PDA

View Full Version : Wanted to share this resource - copies of old pioneer books from 1800's



MamaBear
07-18-2013, 10:39 PM
I stumbled across this a while ago and I wanted to share. This is a website where you can download copies of old pioneer guides they used to give out to settlers who were headed west, back in the 1800's. I think the booklets are very interesting and are a good resource of how to live as people lived 200 years ago, before all of our technology and gadgets! They have all sorts of neat handbooks, from how to plan your wagon to tanning hides, to farming, fruit orchards, building your house, etc.

the website is pioneerhandbooks dot com, or just google "Pioneer Handbooks". They're free to download. Could you imagine heading into uncharted territory with nothing more than a well-stocked wagon and a few of these guides in your hand?

Sourdough
07-18-2013, 11:05 PM
I am more interested in living that life, than reading about it.

BENESSE
07-18-2013, 11:30 PM
Thanks SO much MamaBear, I know I'm gonna enjoy reading it all and learning some new things.

welderguy
07-18-2013, 11:56 PM
Great Link, Thanks for posting it!!!

Oddmott
07-19-2013, 08:56 AM
So cool, thanks a bunch!

Completely printed on nearly indestructible paper courtesy of work - thanks understanding boss!

Rick
07-19-2013, 09:28 AM
SD - Just out of curiosity, were you born with all this knowledge? You're confident there isn't one thing you could learn from perusing them on a cold winter's night or a frosty summer's morning? Perhaps I'm a little slow but I still read telephony trade journals after more than 30 years in the business AND I actually learn stuff. Maybe it's dementia and I'm just relearning the same stuff over and over. That's entirely possible. Now, where's my keyboard?

Good stuff, mamabear.

hunter63
07-19-2013, 11:34 AM
Mamabear, thanks for the heads up.......I'm thinking I had come across that site or one like it....but after the blue screen crash...LOTS of stuff is gone.
Cool stuff

Seniorman
07-19-2013, 12:59 PM
As an addendum to those books, if you want to read a first person, real time account of how things were in the West during the mid-years of the fur trapping business (mountain man era), pick up a copy of Letters And Notes On The Manners, Customs and Conditions, Of NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, by George Catlin, Volumes I & II, Dover Publs., ©1973.

Catlin, a fine artist, lived among the plains and mountain Indians for many years, painting them, noting their customs, culture, equipment, etc. He also notes his own equipment... and often the lack thereof, and how he and the Indians survived various very dangerous "adventures."

Just his recounting of how he and two "paddlers" used a small canoe to paddle down the Missouri River from present day South Dakota to St. Louis, their trials and troubles, near death experiences, and the little equipment they had, is a very interesting read in itself.

Catlin "was there and did that." :yes:

S.M.

crashdive123
07-19-2013, 01:30 PM
Good stuff Mamabear - thanks.

Sourdough
07-19-2013, 01:50 PM
Rick, This Forum is largely comprised of members "Reading" about it. and NOT living it. It is the single greatest thing that Pizzes me off about the Wilderness Survival Forum Members. Reading about it "AIN'T" doing it, anymore than watching wilderness survival crap on TV. In my book the "ONLY" thing that matters is DOING.

Think about it, one would expect on visiting this forum for the first time to encounter many daily accounts of REAL in the field experiences from the forum members, what they get is recycled advise from book readers. I could be wrong, but I feel like I am the last or nearly last of the forum members who is committed to living it. Gone is Kevin Kidder, WildWoman, WarEagle, and about 6 others.

I don't know what is so d@mn hard about throwing a 35# pack on your back and walking (Daily), even if it is in the New York City. Why are people on this forum so D@mn lazy......................It is "ALL" Talk around here. Get your @sses out in the field and write your own book.

Am I Pizzed............Yes, and profoundly disappointed in the forum membership.

I feel better now. Note: Sometimes I am shy about expressing my feelings.......so, if any of the about is unclear.



SD - Just out of curiosity, were you born with all this knowledge? You're confident there isn't one thing you could learn from perusing them on a cold winter's night or a frosty summer's morning? Perhaps I'm a little slow but I still read telephony trade journals after more than 30 years in the business AND I actually learn stuff. Maybe it's dementia and I'm just relearning the same stuff over and over. That's entirely possible. Now, where's my keyboard?

Good stuff, mamabear.

Rick
07-19-2013, 02:11 PM
You point is valid. However, you didn't start out with all your knowledge. You learned it from others, by mistakes, by some brochure you picked up in the tequila house and many other places I'm sure. I've said this before and you seem to have a problem with it but knowledge is knowledge no matter where it comes from. If you can learn something from a book or TV or a mentor or someone on this forum then go out and apply it what difference does it really make? Knowledge born and applied is still knowledge.

I won't speak for others but I have no desire to live the life you live. I probably couldn't if I wanted to. But assuming I could it's not living life to the fullest in MY book. That doesn't mean it's wrong. It just means it's not the right life for me. Living life to the fullest to me is being around my kids and grandkids, spending an afternoon watching them play baseball or softball, going to dinner with my wife, strolling through the art museum and spending some time in the woods whether it's hiking or backpacking or camping. You call it living someone else's life. I call doing what I want to do.

Again, speaking only for myself, I prepare for the things I think I'm most likely to be confronted with. So from that perspective this forum helps me achieve those goals. And what you forget is our lives are filled with a lot of things that prevent us from going on that daily walk. Things we choose to do. You might have the time to do that but we don't always have that luxury. And it has nothing to do with being lazy. It's just the things we've chosen to build our lives around. And unless someone is terribly unhappen with their life and wants to change it there is no reason for any of us to condemn each other for choosing the way we want to live.

BENESSE
07-19-2013, 03:06 PM
Field experience takes place in many different fields, SD, and just because everyone doesn't come on here and brag about every frigging thing they do (that might satisfy you), doesn't mean they aren't doing it.
Some people do it and talk about it and some people just do it.

Sourdough
07-19-2013, 03:22 PM
On that note: I think it is past time for me to go.


Field experience takes place in many different fields, SD, and just because everyone doesn't come on here and brag about every frigging thing they do (that might satisfy you), doesn't mean they aren't doing it.
Some people do it and talk about it and some people just do it.

jsonlong
07-19-2013, 09:39 PM
I don't know what is so d@mn hard about throwing a 35# pack on your back and walking (Daily), even if it is in the New York City. Why are people on this forum so D@mn lazy......................It is "ALL" Talk around here. Get your @sses out in the field and write your own book.


I am a lazy kid living in New York City. But I do a weekly hike to the grocery store of about 6 miles. I have 3 routes to 2 stores and they are both about 3 miles one way. So 6 miles round trip and I stuff my 2000 cu in. backpack on the way back. That is most of the food for the week for one person. I do not take public transportation on the weekends even though I have unlimited usage to the subways. Long walks are fun to me regardless of where I am going. It also keeps one in good shape. Ask anyone who walks long distances.

crashdive123
07-19-2013, 09:54 PM
some people just do it.

You weren't by chance part of the Nike campaign were you?

woodsman86
09-16-2013, 02:19 PM
Awesome link Mamabear! We need more positive posts, so keep the links coming...