Sunday, September 30, 2018

Knapsacks and Rucksacks



 
Hand Book for Boys, 1953



Author's noteThis is an older article that I wrote in 2008, I hope that you enjoy it. 

A pack is, basically, a large bag with attached shoulder straps.  There are many different types of packs, all made for different uses.  For day trips or times when you will not need to carry a large load, knapsacks or rucksacks are best.  A pack should contain everything that you need, except what goes in your pockets and in one hand.


Backcountry Camping, 1972
Knapsack is from the German word ‘knappsack’ and originally meant a sack carried on the back of a boy, or soldier.  A knapsack is rarely used for long trips or heavy loads.  It is usually used for day trips.  A knapsack is a boxlike bag, and many knapsacks have pockets sewed on the outside for carrying frequently needed items.  A knapsack should be about the width of your back and can be in various lengths or depths, depending on the load that you intend to carry. 




Backcountry Camping, 1972
Rucksack is a German word meaning back sack.  Rucksacks were originally used by mountaineers, skiers and hunters and are still used by anyone who needs their arms and shoulders to be unrestricted or whose balance shifts constantly.  It is usually used for day trips.  Many rucksacks, just like knapsacks, have pockets sewed on the outside for carrying frequently needed equipment






Wearing a Knapsack

The points of suspension of either a knapsack or rucksack should be near the neck.  This relieves the pressure on the back muscles and applies it directly down along the spinal column to the legs.  This brings the pressure over the strongest part of the shoulders, where it will cause the least discomfort.

A knapsack should be loaded so that it weight is high and close to the shoulders, it should not extend above your shoulders or below your belt. 

On Your Own in the Wilderness, 1958  
Note the bottom of the rucksack is resting on the small of the back and hips
Rucksacks should be carried low and tight against against the small of the back.  With a rucksack, you should let out the shoulder straps so that the bottom of the pack rests against the small of your back and hips, with more than half of the weight resting on your hips.  This way the full weight of the knapsack is not felt on your shoulders and your center of gravity remains low enough to assure good balance.



Packing a Knapsack

All heavy packs are uncomfortable to some degree or the other; the important thing in carrying a pack is to make your pack as comfortable as possible. 

A great deal of unnecessary discomfort can be avoided by carefully arranging the items that are packed into the knapsack.  When you pack a knapsack, make sure to place blankets, spare jackets or sweatshirts and other soft articles in first, next to your back, as a pad.  The part of the knapsack that is against your back should be as wide and as soft as possible.  Pack hard objects on the outside away from your back.  Also, place items on the bottom of the pack that will be taken out last or not needed often.  Place frequently needed items on the top; generally your raincoat or poncho, flashlight, first aid kit, drinking cup would be on the top.  Be sure to adjust the weight of the items so that the pack will hang on your shoulders evenly and not be lopsided.  Also, be careful that heavy objects are packed so that they will not shift and cause the knapsack to become lopsided. 



How much to Carry
 “…an ounce in the morning is a pound before night…” Horace Kephart

Military studies have shown that the ideal load for a soldier is 22% of the soldier’s body weight, with a comfortable sustainable load being 30%.  Studies have also shown that soldiers should not carry any more than 45% of their body weight.

Heavy loads not only increase fatigue, but will also decrease the distance a hiker can hike. 








Tips and Tricks

Almost every outdoorsman carries a small cloth ditty bag, near the top of his knapsack or in an outside pocket.  This catchall helps keep all of the little things that you may need along the trail organized.

Matches should either be, waterproofed with clear nail polish or paraffin, or kept in a waterproof container.  A cheap, but sturdy container is a Ziploc® style, 1 quart freezer bag.

A candle and tinder should be kept in a Ziploc® style, 1 quart freezer bag to be used to start fires, when it is wet or when other tinder sources are absent.  I put replacement tinder and kindling that I collect as I hike, in a waterproof bag that closes by folding over: that way if there is any residual wetness in it, it can dry inside my pack; this prevents condensation from accumulating in the bag and precipitation from re-wetting it. 

