You Are Only As Lost As You Think You Are ©

 

An illustration from Scouting, Volume 8, Issue 10, May 6, 1920, page 48

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a story that was frequently repeated, in many different books, about a Native American who, rather indignantly, stated “I’m not lost, wigwam is lost”!¹

The story, which was meant to be funny, is a stereotypical story, full of past stereotypes, that poked fun at Native Americans; however there is a vital, survival clue hidden in the Native American’s response, that the city-dwelling storytellers didn’t understand and therefore missed: you are only as lost as you think you are!

This is important, in a wilderness survival situation, if you think your lost, then you are right, you are!  And if you think that you aren’t lost, well then, you are right, and you are just “misplaced”.  I have said it before (“Being Bewildered and Bending the Map ©”, HERE), but it is important, so I am going to say it again; “lost” is a scary thing, and scared people often panic² and panic makes everything worse and it is usually fatal! 

So, when you are in the wilderness and you suddenly realize that you don’t know where you are, or how to get back to where you were, instead of deciding that you are “lost”, and panicking, and floundering through the wilderness until you are eventually found, most likely dead; decide that you are not “lost”, you are simply “misplaced” or “bewildered”, to quote Daniel Boone, who in June of 1820 told Chester Harding that “I have never been lost, but I was once bewildered for three days”³. 

You should choose to be like the wise Native American in the story, and remember that you are only as lost as you think you are, because “misplaced” things are almost always found, but “lost” things are sometimes lost forever!

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 Below is an example of one of these stories, as published in 1913.

 

An excerpt from Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Volume 23, April 6, 1913 to October 15, 1913, page 72

² No matter where you are, or what the emergency is, panicking always makes things worse.  So, if you don’t know where you are in the woods, or you are injured, or you are feeding a bonfire and a gust of wind blows out a sheet of flame and lights your head on fire (yes, this really happened to me), or you are on a deserted ocean beach and a rogue wave slams down on you, breaking your nose, shocking your optic nerves and temporarily blinding you, as the waves continue to pound you and you don’t know which way to go to get out of the surf (and yes, this also really happened to me), don’t panic, because panic always, always, always, makes things worse!

³ Margaret E. White, Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His Own Hand, p. 48

Sources

American Antiquarian Society, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Volume 23, April 6, 1913 to October 15, 1913, [American Antiquarian Society, Worchester, Massachusetts, 1913], page 72, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_of_the_American_Antiquarian/F-MzqvD373IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22indian+not+lost+wigwam+lost%22&pg=PA72&printsec=frontcover, accessed June 2, 2020

National Council, Boy Scouts of America, Scouting, Volume 8, Issue 10, [Boy Scouts of America, May 6, 1920], https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafIIDF2UtEQZHN-Wj92ZEErbkCC90CXvm7TpX4YBQiWOdj0TKXtUyp_52_st_dnFTz4_k4YaAsPrOQx7xRBEm1pLAnLyQQx7AU48ELqOo_0-enqAmnPlGWXtIIgtIeH9rK3VdBRpUyonBCroWZe9F9SQgbhZDcEuGQcUx9HEnoURvXL7BMGlKLOy6sJVj1vXR7v_brCuW2D27ar1BR8A6PUaLI5Gnn_793bnhU0FFnI0a4KYGs, accessed June 3, 2020

White, Margaret E., Editor, A Sketch of Chester Harding, Artist: Drawn By His Own Hand, (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, New York [1890]) p 47-48 reprinted in https://books.google.com/books?id=zgROAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22he+had+a+very+large+progeny%22+%22chester+harding%22&source=bl&ots=I9y_v-yRI2&sig=qxwqKUR9y42naWBjhoArGJi2P5U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4goGi7czdAhXEnOAKHWvECaoQ6AEwAHoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22he%20had%20a%20very%20large%20progeny%22%20%22chester%20harding%22&f=false, (accessed 9/21/2018)