Once whe out spyng wth Captan Brady, Cuppy dd not spread hs banket... unt
after dark, when both ad down and covered themseves wth another banket, when
they fet somethng squrm under them. But t was too dark to dscern what t
was...and (they) were much too weary to care, so they fe aseep. Next mornng,
when they took up ther bankets, they found a copperhead a fattened out ke a
pancake. (Draper 9S:38)
|oseph Doddrdge gave us a nce tte quote descrbng the end of a typca day for
the eghteenth century woodsman:
" *he toilsome march o the day being ended, at the all o night he seeks or saety
some narrow, se(uestered hollow, and by the side o a large log builds a ire, and,
ater eating his course and scanty meal, wraps himsel up in his blanket, and lays him
down on his bed o leaves, with his eet to the little ire, or repose, hoping or
avorable dreams ominous o uture good luck, while his aithul dog and gun repose
by his side. " (Doddrdge 23)
R. Getty Brownng descrbng hs grandfather, the exceptona ate eghteenth and
eary nneteenth century hunter, Meshack Brownng:
" Since he had to carry everything on his back, he reduced his load to the barest
necessities as his chie object was to kill game rather than enjoy a comortable
vacation. 5is rile, powder horn, and bullet pouch, together with his hunting knie,
punk, lint and steel or ire-making, and possibly a tomahawk covered the balance o
his outit. % the trip was in cold weather and he e!pected to camp out, he probably
took, in addition a home-made blanket, some salt and bread."
Meshack Brownng descrbng some of hs hunts:
" % searched or a hollow tree to creep into, but could ind none, nor a shelter o any
kind. &t length, inding two trees laying across each other, % gathered the bark rom
them, and, by laying it over the cross-logs, thus made a poor kind o resting place or
that night. +y ne!t job was to make a ire, which % was araid % would be pu""led to
do, everything being wet and covered with snow. 5owever, % succeeded in kindling a
large ire beore my camp, when % crawled under the shed, which was not more than
two eet high, and lay there hal the night; irst turning one side o my body to the
ire, and then the other, in order to dry my clothes. While % lay with one side up, the
ine hail would all into my ear, and when % turned over, it ell into the other. Finally, %
took the tow % used or cleaning my gun, and with it corked up both ears; and ater
laying down again, % ound % had hit on an e!cellent way o keeping the hail out."
(Brownng 114-115)
" &ter laying down our blankets and provisions, % scraped away the snow, collected
enough wood to last during the night, laid spruce limbs thick on the ground, spread
one blanket over them, and reserved the other to cover ourselves. " (Brownng 257)
|eptha Smms descrbes the manner n whch the hunter/trapper, Nat Foster of New
York, made hs camp n the ate eghteenth century and eary nneteenth century:
" Foster set his camp up in orty-ive minutes. 5e made a lean-to, in ront he built a
ire, put his provisions under his head or a pillow, in cold weather he carried a
blanket strapped on his back like a knapsack, he always carried a pocket compass."
(Smms 251-252) . . .
As you can see from |ust these few perod accounts, the eghteenth century
woodsmen and Indans used a ot of natura materas n makng ther sheters. It aso
appears to have been very common to have used a banket n makng a temporary
sheter. Lasty we know for certan that many, many nghts were spent ayng on the
ground wrapped up n a banket wth feet to a fre. In no account s there a menton of
an ocoth, sacoth, etc. I am of the opnon that the woodsmen and Indans needed
to trave ght and they found no use n carryng what was naturay avaabe a
around them. There are many more references, such as the ones above, whch eads
you to beeve that natura materas and snge bankets were the common modes of
sheter and warmth whe n the eghteenth century woods.
In my research, ocoths do not conform to the pan, common, and everyday rue
that we n The Socety of Longhunters must adhere to. St, there s not even one
snge reference to woodsmen carryng such thngs whe traveng on foot.
One factor that the orgna woodsmen and Indans dd not have to dea wth s tme
restrctons. They dd not have to be somewhere Monday mornng at 8 a.m. They had
a the tme n the word to get where they were gong, and f bad weather came aong
they coud |ust " hoe up " and weather out the storm, even f t took days. They coud
take the tme to stop and bud a sturdy sheter to fend off the ran or snow. They dd
not have to be concerned wth beng somewhere by a certan tme n order to be back
" home " by a certan tme. They were truy " a part of the woods ", and not " |ust n
the woods ". As modern woodsmen, we do have to dea wth tme restrctons, and
sometmes there s not tme for us to make even a temporary sheter when n the
woods. I have to thnk that wrappng ones sef up n a banket and endurng a rany
nght s much more common than we woud ke to thnk. I w admt that the
romance of havng a sturdy ocoth sheter wth a nce warm fre n front s very
appeang. However, f we are strvng for true authentcty, then we have to stay
away from sheters that we CAN NOT document and stck wth those sheters that we
can.
Best Regards,
|erry DeVbss
(Sas Ramsey)
2ads, 2as!ions, and 2un
When deang wth the matera cuture of the 18th century, we are often confronted
wth but a handfu of researched and documented choces for our cothng and gear.
Once such mtaton has been n the area of compasses. For years, the ony "more or
ess" Perod Proper choce was the Rogers' Isand sunda compass. It was affordabe
and t was avaabe. Subsequent research turned up the orgna, whch ony remotey
ooked ke the modern day reproducton. But, t had an "18th century favor" and t
was the ony poker game n town. Then Ames Manufacturng came out wth an
affordabe "box compass" but not before thousands of ndvduas were aready
carryng the Rogers' Ranger compass. And then came Mark Baker's artce featurng
hs own, persona compass made by Frank Twst. Better st, Frank was now producng
two styes of hand-made compasses sutabe for a woodsman. Beng the knd Frend
Mark carred, guess whch one sod the most?