Food should be packed in Ziploc® style, 1 gallon or 2.5 gallon freezer bags, depending on whether the meal is for two or four people, one bag for each meal. 

For overnight trips, all food and “smellables” should be put in a separate cloth bag or in a pack and hung from a tree as a “Bear Bag”, to keep it safe from animals.


References:

Bill Riviere, Backcountry Camping, (Dolphin Books, Garden City, NY [1972]), p. 13-30

Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft: A handbook for Vacation Campers and for Travelers in the Wilderness; 1921 (University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville [reprinted 1988]), Vol II, p. 122-129

Lt. Col. Raymond A. Millen USA, Command Legacy: a Tactical Primer for Junior Leaders of Infantry Units, (Brassey’s, Inc, Washington D.C. [2002]), p. 151

Headquarters, Dept. of the Army, FM 21-18 Foot Marches, (Washington, DC, [1990])

Boy Scouts of America, Hand Book for Boys, (New York, NY, [1953], p. 142-144

Col. Townsend Whelen and Bradford Angier, On Your Own in the Wilderness, (Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, PA, [1958]), p. 50

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

You Are Never Lost, Only Misplaced…©

The only portrait of Daniel Boone, painted from life, by Chester Harding in June 18201



Daniel Boone when he was eighty-four, was asked by Chester Harding if he had ever been lost on one of his long hunts as he did not carry a compass, he answered "I have never been lost, but I was once bewildered for three days"2. 

You are in the woods, nothing looks right, and you have started going through the S.T.O.P. acronym: you have stopped and sat down, thought, and then realized that you don’t know where you are or how to get back to where you were.  The next thought that you have might be the most important one you ever have.

For years I have taught that, YOU ARE NEVER LOST, ONLY MISPLACED, because misplaced things are found, lost things are not and that is scary.  The reason that this distinction is important, is that in the woods, PANIC kills, and sometimes word games make all of the difference in your ability to deal with “wood shock” and panic.

So decide that you are misplaced, not lost and finish S.T.O.P., by organizing and planning for your “unexpected overnighter”.  Hopefully, you have thought ahead and have a survival kit or at least some of the 10 Essentials in your pocket.  If so your unexpected adventure will be more comfortable, if not it will be harder and next time you go out into the woods, I hope that, you will be better prepared.

Things to remember:

1.      Keep yourself calm by singing, whistling or even telling yourself jokes or stories. Do anything it takes to make yourself feel better.  Use your imagination to pretend you are somewhere else that you really enjoy.

2.      You usually do not have to worry about wild animals; they do not like to be near people.  If they hear or smell you, they will usually run away.

3.      If you hear a noise in the woods, a good rule is “Answer a Noise with a Noise”, so make noise back.  If it is an animal, it will run away, if it is a searcher then you are found.  So blow your whistle if you have one, and you should always have one if you go into the wilderness, sing your favorite song, bang a stick on a log or a rock, or shout.

4.      Remember that nothing changes just because the sun goes down and it gets dark.  The fear of dark is easily overcome by memorizing your surroundings while it is light so that you can see with your memory when it gets dark. 

If you are a young person, remember that even though your parents have told you “not to talk to strangers”, there are “Friendly Strangers” who will help you if you are "misplaced".  Searchers are safe to talk to, even though they are strangers, because just like a police officer in the mall, they “work there”, in the woods looking for people.  In addition, “Friendly Strangers” usually work in groups and wear a uniform.  If you are a young person, also remember that your parents are not going to be mad that you were misplaced.  They are going to be happy when you are found!

So, it is okay if you become disoriented in the woods, misplaced people just have to wait to be found and even woodsman as great as Daniel Boone become “bewildered” from time to time.
Notes:

1 Wikimedia, “Unfinished Portrait of Daniel Boone”

2 Margaret E. White, Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist Drawn By His Own Hand,

References:

Wikimedia, “Unfinished Portrait of Daniel Boone”, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Unfinished_portrait_of_Daniel_Boone_by_Chester_Harding_1820.jpg, (accessed 9/21/2018)


Friday, September 21, 2018

Sap Is Really Sticky….



