I had put this on the “surviving Winter Without Power” thread, but it is instructive on another level, as well. It shows what people who have lived in a pre-industrial world could do to survive the hardships of their surroundings. I hope this will bring in other stories fellow wikians know of which can provide useful lessons to us today.
I had read of how a young man 19 years of age had survived a terrible winter’s night somewhere in the Great Lake region (near Montreal?) in 1756! His name was James Smith and, after having been captured by Indians, he was adopted into the Caughnawaga tribe. How many of us would have curled up and died under similar circumstances? I thought his story, and the ones all of you have related, might help to show that we can survive under harsh conditions, if we have the will to do so:
“The air was dark with snow…I came to a hollow tree with a hole at one side…I went in and found that it was a dry place…I stripped off my blanket (which was all the clothes I had, excepting a breechclout, leggings and moccasins). Then I went out and with my tomahawk fell to chopping at… a fallen tree…Carrying the wood back, I set it on end against the opening, until I had it three or four feet thick all around, excepting a hole I had left to creep in at. I had a block prepared that I could haul after me, to stop this hole…When I went in…I…cut down all the dry rotten wood (inside the hollow tree)…and…made a bed…and with the small sticks stopped every hole until my house was almost dark…I…danced…for about half an hour, to warm myself…I coiled myself up in my blanket…I could hear the storm raging and did not suffer much cold…I would stay in my nest until I was certain it was day…(in the morning) I …attempted to move away the block…I immediately received light. I found a very great snow had fallen, above what I hade ever seen in one night…the snow had fallen above three feet deep.”
From: Captured by the Indians: 15 Firsthand Accounts, 1750 – 1870 by Frederick Drimmer, Dover Publications, ISBN 0–486–24901–8
Do you have any stories, from any time-period and from any country, which could porvide us with similar survival lessons? We may all need to know how to survive in a post-industrial, post-disaster environment and to lose the knowledge of those who have gone before us would be a tragedy of immense proportion. PLEASE SHARE FREELY!!!
A modern day pioneer, taking advantage of age old technology, Mohammed Bah Abba from Kenya, has come up with a “pot-in-a-pot” method for using evaporative cooling to keep vegetables and other foods cool in hot, arid environments. The story is at:
http://www.rolexawards.com/laureates/laureate-6-bah_abba.html
This is what I mean by pioneers from any time-period. Thanks for your input!!!
P.S. I don’t remember, but Abba’s story may have been put up previously by a fellow fluwikian. If so, Thanks!!
This is actually a book for grade 5–8 graders to read about a boy surviving in the Maine wilderness during the late 1700′s. The 12 year old boy is left by his father to guard the new homestead while the father goes back to Quincy, Mass. to get the rest of the family. The problem is because of a new baby and huge snowstorms, the father does not get back until the next summer. The boy is helped by the local Indians who had been watching him do some pretty stupid things and decided to help him survive the winter. I think it is a remarkable book that would be a wonderful piece of reading to inspire young people who are SIP during horrible times. The book is called ‘The Sign of the Beaver’ by Elizabeth Spear (I think).
Other books for kids about survival would be ‘Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen which is also excellent and ‘ Lost in the Maine Woods’ and My Side of the Mountain are books that will encourage a strong sense of self confidence and mastery. The Laura Ingells Wilder books ‘Little House are great too.
Another true story is ‘Far from the Bamboo Grove’ which was written by a Japanese woman who tells an unbelivable story of survival and the will to be free and live.
Tomorrow night I will tell the story of my friend’s “Aunt Molly who as a young girl was put up against a barn and shot by soilders and live to tell the tale. I am going to bed I’m crosseyed.
seacost: Your story may be from a different book, but mine was listed as being excerpted from “An Account of the Remarkable Occurences in the Life and Travels of Col. James Smith” from Lexington, KY published in 1799. The editor/compiler of the book from which this story is told states: “He (James Smith) waited until almost forty years after his escape from the Indians to write his memoirs, basing them on a journal he had kept while a captive of the Caughnawagas.” It may be that the book you reference was based upon this account which is believed to be historically accurate.
I guess every one here knows of the Foxfire books.
http://www.foxfire.org/prodFFbooks.html
If not, they are a collection of old time pioneer crafts, survival and so on. I would think that most libraries would have a copy.
seacost: SORRY! I mistook your post as saying that the story I quoted was from another book. In re-reading your post, it appears you mean that there is an ADDITIONAL story of winter survival, given in “The Sign of The Beaver”. It is just that these accounts are so astounding, I want to ensure that the appropriate sources are credited so that people who are interested may do further research of their own on these topics. One word of caution, the book I cite above has some exceptionally graphic descriptions of violence on the frontier. “Captured by the Indians” is definately NOT for young minds unless you never want your kids to sleep again!
