The Woodsman's Journal Online: January 2020

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Tracks and Tracking in the Winter ©

Photo by the Author.

Excerpts from A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, page 271 and page 296.

A lot of you enjoyed my article, “Who Came To Visit Me Last Night…” found HERE, and, “Who could it be?” found HERE. To help me identify the tracks in those two articles, I used A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes. Now, tracks and tracking in the winter can be a lot of fun; but just like you have to learn how to read, to make sense of those black marks on that white paper, you have to learn how to track, to make sense of what you see in the snow. Since when you are walking in the wilderness, you often only see a fleeting glimpse of an animal or bird; but their tracks will last for days, by following their tracks you can go back in time and follow them throughout their day!

I am a student of tracking, and by no means am I an expert: I don’t think if you ever get to “expert”, I think that you just practice for the rest of your life, like a doctor. One of the books that I used to begin my practice, and which I still study today, is A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes.

An excerpt from A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, page 274.

Now, tracking in the summer can be a bit difficult, especially if it has been dry; but in the winter, it is a different story. Winter is the best time to begin your study of tracking, not because the tracks are different in the winter than they are in the summer, spring or fall, but because there are more of them. In the fall, spring or summer you will only find tracks in muddy spots, near the water’s edge, or in other “track-traps”. In the winter the entire surface of the ground is a track-trap! So, winter is the perfect time to get out and learn how to track and Donald W. Stokes’, A Guide to Nature in Winter is the perfect textbook, so get a copy and get out there and start reading that snow, before it and the winter, all melt away!

An excerpt from A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, page 272.

But you ask, “Bandanaman why should I get this book and not some other one? There are a lot of books on tracking and tracking in the winter?” You are right and that is a good question, there are a lot of books out there on tracking: however, here is what I liked about A Guide to Nature in Winter.

This book is eight different field guides, all rolled up into one book. So, with this book you don’t only get a book on tracking, you get a book on snow, winter trees, insects, birds and abandoned nests and much more.

Each of the field guides make up a single chapter and each chapter is divided into three parts; a general information section; a section with an identification key, to help you identify what you see in the winter wilderness; and once you have discovered the name of the thing that you saw, a natural history section with detail information to tell you all about it. A Guide to Nature in Winter is written to specifically for the northeast and north-central parts of the United States and the southeast and south-central parts of Canada, but much of the information can apply to other areas just as easily.

However, today, I am only talking about the chapter on tracking. The field guide on tracking is general enough that you can use it outside of the northern United States or southern Canada, at least for common creatures, like squirrels, rabbits, dogs, etc.; and the basics of two-four-or-five toes, straddle and stride can be used in any environment to help you identify an animal by its tracks.

An excerpt from A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, page 297, showing one of the illustrations by Deborah Prince.

Also, the pen and ink illustrations by Deborah Prince are fantastic and there are 485 of them! They will make your study of tracking easier and much more fun.

Here are some excerpts from the chapter on tracking, found in A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, to whet your appetite.

Excerpts from A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, page 271 to 273.

Excerpts from A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald W. Stokes, page 280 to 283.

If you would like to begin your study and practice of winter tracking before your copy of A Guide to Nature in Winter comes in and before all the snow melts away, a section of the field guide on tracking can be found HERE, courtesy of Colorado University and Tim Kittel.

Another excerpt from a guide to tracking in the snow can be found HERE, it is from A Field Guide to Tracking Animals in the Snow, by Louise Forrest, 1988, and is also courtesy of Colorado University and Tim Kittel. However, a discussion about A Field Guide to Tracking Animals in the Snow, is a for another day and another article.

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 and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube, and 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!

Sources

Stokes, Donald W.; A Guide to Nature in Winter: Northeast and North Central North America, [Little Brown & Company, New York, New York, 1976] p. 271-296

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Winter Journeys, the Black River, in Foothills of the Adirondacks, Part ...

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Four ©

Photo by the Author.