 
The author’s toiletries bag

Did you ever feel like you missed the memo?

I spend a lot of time in Algonquin Provincial Park and one thing that I have noticed is that there are a lot, A LOT, of pine trees there.  Where there are pine trees, there is SAP!  A lot of sap and every last bit of it is sticky, and it doesn’t wash off and it gets all over everything…did I mention that sap is really sticky!

So anyways, I am in the middle of the park when a guide friend of mine says, “Oh by the way, isopropyl alcohol gets pine sap off”.  I am left thinking “What? How did I not know this, did I miss the memo…”.

Now at least half of you are saying to yourself right now, “Wow, I can’t believe he didn’t know that”.  The rest of you are saying, “What? I didn’t know that”.

To get pine sap off your skin, rub some alcohol or hand sanitizer on your skin until it loosens and then rinse it away.  If it has gotten on your clothes or your sleeping bag or tent, carefully scrape the sap away (or put it into a freezer, if it fits and one is available) and then rub alcohol on the remaining spot with a cotton ball or rag and rinse thoroughly and wash as usual.

So, the hand sanitizer that you keep in your toiletries bag, with the toilet paper and the benzyl chloride baby wipes, actually does double duty.  It will get your hands, oh, so germ free and it will remove that really sticky, impossible to get off by any other means, pine sap.

References:

Eddie Carrara , “How To Remove Tree Sap From Anything”, https://dengarden.com/cleaning/removepinepitch, (accessed 9/15/2018)

Katie Herrel, “How Do I Get Sap Off My Gear?”, https://www.backpacker.com/gear/how-do-i-get-sap-off-my-gear, (accessed 9/21/2018)

“How to Clean a Tent”, https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/how-to-clean-a-tent.html, (accessed 9/21/2018)





Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Tips, Hints, Hacks and Wrinkles



 
Reprinted from Forest and Stream: A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun, 1904


We all know what tips and hints are, but hacks and wrinkles, what’s that!  Is it a disease, can I catch it when I am in the woods?!

Well, no, and hopefully, yes.  Tips, hints, hacks and wrinkles are simply different words to describe the same thing: advice, helpful suggestions, a clue, expert information  or knowledge of a way of doing something that is infrequently written down and can only be learned by experience, hopefully someone else’s experience.



I hope that you keep reading my blog, because I am an avid collector of hints, tips, hacks and wrinkles, and on these pages I will share them with you.

References

Forest and Stream: A Weekly Journal of the Rod and Gun, Volume 62, No. 18, April 30, 1904, (Forest and Stream Publishing Co.: New York, NY [1904]), p 358, reprinted in https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUYhAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA358&dq=wrinkles+tips+camping+woods&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMi62Up8DdAhUFY6wKHa5XD-QQ6AEILTAB#v=onepage&q=wrinkles%20tips%20camping%20woods&f=false, (accessed 9/16/18)

Friday, September 14, 2018

Getting Lost…Comfortably

Found on page 288 of the PDF



Found on page 289 of the PDF


Found on page 290 of the PDF


If you have spent any time in the woods, then you have at one time or the other thought that you were lost.  In most cases, after sitting for a moment and thinking, you realized that you were simply disoriented and that you knew where you were, and you went on your way.

The article “Getting Lost…Comfortably” by Neal Plantz is an article from 1979, however the steps it suggest you take when you realize that you are not disoriented, but are indeed lost, or as I prefer “misplaced”, in the woods are timeless and are still taught by survival experts today.

Mr. Plantz wrote that an experienced outdoorsman, upon finding himself disoriented, would sit down, have a cup of coffee, think, relax and consider his situation and attempt to orient himself.  Today we use the acronym, S.T.O.P. to describe what Mr. Plantz suggests an experienced outdoorsman should do. 

