CAMP-LORE AND WOODCRAFT
THE BOOK OF CAMP-LORE
AND WOODCRAFT
BY
DAN BEARD
FOUNDER OF THE FIRST BOY SCOUTS SOCIETY
_WITH 377 ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR_
[Illustration]
GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING CO., INC.
GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY BEATRICE ALICE BEARD
_THE RIGHTS OF TRANSLATION ARE RESERVED_
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO
GEORGE DU PONT PRATT
COMMISSIONER OF CONSERVATION, STATE OF NEW YORK
SCOUT, SPORTSMAN AND OUTDOOR MAN
FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION
BOYS, if this foreword is too "highbrow" for your taste, skip it,
but the author don't believe you will, and even if he has used some
dictionary words he feels that you will forgive him after he tells you
that he did so only because of the lack of time to think up more simple
terms. What he wants to say is that....
_Boyhood_ is a wonderful and invaluable asset to the nation, for in the
breast of every boy there is a divine spark, materialists call it the
"urge of youth," others call it the "Christ in man," the Quakers call
it the "inner light," but all view it with interest and anxiety, the
ignorant with fear and the wise with understanding sympathy, but also
with a feeling akin to awe.
Those of us who think we know boys, feel that this "inner light"
illuminating their wonderful powers of imagination, is the compelling
force culminating in the vigorous accomplishments of manhood. It is
the force which sent Columbus voyaging over the unknown seas, which
sent Captain Cook on his voyage around the world, the same force which
carried Lindbergh in his frail airship across the Atlantic. Yes, it
is the sublime force which has inspired physicians and laymen to
cheerfully risk and sacrifice their lives in search of the cause of
Yellow Fever, Anthrax, Hydrophobia and other communicable diseases ...
no, _not_ for science but for
HUMANITY!
As a boy, the author dreamed of wonderful municipal playgrounds,
of organizations giving the boys opportunity to camp in the open,
of zoological and botanical gardens planned and adapted to the
understanding of youth. His busy life as a civil engineer, surveyor,
and work in the open gave him no opportunity to develop his dreams, but
at the end of a five year tour of the United States and Canada, made
over fifty years ago, he drifted into New York City and was shocked
beyond expression by the almost total lack of breathing spaces for our
boys, in the greatest of American cities. True, it then had Central
Park; but fifty years ago Central Park was out among the goats, only to
be reached by a long and tiresome horse car journey.
This lamentable state of affairs caused the writer so much real pain
and concern that he then and there inaugurated a personal crusade for
the benefit of the boys, a crusade with the avowed object of winning
for them the peoples' interest in the big outdoors.
The most difficult part of his task was to convince the men of the
swivel chairs that boys' leisure should be spent in the open; that the
blue sky is the only proper roof for a normal boy's playground; also
that the open spaces are the places where God intended young people to
live, work and play.
No great crusade, no great movement of any kind is one man's work,
nevertheless, every successful movement must have _one enthusiast_ in
the front rank, one who knows the trail and comprehensively envisions
the objective--_objectum quod complexum_. Others may and will join him,
and occasionally spurt ahead of the leader, like the hare in the fable,
but the enthusiast keeps right on just the same.
Pray do not understand by this that the writer claims that he alone is
responsible for this bloodless revolution. No, no, his propaganda work
did however win for him the moral support of the editorial staff of
_St. Nicholas_, _Youth's Companion_ and _Harpers_. Later he was openly
backed and encouraged by such distinguished sportsmen as President
Roosevelt, his chief forester Governor Pinchot, and his Chief of Staff
Major General Bell. While the stalwart men of the Camp Fire Club of
America worked hand and glove with him, all similar organizations
failed not in voicing their approval. Furthermore he was always helped
by his loyal friends of the daily press. Many famous writers lent their
influence, all working consciously or unconsciously to help the great
cause of boyhood.
The author only claims that, in all these fifty long years, he has
never ceased to work for the boys, never wavered in his purpose, and
now?--well, when he marched at the head of fifty thousand Scouts in the
great muddy outdoor Scout camp at Birkenhead, England, he realized that
his ephemeral air castles had settled down to a firm foundation upon
Mother Earth.
Yes, boys we have won a great victory for _boyhood_! We have won it
by iteration and reiteration, in other words, by shouting _outdoors_,
talking _outdoors_, picturing _outdoors_, singing _outdoors_ and above
all by writing about the _outdoors_, and constantly hammering on one
subject and keeping one purpose always in view. By such means we have
at last, not only interested the people of the United States in the
open, but stampeded the whole world to the forests and the fields. So
let us all join in singing the old Methodist hymn:--
"Shout, shout, we are gaining ground,
Glory, Hallelujah!
