Sunday, July 7, 2019

Being Bewildered and Bending the Map ©



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

  
Daniel Boone once famously said that “I have never been lost, but I was once bewildered for three days 2.  The distinction between “lost” and “bewildered”, that Daniel Boone made is a very interesting distinction, and it deserves to be explored.  How was he able to be “bewildered” for three days without becoming “lost”?  What is the difference between “bewildered” and “lost”?  Finally, what should modern 18th century reenactors and wilderness adventurers do to avoid becoming “bewildered”, or becoming “lost”?


Gentlemen’s Lexicon, or a Pocket Dictionary, 1835


The word “bewildered” in the late 18th and early 19th centuries had a different meaning then than it does today.  Then it meant confused, lead astray or turned around in the wilderness in a manner, that is similar to what today we would call disoriented, the first step towards Woods shock. 


The Five Stages of “Woods Shock”, drawn by the author.


“Disorientation” is the springboard into the five stages of Woods shock and becoming “lost” (for more on Woods Shock, please see “Getting Lost And What To Do About It”, Circa 1915”, HERE).  Woods shock is the term that describes the fear that can overcome people when they lose spatial orientation and become disoriented in the wilderness.  A loss of spatial orientation occurs when the physical world around us, no longer matches our preconceived notions and our mental model of the world.  This mismatch between the physical world around us and our mental model begins in the “disorientation” stage and leaps with us into the five stages of woods shock.

In the “disorientation” stage of Wood shock, people will begin to realize that they are confused and uncertain of where they are.  If you become disoriented, you can either, give into your fears, or you can S.T.O.P., take a couple of deep breaths, and keep your head. 

If you can keep your head, then you will be merely disoriented and “bewildered” or as I like to say “misplaced”.  By not giving into your fears, you are able to take positive steps to aid in your survival, like re-orienting yourself, building a shelter, gathering wood and lighting a fire, or drinking some water or eating something. 

If, on the other hand,  you give into your fears and begin to “bend the map”, frantically searching for any landmark that matches your mental map, trying to force the real world around you to correspond to your failed mental map, until you are hopelessly confused; you will be “lost”.  Bending the map results in the frantic hope that you will find a known landmark just around the bend of the trail or over the next ridge.  Once you have given into your fears and have bent the map, it gets harder and harder to unbend it and you will get more and more confused and panicky, until you are finally forced to admit that you do not know where you are.  Once a disoriented person panics, they are “lost” and will not be able to take any positive steps to aid in their survival and they have a very good chance of being found dead, by their rescuers, due to exhaustion, dehydration, hypothermia, anxiety, injury or even hunger.

When Daniel Boone spoke of being “bewildered for three days”, it is obvious, that he did not give in to his fears and instead he took positive steps to insure his survival, while he reoriented himself, and that was why he was merely “bewildered” and not “lost”.

Okay you say, Daniel Boone was one of history’s greatest woodsmen, what about us mere mortals, what can we do to keep from becoming “bewildered” and then “lost”?

First, before you head out into the wilderness, get a map and study it.  Study your map and then study it again, until you can see it in your mind.  During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when Daniel Boone was exploring the Middle Ground, if you had a map it wouldn’t have had much detail and many of the details it did have, were wrong: many parts of the map were simply blank.


“A Map Of The Middle States, Of America”, by J. Russell, 1794.  Note the blank area, which covers all of Western New York State, at that point in America’s history it hadn’t been mapped yet.  From www.mapsofpa.com


Today’s 18th century reenactors and wilderness adventurers are blessed with an excess of very accurate maps, however that doesn’t mean that it is easy to match the terrain you see, to what is shown on the map.  Many times what you see doesn’t look anything like the map, due to high or low water levels, blow-downs, etc.; so before you enter the wilderness, study satellite photos.  This will help to prevent “bending the map” because if you know what the area looks like from above, you will be able to match the world you see around you, to what you see on your map.

 
Ragged lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, from Jeff’s Map, Algonquin Provincial Park


Ragged lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, from Map data: Google, DigitalGlobe @ 2019



A close-up of Ragged lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, it doesn’t look anything like the map.  From Map data: Google, DigitalGlobe @ 2019


A close-up of Archer Bay, Ragged lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, it doesn’t look anything like the map.  From Map data: Google, DigitalGlobe @ 2019

A case in point would be 2017, when I canoed through Ragged Lake to South Bay looking for the portage into the next lake, I had a great deal difficulty matching what I saw from the canoe to the map I was holding and I became disoriented.  I had to take a couple of deep breaths and consult with my wife, who was steering the other canoe, before we were able to find the portage. 
Neither Archer Bay or South Bay look at all like they do on Jeff’s Map, as you can see from the satellite photos of Ragged Lake, and in particular the close-ups of both Archer Bay and South Bay.  The map of South Bay seemed to show open water, when what we saw was thick marsh.  This was compounded by the fact that we had been looking for Archer Bay, to use it as a landmark.  From the map, we expected Archer Bay to be an open bay, with an island in the center, when in fact what we saw was a marsh, blocked by a tree-covered sandbar and completely choked with vegetation.  When I got back to civilization and looked at Google Maps’ satellite photos, I decided that from then on, I would always study satellite photos before I leave for a wilderness adventure.  If I had thought to look at satellite photos before my trip, I would have known what to expect when I passed Archer Bay on my way to South Bay and the portage.  These days, because of the internet, modern woodsman can easily view birds eye, satellite pictures of the terrain they will be exploring, something that was unavailable to the late 18th and early 19th centuries explorers, or to anyone, quite frankly, until very recently: so look up satellite photos of the area that you will be exploring, before you go.

Chester Harding, the artist who painted the only portrait of Daniel Boone from life, in June 1820, noted that Daniel Boone never carried a compass with him on his long hunts.  However, just because Daniel Boone didn’t carry a compass, and most likely didn’t carry a map, with him on his trips into the wilderness, doesn’t mean that today’s 18th century reenactors and wilderness adventurers shouldn’t carry both a map and a compass.  As a matter of fact, it is a good idea to always carry two compasses, since one can get broken and more importantly, if you are disoriented and begin to panic, you might not believe a single compass, but you will believe two, when they are both pointing the same way. 

While you are exploring the wilderness, always look behind you at your back trail, as this will make it easier to recognize landmarks you have passed, if you have to reorient yourself and travel back out.

Most importantly, if you do become disoriented, and if you spend any time in the wilderness you will, remember that it is okay; even Daniel Boone was “bewildered for three days”.  Just stop and sit down, think, organize and plan and whatever you do, do not “bend the map’ and panic, because if you do you will be truly “lost”.

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and my videos at BandanaMan Productions and don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and if you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.

Notes

1  Wikimedia, “Unfinished Portrait of Daniel Boone”

2  Margaret E. White, Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His Own Hand, p. 48

3  Ibid, p. 48


Sources


Jeff’s Map, Algonquin Provincial Park, http://www.algonquinmap.com/, accessed 6/25/19

Map data: Google, DigitalGlobe @ 2019

“A Map Of The Middle States, Of America”, by J. Russell, 1794 http://www.mapsofpa.com/18thcentury/1794russell.jpg, accessed 6/9/19


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)


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