ftp.xmission.com/2014.06.ftp.xmission.com.tar/ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/hist_text/archive/v01.n558

Internet Message Format | 2000-05-24 | 38KB

From: [e-mail] (hist_text-digest)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: hist_text-digest V1 #558
Reply-To: hist_text
Sender: [e-mail]
Errors-To: [e-mail]
Precedence: bulk


hist_text-digest        Thursday, May 25 2000        Volume 01 : Number 558



In this issue:

-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: English sporters
-áááááá RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Powder (resupply and yearly requirements)
-áááááá RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
-áááááá Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 00:14:11 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: English sporters

"Stewart had money from his mother"s estate as well as his miniscule army
pay, and he traveled widely before sailing to the United States in 1832.
Going on to St. Louis, Stewart became acquainted with several prominant fur
traders, including Kenneth MacKenzie, William L. Sublette, and Robert
Campbell.  With the latter, he journied to the Rockies in 1833."
The Rocky Mountain Journals of William Marshall Anderson

- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 18:23:42 +0100
From: [e-mail]
Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping

A fellow list member Dave Tippetts has been educating me on some of the
finer points of beaver trapping (Thanks Dave) and we have speculated on some
of the following:

What did they use to hoop up the pelts?  It would be a tremendous amount of
twine and you don't see alot coming in the ledgers.  My thoughts include
rawhide and maybe the intestines of the beaver themselves.  Haven't found
any docs on this but I haven't found and docs on anything else that was
used.

A large beaver weighs alot.  We know that camptenders did alot of the
skinning and hooping, but if I had alot of weight wouldn't it make sense  to
"field" dress the hide and then flesh it at camp?

The term regarding stick floating, does this only mean that the stick that
secured the trap to the ground would float once beaver headed for deep water
or was there also a method to "mark" your traps location by use of floating
sticks.

Osborne Russell list a recipe for lure.  Any other primary docs on lures?

Wyeth mentions trapping beaver during the summer months as he traveled.  I
believe James Audobon did as well although he was not a trapper.  How
prevalent was summer trapping of beaver?

What were the hides used for after the fur was shaved off?  Hide glue?


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 16:06:40 -0500
From: don neighbors <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping

try sinew for hooping the pelts, and dental floss works great, and it is linen.

[e-mail] wrote:

> A fellow list member Dave Tippetts has been educating me on some of the
> finer points of beaver trapping (Thanks Dave) and we have speculated on some
> of the following:
>
> What did they use to hoop up the pelts?  It would be a tremendous amount of
> twine and you don't see alot coming in the ledgers.  My thoughts include
> rawhide and maybe the intestines of the beaver themselves.  Haven't found
> any docs on this but I haven't found and docs on anything else that was
> used.
>
> A large beaver weighs alot.  We know that camptenders did alot of the
> skinning and hooping, but if I had alot of weight wouldn't it make sense  to
> "field" dress the hide and then flesh it at camp?
>
> The term regarding stick floating, does this only mean that the stick that
> secured the trap to the ground would float once beaver headed for deep water
> or was there also a method to "mark" your traps location by use of floating
> sticks.
>
> Osborne Russell list a recipe for lure.  Any other primary docs on lures?
>
> Wyeth mentions trapping beaver during the summer months as he traveled.  I
> believe James Audobon did as well although he was not a trapper.  How
> prevalent was summer trapping of beaver?
>
> What were the hides used for after the fur was shaved off?  Hide glue?
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 13:55:26 -0700
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just assumed it
was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
Where can I  find out for sure?
Rick



- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 15:45:56 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Powder (resupply and yearly requirements)