In our quest for the "Four H's", hand grown, handspun, hand forged, and hand-dyed,
we have atched on to the fne weavng sks of C.|. Wde. The frst banket she made
for me was a copy of a drty brown banket carred by Henry Marbe durng the Rev
War, and now resdng n the Museum of the Fur Trade. Coo. The second was a tan
and brown pad. Guess why? The current nterest n C. |.'s offerngs concded wth
the archaeoogca excavaton of a wooen scrap (bue and red) from the we of an
18th century tavern that was abandoned and used for a dumpng pt. I remember
when Sas Ramsey moved up to a hand-woven banket from a Wtney, and decded to
order a brown verson of the Wamsburg remnant. On a trek of some ten guys n
Indana, there were three more |ust ke t. Snce then, brown, tan, and gray varatons
of the Wamsburg pattern proferate.
At the OLDE NORTHWEST TERRITORY RENDEZVOUS ast week, Sas and I ran nto
|ohn Moore of Hoder's Company. He was wearng a checked huntng shrt, and had
|ust put hs new "Wamsburg Pattern" Wde banket on the trade banket because
everyone n the word now has one!
Whe at the OLDE NORTHWEST, a group of rendezvousers nsuted our onghunter
party wth the |eer: "You guys a beong to the same regment?" It was a reference to
the fact that a four of us had some shade of wanut |uce dyed huntng shrts on
(even though one was wearng a huntng frock...). That s why |ohn Moore had gone to
a checked huntng shrt.
The pont I am gettng at s ths. Wth a mted amount of technoogy, wth a mted
amount of "on hand" optons avaabe on the fronter, and wth an extremey mted
archaeoogca and hstorca base for cothng and gear from whch to choose, we
ARE gong to end up wth a generc "ook" about us. And, ke rppes n a pond, the
choces made (and the choces Frend Mark makes) w be mmedatey pcked up,
echoed, and coped by those ndvduas a few rppes away. There w aso be a
frnge of "woodsman wannabe's" who w copy the ook so that they appear as
woodsmen wthout havng to go out n the woods.
When pannng out our hstorca choces for cothng and gear, we need to be aware
of fads and fashons wthn the "hobby." One's chosen persona w aways defne what
Perod choces and optons are avaabe to seect from. A persona s mted to the
matera cuture of the oca geographc area he ves n. For exampe, the choces n
"eathers" avaabe to a fort hunter or scout at Fort Ptt woud be broad:
1. Commercay tanned cow, deer, and ek from the East
2. Locay tanned cow, deer, and ek-- a bark-tanned on ste
3. Bran-tanned buffao, ek, and deer from the nearby Indan towns, or from Indan
and whte traders
(Granted there s overap, as hstory tes us Indans woud rad the tan vats...)
On the other hand, an soated frontersman "dong hs own thng" s gong to be
heaver nto bark or bran-tanned hdes he has done hmsef and woud not have
access to professonay done Eastern eathers. In smpe terms, hs optons woud be
mted and not broad.
The same s true for fabrcs. In the Mdde Ground, woo, nen, and hemp fabrcs are
the domnant cuture. Yet, once agan there s a spt between what s avaabe,
homespun versus Eastern or Brtsh mports from the East. The frontersman w rey
more on homespun and therefore home-dyed fabrcs more so that the fner Eastern
trade artces. The same s true for choces of dyes: the fronter versus the
manufacturng centers of Brtan.
Fads and fashons can be vexng, because t s often common that a current fad
whether nspred by a move, the hobby, Mark Baker, etc., etc., may have a bass n
hstorca fact and not |ust fcton. One such area s the woo and nen sashes made
by C. |. Wde. C.|. cannot keep them n stock for they se out so fast. Peope ke
Mchae Archer and Sas Ramsey who st wear eather bets are consdered so out of
fashon.
Why are fads and fashons vexng then? If you are wearng a hstorcay correct tem,
so what? We, when you go out n a party of ten men and nne of them have some
shade of brown/tan/gray C.|. Wde "Wamsburg Pattern" banket wth them...we, t
ooks ke everyone |ust came back from the same 18th century store. The odds of a
party of ten onghunters havng nne bankets that are the same are.... But yet, for
each of them, by themseves, there s nothng wrong, for they have a made
ndependenty correct choces from the 18th century. It s ony when we get
together,-that the fads and fashons stck out.
For me, I want to be "dfferent," I want to be "unque," and I want to be speca when
t comes to my persona preferences and choces of cothng and gear. So, when I
needed a thcker WILDE banket for Deep Wnter, I had a tan and brown pad made-
somethng akn to the Archer famy's Scots ancestry. Now, I may confess and admt
to wearng a breechcout of C. |.'s woven n "Wamsburg Pattern" because I ke the
archaeoogca assocatons wth a survvng scrap of fabrc. But, I woud confess that I
am "gear van" enough that I want my own "brand" of cothng of gear. So now I wear
a back woo one... A pan nen huntng shrt, hand grown, handspun, and hand-dyed,
s not gong to ook any dfferent from the next, because shrts are genercay
unversa. But when t comes to other artces, thnk about your choces carefuy.
What can be done to avod spendng $280 for a C.|. Wde banket and then fndng
out there are hundreds of bankets "|ust ke" yours? In most respects there s nothng
that can be done.
In 1989, t occurred to me that t was better for a hunter and an Indan scout to be
dressed n earth tones- drt browns. In 1992, t occurred to me that because of the
"Four H" drecton I was takng that those drt browns shoud come from varous
shades of wanut hu |uce/dye. Now, wanut dyed nen s amost a standard among
woodsmen and woodsmen wannabe's. Are they copyng me, or am I copyng them?
Nether, actuay, t s |ust that our mutua research and mutua nterests have come
to the same pace on the tra. Coud I have predcted that wanut brown woud be the
woodsmens' coor "of choce" n 2003? Nope. And, part of me wants to be dfferent,
so I dyed a hemp nen wnter huntng shrt n sumac for a drty gray coor, |ust to be
dfferent from another set of Perod optons.