The Devil's kingdom we'll put down,
Glory, Hallelujah!"
The Devil's kingdom in this case is the ill-ventilated school rooms,
offices and courts.
It is well to note that the work in this book was not done in the
library, but either in the open itself or from notes and sketches made
in the open. When telling how to build a cooking fire, for instance,
the author preferred to make his diagrams from the fires built by
himself or by his wilderness friends, than to trust to information
derived from some other man's books. It is much easier to make pictures
of impractical fires than to build them. The paste pot and scissors
occupy no place of honor in our woodcraft series.
So, Boys of the Open, throw aside your new rackets, your croquet
mallets, and your boiled shirts--pull on your buckskin leggings, give
a war whoop and be what God intended you should be; healthy wholesome
boys. This great Republic belongs to you and so does this
BOOK OF CAMP-LORE AND WOODCRAFT.
DAN BEARD
Suffern, New York,
December first,
1930.
FOREWORD
HIDDEN in a drawer in the antique highboy, back of the moose head in
my studio, there are specimens of Indian bead work, bits of buckskin,
necklaces made of the teeth of animals, a stone calumet, my old hunting
knife with its rawhide sheath and--carefully folded in oiled paper--is
the jerked tenderloin of a grizzly bear!
But that is not all; for more important still is a mysterious wooden
flask containing the castor or the scentgland of a beaver, which is
carefully rolled up in a bit of buckskin embroidered with mystic Indian
signs.
The flask was given to me as "big medicine" by Bow-arrow, the Chief of
the Montinais Indians. Bow-arrow said--and I believe him--that when one
inhales the odor of the castor from this medicine flask one's soul and
body are then and forever afterwards permeated with a great and abiding
love of the big outdoors. Also, when one eats of the mystic grizzly
bear's flesh, one's body acquires the strength and courage of this
great animal.
During the initiation of the members of a Spartan band of my boys,
known as the Buckskin Men, each candidate is given a thin slice of the
grizzly bear meat and a whiff of the beaver castor.
Of course, we know that people with unromantic and unimaginative minds
will call this sentimentalism. We people of the outdoor tribes plead
guilty to being sentimentalists; but we _know_ from experience that old
Bow-arrow was right, because we have ourselves eaten of the grizzly
bear and smelled the castor of the beaver!
While the writer cannot give each of his readers a taste of this
coveted bear meat in material form, or a whiff of the beaver medicine,
direct from the wooden flask made by the late Bow-arrow's own hands,
still the author hopes that the magical qualities of this great
medicine will enter into and form a part of the subject matter of this
book, and through that medium inoculate the souls and bodies of his
readers, purify them and rejuvenate them with a love of the WORLD AS
GOD MADE IT.
DAN BEARD
June, 1920
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. FIRE MAKING BY FRICTION 1
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE-BOARD, BOW, DRILL AND THIMBLE. INDIAN
LEGEND OF THE SOURCE OF FIRE. RECORD FIRE-MAKERS. RUBBING-STICK
OUTFIT. ESKIMO THIMBLE. BOW, BOW-STRING, THIMBLE, FIRE-BOARD,
FIRE-PAN. TINDER, CHARRED RAGS, PUFF BALLS. FIRE-MAKERS
OF THE BALKAN. FIRE WITHOUT A BOW, CO-LI-LI, THE FIRE SAW.
FIRE PUMPING OF THE IROQUOIS. PYROPNEUMATIC APPARATUS
II. FIRE MAKING BY PERCUSSION 21
THE WHITE MAN'S METHOD, HOW TO USE FLINT AND STEEL. WHERE
TO OBTAIN THE FLINT AND STEEL. CHUCKNUCKS, PUNK BOXES, SPUNKS
AND MATCHES. REAL LUCIFER MATCHES. SLOW MATCH. HOW TO
CATCH THE SPARK. SUBSTITUTES FOR FLINT AND STEEL
III. HOW TO BUILD A FIRE 33
HOW TO LAY AND LIGHT A FIRE. AN EXPERIENCE WITH TENDERFEET.