Washtahay-
    during a long walk after my truck broke down today, I finally had time to
consider this question.  I'm using Hawk's numbers as a starting point only
to show different perspectives on this, not because I think he is terribly
wrong.  Anyone who knows me knows I usually travel with enough ammo and
firepower to start a war--I admire Hawk's willingness to publicly admit he
would want enough ammo to fight from the Brook's Range to Peru!!!!  Given a
choice, I don't disagree with him--for today.
    I've gained the impression that in 1827 or so the situation was different.
 I don't think most folks travelled with that kind of armament and
supplies, so I did some number-crunching and cogitating on my little jaunt
today.  You can do a lot of that in 17 miles. . . .
    If I were stepping on a time machine for a year in the mountains ca 1830,
I would probably be basing my powder supply demand on numbers like this.
They are based on a .54 cal rifle, using a 110 grain charge.  The observant
amongst the readers will note that this is a charge equal to 1/2 of the
ball weight.  In addition to being a common period calculation, it is also
a charge that provides a roughly 2000 fps load.  It'll shoot through a
buff, it'll do for anything else I might run across.
10 shots hunting/week=520 rounds
10 shots skirmishing/biweekly=260 rounds
fresh load every day=365 rounds
1145 rounds @110 grains per=roughly 19 1/2 pounds powder
    Call it 21 pounds, as I would want to take a pound of priming powder.
Those numbers are based on me, and are admittedly what I see as a
worst-case scenario.  I would be comfortable with half that.
    For the non-time-traveling resident of the ca. 1830 Rocky Mountains, that
would probably be seen as overkill.  Realistically, I wonder if the average
wasn't closer to 3 rounds per week--that works out to about 2.5 pounds of
powder per year.  They were there to hunt beaver, not to shoot small game
and plink at rocks.  Meat came conveniently packaged as buffalo, elk, and
deer--a decent shot should be able to provide camp meat on such large
animals with less than 3 shots per week.  Reading the primary literature, I
have the impression that Indian fights weren't really that common.  Folks
worked hard to avoid them as risky, and a waste of time and money.
    Hawk has some good words about other equipment as well:
>I would have took 2 to 4 ----25lb kegs of powder---75 to 150 lb of lead
>and 10 yds of patching---25 lb of tow for cleaning
    I'd probably go with about two yards of patching, and use the scraps for
cleaning the gun, supplemented by buff hair on a tow worm (works right
well).  From what I've read of early trade lists, I think patching was
probably often the latest shirt that wore out.    Scrap cloth or fiber on a
tow worm for cleaning, again supplemented by buff hair.

>would also need a bit of salt----I would guess about 100 lbs would last
>for curing hides and meat
    Personally, I would take maybe three pounds of salt, and that for "table"
use.  I don't salt hides now, I wouldn't then.  I don't think the practice
was common in the field either.  Large quantities of salt weren't mentioned
in the trade lists I have seen.
    I prefer to dry meat without salt.  I feel it makes a better staple that
way.

>I would also guess that you would need 5 yds
>of cloth to make char for fire starting
    I'd use scrap cloth--old cleaning patches work well--or punk wood.  I'm
too cheap to buy cloth for such a purpose, and it wouldn't surprise me to
discover the practice was the same "way back when"

>and about 2 grose of rifle flints---
    I'd be taking about a gross, along with a spare lock.  I bet my
hypothetical pioneer would have maybe 2 dozen flints.  There are an awful
lot of mentions of misfires and klatches in the old journals.

>a couple of good woll blankets---
    or a blanket and a robe.

>a half dozen good skinner  knives ---
    Here's where you lose me for a minute Hawk.  Six knives?  Wait a minute.
I'm sitting here at the keyboard in street clothes, and I have three on my
person.  A quick check of my hunting bag turns up two more, and there are a
pair on the belt in my parfleche.  You are right, sorry about that.
    The minimal mountain man may have had two, or only one.  I think it was in
Meek's autobiography where he used the example of a man losing his knife to
make a point, and I can think of at least two other mentions in the
literature of people losing thier "only" knife.

>a good ax and tomahawk--- a good bow saw---
    If you are going to trap, you might want to add a shovel and a pick.
    I don't know how common the carrying of a saw was back then, I've never
seen mention of one outside a fort--and then only one with a carpenter's
shop.