Yet, there s an ndcator to watch out for. Frst, I want to say that ths s not a
negatve thng, for emuaton and outrght copyng of quaty artces of cothng and
gear that are hstorcay researched, documented, and crafted ony heps the
"hobby." What pont I woud ke to make s that as ndvduasts, "too much"
repcaton and copyng can be frustratng.
Now, that frustraton can be a good thng too. I reca havng a of my cothng and
gear coped 100% by a genteman. That was a motvatng factor for me, for I then
had to go out and repace 100% of what I had to retan my ndvduaty. The
genteman coud not keep up the pace. It started n 1992 wth hs copyng my fop hat
pnned up on the sde wth a deer's ta. That prompted me to go to a fanta hat,
pnned up n the back.
Anyway, the ndcator to watch out for s f you read about an tem n Mark Baker's "A
Pgrm's |ourney," and wthn the ast year n "Poneerng: The Longhunter Seres,"
you w see a rash of emuators |umpng on the bandwagon.
We have a commtment, and the peasure of sharng, wth the dscoveres we make
and the fne craftspeope who produce those wondrous tems we need and crave.
Whether sharng an exceent source, or emuatng a popuar wrter, there WILL BE a
turn-out of that tem both from among those who apprecate ts speca worth and
from among those who want to ook ke Mark Baker. Each to ther own, but, I can hear
Sas' ament n havng had the thought of reproducng the red and bue
"Wamsburg" fragment nto a brown and tan "woodsman's" banket because who
woud want a strped banket n the frst pace, and a du brownsh banket n the
second pace?
At ths sprng's Manskers 'Staton Trade Far, C.|. Wde empted her stock of
Wamsburg strpe bankets, breechcouts, and mtts. Left on the tabe, were two
manure brown bankets, one of whch I tred to convnce a customer to buy over a
Wamsburg strped banket wth no success.
What s perhaps the hardest part of a of ths, s that t does not make a ck a
dfference f you were the FIRST person to order up a Wamsburg strped banket or
the 300th! You w be vewed as the mtator and not the orgnator of the fashon. It
s hard to be the trabazer and not seemngy the mtatng foower back n the pack.
Ah, a woodsman's vanty, tsk...tsk!
It seems so ong ago I was takng to C.|. about how anythng other than "earth tone"
browns woud get me ked n 1781. It s hard to beeve I had to expan those
choces |ust four or fve years ago.
|ust for fun, here s the predcton for what w be comng nto fashon next: dark
powder horns. The sub|ect of the coor of orgna horns s a trcky one, and the
experts do not a agree on what the honey yeow and amber and yeowsh-orange
coor of survvng horns means. Some say amber dye, some say a reacton wth the
ntrates n the contaned back powder, and some say t s a natura yeowng process
akn to edery peopes' toenas turnng yeow wth age.
The type of dary cows common n coona Amerca generay produced a whte or
yeowsh-whte horn most of the tme. On occason, a greensh-gray and a drty
amber coor horn can be found.
We tend to have a somewhat statstcay fawed vew of orgna powder horns. That
s because the ma|orty of survvng horns of the 1750-1800 era are "speca" horns.
By "speca", I refer to the fact that fancy, scrmshaw horns (arght "engraved") tend
to have a hgher survva rate than pan, everyday, common "ugy" utty powder
horns. I woud guess that s because they have greater vaue to ther owners, have
greater vaue to reatves and descendants, and have greater vaue to coectors.
Athough there are a handfu of engraved horns other than whte or yeowsh-whte, a
"whte" horn made a better "canvas" to show off the engravng. And, even among
"unengraved" Perod powder horns, whte or yeowsh-whte horns domnate because
those were the type of horns ready avaabe both from the farm and from the horn-
seers n the ctes.
For hunters and scouts, and more so for scouts than hunters, the consderaton of
earth tone coors for cothng and gear s an obvous one: f the Indan or anma sees
you frst... Last weekend, I was standng behnd a nne foot ta trunk of a rotted tree.
The ght coors of the rotten wood, punk wood, and st frm wood seemed to
"absorb" the coors of my wanut dyed huntng shrt, smoked and greased bran-
tanned eggngs, and the browns of the varous oed and greased eather bets and
straps. Chameeon-ke, I fet and ooked ke the tree I eaned aganst. Save for a
yeowsh-whte powder horn. Yet, the ght coored horn was sandwched between my
rbs and ebow, sandwched between the wanut dye nen of my sde and seeve, Not
of much concern consderng how much coud be seen. But st, the brghtest thng
about my person was my face and hands, and then my powder horn.
In my sma coecton of orgna powder horns, I have an ugy greensh-gray one
engraved wth bands of "X's" and a sma pan horn that s a murky shade of greensh
brown, the coor of fresh manure. To my woodsman's eye, I thnk I woud have
preferred ether the "green" or the "brown" coored horns to the drty whte one I
carred. Havng n mnd to make a coupe or three new horns, I am tempted to try to
fnd, or make, a manure brown horn next, ts greensh-browns offerng the chance to
emnate one more thng that coud catch the sharp eye of a watchng warror.
Normay, I w, when hunkerng down and hdng n ambush, pu my dark brown hat
down over my face to present as tte ght coor skn as possbe. I remember beng
descrbed by an observer as I stood beow the skyne on a rdge above the Caron
Rver n Pennsyvana. I was tod that the ony thng that dd not bend nto the dead
eaves and browns of the forest foor was the whte of the buckta n my hat. I
dumped the buckta...
In the art of steath and ambush, you need a the edge you can get.
*$A#P*
I had |ust fnshed puttng a coatng of bear's grease on the red and brown staned
skn sde of a scap, and wped the surpus from my hands on the 14 nches of smooth
back har. I worked some grease nto to the raggedy ookng scarf-skn tes, shfted
the trade beads, ad|usted the two sver rng brooches, and put the scap on the
workbench.