Soup. During the Great Depression my grandmother was a kindergarten teacher. Every day in class she made for the children a pot of soup of whatever she could scrounge: pieces of vegetables, scraps of meat, jerky…whatever. For many of the children it was the only meal they had every day. After she died I was still receiving Christmas cards from her former students who had never forgotten her kindness. I think sometimes survival can be something as simple as a daily pot of soup.
We Band of Angels tells the story of a group of Naval Nurses captured in the Phillipines by the Japanese during WWII. It’s an excellent story of survival. They were in paradise working four hour shifts surrounded by men that treated them like they were angels and the next day they were nursing the wounded in a cave. They were in that cave over one hundred days. After the surrender, some escaped, and the others were rounded up into detention camps. The book focuses on how the nurses survived, but they kept themselves apart from the daily camp politics. It did reveal the best and worst of people when they are starving. The nurses were down to eating hand lotion and boiling Calla lillies for nourishment. Almost all of them hoarded food till the day they died.
http://www.chriscorrigan.com/wiki/pmwiki.php is a “conversation facilitator”, a skill which we may need to learn if we are to lead from a position of weakness.
http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=1029
I just remembered him because:
I live in a town with a large reservation.The individual first nations people that I know are not prepping.I think most of those people feel they can prep up fast when they are sure it will happen.I’m not privey to their council meetings and hope there is more action on that level.
Also I know that their large casino has just laid off 10% of their workforce and totally cut insurance benifits for the remaining employees.My father in law works there and was able to keep his job but his insurance is going.
Malachi, I think Chris Corrigan is directly aproachable. And “preparing for a pandemic” is such an “open space” issue! Moreover, Chris has made himself quite a name in the “open space” arena, so he might even be able to talk with other open-spacers and make some further waves. If I were you I’d really give it a try.
Lugon…I am sorry if this question seeems dense,I don’t have time right now to fully grasp what Chris C is up to,What is it I should be giving a try?Got to take off to serve at a funeral,but will check out your response when I return.
There is an old saying that “necessity is the mother of invention.”
I think that as necessity sets in, we find the the means to do something, even in today’s lifestyle.
How many times have you thought that the family budget just could not take one more hit … yet it happens and you find ingenious ways to stretch those dollars just a bit further.
How many times have you been down to your last couple of bucks and the cupboards seem too bare to last ‘til next paycheck? Yet, somehow you find a way to make everything count and the food DOES last.
How many times have you looked at a machine that you were clueless about why it wasn’t working, but by using a commonsense approach, you could at least diagnose the problem yourself if not out-and-out fix it yourself. Even if that “fix” was piece of duct tape, a drywall screw, or a rubber band. <grin>
I think some of this will be mind over matter … and faith (or what you choose to call it). Perseverence has its own rewards. Throwing your hands up and walking away from the problem never gets anything fixed.
Okay, it’s not pioneering per se, but here is a grea series on cable called “SURVIVORMAN.” This guy (total nut job really) gets dropped into some inhospitable place with nothing and must fend for himself for a week - no food, no water, no taches, no shelter, nada except the clothes on his back and a video camera. It’s a amazing some of the stuff yo can learn on the show. It’s been on a few of the may different Discovery channels.
There was also those PBS series … “Pioneer House,” “Colonial House,” “Victorian House,” etc. Can’t remember all the names of them but they basically took ordinary families and dropped them into historical era living … right down to the clothes, housing, and available food/gardening techniques.
Proved to be very enlightening for some families … personalities and behaviors were really important within the family group. It also showed how the community mentality was important as well … trading and cooperative work projects were necessary.
Also useful is reading journals and diaries of the day-to-day living of people from various time eras. I’ve read a lot of travel journals of women pioneers in the USA. Very few families went untouched by death, injury, and/or illness as they crossed the Great Plains.
kathy, where would i find those diaries?
laura in pa – at 11:49
I’ve checked out some from libraries, some are available online … check out your local/state historical or genealogical society to see if they have private accounts that you can read.
I just found the most interesting book called Sunshine to Dollars. It teaches you how to make a solar hot water heater and how to build simple easy solar windows and solar ovens. I usually an not one to tout products, but this one seems right up our alley. It is fully illustrated too.
laura in pa – at 11:49
If you want to find out of print, rare or hard to find books try this
http://www.usedbooksearch.co.uk/books.htm
It searches through 80 million books from hundreds of small used books stores all over the world and also all the major used book stores. Think of it as a used book search engine.