The acronym S.T.O.P. stands for Stop/Sit, Think, Organize and Plan. 
Stop/Sit, the first and most important thing an outdoorsman needs to do, is to stay calm, to close his eyes and take a few deep breathes, and NOT PANIC!  If you panic in the wilderness then you will become a statistic, unless you are very lucky.  You need a clear head and panicking never accomplishes anything, it just makes everything worse.  A simple rule to remember is.  IF YOU PANIC, YOU DIE!
Think, what is the situation?  What is my location and how did I get here?
Observe, what do I have on me that I can use?  What is around me in the environment that I can use?  How late in the day is it now?  What is the weather like now and what is it going to be like in the next few hours?
Plan, what should I do first?  Create a plan and priorities to deal with the emergency and then act upon the plan.

The author recommended creating and carrying a pocket survival kit containing two garbage bags to be used an emergency shelter, matches and a candle, so that you can get a fire going.  He also recommended that you carry a light plastic tarp, nylon line, a compass, a canteen, extra food and a knife.  These are all on the 10 Essentials List, and are things that you should always carry when you are in the wilderness.

This is an excellent article on how to turn a scary “lost” situation into a comfortable “misplaced” event and should be required reading for all people new to the outdoors.

This article is available at the web address below:

Neal Plantz, “Getting Lost…Comfortably”, Missouri Conservationist, September 1979, Volume 40, Number 9, (Harmony Printing Co.: Sugar Creek, MO, [1979]) 28-29, reprinted in

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Survival On Land And Sea, 1944




Survival On Land And Sea was a survival manual prepared for the U.S. Navy by the Ethnographic Board and the staff of The Smithsonian Institution, in 1944.  It was written for sailors and aircrew who might find themselves in the wilderness of the arctic, the jungle or the vastness of the ocean.  While it is an older book, it is still an excellent research tool and covers a wide variety of topics. 







I personally found that the section on how to use the sun and stars to find direction was very useful.







This book can be found, occasionally, on the used book market.  Since it can be difficult to find, here is the web address where an electronic version of this book can be found.


Saturday, September 8, 2018

…First Time In Algonquin…


The other day, I was paging through Survival In The Wilderness, a book that I had bought as a memento of my first time in Algonquin Provincial Park, and out fell a folded, yellow scrap of paper. 

When I looked at that yellow piece of paper, the years fell away to July 1978: we were canoeing from Kiosk (today called Ki-Osh-Ko-Kwi) Lake to Canoe Lake via Cedar Lake and the Pe-Ta-Wa-Wa River.  We had stopped at the Kiosk Ranger Station before getting on the water and in the pamphlet rack was a stack of yellow “How to Survive in the Woods” flyers.  I took one, carefully folded it and tucked it into the survival book that I had purchased at Algonquin Outfitters the day before, put it in my gear and got on the water; I was thirteen.


Fast forward to the present and the tips printed in the flyer, while dated, are still true today.  The first and most important is – DON’T PANIC – this is so important it is both the first and last tip given.  It advises that you always carry waterproof matches, a knife, high-energy food, pocket first aid kit, compass and map, all of which are on the 10 Essentials list.  While bug repellent, snare wire, fishing line and hooks are not on our modern 10 Essentials list, the snare wire and fishing line could also be used to build an emergency shelter.  The flyer advises the reader not to wander aimlessly, but to find a clearing and build a shelter and a fire before it gets dark. 

Today these tips are still important to remember if you have an unexpected overnight in the woods.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

A Wolf Passed By….©

Archer Bay, Ragged Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, Google Satellite 

This summer I took my family to Algonquin Provincial Park and camped on Ragged Lake, on a point of land that separates South Bay from Archer Bay, for a few days.  On the evening of our second day there, my daughter and I took a walk along the sandbar that all but closes off the entrance to the swamps of Archer Bay.  We found moose tracks stomped into the peat of the swampy area nearest the headland, and on the shore of the sand bar near a grove of trees, separating Ragged Lake from Archer Bay, we found evidence that a wolf passed by1.


Wolf scat on the shore of Ragged Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, photograph by the Author.


An excerpt from the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide: Animal Tracks, Figure 41, Wolf Scat, p. 87


This wolf had apparently fed well in the days before it had trotted down the shore of Ragged Lake, and left behind its scat, because the scat was full of hair and chips of bone.  It had been some time since the wolf had come and gone, because the scat was mostly weathered away.