Sas Ramsey and I had gathered fve such scaps to see f t coud be done. Our vson
was to recreate scaps wth a proper 18th century favor, to museum quaty, that
woud be ndstngushabe from orgnas.
There was no way that such a pro|ect coud be undertaken to "fake" a scap. I had
seen attempts by rendezvousers usng back horse har, but a had faed: because
horse har utmatey can ony ook ke horse har. At Mansker's Staton, we sped
some scaps that Ken Scott, the master rec pouch maker, was seng. Ken had gued
"cumps" of rea human har to rea anma skn, and dsgused the gue efforts wth an
artst's cever sk wth pants, tnts, and washes. Handsome though they were, the
ma|orty ooked ke cumps of har gued to a eather or skn backer.
Coud we do better, and mprove upon the dea? We had access to rea human har n
whatever engths we wanted. We had access to a range of bran-tanned and rawhde
deerskn. We had experence wth the boody skns and matted har of anmas. We
had experence wth pants, dyes, washes, and tnts, and, through the kndness of |m
Dressar, we had had experence wth rea scaps. Confdent, we were sure we coud
succeed.
The sub|ect of the hstory of scapng has been covered many tmes. Whe dong
some sght research to answer a queston about the Brtsh scap "ndustry" at Fort
Detrot under "Har Buyer" Henry Hamton, we had wanted to check on the eaborate
"codng" system deveoped by the Brtsh.
The purchasng of scaps by the Brtsh, at Fort Detrot and Fort Nagara, was a
gruesome aspect of Border Warfare, but on a ong standng coona Amercan
practce. The somewhat repusve practce was a day occurrence on the fronter, and
somethng as casua to some red and whte men as pung a dandeon from our yard
s to us today.
The exact number of scaps taken and sod s ost to hstory, and I have to wonder
what happened to those thousands of scaps. Were they ost, destroyed, burned, etc.
when the savagery of the fronter was past and the ancestor of potca correctness
made those recs undesrabe?
The Archer famy, of whch my wfe s a descendant, were Indan fghters and scap
takers. Archer chdren were ked and scaped by Indan raders. Mchae Archer's
sster, |ane, was scaped durng the attack on the Archer/ McCeand cabn. She
survved by crawng under some bed covers, and recovered. She ater marred Henry
Church, had a number of chdren, and ded young around 1814 (?).
There s some confuson concernng the rates of exchange at Nagara for scaps and
rates of exchange for prsoners. Some accounts gve the rate at $5 per scap but $10
per prsoner. Some at $8 per scap, some $10. The key s that a hgher rate was pad
for a ve prsoner than a scap, whch may have been the Brtsh way of easng ther
conscences a tte bt. It dd not take the Indans to reaze that t was ess work to
send a scap to Detrot than t was to escort a ve prsoner there. When Dane Boone
surrendered the sat-makers to the Shawnee at the Bue Lcks, there was a counc to
see f the Shawnee woud |ust go ahead and k them or take them back. Hstory
suggests t was a cose vote...
It aso dd not take the Indans ong to reaze that the whtes had more har than dd
Indan warrors. A warror's scap conssted of a three to four nch "crce" of har
aowed to grow nto a ong "scapock" that was styed accordng to the whms and
noton of the owner. A whte, on the other hand, had a fu head of har that coud be
removed by crcumscrbng a cut around the head. Then, the fu scap coud be
dvded n haf, or thrds, and the profts doubed or trped!
Perhaps to aevate ther conscences, and more key to prevent "scap fraud," the
Brtsh deveoped an eaborate system of codng so that scaIps coud be read as to
occupaton, sex, and age of the prevous "owner!"
It was a ong hau to Fort Detrot from the ower Oho Country where the trbes ved.
Scaps were usuay coded, bunded together n 90-100 scap bundes, and then 8-20
of these bundes were shpped. A usua shpment coud contan at east 700 scaps.
(When Robert Rogers entered the Abenak town of Odenak, he counted over 600
whte scaps fyng over the counc ground).
Athough t s not known, t woud appear as though the eaborate scap codes were
done for statstca reasons by the Brtsh, or perhaps they actuay had a monetary
breakdown set up to pay dfferent rates for dfferent types of scaps. Dfferenta
payments do not seem to appear n the od accounts, so I woud have to assume
scap codes were a "demographc" study.
Four nch hoop panted back = Soder
Four nch hoop panted red = A man other than a soder
Four nch hoop panted green = Od person
Four nch hoop panted bue = Woman
Two nch hoop panted green = Boy
Two nch hoop panted yeow = Gr
Two nch hoop panted whte = Baby
Skn panted red = 0ffcer
Skn panted brown = Farmer ked n a house/cabn
Skn panted green = Farmer ked n a fed
Skn panted whte = Baby
Skn panted yeow = Gr
Skn panted wth red tears = Mother
Har braded = Wfe
Skn wth a back spot = Ked by a buet
Skn panted wth a red hoe = Farmer
Skn panted wth a back ax = Setter
Skn panted wth a back tomahawk-n-the center = Ked wth a tomahawk
I wonder what happened to the two-nch hoop panted yeow of |ane Archer?
6acob Dickert
|Ths artce came wth a set of vews of a Dckert rfe. I chose not to copy these, as
there are many such sets found n the varety of magaznes and books found n the
typca back powder shooter's home brary.--Lou|
Probaby more recorded nformaton has been found concernng |acob Dckert than
any other eary gunsmth. A compete and nterestng study coud and shoud be
made on hm even though t mght be dffcut to gather suffcent rfes together to
show hs stye. He worked over a ong perod of tme, and probaby produced a great
many rfes, but hs work s now extremey rare.
There are many records of |acob Dckert n the Moravan Church of Lancaster,
Pennsyvana. A very fne artce about hm by Henry Kauffman appeared on pages
348 and 349 of the Apr 1952 magazne "Antques". There s a great dea of
nformaton pertanng to |acob Dckert and hs gunsmthng n the two voumes of U.