It is snowing outside, and it is about 25^o F (-4^oC), not especially cold, but not very warm either. I am sitting here typing and drinking a cup of hot drinking chocolate that I made out of half a bar of Taza Chocolate® and I realized that when I was done researching and writing the first three articles (found HERE, HERE and HERE), I had a lot of really interesting stuff left over that just didn’t seem to quite fit anywhere and I didn’t want the information to be lost. So, periodically I will post these tidbits as a continuation of this series.

Notice the cocoa butter floating on the surface, this is why hot drinking chocolate was thought to be as much a food as a drink. Photo by the Author.

Perhaps you are a modern adventurer and want a tasty, filling cup of energy or maybe you are an experimental archaeologist and you want to take a bar of drinking chocolate, that is as close to late 18^th and early 19^th century authentic as possible, on your next trek. But you can’t find either Taza Chocolate® or American Heritage Chocolate® at a store near you and you don’t want to wait for an internet order to arrive. Can you make something that will be close to what they would have experienced? Yes, yes you can and here is how!

Photo by the Author.

To make a chocolate bar that is 95% cacao and is like Taza Chocolate® in sweetness, which is not that sweet at all, you will need unsweetened, 100% cacao, also known as baking chocolate and raw or turbinado cane sugar¹.

Photos by the Author.

First you must buy or make a mold to pour the melted chocolate into to harden. What I did to create a mold, was to use a razor knife to slice the back off the box that the baking chocolate came in. I found that I had to reinforce the corners with scotch tape, before I lined the box with aluminum foil. Lining the box with aluminum foil was trickier than you would think, because as you fit the foil into the corners of the box, you have to be careful not to tear it.

Photos by the Author.

For every ounce (30 grams) of unsweetened baking chocolate add between ¹/₃ to ½ teaspoon (1.5 to 2.0 grams) of raw sugar. I used a 4 oz. box of Baker’s brand unsweetened chocolate and 2 teaspoons (8.0 grams) of Sugar In The Raw, Turbinado Cane Sugar.

Photos by the Author.

First you must melt the chocolate, and to do that you can use either a double boiler or a microwave. If you use a double boiler (for instructions go HERE), don’t let the water boil and don’t allow any water to get into the chocolate or it will stiffen or become grainy: so, don’t cover the double boiler. I used a microwave (for instructions go HERE), but if you do, you have to be very careful not to burn the chocolate as burnt chocolate is apparently pretty awful, so don’t microwave for more than 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring each time the microwave turns off. I found that it took about 30 seconds for the chocolate to begin to melt and another 40 seconds for it to melt all the way.

Photos by the Author.

Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the turbinado cane sugar. Now if you want a flavor like that of American Heritage Chocolate®, you can also add cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, salt, or red pepper, to taste.

Photos by the Author.

The last step is to pour it into a mold and set it to one side to harden: I left mine to sit overnight.

Photo by the Author.

And you are done, you have an authentic late 18^th to early 19^th century chocolate bar that can still do solid duty in the 21^st century

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

Notes

¹ If you are a modern adventure and are just looking for a hot beverage that is as much food as drink, you can use plain granulated sugar, instead of going to the trouble to get raw sugar.

Sources

Nice, Miriam; “How to melt chocolate in the microwave”, [© Immediate Media Company Limited, 2020] https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-melt-chocolate-microwave, accessed 1/13/20

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Three ©

Photo by the Author.

As I mentioned last week, there is nothing better on a cold morning, in the wild parts of the world, than something hot to drink, and this week it is coffee! In last week’s article (HERE), I discussed tea and before that (HERE) drinking chocolate: this week I am going to talk about coffee.

When I am out in the woods with a group, I sometimes make a pot of coffee, over the fire, for everyone to enjoy. For myself, I always make a nice strong brew-up of tea, not because I don’t like coffee – I love coffee! – but unfortunately, over ten years ago, I developed a food allergy to coffee.

Now, it has always amazed me how few people know how to make coffee over a fire in this modern age of automatic drip, Keurig one-cup, instant and drive through windows! So if you are a reenactor of the late 18^th through the early 19^th centuries, or an experimental archaeologist, or just one of those poor unfortunates who don’t know how to make a pot of coffee over a fire; read on and learn how, so you can impress your friends with your mad coffee skills.