 

Unfortunately, this was the only sign of wolves that we saw during our stay in Algonquin.  As usual in the woods, the only sign you see of animals is the tracks and scat they leave behind.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

Notes

 

1 Later that same evening, about 10 yards from our tent, we found a second pile of scat, also weathered and old and filled with hairs and bone fragments.

 

References:

Murie, Olaus J., Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide: Animal Tracks, [The Easton Press, Norwalk, Connecticut, 1974]

 

Satellite picture of the Archer Bay area of Ragged Lake, ON https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ragged+Lake/@45.48346,-78.6306997,393m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4cd5e8427a361175:0xc65d657f50724d6!8m2!3d45.4602896!4d-78.655622, accessed September 5, 2018

 


Monday, September 3, 2018

“…whether Indians or white men had now gone by...”


Authors Note: This is the first part of a two part series of related articles and was originally published by the Journal of the Early Americas, Volume III, Issue I, March/April 2013, p. 6.  A follow-on article called "...we must here mention that there manner of walking differs from that of white men", found [HERE].

In addition, in this increasingly politically correct world, I felt it wise to emphasize the following disclaimer: George Henry Loskiel, writing in 1794, stated that European colonists were called “white people…thus the Europeans and their descendants are called in America, to distinguish them from the Indians”. I will use this terminology throughout the article, in keeping with the conventions of the colonial and post-colonial era.
Several months ago I was reading, “The Escape Of McKean’s Scouting Party In Otsego County”, in Josiah Priest’s Stories of the Revolution; when I was struck by several passages,which went as follows:

…we discovered the track of a white man1, which was easily distinguishable from that of an Indian.

…After having squatted a long time, our Captain rose up and beckoned us together, stating that he would go alone to the path and endeavour to discover whether Indians or white men had now gone by and how many there were.

…Accordingly he did, and followed on till he came to a wet spot; he soon returned, saying, they are Indians, and not less than fifty in number

…this very hour fifty-four Indians and tories have called here to tarry all night…” 2

These passages raised two questions for which I had no answers.  Exploring these questions brings to light some interesting facets of colonial North American life, and in particular some details about 18th century methods of tracking.  Additionally, having the answers to these questions would make Josiah Priest’s account of McKeen’s scouting party all the more intriguing, as we would understand how and why Captain Robert McKeen3 and his rangers came to the conclusions that they did, and also what they actually saw when they studied the first and second set of tracks.

Firstly, why were the tracks of white people easily distinguishable from those of Indians?  And secondly, if the tracks of white people were so easy to distinguish, why did Captain McKeen mistakenly think that the party that had gone by had been made up of only Indians; when in fact it had been made up of both Tories and Indians? 

So why did Captain Robert McKeen and his rangers find that the tracks of white people were so easily distinguishable from those left by Indians?

Trackers can determine many things from the tracks that a person leaves behind.  Tracks can tell a tracker such things as the direction the person was travelling, whether the person was walking, running or carrying a heavy load, and how many people had passed by.  A geography written in 1807, noted that Indian trackers could discover from the tracks left behind, the time since the tracks had been made, the sex, the stature, and the tribal nationality of the person who had made the tracks.4

During the 18th century, the type of tracks that a person left, whether they were made by shoes or were made by a moccasins or shoepacks, would give a tracker clues as to that person’s ethnicity, whether they were white people or Indians, and in some cases their nationality, whether they were of British or French origin. 

Because of the heels, shoes leave tracks that are different from those left by moccasins and shoepacks: shoes leave a two piece track, with a gap between the heel and the rest of the shoe.



Shoe tracks, photographed from personal experimentation





Shoe tracks, drawn from personal experimentation


Moccasins and shoepacks are a type of heel-less foot covering, shoepacks were described as being “…a kind of half shoe and half moccasin…”.5. Doddridge described shoepacks as being fashioned like a moccasin, except that “To the shoepack a sole was sometimes added…”.6

Because both are heel-less, moccasins and shoepacks leave a one piece track that shows the imprint of the whole foot.


