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On
the Trail: Gear for the Period Trekker
by
Todd D. Glover
What
is Period Trekking?
This
is a term which may be unfamiliar to many. It may be described as
primitive camping, wilderness survival, historical backpacking etc.
Essentially period trekking means go on a trip or journey by foot,
on horseback or perhaps in canoes, dressed in historical attire
and using only pre-1840 gears and accouterments. It means getting
out on the trail away from the rendezvous camp scene and actually
using your gear as it was used by the original "Mountain Men."
This is where historical re-enactment is at its finest! There are
few crutches here. You're on your own with no chance to run back
to the car, or dig out a drink from the cooler. This is where a
real sense of satisfaction can be found in having equipped yourself
with quality handmade gear and them proving its ability and usefulness.
This is where you may feel an even stronger kinship with the old-timers
than even that experienced at large events. You must try it to understand.
Period
trekking need not be intimidating to the beginner. You needn't wait
until you're fully equipped with proper gear to begin. Take what
you have now and get started. Watch those who have been at it for
a while. Ask questions and read accounts both historical and modern
of others trekking experiences. Then begin to replace your modern
gear with period items and eventually you'll look and act like you
just stepped back in time and you'll love it!
Period
Trekking is another dimension those who limit themselves to only
attending rendezvous' and pow wows will never know.
Didn't
most Mountain Men ride horses?
The
answer is an unequivocal yes! The majority did and would anytime
horses were available, just like their earlier counterparts, the
Longhunter, of the Eastern woodlands. In many cases, to be afoot
in the West meant certain slow death. The distances are so vast
as to make walking very impractical. However, walking was done surprisingly
often. Consider the number of men with Lewis and Clark; many walked.
How about John Colters epic trek to locate the Crow tribe and inform
them that Manuel Lisa had set up a Trading Post; many hundreds of
miles on foot. Sublette and Harris walked from Bear Lake to St.
Louis in the middle of the winter to arrange supplies for the next
season, not once but twice!! So, being on foot wasn't altogether
uncommon but, they were always seeking horses.
What
do I need to get started?
So,
if you are going to be walking then you will be limited in what
you can carry along. If you have the luxury of horses or a canoe,
then you can throw in some extras.
Remember
when you're assembling your trekking gear, that less is preferable
and go light. The first few times out you will probably take to
much food and gadgets. Take note of how much you carry back home
and what you didn't use much. Next time tighten up some. There is
a trade off between comfort in camp with lots of extra food and
neat "stuff", and comfort on the trail with a light pack.
Which do you prefer, laboring under a large load making the trail
miserable so when you get to camp you can live the high life? Or
packing lightly, enjoying the trail, arriving with energy left,
then living a little frugally in camp? The choice is yours. Don't
expect much sympathy from others either way you choose.
Obviously
the Mountain Men carried their firearms and shooting bags and horns
wherever they went. Also a knife or two and perhaps a belt axe or
tomahawk were kept close at hand. With this in mind, let's look
and what else might be carried.
Possibles
Bag
This
term refers to a bag like container In which the mountaineer may
have carried all those sundry items needed for an existence in the
mountains. The actual term "possibles bag" does not appear
often and generally only among secondary sources. Haversack and
rucksack are more proper terms.
One
could construct a rucksack of haversack out of any stout canvas
cloth, bearing in Mind that linen or hemp canvas was more common
than cotton. One made of leather would also be quite proper. The
cloth should be waterproofed to protect the bags future contents.
When on the trail a bag is often left out in a storm.
A good
rule of thumb is to keep the size of the bag on the small side.
The bigger your bag, the more prone you will be to pack to much.
There are several choices for patterns available, though a common
rectangular shaped bag will work just fine. Refer to the sources
listed in the bibliography for pattern suggestions.
Containers
You
will need numerous different containers to help keep things organized
with in our rucksack. Start by making a number of cloth bags in
various sizes to hold foodstuffs, tinder, toiletries etc. Also you
may want to make some bags of leather to hold heavier items or ones
that require more protection. Its relaxing to sit around and sew
bags in the evening.
Various
sized tin containers are useful to hold things such as shoe grease,
fishing kit, eyeglasses etc. Keep your eyes open for tin containers
or order some custom made.
Small
horns are good to carry salt and other spices as well as gun powder.
Small
bottles are also very handy. Avoid any with screw on tops.
