Chapter II: 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