S. Ordnance by Ma|or |ames E. Hcks. These are probaby |ust a few of many avaabe
sources of nformaton.
We know that Dckert was born n Mantz, Germany, n 1740. He came to Amerca
wth hs parents and setted n Berks County, Pennsyvana, n 1748. Hs famy moved
to Lancaster n 1756. In 1764 he marred |ohnanneta Hofer who was born n York
County n 1746. |acob became a ctzen of Pennsyvana and the Kngdom of Great
Brtan n 1765.
In 1776 |acob Dckert and |ohn Henry, another Lancaster gunsmth, bought ground
and but a borng m n Manhem townshp, Lancaster County. When |ohn Henry ded
n 1779, Dckert bought the other haf of the borng m from Henry's wdow for 250
pounds.
|acob Dckert probaby made rfes for the Contnenta Army durng the Revoutonary
War, but the frst known contract between Dckert and the Unted States s dated
1792. Dckert, together wth Peter Gunter and |ohn Groff (aso of Lancaster),
contracted to furnsh rfes for a rfe battaon that was beng estabshed n the
Unted States Army.
In 1787 |acob Dckert's daughter Anna Mara marred |ames G, a merchant of
Lancaster. On |uy 1, 1795, ths very nterestng advertsement appeared n the
Lancaster paper:
)ickert and 6ill, at their new Store, in Kueenstreet, in the well known dwelling
house o said )ickert, in the borough o 9ancaster, are now opening
a general assortment o resh +:'45&8)%S: or sale, the particulars whereo
they think unnecessary to insert, as they latter themselves that the (uality and
prices o their goods, with a desire to please, will induce a discerning and generous
public to avor them with a share o custom.
&ny person desirous o a supply o articles in the 6J8-S+%*5 line, may depend
upon being well suited, as said )ickert, by having orty years e!perience in that line,
is enabled to give all possible satisaction. 5e carries on the 6un-smith business as
usual.
&ny particular orders they may be avored with in their line, will be attended
to with e!pedition and punctuality.
8. $. *hey, have just received an additional assortment o large and elegant
9ooking-glasses. 2uly >, >?E@.
Ths ndcates that n 1795 Dckert was n the genera merchandse busness wth hs
son-n-aw |ames G. G ded the foowng year. One grandson, Ben|amn G,
apparenty apprentced wth Dckert and ater became hs partner n the gunsmthng
busness. (I have two rfes sgned "Dckert and G.") Ths advertsement reveas
another fact about Dckert's fe. It states that he had had forty years experence n
the gunsmthng busness. Snce ths statement was made n 1795, we know that
Dckert began hs apprentceshp about 1755 when about ffteen years of age. I tend
to beeve that he served hs apprentceshp n Lancaster, but snce hs famy moved
n 1756, he may have apprentced n Berks County before movng to Lancaster.
On August 21, 1799, |acob Dckert advertsed n the Lancaster |ourna for two
thousand musket ocks and barres to fuf another mtary contract. In 1801 Dckcrt
and Matthew Lweyn contracted wth the State of Pennsyvana for one thousand
muskets of the Chareve 1795 pattern. In 1807, the wdow of |ames G (Anna Mara
Dckert) marred Matthew Leweyn. By September 7, 1810, ony nne hundred of
these muskets had been devered to the State, and Dckert had to promse to suppy
one hundred more.
|acob Dckert ded n 1822. An nventory of hs "goods and chattes" was taken March
22, 1822, by Chrstopher Gumpf and |onathan Fotz. At east one of these men,
Chrstopher Gumpf, was aso a Lancaster gunsmth. Some tems ncuded n ths very
ong nventory are:
15 rfes @ $9.00 = $135 5 muskets @ 1.80 = 7.50
1 rver gun and foung pece 3.00 1 rfng bench 1.00
1 ot gun barres 2.00 1 rfe barre 3.00
1 1ot brass mountng 2.00 1 box brass 1.00
1 gun ock 1.87-1/2 1 1ot mods 1.50
1 ot ron mountngs .75 1 shot mod .25
Athough these tems prove |acob Dckert's actvty n the gunsmthng busness, the
fact that no gunsmthng toos were sted suggests that he was not actuay makng
rfes at the tme of hs death.
"U. S. Ordnance" contans a great dea of correspondence between the Unted States
government and |acob Dckert reatve to varous contracts for frearms. Many of
these contracts are not n Dckert's name aone, but ncude two or three other
gunsmths of Lancaster. Aso, there are a number of papers n the Nnth Seres of the
Pennsyvana Archves, whch report that Dckert made arms for the State of
Pennsyvana. A ths eads to the concuson that Dckert operated a arge busness.
I beeve that |acob Dckert probaby produced Kentucky rfes as an ndvdua, from
the tme he fnshed hs apprentceshp, unt he became a partner wth |ames G n
the mercante busness. Durng that tme, he possby had a number of apprentces.
After that perod he probaby operated on a arger scae, wth empoyed hands to
actuay make the guns. I beeve that few rfes of the true Kentucky type were made
by hm personay durng ths ater perod. Ths s an assumpton whch I cannot prove,
but n genera, hs sgned rfes appear to have been made durng the earer perod. I
rather beeve that ater on he devoted hs tme to merchandsng n hs store, and
supervsng the fufment of government contracts. Consderng the ong tme Dckert
was n busness, sgned rfes by hm are scarce.
There s a noton, prevaent among wrters, that |acob Dckert speed hs name a
number of ways. I beeve they have confused hs name wth Dreppard or some other.
I have aways seen "Dckert" on rfe barres, and, Henry Kauffman, who ocated a
great dea of ths nformaton, has never seen a varaton of hs name n documents.