MODERN FEAR OF DOING MANUAL LABOR. MATCHES. FIRE-MAKERS
AND BABYLONIANS. THE PALPITATING HEART OF THE CAMP. GUMMY
FAGOTS OF THE PINE. HOW TO MAKE A FIRE IN WET WEATHER. BACKWOODSMEN'S
FIRE. THE NECESSITY OF SMALL KINDLING WOOD. GOOD
FIREWOOD. ADVANTAGE OF SPLIT WOOD. FIRE-DOGS. HOW TO OPEN
A KNIFE. HOW TO WHITTLE, HOW TO SPLIT A STICK WITH A KNIFE.
BONFIRES AND COUNCIL FIRES. CAMP MEETING TORCH FIRES. EXPLODING
STONES. CHARACTER IN FIRE. SLOW FIRES, SIGNAL FIRES
AND SMUDGES
IV. HOW TO LAY A GOOD COOKING FIRE 53
A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ON SHORT RATIONS. THE MOST PRIMITIVE
OF COOKING OUTFITS. CAMP POT-HOOKS, THE GALLOW-CROOK, THE POT-CLAW,
THE HAKE, THE GIB, THE SPEYGELIA AND THE SASTER. TELEGRAPH
WIRE COOKING IMPLEMENTS, WIRE GRID-IRON, SKELETON CAMP
STOVE. COOKING FIRES, FIRE-DOGS, ROASTING FIRE-LAY. CAMPFIRE
LAY, BELMORE LAY, FRYING FIRE LAY, BAKING FIRE LAY. THE
AURES CRANE
V. CAMP KITCHENS 79
CAMP PIT-FIRES, BEAN HOLES. COWBOY FIRE-HOLE. CHINOOK COOKING
FIRE-HOLE. BARBECUE-PITS. THE GOLD DIGGER'S OVEN. THE
FERGUSON CAMP STOVE. THE ADOBE OVEN. THE ALTAR CAMPFIRE
PLACE. CAMP KITCHEN FOR HIKERS, SCOUTS, EXPLORERS, SURVEYORS
AND HUNTERS. HOW TO COOK MEAT, FISH AND BREAD WITHOUT POTS,
PANS OR STOVES. DRESSING SMALL ANIMALS. HOW TO BARBECUE
LARGE ANIMALS
VI. CAMP FOOD 101
HOW TO MAKE ASH CAKE, PONE, CORN DODGERS, FLAPJACKS, JOHNNY-CAKE,
BISCUITS AND DOUGHGOD. MAKING DUTCH OVENS. VENISON.
BANQUETS IN THE OPEN. HOW TO COOK BEAVER TAIL, PORCUPINES
AND MUSKRATS. CAMP STEWS, BRUNSWICK STEWS AND BURGOOS
VII. PACKING HORSES 23
HOW TO MAKE A PACK HORSE OF YOUR OWN. HOW TO MAKE AN
APAREJO. HOW TO MAKE A CINCHA. HOW TO MAKE A LATIGO. HOW
TO THROW A DIAMOND HITCH. HOW TO THROW A SQUAW HITCH. HOW
TO HITCH A HORSE IN OPEN LAND WITHOUT POST, TREE OR STICK OR
STONE. USE OF HOBBLES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM. HOW THE TRAVOIS
IS MADE AND USED. BUFFALO BILL AND GENERAL MILES. HOW TO
THROW DOWN A SADDLE. HOW TO THROW A SADDLE ON A HORSE. HOW
TO MOUNT A HORSE. HOW TO KNOW A WESTERN HORSE
VIII. THE USE OF DOGS. MAN PACKING 145
HIKING DOGS, PACK DOGS. HOW TO PACK A DOG. HOW TO THROW
THE DOG HITCH. HOW TO MAKE DOG TRAVOIS. DOG AS A BEAST OF
BURDEN IN EUROPE AND ARCTIC AMERICA. MAN PACKING. PACK RATS.
DON'T FIGHT YOUR PACK. PORTAGE PACK. GREAT MEN WHO HAVE
CARRIED A PACK. KINDS OF PACKS. ALPINE RUCKSACK. ORIGIN OF
BROAD BREAST STRAPS. MAKE YOUR OWN OUTFITS
IX. PREPARING FOR CAMPING TRIP 165
PORTERS OF THE PORTAGE. OLD-TIME INDIAN FIGHTERS AND WILD
ANIMALS. MODERN STAMPEDE FOR THE OPEN. HOW TO GET READY
FOR CAMP. CUT YOUR FINGER NAILS. GO TO YOUR DENTIST. GET A
HAIR CUT. A BUCKSKIN MAN'S POCKET. FLY DOPE. PROTECTION
AGAINST BLACK FLIES, MOSQUITOES, MIDGETS AND NO-SEE-UMS. THE
CALL OF THE WILD
X. SADDLES 183
HOW TO CHOOSE A SADDLE. EVOLUTION OF THE MEXICAN SADDLE.