An excerpt from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1810, page 246

We all know that coffee is made from the dried, roasted, crushed and steeped berries of the coffee tree. But did you know that there are over 120 species of trees or shrubs in the coffea family, with only two species producing the entire world’s supply of coffee¹.

Coffee trees produce edible red or purple berries, which are high in caffeine. Inside these berries, which are sometimes called “cherries”, are, usually, two seeds called “coffee beans”, although they are not true beans. Coffee beans, after they are removed from the fruit, are dried and then shipped green to their destination for roasting and grinding, because coffee beans keep and travel best when they are green. Today, modern coffee drinkers, if they brew their own coffee, are accustomed to purchasing “freshly” roasted coffee that comes in a vacuum sealed and stabilized metal can² or plastic pouch at their local store.

Excerpts from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1810, page 247

Today coffee, at least in the United States is the number one hot drink. And what most of us don’t know, is that during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries coffee, at least in England and the United States, coffee was the third most popular hot drink; behind drinking chocolate and tea, in that order. Also, in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, coffee drinkers either drank ready-made coffee at their local coffee-house or sutler’s tent, or made coffee for themselves at home or around a campfire with either roasted or unroasted, green coffee beans, either whole or already ground, both which they could have purchased from a coffee-house, sutler or trader.

So, for modern reenactors and experimental archaeologists of the late 18^th through early 19^th centuries, who fancy a cup of joe, you have two options.

Option one, “sneak-it-in”. If there is a 18^th century coffee-house, sutler’s tent or tavern near where you are reenacting, pour that Starbucks® or Tim Hortons® into your tin cup, drink up and interpret away, just hide the cup it came in! Better yet support the coffee-house, sutler or tavern and stay in persona.

An excerpt from the Encyclopedia Britannica, 1810, page 247

Option two, “brew-it-up-yourself”, and enjoy a cup of 18^th century java around the campfire. You can either use already roasted beans, in which case you can buy them already ground or grind them yourself, or you can buy them green and un-roasted and then roast and grind them yourself, for a truly homemade cup of coffee. Bear in mind though that coffee beans are shipped green, because they keep and travel better that way, and so most beans that were purchased were probably un-roasted, green coffee beans. In either case, use the recipes below to boil up an authentic late 18^th and early 19^th century cuppa brew.

An excerpt from The House Book^{3, 4}, 1826, page 591

Mark Baker, in A Pilgrim’s Journey, Vol. One, wrote an excellent article called “Corrections, Confessions and Challenges” in which he detailed how to make coffee in an 18^th century fashion, from un-roasted, green coffee beans, that you roast yourself, before grinding them up with a belt axe or handy stick of fire wood, and then brew over an open fire.

An excerpt from “Corrections, Confessions and Challenges” by Mark Baker, page 277

And as always, Horace Kephart, gets the last word with his thoughts in Camp Cookery, about how to make coffee over a fire.

An excerpt from Camp Cookery, by Horace Kephart, pages 10 to 11.

An excerpt from Camp Cookery, by Horace Kephart, page 135.

Interestingly, Mr. Scott’s recipe instructs you to boil your coffee for about eleven minutes total before letting it warm for ten minutes by the fireside to settle. Horace Kephart would have strongly disagreed, since he stated, “Do not let the coffee boil”.

Maybe people in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries liked stronger and more bitter than did the people in the early 20^th century. More likely, since the early recipes call for serving the coffee with milk or cream, before adding sugar, they disguised the flavor of the coffee and it appears that Mr. Kephart, drank his coffee black, with perhaps just some sugar.

So, next time you are out in the woods, I hope you stop and have a nice hot cup of coffee made in an authentic late 18^th century and early 19^th century fashion.

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

Notes

¹ Coffea arabica, known as “arabica”, accounts for most of the world’s coffee production and coffea canephora, also known as “robusta”, on account of its high caffeine content, accounting for the remainder of the world’s crop.