Kathy in FL – at 11:13 There was also those PBS series …
Kathy in FL, We have watched all of those and love them. I personally think the best one for our purposes here is 1900 House. I re-rented it recently, and I think the conditions of that period are most like those that we will experience during power outages during pandemic. You can rent it at Netflix: http://tinyurl.com/vuuzj
Malachi – at 10:21
Chris Corrigan is in touch with many networks of people re First Nations. Maybe you could spread the word re preparedness with him? I would suggest you simply get in touch with your concerns. If you want to.
My idea would be to ask him for help in setting up an “open space” event in which he would help you set up an invitation, he would facilitate the open space gathering, and you would provide the issue for the invitation. In my mind’s eye I can see a gathering of 20 to 2000 people in your area, first learning about this pandemic threat, then spending a few hours or more in “open space” (self-organised chaos) to find their own way forward.
I suggest you lead Chris to this thread and to the Press Release at the Awareness Week page (or simply fluwikie.com). Tell him you’d like to chat about what can be done. If you tell him I suggested this I’ll take the blame. :)
http://www.fluwikie.com/pmwiki.php?n=Main.PressReleaseUK
Malachi, give Chris this link too. He’ll read the bit about community participation. He can help you to make it happen.
btw, this is not “endorsing a commercial product”, or at least I don’t think it is. Facilitating an open space gathering is something that aparently can be done by anyone with a good mind and a good heart. But I’d ask Chris, personally. :-)
Over the years I have had various plumbing problems which I have put on hold. Figured I’de sell my house “as is” with all its aging furnaces and other problems and let the new buyers ,when the time came ,have a hefty rebate. Yesterday saw a Black and Decker book on plumbing and how to deal with it. Think I will buy it and start puzzling my way through. Might be worth buying for others.
DennisC-
hey I actually have one of those books, somewhere. Thanks for reminding me.
cottontop – at 17:32
Yes, for those not “in the know” the Foxfire book series is a collection of Appalachian Ingenuity that tries to preserve the “old crafts”. Things like making soap, preserving foods, spinning and weaving, summer and fall wild plant foods, cornshuck mops, butter churns, apple butter, building a lumber kiln, cheese making, blacksmithing, water-powered sawmill, pickling, smoking, and salting, and on and on. Now I am one of those that think that civilization will recover quickly, but for those that don’t this is a seriec you will at least want to look at in the library.
DennisC- Don’t forget the fine art of moonshining! I did find it. I haven’t looked at this book in a good 8 years. It was a favorite of my father’s. I have to say it makes me homesick. I grew up in northeast Texas, and these are the people I grew up with. I would listen to my great grand mother, who was born in 1899, talk about eggs freezing on the porch one night, and she cooked up anyway. Said they were fine. Her stories of world war II was fasicinating. She taught me how to cook, crochet, and sew. I was very fortunate to grow up with these people. My dad told me how she used a box reciep to make lemon merguain(sp) pie, for the first time, and when they bit intoit, they all spat it back out. when asked why it didn’t taste like lemon, she replied that the russians where not gonna trick her with that little packet. It was the lemon flavoring. I’m telling you DennisC, we are loosing so much, because we don’t spend the time with our elderly. What they can offer!
I saw a series of the Foxfire books at our local Half-price bookstore today. I’ve been shopping there off and on to build up our how-to library.
Man, the whole series? Go get them! I only have the one.
Re: The Foxfire Books.
There are some poeple in rural WV that still know how to do all of those things. I have always said that the (insert your favorite enemy) could invade the U.S. and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference to these people because the less dealings they have with the government, the better they like it.
I recently read a book about two pioneer women who were captured by Indians in 1755 and hiked back to civilization after escaping. The journey was 1000 miles back along a river. This book is historical fiction as it is based on actual events. It is called “Follow the River” by James Alexander Thom. Quite a decent Survival account.