In addton to busness, |acob Dckert had many other actvtes. He subscrbed to the
Phadepha and Lancaster Turnpke-one of the frst great hghways but n Amerca
and fnshed about 1790. When the turnpke was extended to Mddetown,
Pennsyvana, Dckert was one of the managers of that enterprse. He served on
varous commttees of the Moravan Church, and for more than forty years was one of
the workers or servers at ther Love Feasts. The church record says "hs death was
due to od age," and hs obtuary n the Lancaster Integencer decares that he
"sustaned the character of an honest man, a good ctzen, and an exempary
Chrstan."
Much more study shoud be done on |acob Dckert, for he was a very mportant fgure
n eary Kentucky rfe makng n Pennsyvana. I beeve he greaty nfuenced the
makers of hs perod and the rfe n genera. I do not consder hm one of the most
artstc gunsmths, but he s one of the earest makers for whom recorded data has
been found n any quantty. Wth effort we may some day be abe to recognze guns
by hs apprentces.
No. 19 s an eary specmen of |acob Dckert's work. It s engraved "|. Dckert" on the
barre n scrpt. Between the nta and ast name there s a tte ova touch mark of
an Indan tomahawk crossed wth an arrow. Ths charmng deta occurs occasonay
and possby often on Dckert's work and ndcates ts earness. Indan decoraton of
any type s generay found on fary eary guns. The dasy patch box has very smpe
upper and ower pates and very smpe engravng. Ths rfe has a thck heavy stock,
a fat butt pate, and a fary hgh comb. It s stocked wth very pan mape. The ten
sver nays ncudng the star on the cheek pece ndcate the perod foowng the
cose of the Revoutonary War. I do not beeve that many guns wth sver nays, and
especay guns wth as many as ten peces of nay, were made unt after the
Revouton. The carvng on ths rfe s extremey smpe n desgn and s ony ncsed.
Ths s a good specmen of |acob Dckert's work, whch s, as I have sad before, far
from pentfu.
No. 20 s another exampe of |acob Dckert's eary work. Ths gun aso has a fat butt
pate, thck heavy stock, hgh comb, and a dasy patch box. It s engraved "|. Dckert"
on the barre. The mape stock s reatvey pan. The carvng s a good smpe desgn
n reef.
One of the two sver nays on ths rfe s a star on the cheek pece. Ths type of
eght-ponted star was a wdey used carry-over from a star of smar desgn
sometmes nad on German rfes n horn or bone. It s generay consdered the
earest nay found on Kentucky rfes. Athough the outne of ths star was n
common use, the engravng may be a characterstc deta of- Dckert's work. Notce
the smarty n the engravng of the stars on No.19 and No. 20.
Severa detas on the patch boxes of No. 19 and No. 20 aso ndcate |acob Dckert's
work, I beeve. The pyramd-ke deta fed wth cross-hatchng between the two
screws cose to the hnge on the head of the patch box s very smar on both rfes.
He aso engraved a three-obed deta cose to the hnge on the patch box ds of both
guns. These detas probaby dentfy the work of Dckert or one of hs apprentces.
They are aso found on rfes by |acob Haeffer. The tte deta engraved around the
patch box atch and the carvng n front of the patch box mght aso ndcate |acob
Dckert's hand.
TH" $APTIIT, %2 6%HN &c$1##%1)H 789:;78:<
"+ahoning lay on the rontier, as they had evacuated all their towns to the north o it
when the war commenced. Shortly ater the commencement o the war, they
plundered a lanyard near to 3ittsburgh, and carried away several horseloads o
leather; they also committed several depredations along the 2uniata; it happened to
be at a time when the small-po! was in the settlement where they were murdering,
and the conse(uence was, a number o them got inected, and some died beore they
got home, others shortly ater; those who took it ater their return, were immediately
moved out o the town, and put under the care o one who had had the disease
beore. %n one o their e!cursions, they took some prisoners-among them was one o
the name o $eatty, whom they beat unmerciully when they took him to +ahoning;
they set him to make bridles or them, ,that is, to ill old bits,- o the leather they took
rom 3ittsburgh; he appeared very cross; he would oten run at the little ellows with
his knie or awl, when they came to look at him where he was at work; however, they
soon took him o to 4&=-&-5&W-6&, a town not ar distant rom 9ake :rie.
We remained in +ahoning till shortly ater the memorable battle at $ushy 'un; we
then moved to 4&=-&-5&W-6&; the day beore we got there they began to be alarmed
at $eatty#s behavior; they held a council and agreed to kill him, lest he should take
some o their lives. *hey led him about ity or si!ty perches out o the town, some
walking beore and some behind him; they then shot him with arrows. % went out the
evening ater we got there, along with some little ellows, to see him; he was a very
disagreeable sight to behold; they had shot a great number o arrows into his body-
then went o and let him e!posed to the verminD
*he same year that $eatty was taken, H:*-*00-5&-9:8) was the +0=-&-S005-
W5:S:, or oreman, o a party consisting o nine %ndians; they came to a house
where there were two men and a woman who had killed a hog, and had a large pot o
water on the ire, making ready to scald it-H:*-*00-5&-9:8) rushed into the house-
the rest stopped at the outside; he sei"ed the woman and shoved her out o the door,
and told the rest to take care o her; one o the men broke out o the house and
made o, whilst the other catched hold o H:*-*00-5&-9:8) by the arm, and
endeavored to put him into the pot o boiling water, shoving him back to the corner o
the house, where two guns were standing-he said he re(uently called on the rest to
come in to assist him, but none o them would venture in. *he man was constantly
looking about, either or assistance or rom ear o the rest o the %ndians; he
thereore, ater he was almost e!hausted, watched his opportunity, and suddenly
putting his hand up behind the man#s back, and catching hold o his (ueue, jerked his
head back, by which means he got his other arm disengaged, and drew his *%+-+&-
H::H-4&8, or tomahawk, and knocked him on the head. $ut, to his great
mortiication, when he came out, he ound the woman he had shoved out o the door
lying dead and scalped.
We stayed but a short time in 4&=-&-5&W-6&, then moved across the country to the
orks o the +00S5-H%86-0086, ,+uskingum,- which signiies clear eyes, as the river
abounds with a certain kind o ish that have very clear eyes; rom thence we took up
the west branch to its source, and rom thence % know not where.