>a half dozen #4 double  spring traps---a half dozen # 1 1/2  single spring
traps--
    I'd be for upping that to a dozen #4s and a dozen #1 1/2s, this is the
same trap load as I ran for many years.
    In the field in the far west, if I recall correctly the common practice
was to carry 6 beaver traps per trapper.

>least 2 or more fire steels.
    At least.  I had a poorly tempered Warranted Bright Oval break one time,
had I not had a spare I would have had a cold night of it (No firelock with
me that trip)

>now you have a basic load without any creature conforts---total up the
>weight-----comes to over 400 lbs without creature comforts---or riggin
>for the horses or mules---each pack animal could carry about 125 lb
>easily---means at least 3 pack animals
    My load for this time travel vacation (with a robe and blanket for
bedding) would run about 180 pounds, and I would either work to reduce it
to cut myself to one pack animal, or travel with two lightly loaded pack
animals.
    My minimal mountain man would have a load of about 90 pounds--less than
one animal load.
    Either way, when consumables are figured in, we are looking at two
pack-loads of gear.

LongWalker c. du B.


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 15:28:10 -0600
From: [e-mail]
Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

Rick,

Never tried this. I, too, always thought it was nylon. But, hold it to a
flame, if it melts, it's nylon or some sort of plastic. If it doesn't, it's
something else. Hard to tell what, though.

I'll have to try this one when I get home.

Lou Sickler
Colorado Territory

> -----Original Message-----
> From:    [e-mail] [SMTP:[e-mail]]
> Sent:    Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:55 PM
> To:    [e-mail]
> Subject:    Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
>
>
>
> Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just assumed
> it
> was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> Where can I  find out for sure?
> Rick
>
>
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 17:45:59 -0400
From: "D Miles" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

> Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just assumed
it
> was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> Where can I  find out for sure?


Burn it, if it melts it is nylon, if it just burns into oblivion.. It is
linen, or cotton...
D
"Abair ach beagan is abair gu math e"
          DOUBLE EDGE FORGE
  Period Knives & Iron Accoutrements
   http://www.bright.net/~deforge1
  "Knowing how is just the beginning"




- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 18:36:18 EDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping

[e-mail] writes:

> Osborne Russell list a recipe for lure.  Any other primary docs on lures?>>

The Lewis & Clark juornals also list a recipe, but I can't locate it now. I
and perhaps others on the list would also be interested in the recipes you
find. How about sharing the Russell recipe now. Thanks.

YMOS
Ghosting Wolf

- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 16:47:03 -0700
From: "John C. Funk, Jr." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

Dental floss is made with a synthetic....not "linen".  Burn it....it
melts....and stinks....like nylon.   Linen in that thickness wouldn't have
the tensile strength even if it was waxed.

John funk


- ----- Original Message -----
From: <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:28 PM
Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?


> Rick,
>
> Never tried this. I, too, always thought it was nylon. But, hold it to a
> flame, if it melts, it's nylon or some sort of plastic. If it doesn't,
it's
> something else. Hard to tell what, though.
>
> I'll have to try this one when I get home.
>
> Lou Sickler
> Colorado Territory
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [e-mail] [SMTP:[e-mail]]
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:55 PM
> > To: [e-mail]
> > Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
> >
> >
> >
> > Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just
assumed
> > it
> > was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> > Where can I  find out for sure?
> > Rick
> >
> >
> >
> > ----------------------
> > hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
>


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 19:05:11 PDT
From: "Chance Tiffie" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping

Excellent questions!!
"Drewyer's" recipe for bait, 1806.
"To prepare beaver bait, the castor or barkstone is first gently pressed
from the bladder-like bag which contains it, into a phial of four ounces,
with a large mouth. Five or six of these stones are thus taken, to which
must be added nutmeg, 12 or 15 cloves, and 30 grains of cinnamon, finely
pulverised and stirred together, with as much ardent spirits as will reduce
the whole to the consistency of mustard."
I have used this particular batch with some success.
     As for hooping beaver, I have used rawhide, without even removing the
hair. I don't think twine should be dismissed though, as one piece could be
used over and over again.
      I have always assumed the "floatstick" was seperate from the stake,
and was attached to the trap like a bobber. I have set traps on water here
in Oklahoma, that rose over night, and finding your set would be next to
impossible without a "floatstick."
    Seems we obsess over the quality of our hides these days, how well they
are skinned, and how well they are hooped. I can't help but think that these
men were after quantity. If they could sell a summer plew, then they would
trap in the summer.  Provided some were over-achievers.
      Buyers were after the hair, I don't think much time was invested in a
flawless skinning, with ears and nostrils intact.  Some of the beaver I have
hooped didn't turn out quite round, but they still weighed the same as a
perfectly round hide.
      If I had my choice I would skin just as soon as I pulled one out of
the water, no point carrying them heavy suckers. It would be a hack and yank
job though; let the camp keepers clean them up.  A person that didn't want
to be caught out much after daylight, or the fear of leaving to many
carcass's laying around to attract unwanted attention, might justify
carrying them out.

Cliff Tiffie
PO Box 5089
Durant, OK
74702
580-924-4187
- ---------------------
Aux Aliments de Pays!

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 21:38:15 -0500
From: "Ratcliff" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

If you want some real linen cordage, from thread to thick twine check =
out Barbour's.  I recently posted some information about the subject.  =
See the sites below for information and sources. =20
Lanney Ratcliff

Check out Barbours and Leather Factory below:
=20
http://leatherfactory.com/
http://www.barbour-threads.com/profile.html

- ----- Original Message -----=20
From: <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 3:55 PM
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?


>=20
>=20
> Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just =
assumed it
> was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> Where can I  find out for sure?
> Rick
>=20
>=20
>=20
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: =
http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 22:06:14 -0600
From: "Ron Chamberlain" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping

I read somewhere, Book of Buckskinning series maybe(?), that wangs made from
green hides were used to to hoop beaver pelts with. They surely had a
regular supply of them due to hunting. I will try and find it and any
documentation on it.

Ron




A fellow list member Dave Tippetts has been educating me on some of the
finer points of beaver trapping (Thanks Dave) and we have speculated on some
of the following:

What did they use to hoop up the pelts?  It would be a tremendous amount of
twine and you don't see alot coming in the ledgers.  My thoughts include
rawhide and maybe the intestines of the beaver themselves.  Haven't found
any docs on this but I haven't found and docs on anything else that was
used.

A large beaver weighs alot.  We know that camptenders did alot of the
skinning and hooping, but if I had alot of weight wouldn't it make sense  to
"field" dress the hide and then flesh it at camp?

The term regarding stick floating, does this only mean that the stick that
secured the trap to the ground would float once beaver headed for deep water
or was there also a method to "mark" your traps location by use of floating
sticks.

Osborne Russell list a recipe for lure.  Any other primary docs on lures?

Wyeth mentions trapping beaver during the summer months as he traveled.  I
believe James Audobon did as well although he was not a trapper.  How
prevalent was summer trapping of beaver?

What were the hides used for after the fur was shaved off?  Hide glue?


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html



- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 22:20:32 -0600
From: "Ron Chamberlain" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

Taken from http://www.dentaldigest.com/perio/floss.html
Ain't technology wonderful!

COLGATE« TOTAL« Colgate
Description: A state-of-the-art, low-friction, Teflon« fiber ......

Glide« Floss W.L. Gore & Associates
Description: Made from expanded PTFE (polytetrafluorethylene), ......

JOHNSON & JOHNSON REACH« FLOSS Johnson & Johnson Description: Nylon dental
floss ......

JOHNSON & JOHNSON REACH« FLOSS EASY SLIDE« Johnson & Johnson
Description: Made of patented PTFE material ....

PHB PERIO-FLOSS PHB, Inc.
Description: A USA-made acrylic yarn floss .....

WISDOM DENTAL FLOSS Wisdom Toothbrush Co.
Description: Features 840 denier nylon strands. .....

Wher'd you come up with linen???