BIRTH OF THE BLUFF FRONTED SADDLE. THE COWBOY AGE. SAWBUCKS
OR PACK SADDLES. STRAIGHT LEG AND BENT KNEE. NAMES OF PARTS
OF SADDLE. CENTER FIRE AND DOUBLE CINCH
XI. CHOOSING A CAMP SITE 196
'WARE SINGLE TREES OR SMALL GROUPS OF TREES. SAFETY IN WOODS
OR FOREST. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR GOOD CAMP SITES. CROSS
STREAMS WHILE CROSSING IS GOOD. KEEP TO WINDWARD OF MOSQUITO
HOLES. 'WARE ANTS' NESTS. HOW TO TELL WHEN WIND BLOWS. EVOLUTION
OF THE SHACK. HOW TO SWEEP. HOW TO MAKE CAMP BEDS.
HOW TO DIVIDE CAMP WORK. TENT PEGS. HOW TO PITCH A TENT
SINGLE-HANDED. HOW TO DITCH A TENT. USE OF SHEARS, GINS
AND TRIPODS
XII. AXE AND SAW 217
OUR GREATEST AXEMAN. IMPORTANCE OF THE AXE. WHAT KIND OF
AXE TO USE. HOW TO SWING AN AXE. HOW TO REMOVE A BROKEN
AXE HANDLE. HOW TO TIGHTEN THE HANDLE IN THE HEAD. ACCIDENTS.
THE BRAINS OF AN AXE. ETIQUETTE OF THE AXE. HOW TO SHARPEN
AN AXE. HOW TO "FALL" A TREE. HOW TO SWAMP. HOW TO MAKE
A BEETLE OR MALL. HOW TO HARDEN GREEN WOOD. HOW TO MAKE A
FIREWOOD HOD. HOW TO MAKE A CHOPPING BLOCK. THE PROPER
WAY TO CHOP. HOW TO MAKE SAWBUCKS FOR LOGS. HOW TO USE A
PARBUCKLE. HOW TO SPLIT A LOG. HOW TO USE A SAWPIT
XIII. COUNCIL GROUNDS AND FIRES 245
CHEROKEE INDIAN COUNCIL BARBECUE. CAMP MEETING COUNCIL
GROUND. THE INDIAN PALISADED COUNCIL FIRE. INDIAN LEGENDS
OF THE FIRE. STEALING THE FIRE FROM THE SUN-MAIDENS OF THE
EAST. MYTHS OF THE MEWAN INDIANS. TOTEMS OF THE FOUR WINDS,
FOUR MOUNTAINS AND FOUR POINTS OF THE COMPASS. IMPRACTICAL
COUNCIL FIRES. ADVANTAGES OF THE OVAL COUNCIL GROUND. HOW
TO MAKE AN ELLIPSE. HOW TO DIVIDE THE COUNCIL GROUND IN FOUR
COURTS. COUNCIL CEREMONIES. GHOST WALK AND PATH OF KNOWLEDGE.
WHAT THE DIFFERENT COLORS STAND FOR. PATRIOTISM, POETRY
AND AMERICANISM. CAMP MEETING TORCH FIRES
XIV. RITUAL OF THE COUNCIL FIRE 265
PROGRAM OF A COUNCIL FIRE. INVOCATION. THE PLEDGE AND CREED
OF ALL AMERICANS. APPEAL
CHAPTER I
FIRE MAKING BY FRICTION
HOW TO MAKE A FIRE-BOARD, BOW, DRILL AND THIMBLE
INDIAN LEGEND OF THE SOURCE OF FIRE
RECORD FIRE-MAKERS
RUBBING-STICK OUTFIT
ESKIMO THIMBLE
BOW, BOW-STRING, THIMBLE, FIRE-BOARD, FIRE-PAN
TINDER, CHARRED RAGS, PUFF BALLS
FIRE-MAKERS OF THE BALKAN
FIRE WITHOUT A BOW, CO-LI-LI, THE FIRE SAW
FIRE PUMPING OF THE IROQUOIS
PYROPNEUMATIC APPARATUS
CAMP-LORE AND WOODCRAFT