Cookware
Apparently
very little Cookware was used by the average free trapper. Brigades
of company trappers probably had more items available to them, i.e.
kettles, cast iron pots, cooking skewers etc. Most trappers roasted
their meat over an open fire. Now days we must deal with more restrictions
which force a choice in Cookware. Simple and light are the key words
here. A small tin boiler is very useful. Consider a tin plate
or wooden bowl, a small tin cup and perhaps a small steel or forged
iron skillet for frying. If your chosen fare doesn't require frying,
leave the heavy skillet home. Also a period fork and spoon are nice
to have. A long handled wood spoon works best in the boiler to avoid
scraping the tin off the insides of the boiler.
Bed
Roll
Wool
blankets are the obvious choice here for modern reenactment. Buffalo
robes and wool blankets made up the bedding of the original mountaineers.
If you are not mounted however, you're highly unlikely to carry
a buffalo robe.
Having
decided that wool blankets are the way to go , the choice becomes
how many to carry? A popular line of thought advocates getting by
with only one blanket. This is possible under certain circumstances,
especially when augmented by a capote or great coat and when the
weather is not to extreme. I have more often carried two blankets
unless it was July or August.
Hand
woven blankets are much in vogue among reenactors. They are of high
quality and are purported to be warmer. Keep in mind however that
the overwhelming majority of the blankets used during the western
fur trade were factory made imports.
You
may want to consider an oil cloth for your bedroll. This is made
from a section of waterproofed canvas. The cloth needs to be large
enough to fold in half with blankets inside and still provide ample
room for self and rifle and hunting pouch and any other items you
wish to protect from the weather. I use a cloth that measure 5'
by 7' when folded. A oil cloth will add considerable weight to your
bedroll, so you must make a choice of whether it's worth carrying
of not. If the weather is nice, I leave it home. But, we all know
how quick the weather changes in the mountains.
If you
wish to make you own oil cloth, check out Mark Baker's video series.
In it he shows you step by step how its done. You can also purchase
oilcloths from some of the vendors listed at the end of this packet.
Miscellaneous
Items
There
are numerous other articles which may be carried in the Rucksack.
Below I've included a list the things celebrated author, reenactor
and period trekker Mark Baker finds useful:
KNAPSACK
CONTENTS
*
Tin pot containing a sack of white cornmeal, a chunk of brown sugar
and two small horns filled with salt and cayenne pepper.
*
Oil-tanned leather pouch holding a sewing kit, which consists of
a horn bobbin of linen thread, scissors. dried deer or elk sinew.
beeswax, an antler "fish" hollowed out to hold an assortment
of needles and a few patches of linen and leather,
*
Horn comb and a horn, boar-bristle toothbrush contained in a linen
pouch.
*
Folding skillet with a cloth sack containing slab bacon wedged inside
the dish of the pan.
*
Chunks of chocolate and muscavado sugar within a brain-tanned deerskin
pouch.
*
Wool pouch holding a few pieces of castile soap.
*
Dried corn within a linen pouch. (Two pounds of fresh whole corn
dries to 1/4-pound.)
*
Cloth sack of dried meat, commonly called "jerk" in the
18th century.
*
Oil-tanned leather pouch containing a fishing kit, which includes:
a small, brain-tanned deerskin pouch holding several fishing hooks-and
a handful of split sinkers made from.32 caliber balls-two "H"-shaped
horn bobbins filled with silk fishing line (surgical silk suture
thread); a couple of small sticks wrapped in linen fishing line-,
a deer sinew leader tied to a hook-, and a leather thong tied to
a two-inch willow branch used as a stringer.
*
Oil-tanned pouch filled with tow for cleaning one's rifle, starting
fires in a pinch, scrubbing a frying pan or plugging a bad wound.
*
Well-worn silver spoon.
*
Fire-starting kit in a greased goatskin pouch. The kit includes:
flint and steel, a "bird's nest" of dried cottonwood bark,
a tin of charred cloth, two short beeswax candles, a bundle of candle
wick that has been dipped in hot beeswax, and a few pieces of pitch
pine.
*
Tin of lard, grease, beeswax or any combination of the three for
greasing moccasins, rubbing the stock of one's rifle and dressing
the lock. 9 Two flat creek stones for sharpening knives and one's
belt axe.
*
Antler whistle on a leather thong.
*
New Testament.
*
Coil of leather thongs for spare strapping and a bundle of elk skin
for moccasin patching.
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