² A history of coffee first in the United States, from Frances H. Martin’s “A History of Coffee Prices in the United States, 1840 - 1954”, Monthly Labor Review, page 767, detailing that it wasn’t until 1878 that coffee was first packed and shipped in sealed containers and that vacuum packing didn’t start until 1898.

³ Interestingly, the excerpt from The House Book, 1826; is almost word-for-word identical, to Mrs. Maria Eliza Rudell’s recipe, from her 1807, A New System of Domestic Cookery. Apparently in the early 19^th century, no had heard of copyrights!

⁴ Notes on the recipe

A coffee cup “officially” holds 6 ounces and this standard is based on the British tea cup and since an ounce is about 30 grams and each tablespoon holds about 5 grams or a 1/6 of an ounce of coffee grounds, this recipe calls for twelve tablespoons of coffee grounds for eight coffee cups or 48 ounces (approximately 1,440 ml) water. As a note, a heaping or rounded tablespoon is equal to approximately 1-1/3 tablespoons.

Isinglass, is described by Joanne Major in her article “A brief history of coffee in the Georgian era” as a “clarifying collagen, produced from the swim bladders of fish, prior to 1795 from sturgeon but after that also from cod; nowadays we’d use gelatin”. Also, she wrote that Lisbon sugar, was sugar which had been refined to remove the molasses.

In an article on What’s Cooking America, entitled “What is Hartshorn?”, the author wrote that “According to the Dictionary of American Food & Drink by John F. Mariani, Hartshorn – A source of ammonia used in baking cookies or, as ‘salt of hartshorn,’ as smelling salts. Once the word meant literally the ground horn of a hart’s (male deer’s) antlers, but ammonium carbonate was later used as a substitute, which also went by the name of ‘salt of hartshorn’ ” Today hartshorn is called bakers’ ammonia or ammonium carbonate.

Sources

Baker, Mark A.; “Corrections, Confessions and Challenges”, Muzzleloader Magazine’s A Pilgrim’s Journey, Volume One: 1986-1995, [Scurlock Publishing Co., Inc. Texarkana, TX, 2004], p. 274-279

Encyclopædia Britannica or A dictionary, The Fourth Edition, Vol VI [Edinburgh, Andrew Bell, 1810] p. 246-248

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qaf5VVpAZLRQn6wsBXvCwfWWImSSX60V9YYglmvcnfIdhcxhAurO2f8pHzLWP-CYUMTBLROlammBGkBNCsHVdgnztmEXBIE2qadBJBB6OLnHRCXuTEeC-N8xgXOra_T4LNWOGA2pjjhK_9lxfVJU9um8tX6i3zK5YyVrZIPtp6gMoBkfCyMlN55JOQRfXCDeb6-Tw2FOS15bkcAxeAqk2BRtI0fMRTY3tnFwMWKVBBeSMtaNODldUqRyBF5MBmQfAh9Vw3dtEKY7HaJIIMlJUiJFbozSxg, accessed 1/5/2020

Kephart, Horace; Camp Cookery, [Outing Publishing Company, New York, 1910], pages 11 and 135-136, https://archive.org/details/campcookery01keph/page/n7, accessed 12/28/19

Major, Joanne; “A brief history of coffee in the Georgian era”, All Things Georgian, April 12, 2018, https://georgianera.wordpress.com/2018/04/12/a-brief-history-of-coffee-in-the-georgian-era/, accessed 1/4/2020

Martin, Frances H., “A History of Coffee Prices in the United States, 1840 - 1954”, Monthly Labor Review, July 1954, Volume 77, Issue 7, [United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC] p. 767, https://books.google.com/books?id=oc-dP7K3i3AC&pg=PA767&lpg=PA767&dq=was+coffee+shipped+green+in+the18th+century&source=bl&ots=KY1sTGVJUn&sig=ACfU3U33MUxL5765RfqZx4liKRWBQOPmZQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUntnhjfLmAhXDU80KHRv_CZgQ6AEwFHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=was%20coffee%20shipped%20green%20in%20the18th%20century&f=false , accessed 1/5/2020

Rundell, Mrs. Maria Eliza; A New System of Domestic Cookery, [Boston, 1807] p.259-260, https://archive.org/details/newsystemofdomes01rund/page/260, accessed 1/11/20

Scott, William, M.D. editor; The House Book, [Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, London, 1826], page 591,

https://ia801306.us.archive.org/11/items/b21471745/b21471745.pdf, accessed 1/5/20

“What is Hartshorn?”, What’s Cooking America, https://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/hartshorn.htm, accessed 1/5/20

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Picture by the Author.