Center seam moccasin tracks, photographed from personal experimentation





Center seam moccasin tracks, drawn from personal experimentation


Prior to the 17th century, European shoes typically did not have heels; shoes with heels became fashionable because of King Louis XIV of France, who reigned during the late 17th century.  King Louis was a very short man, who was obsessed with fashion and in particular with shoes.  He took to wearing shoes with heels to make himself appear taller.  The well to do and the nobility quickly adopted this royal fashion and the poorer classes followed.  The fashion of wearing shoes with heels spread throughout Europe and her colonial dependencies and was firmly established by the 18th century, where by the end of the century shoes with heels had become the norm for both men and women.7

Because the wearing of heeled shoes was a European fashion, if a tracker found shoe tracks, then it was a strong indication that a white settler had passed by. 

That 18th century trackers distinguished between the tracks that shoes made and those that moccasins or shoepacks left, when guessing the ethnicity of the person who made the tracks, is clearly shown in the passages below.

On June 10th 1778, at a settler’s house, near present day Muncy, Pennsylvania three white settlers were either taken captive or killed during an Indian raid.  Colonel Hosterman, when describing the results of the attack, clearly differentiates between the tracks made by moccasins and the tracks made by shoes when he described the scene of the attack. 

“…near the House, saw several mockasen & shoe tracks…8

On May 21st, 1791 Joseph Cutter was taken captive by Indian raiders near Cincinnati, Ohio.  He was the only white settler taken captive during the raid and it appears from the account, that the Indians were clad in moccasins, while he was wearing shoes.  The trackers in the rescue party were able to spot the differences between the shoe tracks and the accompanying moccasin tracks and noted that the person leaving the shoe tracks had lost a shoe.  Apparently they had already found one of Cutter’s shoes and that is how they knew that he was still with the raiding party, as their captive.

They soon were able to distinguish Cutter’s tracks, in consequence of his losing one of his shoes; and discovered also, that the Indians were equal to themselves in number. 9

In the account of the 1793 capture of Major Goodale in Ohio, the tracker distinguished between the tracks shoes made and the tracks that moccasins made when determining the fate of Major Goodale.

“…The tracks of two Indians with mocasins on, and those of the Major with shoes on, between the Indians’ tracks, showed the manner in which he was led off into captivity.”10

The fact that it was the print of the heel that made the track of a shoe clad white settler easily distinguishable, from that of a moccasin clad Indian, for the 18th century tracker can be seen in the account of the capture of Mrs. Glass.  Samuel Kercheval, writing about the results of an Indian raid in western Virginia on March 27th, 1789 in which Mrs. Glass was taken captive, describes how the heel mark of her shoe was the characteristic that set the shoe track apart from all the other tracks:

Mr. Glass could distinguish the track of his wife by the print of the high heel of her shoe. 11

The shape of the shoe tracks, also gave the 18th century tracker clues as to the nationality of the person who had left the tracks: the French wore shoes with sharp, narrow toes and based on the Fort Ligonier finds, the British typically wore shoes that had wide, rounded toes12.  The first person accounts below show how 18th century trackers used the shape of the track to determine the nationality of the person who had passed by.

Captain John Knox, writing during the Canadian campaigns of 1757 to 1760, implied that the tracks left by shoe wearing Frenchmen, were different from the tracks left by shoe wearing Englishmen.  He also noted that there were a clear differences between these shoe tracks and the tracks left by moccasins.

“…we came upon human footsteps: some had the impression of a Moggosan, or Indian slipper; and others a sharp-toe’d shoe, with a high short heel; these last, as our guide informed us , are what are usually worn by the French regulars, and sometimes by Canadians,…13

William Thompson, writing from Fort Littleton, Pennsylvania, on August 17th, 1756 also noted the difference between moccasin tracks and shoe tracks.  He noted that the tracks left by shoe wearing Frenchmen were noticeably different from the tracks left by shoe wearing Englishmen.