8othing remarkable happened during our peregrinations, e!cepting that we suered
by hunger, it being in the Winter; we sometimes had to make use o the stems o
turkey (uills or ood, by running them under hot embers till they would swell and get
crisp. We have subsisted on gum bark, and sometimes on white plantain; by the
greater part o our time on a certain kind o root that has something o the
resemblance o a potato.
%n the Spring we returned to the west branch o +00S5-H%86-0086, and settled in a
new town, which he called H*&-50-9%86, which signiies a place where roots have
been dug up or ood. We remained there during the Summer. Sometimes in the
Summer, whilst we were living at H*&-50-9%86, a great number o %ndians collected at
the orks o +00S5-H%86-0086; perhaps there were three hundred or upwards; their
intention was to come to the settlements and make a general massacre o the whole
people, without any regard to age or se!; they were out about ten days, when the
most o them returned; having held a council, they concluded that it was not sae or
them to leave their own towns destitute o deence. 5owever, several small parties
went on to dierent parts o the settlements; it happened that three o them, whom %
was well ac(uainted with, came to the neighborhood o where % was taken rom-they
were young ellows, perhaps none o them more than twenty years o age-they came
to a school house, where they murdered and scalped the master and all the scholars,
e!cepting one, and a ull cousin o mine. % saw the %ndians when they returned home
with the scalps; some o the old %ndians were very much displeased at them or killing
so many children, especially 8::3-3&J65-W5:S:, or 8ight Walker, an old chie o 5al
Hing-he ascribed it to cowardice, which was the greatest aront he could oer them."
From Chares McKnght's OUR WESTERN BORDER IN EARLY PIONEER DAYS, 1875,
Chcago: Educatona Company 1902 avaabe as a facsme reprnt by Hertage
Books, Inc. Bowe, MD 1993
Taking It %ne *te0 2art!er+ T!e .Trekking. P!enomena As #iving History and
"/0erimental Arc!eology Part III
Last month we took a bref ook at the deveopment of expermenta archeoogy and
ts more-or-ess forma hstory and deveopment. Ths tme around we thought to take
a ook at the deveopment of the "trekkng" phenomena and how t has affected the
backpowder hobby.
"Expermenta archeoogy" was somethng peope were dong ong before the term
became popuar, and I woud have a very hard tme gvng credt to any one
ndvdua or group for that popuarty. St, there s consderabe dsagreement on
what the term means, and from the vared appcatons t can be seen that there s
wde varaton n what t s and how t works.
If there s one aspect of expermenta archeoogy that has changed over tme, I woud
have to say that t s the area of context. On the basc end, f you pck up a pece of
fnt and chp a spear or knfe pont-that s expermenta archeoogy. On the compex
end, f you go about creatng a 1761 or 1781 hstorca envronment as to purpose,
dress, toos and weapons, food-stuffs, speech, and actvtes-that s aso expermenta
archeoogy.
In the past few years, there has been a rush by backpowder groups and ndvduas
to get on the bandwagon of expermenta archeoogy. In smpe terms, |ust puttng on
poyester copes-of hstorc cothng and wakng up and down the ases of a craft-
show s beng presented as "expermenta archeoogy" by some peope these days. In
most respects, though, they are rght. Expermenta archeoogy can be bref and
sma, or t can aso be compex and arge n scope. Lteray any anachronstc
happenng wth a reconstructed rec of the past IS actuay a form of expermenta
archeoogy strpped of ts scence.
Does the strppng of the forma methods of scence dmnsh what s, or s not,
expermenta archeoogy? Can expermenta archeoogy be for "fun" or shoud t be
for academc purposes aone? The obvous answer s that you do not have to be a
coege professor conductng a precse experment to practce some of the eements
of expermenta archeoogy.
What separates the practtoners of expermenta archeoogy from vng hstorans
from reenactors from hobbysts s the depth of the actvty more so than the eve of
academc research that s obtaned as an end resut. Some do t for the fun, others for
what they can experence and earn, and others n a quas-academc fashon
performng ther own brand of expermentaton, dscussng data and resuts, and
sharng the resuts verbay or n the popuar hobby-reated press or newsetter
format.
By the defnton of "expermenta archeoogy" we have come to use, there s no
defntve "date" or startng pont to wrte about that I know of. There s, however,
what seems to be a number of ndependent ntatves takng pace n dfferent areas,
at dfferent tmes, by dfferent peope. Bascay, that means the research s used to
ustrate the manner n whch toos and weapons were used n the Past and then the
too or weapon recreated for use n a controed hstorca settng appcabe to the
artfact. Meanng the cothes and equpment of an 18th century hunter are recreated
and taken nto the woods to be used.
The combnng of research wth the "aboratory" of an hstorca envronment s what
makes expermenta archeoogy what t s. Granted, the defnton has evoved away
from the dschargng of a backpowder gun or the smpe wearng of a costume at a
park, far, or reconstructed fort ste. As a resut, we have seen the practce "evove"
more than |ust "begn" at some pont n tme.
The dea occurred to me n 1982 at the end of Bcentenna of the Amercan
Revouton. I had aways had an nterest n Rogers' Rangers snce 1968, and when I
"earned" about backpowder n 1973 t seemed a natura bend of hstory and hobby.
After havng "reenacted" the 2nd Company of Rogers' Rangers from 1973 to 1982, I
came to the desre of havng wanted to appy the hstory of what Rogers dd to the
"woods" and "woodsks" he dd them n. Seepng n a canvas tent outsde of Fort
Nagara was great reenactng fun, but I had a desre to seep on the tra n wderness
settngs nstead of marchng and bowng smoke at reenactments.
But there was a bg guf between what hstory knew of Rogers' Rangers and what I
needed to have to create a hstorcay accurate unform wth ts gear and weapons.