Ron



>
>
> Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just assumed
it
> was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> Where can I  find out for sure?
> Rick




- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 08:51:41 -0500
From: don neighbors <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

I was told that by an old  buckskinner who was a dentist.  I use it to sew with
alot.

[e-mail] wrote:

> Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just assumed it
> was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> Where can I  find out for sure?
> Rick
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 08:53:53 -0500
From: don neighbors <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

wrong. it melts because of the wax in it, and it is
sterile.....................

"John C. Funk, Jr." wrote:

> Dental floss is made with a synthetic....not "linen".  Burn it....it
> melts....and stinks....like nylon.   Linen in that thickness wouldn't have
> the tensile strength even if it was waxed.
>
> John funk
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[e-mail]>
> To: <[e-mail]>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:28 PM
> Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
>
> > Rick,
> >
> > Never tried this. I, too, always thought it was nylon. But, hold it to a
> > flame, if it melts, it's nylon or some sort of plastic. If it doesn't,
> it's
> > something else. Hard to tell what, though.
> >
> > I'll have to try this one when I get home.
> >
> > Lou Sickler
> > Colorado Territory
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: [e-mail] [SMTP:[e-mail]]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:55 PM
> > > To: [e-mail]
> > > Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just
> assumed
> > > it
> > > was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> > > Where can I  find out for sure?
> > > Rick
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----------------------
> > > hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
> >
> > ----------------------
> > hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
> >
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 07:54:34 -0500
From: "northwoods" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping

- -----Original Message-----
From: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Date: May 24, 2000 12:29 PM
Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping


>>A fellow list member Dave Tippetts has been educating me on some of the
finer points of beaver trapping (Thanks Dave) and we have speculated on some
of the following:>>

Here is some additional information from the book Adventures in Mexico & the
Rocky Mountains, published in 1848, by Ruxton:
Having determined the locality of his trap ground, he starts to the
mountains, sometimes alone, sometimes with three or four in company, as soon
as breaking up the ice allows him to commence operations. Arrived on his
hunting grounds, he follows the creeks and streams, all the while keeping a
sharp lookout for "sign". If he sees a prostrate cottonwood tree he examines
it to see if it be the work of the beaver-whether "thrown" for the purpose
of food or to dam the stream. The track of the beaver on the mud or the sand
is also examined; and if the sign be fresh, he sets his traps in the run of
the animal, hiding it under water, and attaching it by a stout chain to a
picket driven in the bank, or to a bush or a tree. A "float stick" is made
fast to the trap by a cord a few feet long, which, if the animal carry away
the trap, floats on the water and points out its position. The trap is
baited with "medicine", an oily substance obtained from a gland in the
scrotum of the beaver, but distinct of the testes. A stick is dipped in this
and planted over the trap; and the beaver attracted by the smell, and
wishing a close inspection, very foolishly puts his leg in the trap, and is
a "gone beaver."
When a lodge is discovered, the trap is set at the edge of the dam, at the
point where the animal passes from deep water to shallow, and always under
water. Early in the morning the hunter mounts his mules and examines his
traps. The captured animals are skinned, and the tails, which are a great
dainty, carefully packed into camp. The skin is stretched over a hoop or
framework of osier twigs, and is allowed to dry, the flesh and fatty
substance being scraped (grained). When dry, it is folded into a square
sheet, the fur turned inward, and the bundle, containing about ten to twenty
skins, tightly pressed and corded, is ready for transportation.
During the hunt, regardless of Indian vicinity, the fearless trapper wanders
far and near in search of "sign". His nerves must ever be in a state of
tension, and his mind ever present at his call. His eagle eyes sweep around
the country, and in an instance detects any foreign appearance. A turned
leaf, a blade of grass pressed down, the uneasiness of wild animals, the
flight of birds, are all paragraphs to him written in natures legible hand
and the plainest language. All the wits of the subtle savage are called into
play to gain an advantage over the wily woodsman; but with the natural
instinct of the primitive man, the white hunter has the advantage of a
civilized mind, and, thus provided, seldom fails to outwit, under equal
advantage, the cunning savage.
The trappers of the Rocky Mountains belong to a "genus" more approximating
to the primitive savage than perhaps any other class of civilized man. There
lives being spent in the remote wilderness of the mountains, with no other
companion than nature herself, there habits and characters assume a most
singular cast of simplicity mingled with ferocity, appearing to take there
coloring from the scenes and object around them. Knowing no wants save those
of nature, there sole care is to procure sufficient food to support life,
and the necessary clothing to protect them from the rigorous climate. This,
with the assistance of there rifles, they are generally able to effect, but
sometimes at the expense of great peril and hardship. When engaged in there
avocation, the natural instinct of primitive man is ever alive, for the
purpose of guarding against danger and the provision of necessary food.
Keen observers of nature, they rival the beasts of prey in discovering the
haunts of wild game, and in there skill and cunning in capturing it.
Constantly exposed to perils of all kinds, they become callous to any
feeling of danger, and destroy human as well as animal life with as little
scruple and as freely as they expose there own. Of laws, human or divine,
they neither now or care to know. There wish is there law, and to attain it
they do not scruple as to ways and means. Firm friends and bitter enemies,
with them it is "a word and a blow" and the blow often first. They may have
good qualities, but they are those of the animal; and people fond of giving
hard names call them revengeful, bloodthirsty, drunkards (when the
wherewithal can be had), gamblers, regardless of the laws, in fact, white
Indians. However, there are exceptions, and I have met honest mountain men.
There animal qualities, however, are undeniable. Strong, active, hardy as
bears, expert in the use of there weapons, they are just what uncivilized
man might be supposed in a brute state, depending upon his instinct for the
support of life. Not a hole or corner in the vast wilderness of the "far
west" has not been ransacked by these hardy men.From the Mississippi to the
mouth of the Colorado west, from the frozen regions of the north to the Gila
in Mexico, the beaver trapper has set his traps in every river and stream.
All this vast country, but for the daring enterprise of these men, would be
terra incognito to geographers, as indeed a great portion is still, but
there is not an acre that has not been passed and repassed by the trappers
on ther perilous excursions, The mountians and streams still retain the
names assigned to them by the rude hunters; and alone these are the hardy
pioneers who pave the way for the settlement of the western country.