There is nothing better on a cold morning, in the wild parts of the world than a hot cup coffee, tea or chocolate. In last week’s article (HERE), I discussed drinking chocolate and next week I am going to talk about coffee. During the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries drinking chocolate was the most commonly drank hot drink with coffee as the third most popular choice. This week I am going to talk about tea, which was the second most popular hot drink during this time.

I had a lot of questions about tea-time during the late 18^th to the early 19^th centuries. Like, what teas did people drink? Are there modern teas which are like them? And how did they make a pot of tea during the late 18^th to the early 19^th centuries?

Here is what I discovered.

An excerpt from The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11^th Edition, p. 172

The tea that was sold and drank during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries was both the same and different from what we drink today. During the 18^th century most tea came from China and only some came from Japan. It wasn’t until the 1820's that tea began to be produced in Assam, which is a state in northeastern India. Today tea is harvested in Kenya, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Malawi, Rwanda and China.

All tea comes from the leaves of camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub that is sometimes called the tea plant or tea tree. To make black tea the leaves are plucked, tumbled or macerated to start oxidation, allowed to fully oxidize, wither and brown, before being panned (or heated) to stop oxidation, then they are rolled and dried. This curing process gives the black tea it’s deep red-brown color and flavor. Black teas have the most caffeine of all the teas; however, it is still less than what is in a cup of coffee. What is called black tea by modern Westerners, is called “hung chá” in China, and was most likely not developed until the 19^th century¹. Green tea is made of leaves that have been plucked, allowed to wither, and are then panned to stop the oxidation before they are rolled and dried. Since they have not cured and oxidized, they have a green color and the least amount of caffeine of all the teas. When making oolong tea, the harvested leaves are first allowed to wilt slowly in the sun, which allows some oxidation to take place before it is panned to stop the oxidation, then the leaves are rolled and dried. The semi-oxidized flavors and colors of oolong tea are somewhere between the flavors and colors of the modern black tea and modern green tea.

An excerpt from Encyclopedia Britannica Or a Dictionary, Vol. XX, Fourth Edition, 1810, p. 228

During the early 18^th century, the tea trade only recognized three different types of tea; Bohea (a black tea), Singlo or soumlo (a green tea), and bing or imperial (also a green tea).

Bohea tea takes its name from the anglicized pronunciation of Wu-i and was named for the mountains, in the Fujian (anglicized to Fuhkien) province of China, where, during the 18^th century, it was picked. The people who live in this part of China call their tea “wu-i chá”, with the word “chá” meaning tea. Since the dialect spoken in Fujian province pronounces a “w” as a “b”, the 18^th century English traders wrote “wu-i chá” as “bo-hea”. 18^th century Bohea was most likely a form of oolong tea or as it is written in china, “wu lung”².

In the 1720’s Thomas Twining began to sell “pekoe” tea which is tea leaves picked as two leaves and a bud.³

Excerpts from Encyclopaedia Britannica Or a Dictionary, Vol. XX, Fourth Edition, 1810, p. 229 and 230

By early 19^th century, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1810, there were eight recognized types of tea, three kinds of green tea and five kinds bohea or black tea.

So, what does all of this mean to someone who is interested in accurately portraying person living during the late 18^th to the early19^th centuries? What it means is that you should choose either a modern green tea or a modern oolong tea, which is the most similar modern black tea to the bohea teas of the time. Also, since tea was shipped loose and packed in chests, during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, you should choose loose tea to be period correct – no tea bags!

Now that we know what tea to drink, how do we make tea, like they did during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries?

The book Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, published in 1800, had some very good tips on pages 94 to 97 on how to make tea to serve to guests in the parlour (for a reproduction of pages 94 to 97, see note⁴). If you boil the tips down, you are left with the following two recipes.