Foxfire book series http://www.foxfire.org/prodFFbooks.html
Ontario Canada has at least two famous accounts of how folks managed in pioneer times - Catharine Parr Traill (The Backwoods of Canada) and her sister Susannah Moodie (Roughing it in the Bush)both written from their pioneering experiences around 1833–35 - lots of helpful examples of housekeeping ingenuity, trials and tribulations of life without electricity or many luxuries - These women were from genteel society in England (servants etc!!) so they were pretty unprepared for what they encountered settling this area!! We Ontarioans are VERY proud of them!! Available from Amazon.ca (Cdn$$$)in paperback. http://tinyurl.com/yx4mpc
I have suggested Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management before on the Wiki - but some were ‘turned off’ by the chapters on managing servants etc - I still think it is a great book if you can tolerate or overlook the ‘elitist’ subtext - remember it was written in 1859 when most families in England, even relatively poor families, had help in the house - but its true value is in that all the recipes etc were written from ‘before electricity’ so they contain detailed instructions on how long and how close to, how hot a flame, in fireplace or woodstove, things should be cooked - great recipes for old fashioned puddings, beverages, game pies, fish etc etc - all the kinds of things we will need to know if the grid goes down and we are relying on open fires or woodstoves and whatever food comes past your backyard!! It is a big book - 1112 pages - but my copy has become an old friend - I keep it beside the bed and read it if I have trouble sleeping - those old fashioned recipes are very comforting, even in print!! When I drop the book I know I will be able to sleep finally!!! You can download for free from Project Gutenberg (http://tinyurl.com/t9g73) or purchase at Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/yb37es
cottontop – at 19:47: There were about six books there. I don’t know if it’s the entire series but six books is still a goodly number.
HillBilly Bill – at 19:59: Your comment reminded me of Hank Williams, Jr.’s song “A Country Boy Can Survive”.
I’m guessing those books are out of print, but since I have to get hubby’s medicine tomorrow, I will stop by Border’s and just have them see. any excuse to go. if border’s had such books about this subject in stock, in what section would those be found?
Halfprice books had theirs in the Science/Nature/Outdoor section.
Texas Rose – at 22:11
That happens to be the unofficial theme song of the Appalachian redneck.
HB - Likewise I believe the deep East Texas redneck;-)
I believe it’s also the song I sang for my 4-day trek cross-country to get out of California!!
Too bad we can’t get together for a cup of coffee this morning Bills:-)
Lugon…Well thanks for the homework project!!!!!!I am going to take some time at CC”s website and see what I can accomplish.
In the mid 70′s I was a kid on my parents dairy farm.Of course my dad had a crappy truck and one night he was at a neighbors farm late helping him with some kind of chores.It was winter and there was a serious blizzard happening.My dads truck went off the road and got stuck in the snow.He told us he couldn’t see thru the snow to any neighbors places and he tried to stay in the truck but was freezing.So he dug a cavern in the snow beside his truck and spent the night warm in that hole.The next day he dug out and walked the remaining few miles to our house.He didn’t suffer any frostbite but did get a nasty cold/flu.I also had a friend who was a bigtime snowboarder but could not afford to rent a place in colorodo,so she built an igloo out of blocks of snow and spent a whole winter in there.We can do it if we believe we can and do it.
Malachi - of course it was not intended as homework! :-)
It’s just that things clicked in my mind and I thought they might work. Of course we can all think of more things in my dreams than what we can do in real life.
A family story of “pioneer ingenuity”…. My Great-grandfather and his mother, dad and siblings were moving by wagon from Arkansas to Texas. He was born in Dardanelle, Arkansas in 1860 and he was about 13–14 when this happened so I will guess it was in the time frame of 1873–74. As the story goes, the family stopped for the night somewhere in western Arkansas for the night and my GGD was away from the wagon by himself, gathering firewood or something like that. When he returned he discovered that the Indians, (my Mother says they were Kiowa, but I’m not sure if that is right) had killed the entire family, taken all the animals, and he was left totally alone and scared. He continued walking westward through “Indian country” and after some weeks was able to find help at a fort somewhere in Texas. He obviously survived the ordeal or I wouldn’t be here, but lived an independent life from that time on. I figure if a 13–14 kid lived weeks on nothing, except what he could find on his way, traveling through dangerous country, perhaps I inherited some of his “survival” genes. :)
Lugon….Not said as a bad thing.I actually do better with some well-thought out direction.For several years now I have pretty much dedicated my time to volunteerism and after my volunteering racing home to quick clean and cook to make it look like I had been home working all day.hehehe works for me.At the funeral I helped at yesterday,None of us working even knew the person who had passed away.Noone at our church did,Even the pastor didn’t.I think we have gotten the reputation of being a church that will serve our community.It has got me feeling kinda weird tho,because I do not intend to do any of that stuff wtshtf.I have 4 kids age 13–8 and they will have to be my first priority.(as always but I can juggle pretty good)But I feel I will be sip probably well before anyone else and there will be a bit of time there where people don’t get it yet.
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