Alone in the Wilderness

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/aloneinwildernesOOknowrich ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS c /c 1 r « JOSKPII KNOWLES IN WILDERNESS GARB. PHOTOGRAPHED AT MEGAN- TIC ON THE DAY HE CAME OUT OF THE WOODS, OCTOBER 4, 1913 ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS BY JOSEPH KNOWLES Illustrated from drawings on birch hark^ made by the author in the woods with burnt sticks from his fires^ together with photographs taken before and after his experiences LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA I914 All ria-hts reserved sk:^^ v. THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. To My Mother 297033 AN APPRECIATION My wannest thanks are due to people too numerous to mention individually, for their personal interest in my experiment, and in particular to my good friend Paul Waitt for his kindness in helping me in the prepa- ration of this book for publication and for his many valuable suggestions in regard to it. JOSEPH KNOWLES Boston, December 2, 1913 CONTENTS Chapter Page I An Idea and a Birthday i II The First Days in the Wilderness . 19 III My First Adventure 35 IV The Rescue of the Fawn 51 V Trapping a Bear 65 VI The Mental versus the Physical . 79 VII Wilderness Neighbors 93 VIII Fever and the Battle of the Moose 112 IX Animal Studies 127 X Killing a Deer with the Hands . 145 XI Wilderness Adventures 159 XII More Wilderness Adventures . , . ^ 177 XIII The World and the Wilderness ... 193 XIV Trapping and Woodcraft 209 XV The Value of the Experiment ... 224 XVI Concerning the Boy Scouts 239 XVII Nature and Art 254 XVIII The Inside Story of the Canadian Trip 269 XIX The Future 286 ILLUSTRATIONS Joseph Knowles in wilderness garb. Photographed at Megantic on the day he came out of the woods, October, 4, 19 13 Frontispiece PACING PAGE Joseph Knowles as he appeared a month before entering the woods 4 Preparing to enter the wilderness 12 Breaking the last link. Entering the woods at the foot of Spencer Trail, August 4, 19 13 20 The doe at Lost Pond. The first sketch drawn by the author during his two months in the wilderness. Done on birch bark with burnt sticks from his fires 26 The author demonstrating fire-making by friction with crude material. Posed shortly before he entered the woods 44 Rear view of one of the author's lean-tos in the Bear Mountain country. Found and photographed by outsiders after the author had left 50 The deer and the white fawn. A sketch made in the woods by the author on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires 58 Cache where the author left messages and sketches for the outside world 62 Wild-cat watching deer and fawn. Drawn by the author in the woods on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires 70 Dream picture of the outside world. Drawn in the woods by the author on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires 82 ILLUSTRATIONS rAC3NG PAGE The little fawn. Drawn by the author in the woods on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires . gS Beaver at work. Drawn by the author in the woods on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires . io6 The battle of the moose. Sketch made by the author in the woods on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires 120 A birch-bark message to the outside world, written by the author in the woods with burnt sticks from his fires 140 The author's first shoes, made of the inner lining bark of the cedar 150 A glimpse of the Spencer country in Northern Maine 164 Calendar (in center) , birch-bark dishes and drinking cups, found in the woods after the author had left. The calendar he lost several days before he left for Canada, but it was found by others afterward . 196 A sketch done by the author in the woods on a piece of fungus with burnt sticks from his fires ... 216 Dr. Dudley A. Sargent of Harvard examining the author at his office in the Hemenway Gymnasium, shortly after the author came from the wilderness 232 Implements made in the woods by the author and used by him during his experiment. A sketch made by the author in the woods on birch bark, with burnt sticks from his fires 250 The author greeting his mother at Wilton, Maine, after he had completed his experiment .... 260 Game wardens escorting the author to Attean Camps after his return to civilization. From left to right, Mr. Pendelton, Mr. Comber, Mr. Durgin, Mr. Wilcox 276 A portion of the crowd that greeted Joseph Knowles on his arrival in Boston, October 9, 1913 . 290 ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS CHAPTER I AN IDEA AND A BIRTHDAY On the Saturday afternoon of October fourth, nineteen hundred and thirteen, just at the time ^vhen sunshine marked the end of two days' heavy rain, I emerged from the Canadian forest on the shores of Lake Megantic, having lived the life of a primitive man for two months in the wilderness of northern Maine. I was tanned to the color of an Indian. I had a matted beard, and long, matted hair. I was scratched from head to foot by briers and underbrush. Over the upper part of my body I wore the skin of a black bear, which I had fastened together in front with deerskin thongs. My legs were incased in crudely tanned deerskin chaps, with the hair inside. On my feet I wore moccasins of buckskin, sewed together with sinew. I wore no hat. On my back was a pack, made from woven lining bark of the 2 AliON^ IJsT tHte WILDERNESS cedar, in which I carried various implements from the forest. I had a rude bow and arrows, and a crude knife, made from the horn of a deer, dangled at my waist. It was thus that I entered the little French- Canadian town of Megantic — back to the civilized world. I received a welcome that I had not dreamed of, and I was very happy, for it proved to me at that time that the people were really in- terested. However, as the hours went on, I began to realize that they considered that I had done a wonderful thing. It is because of this impression, which seems to have taken hold of many people since my return, that I will begin this narrative by saying that it was not wonderful. Above all else I want to emphasize that my living alone in the wilderness for two months without clothing, food, or implements of any kind was not a wonderful thing. It was an interesting thing; but it was not wonderful. Any man of fair health could do the same thing, provided he meant business and kept his head. But, to the best of my knowledge, no other man in the history of civilization ever did what I did; and for that reason the people AN IDEA AND A BIRTHDAY 3 are marveling at it. To be sure, doing a thing for the first time has its usual and mysterious side; but it is not necessarily wonderful. The idea of this experiment came to me about a year ago, while I was spending a few weeks at Bradford, Vermont. At the time I was painting pictures of outdoor life in a little log cabin on what is known in that locality as Sad- dleback Mountain. I was painting a moose, and, as I added a touch of color to the canvas, I began to wonder how many people would notice that particular bit of color, which, from a standpoint of faithful portrayal, was as impor- tant as the eye of the creature itself. From this thought my mind wandered on to the realization that the people of the present time were sadly neglecting the details of the great book of nature. And, as I thought, I forgot the picture before me. I said to myself, " Here, I know something about nature. I wonder if it would not be possible for me to do something for the benefit of others.'' Then I would laugh at the idea of my doing anything for the world! Probably all of us have wild dreams now and then. I am begin- ning to think that wild dreams are wonderful things to have. I have always hoped^ more 4 ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS than anything else, that I might sometime do something which would benefit mankind, even in a small way. The idea of ''nature and myself" stuck in my mind, and I began to wonder what I might do to turn the attention of the public back to nature. I knew that art appealed to only a part of the people. I could n 't do it by art alone; no one ever had. A new impetus was needed. I believed there was too much artificial life at the present day in the cities. I found myself comparing our present mode of living with the wild rugged life of the great outdoors. Then, all of a sudden, I wondered if the man of the present day could leave all his luxury behind him and go back into the wilderness and live on what nature intended him to have. In that thought came the birth of the idea. That night I went down to the hotel in Brad- ford and began talking it over with several of my friends.

Load more