To that end, I combned the hstory n the form of accounts and perod wrtngs wth
the archaeoogca fnds from Ranger stes. St comng up short, I used hstorca
archeoogy to f n the mssng gaps from Perod Brtsh army practces suppemented
by artfacts and recs.
A sma number of peope across the country were btten about the same tme, and
those ndvduas were branchng off of the we-mown awns of forts and away from
the canvas tp's of rendezvous to take ther nterests nto the woods. And so t
became somethng of an "underground movement" of sorts. We orgnay caed them
"scouts" because that s what-they were caed n Rogers' Rangers' day. I reay do not
what other peope caed ther "functons" at that tme. We |ust knew them as
"scouts," and they seemed so natura and rght.
And then came a new wrter, who woud become somethng of the "natona
spokesman" for somethng caed "trekkng" n 1986. Mark Baker's "Pgrm's |ourney"
features n MUZZLELOADER proved that somethng had changed n the hobby
between 1984 and 1986. More and more peope were ookng for that bend of
research and appcaton we have come to abe as "trekkng,'' "perod trekkng," or
"hstorca trekkng." Lke t or not, the term "trek" and "trekkng" stuck, perhaps
because t took a new name to descrbe-the more-or-ess "new" actvty and such
oder terms such as "scout" |ust dd not seem to work. Say that you are gong
"trekkng" and t conveys a certan menta pcture. Say that you are gong "scoutng"
and peope thnk you are on your way to a Boy Scout camp. Oddy enough though, we
have started to refer to our "treks" as "scouts" once agan.
There are a handfu of peope across the country who have taken thngs one step
farther through ther own efforts and persona accompshments, and the nature of
"expermenta archeoogy" has been formed and reformed as our knowedge of the
Past and fe n the past mproves. That book, or that chapter n that book better st,
s watng to be wrtten...
The thrust of those ntatves was the concept of takng the hstory out of the books,
out of the rendezvous cuture, out of the "shoots" cuture, and carryng t nto the
woods to experence frst-hand eements and aspects of "what t was ke." The desre
to experence a porton of "what t was ke" probaby fueed much of the passon for
research and documentaton that has come to dentfy "serous trekkng," "vng
hstory," or "expermenta archeoogy.'' An addtona ayer was added n the form of
research and documentaton not ony of actvtes but aso of basc cothng, gear, and
equpment.
That process s a ong story n and of tsef. What started out as a desre to experence
more and more hstorca actvtes through smuaton and dupcaton moved nto the
ream of wantng more "vrtua reaty" added to the growng mx of eements that
separate vng hstory from reenactng and rendezvousng. That vrtua reaty was n
the form of accoutrements that had to be researched and documented, as we as
panstakngy crafted to museum quaty standards.
That was (s) a domno effect, as the need or desre for better research and better
museum quaty artces ed to ncreased research nto the matera cuture of the
18th century. As the process evoves, prevous standards and accepted practces or
"norms" fa by the waysde. For exampe, cast stee beng repaced wth hand-forged
ron, or RIT chemca dye beng repaced by natura vegetabe dye such as wanut or
sumac dye, or sewng machne sttchng beng repaced by hand sttchng. And, as the
domnos fa forward, n the past year or two, that desre has evoved nto the ream of
dupcatng the hand-made technoogy of the 18th century n the form of excusvey
hand-forged, hand-grown, hand-spun, hand-sewn, hand-tanned, hand-woven, etc.,
etc. and a of the eements of a hand-made matera cuture.
And ast, but not east, vng hstory and expermenta archeoogy are combnng to
create "pro|ectons" or hstorcay crafted and recreated envronments where such
eements as "frst person mpressons" and "personae" open bref wndows nto fe n
the Past from the perspectve of rea peope havng to dea wth the soca, potca,
and economc events of hstory as part of the recreated envronment. And, the more
the process evoves and refnes tsef, over and over, the "coser we are abe to come
to fe n the 18th century.
Expermenta archeoogy and vng hstory as expressed n the "trekkng" phenomena
s now deveopng aong two parae nes of growth:
1. Museum quaty as the "standard" wth researched and documented cothng and
gear beng repcated wth 18th century technoogy.
2. Efforts to structure and create a hstorca envronment or "aboratory" where 18th
century "events" or happenngs can be experenced, can be reacted to, and can be
expressed n terms of the soca, potca, economc, and cutura eements of the day.
Perhaps a catchword for ths process s "re-experencng" rather than "re-enactng."
The trpe combnaton of museum quaty gear, Perod knowedge and sk or craft,
and hstorca pro|ecton work together to aow us to examne fe n the 18th century
from the perspectve of cothng and gear, actvtes, tasks, and chores, and fnay
actng and reactng, makng decsons, and undertakng courses of acton a based on
how a hunter, scout, or spy woud have had to make the same decsons n the 18th
century.
If I had a crysta ba to ook nto, and coud make an attempt to see the future of
vng hstory, expermenta archeoogy, or perod trekkng, I woud have to say that I
see two thngs happenng:
1. Research and documentaton w progressvey become more and more accepted
thereby ncreasng the genera eve of hstorca accuracy or "hstorca fathfuness"
across the hobby. More and more peope w "buy n" to the concept of R&D meanng
more craftspeope w produce better R&D artces for sae, AND that demand w
contnue to provde more and better sources of nformaton and reference.
2. "Events," "functons," "happenngs," treks," "scouts," "encampments," whatever
w graduay become more structured and controed so as to be more ke "tme
warpng" or hstorca smuatons or tme capsues than they are now. Pro|ecton w
become a more popuar too for researchng the Past, and more peope w "go out
nto the woods" under a gven scenaro or purpose than |ust those who "go out n the
woods" and do the same thngs they do at rendezvous. Perhaps rendezvous and
reenactments w move towards more pro|ecton and ess "rendezvous cuture" as
what peope want out of ther hstorca "hobby" becomes better defned and better
apped to hstory.