“When viewing the Place where they Indians were supposed to be, found Tracks, and following them down the Creek the [sic] Increased to a Larger Number, and Several Shoe Tracks with Narrow Toes being among them, there is no doubt both French and Indians are in the Gang.”14

When Captain McKeen and his Rangers first saw “the track of a white man 15 it would appear that what they saw were tracks made by someone wearing shoes.  This is the only way that the tracks would have been easily distinguishable from those made by a moccasin clad Indian.  In fact, Captain McKeen and his Rangers believed that the tracks belonged to a Tory named Regnal, who lived on the east side Otsego Lake near its outlet,16 and who might have seen them pass by at the beginning of their scout.

Secondly, if the tracks of white people were so easy to distinguish, why did Captain McKeen, after studying the tracks at the wet spot, conclude that the raiders that had passed them on the trail had consisted of only Indians, when later on a witness confirmed that the raiding party had been made up of both Indians and Tories?

When the tracks that had been left behind had been made by moccasins or a shoepacks, then there were fewer clues left behind for the 18th century tracker, since both Indians and white people wore moccasins and shoepacks.  That 18th century trackers had difficulty in determining the ethnicity of the person who was wearing moccasins or shoepacks is clearly shown in the following first hand accounts.

Colonel Adam Stephen, writing from Fort Cumberland, on September 27th, 1755, stated that by wearing something other than shoes, the tracks that his scouts made when on patrol would go unrecognized by French and Indian trackers as being made by white people.

“The Indians discover our Parties by the Track of their Shoes.  It would be a good thing to have Shoe-packs or Moccosons for the Scouts.” 17

Even Daniel Boone, who was recognized as an expert tracker, had difficulty determining the ethnicity of a moccasin or shoepack clad person.  This is shown in a letter written by Colonel Williams from Boonesborough on January 3rd, 1776 where he describes the aftermath of an Indian ambush that took place on December 23rd, 1775 and that had been investigated by Colonel Boone.

“…could make no other discovery than two mockisson tracks, whether Indians’ or not, could not be determined.” 18

So what did Captain McKeen actually see when he went back to the trail to discover who had gone by and “followed on till he came to a wet spot…”,19 where he would have found clear, well defined tracks? 

It is obvious that the tracks he saw were not made by shoes, since if they had been shoe tracks; he would have correctly concluded that they had been made by white people.  Instead, what Captain McKeen must have seen in the mud of the trail were tracks that had been made by people who were all wearing moccasins or shoepacks. 

In fact, the party that had passed them by on the trail had been made up of both Indians and Tories, but due to the difficulty in distinguishing between moccasin tracks made by Indians and those made by moccasin clad white people, he mistook their ethnicity, when he guessed that the entire raiding party was made up of Indians. 

So, now we understand more about the practices of 18th century trackers and their ability to gather information from the tracks left behind.  Also, we now know what Captain McKeen and rangers actually saw when they came upon the first and second set of tracks and why they came to the conclusions that they did: this is what makes Josiah Priest’s account of “The Escape Of McKean’s Scouting Party In Otsego County” all the more intriguing.

Notes

1 George Henry Loskiel, writing in 1794, stated that European colonists were called “white people…thus the Europeans and their descendants are called in America, to distinguish them from the Indians”.  I will use this terminology throughout the article, in keeping with the conventions of the colonial period.

George Henry Loskiel, History of the Mission of the United Brethern among the Indians in North America, (London, printed by John Stockdale [1794]), 3 Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=BGUFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=%22thus+the+Europeans+and+their+descendants+are+called+%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oLggT4r6G6rd0QGr5rzvCA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22thus%20the%20Europeans%20and%20their%20descendants%20are%20called%20%22&f=false (accessed October 13, 2011)


3Josiah Priest misspelled the Captain’s name in his account, it is actually spelled McKeen

Franklin B. Hough, editor, Diary of the Siege of Detroit, (Albany: printed by J. Munsell, [1860]), 250-251. Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=wMMTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA251&dq=%22Robert+Mckeen%22+%22cherry+valley%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5zQaT8v9HqGy0AG8_eXhDQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22Robert%20Mckeen%22%20%22cherry%20valley%22&f=false (accessed July 25, 2011)

4 “They perceive the track of a foot on the smoothest grass, and on the hardest substance.  From the track they discover, with amazing certainty, the nation, the sex, the stature of the person who has passed; and the time that has elapsed since the track was formed.”