Sorry for getting carried away, I had the book open and apparently my typing
skills are improving steadily. I find Ruxtons descriptions to not be error
free, but entertaining, and enlightening in much of the time.

T. Clark



- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 09:07:04 -0500
From: don neighbors <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

wrong.......nice try..........

Ron Chamberlain wrote:

> Taken from http://www.dentaldigest.com/perio/floss.html
> Ain't technology wonderful!
>
> COLGATE=AE TOTAL=AE Colgate
> Description: A state-of-the-art, low-friction, Teflon=AE fiber ......
>
> Glide=AE Floss W.L. Gore & Associates
> Description: Made from expanded PTFE (polytetrafluorethylene), ......
>
> JOHNSON & JOHNSON REACH=AE FLOSS Johnson & Johnson Description: Nylon d=
ental
> floss ......
>
> JOHNSON & JOHNSON REACH=AE FLOSS EASY SLIDE=AE Johnson & Johnson
> Description: Made of patented PTFE material ....
>
> PHB PERIO-FLOSS PHB, Inc.
> Description: A USA-made acrylic yarn floss .....
>
> WISDOM DENTAL FLOSS Wisdom Toothbrush Co.
> Description: Features 840 denier nylon strands. .....
>
> Wher'd you come up with linen???
>
> Ron
>
> >
> >
> > Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just as=
sumed
> it
> > was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> > Where can I  find out for sure?
> > Rick
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 08:19:26 -0700
From: "Paul W. Jones" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

Don:

Why is the reponse wrong?  Are you still maintaining that dental floss is
made from a natural fiber?  Some perhaps, although I have not found it.  =
Was
at the pharmacy yesterday and stopped and perused the dental floss.  Each
and every brand on the shelf listed synthetic materials.