Based on tips from the Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, 1800, pages 94 to 97, graphics by the Author.

So that is the correct way to make tea for guests in the parlour, but what about making tea over a campfire in the wilderness?

Horace Kephart, in Camp Cookery has some suggestions for making tea over the campfire. It is interesting to note that Mr. Kephart’s recipe for making tea makes 16 ounces (473 ml or one US pint) of tea which is almost the same amount of tea that Parlour Tea Recipe One, which will make about 15 ounces, or 450 ml, of tea per person, assuming that the six-ounce (almost 180 ml) tea cup is filled to just below the rim.

Excerpts from Camp Cookery by Horace Kephart, pages 11 and 135 to 136

Incidentally, while Horace Kephart brought loose tea on his journeys through the wilderness, today we can choose between loose tea or teabags.

Photos by the Author.

I hope that the next time you are out in the woods, you stop long enough to brew up a nice cup of tea and sit and enjoy the peace and quiet around your fire.

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

Notes

¹ Canton Tea; “Teas of the eighteenth century English tea trade”

² Baker, Mark A.; Muzzleloader Magazine’s A Pilgrim’s Journey, Volume One: 1986-1995, p. 277-278

³ Canton Tea; “Teas of the eighteenth century English tea trade”

⁴ Excerpts from Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, 1800, pages 94 to 97

Sources

Baker, Mark A.; “Corrections, Confessions and Challenges”, Muzzleloader Magazine’s A Pilgrim’s Journey, Volume One: 1986-1995, [Scurlock Publishing Co., Inc. Texarkana, TX, 2004], p. 274-279

Canton Tea; “Teas of the eighteenth century English tea trade” [© Canton Tea 2018], https://cantontea.com/blogs/tea-stories/teas-of-the-eighteenth-century-english-tea-trade, accessed 1/2/20

Domestic Management Or The Art Of Conducting A Family, [Printed for H. D. Symonds, London, 1800] p. 94 - 97, https://books.google.com/books?id=FrJcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=%22domestic+management%22+%22as+it+frequently+falls+to+upper+maids%22&source=bl&ots=PwxHlu5__m&sig=ACfU3U0DIKmTFUQg61HsG_gchhaHAZhf8g&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqz-_Wq-bmAhXBQc0KHZplCy8Q6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22domestic%20management%22%20%22as%20it%20frequently%20falls%20to%20upper%20maids%22&f=false, accessed 1/2/20

Encyclopaedia Britannica Or a Dictionary, Vol. XX, Fourth Edition, [Printed by Andrew Bell, Edinburgh, 1810], p. 226-230

https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QadzrnxYI8sU3hn3AX5Rct0mGIENJsgOLEGP1OTxMslKB8txgqqsa11Qy0Z_1_1lO4K7vrbSj6-wx3_8JKrPt87rg4DblyyM-cT5vKUncg66lzbei77ivCaZOjOizc7waQMBFv1xa0du8uJlI3HWi2p72y9UUsoM0p9K_0uZpr3qwDaNUX3okKJ8yhKI6CPbsYzk6OKek0XgRkVTNfcfvtVisrf5VsW4w_RIgYDlwFuLZGe3SWWcTH4Jtx19AI4dPUnLBtBgMCoYe-KyqIDoU54iUNHefyl6jGER1bdIUzBRds61fIM, accessed 1/4/20

Kephart, Horace; Camp Cookery, [Outing Publishing Company, New York, 1910], pages 11 and 135-136, https://archive.org/details/campcookery01keph/page/n7, accessed 12/28/19

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11^th Edition, Vol. XXVI, [New York, 1911] p. 172, https://archive.org/details/encyclopediabrit26ed11arch/page/n6, accessed 1/2/20

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

The Woodsman's Journal Online

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Sunday, January 26, 2020

Tracks and Tracking in the Winter ©

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Winter Journeys, the Black River, in Foothills of the Adirondacks, Part ...

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Four ©

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Three ©

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Coffee, Tea or … Chocolate? Part Two ©

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