A Literary Society, A System of Geography, Vol. I, (Trongate; Glasgow; printed by Niven, Naples and Khull [1807]), 202. Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=vSYwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA202&dq=%22they+perceive+the+track+of+a+foot%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1TYaT6OyPKTx0gGTzKDMCw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22they%20perceive%20the%20track%20of%20a%20foot%22&f=false (accessed December 7, 2011)

5 James Bradley Finley, Autobiography of Rev James B. Finley: or, Pioneer Life in the West, (Cincinnati, printed by R. P. Thompson, [1853]) 74. Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=HCIFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA74&dq=%22a+kind+of+half+shoe+and+half+moccasin%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iTcaT73mGubr0QHnx7CaCw&ved=0CFkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22a%20kind%20of%20half%20shoe%20and%20half%20moccasin%22&f=false (accessed June 6, 2011)

6 Rev. Dr Joseph Doddridge, Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia & Pennsylvania, from the year 1763 until the year 1783 inclusive, (Wellsburgh, VA; printed at the office of the Gazette, [1824]) 144 Reprinted in http://www.archive.org/details/notesonsettlemen00dodd  (accessed July 26, 2011)

7 Anthony G. Randolph, Jr., The Analysis and Conversation of the Belle Footwear Assemblage, (A Thesis submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A & M University, [December 2003]), 75-77. http://anthropology.tamu.edu/papers/Randolph-MA2003.pdf (accessed August 16, 2011)

8 Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives, Volume VI, (Philadelphia, printed by Joseph Severns & Co., [1853]) 590. Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=Y3AFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA590&dq=%22near+the+house,+saw+several+mockasen%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qDkaT56eHNK60AG9hPXNCw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22near%20the%20house%2C%20saw%20several%20mockasen%22&f=false (accessed April 14, 2011)




12 Of the 63 shoes discovered at the Fort Ligonier archeological investigation during 1960-1965, where the toe tip could be identified from the sole, 44 shoes or 69% of the discoveries were described as having wide, rounded toes.  Of the remaining 19 shoes, 22% or 14 shoes were described as having wide, square toes. 

Jacob l. Grimm, Archeological Investigation of Fort Ligonier, 1960-1965, (Pittsburgh, PA, Annals of Carnegie Museum, [1970] 105, 135.

13 Capt. John Knox, An Historical Journal of the Campaigns in North-America Vol. I, (London, printed by W. Johnston, [1769]) 81. Reprinted in http://www.archive.org/details/historicaljourn_01knox (accessed October 19, 2010)



16 “…we discovered the track of a white man, which was easily distinguishable from that of an Indian.  Immediately we felt assured that our plan was discovered, and did not doubt but it was by the vigilance of a tory named Regnal, who lived exactly where the house now stands which was built by the noted Bowers, at the foot of Otsego, on the east side.”

Ibid. 16.

17 Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, editor, Letters to Washington and Accompanying Papers, Vol I 1752-1756, (New York, printed by, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, [1898]), 99. Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=UoN6tkdByacC&pg=PA99&dq=%22The+Indians+discover+our+Parties+by+the+Track%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OogbT57pIqLz0gG5k-WmCw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Indians%20discover%20our%20Parties%20by%20the%20Track%22&f=false (accessed April 11, 2011)

18 James Hall, Sketches of History, Life, and Manners, in the West, Vol. II, (Philadelphia, printed by Harrison Hall, [1835]), 241-246. Reprinted in http://books.google.com/books?id=2ykVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA246&dq=%22could+make+no+other+discovery+than+two+mockisson%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DIkbT4qTI8PW0QHu9v2ZCw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22could%20make%20no%20other%20discovery%20than%20two%20mockisson%22&f=false  (accessed May 5, 2011)