Could you explain, or do I misunderstand your response.

Regards,  Paul
- ----- Original Message -----
From: don neighbors <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 7:07 AM
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?


wrong.......nice try..........

Ron Chamberlain wrote:

> Taken from http://www.dentaldigest.com/perio/floss.html
> Ain't technology wonderful!
>
> COLGATE=AE TOTAL=AE Colgate
> Description: A state-of-the-art, low-friction, Teflon=AE fiber ......
>
> Glide=AE Floss W.L. Gore & Associates
> Description: Made from expanded PTFE (polytetrafluorethylene), ......
>
> JOHNSON & JOHNSON REACH=AE FLOSS Johnson & Johnson Description: Nylon d=
ental
> floss ......
>
> JOHNSON & JOHNSON REACH=AE FLOSS EASY SLIDE=AE Johnson & Johnson
> Description: Made of patented PTFE material ....
>
> PHB PERIO-FLOSS PHB, Inc.
> Description: A USA-made acrylic yarn floss .....
>
> WISDOM DENTAL FLOSS Wisdom Toothbrush Co.
> Description: Features 840 denier nylon strands. .....
>
> Wher'd you come up with linen???
>
> Ron
>
> >
> >
> > Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just
assumed
> it
> > was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> > Where can I  find out for sure?
> > Rick
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 09:19:57 -0400
From: "D Miles" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

> wrong. it melts because of the wax in it, and it is
> sterile.....................

I melted some of the 3 types we have here.. All three melted into a hard
nylon ball, not a wax type melt.  And as an earlier post from Ron pointed
out, the manufacturers says it is made from nylon, PTFE, acrylic yarn &
teflon fiber of all things!... If you believe the word of an "Old
Buckskinner" on all subjects.. I gots some beach property fer ya!<G>
D

"Abair ach beagan is abair gu math e"
          DOUBLE EDGE FORGE
  Period Knives & Iron Accoutrements
   http://www.bright.net/~deforge1
  "Knowing how is just the beginning"




- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 07:39:19 -0700
From: "John C. Funk, Jr." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?

The wax "burns"; the synthetic melts!


- ----- Original Message -----
From: don neighbors <[e-mail]>
To: <[e-mail]>
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 6:53 AM
Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?


> wrong. it melts because of the wax in it, and it is
> sterile.....................
>
> "John C. Funk, Jr." wrote:
>
> > Dental floss is made with a synthetic....not "linen".  Burn it....it
> > melts....and stinks....like nylon.   Linen in that thickness wouldn't
have
> > the tensile strength even if it was waxed.
> >
> > John funk
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <[e-mail]>
> > To: <[e-mail]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:28 PM
> > Subject: RE: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
> >
> > > Rick,
> > >
> > > Never tried this. I, too, always thought it was nylon. But, hold it to
a
> > > flame, if it melts, it's nylon or some sort of plastic. If it doesn't,
> > it's
> > > something else. Hard to tell what, though.
> > >
> > > I'll have to try this one when I get home.
> > >
> > > Lou Sickler
> > > Colorado Territory
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: [e-mail] [SMTP:[e-mail]]
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2000 2:55 PM
> > > > To: [e-mail]
> > > > Subject: Re: MtMan-List: Re: Beaver trapping/Dental Floss?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Really?  Is Dental Floss really Linen?  No kiddin'?  I always just
> > assumed
> > > > it
> > > > was some sort of space-age nylon or something.
> > > > Where can I  find out for sure?
> > > > Rick
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----------------------
> > > > hist_text list info:
http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
> > >
> > > ----------------------
> > > hist_text list info:
http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
> > >
> >
> > ----------------------
> > hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
>
>
> ----------------------
> hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html
>


- ----------------------
hist_text list info: http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/maillist.html

------------------------------

End of hist_text-digest V1 #558
*******************************

-
 To unsubscribe to hist_text-digest, send an email to
"[e-mail]"
 with "unsubscribe hist_text-digest" in the body of the message.