A Scenario and a Question.

As you know, it is very difficult to find specific information on 18th century lifestyles and the tools and equipment used. So most of our research has to be done through simply finding out what people did, and what tools and equipment were available to them. Then we must gather the clothing and a selection of tools and equipment and see if we can accomplish certain tasks. This is called "experimental archaeology", or by some, "experiential archaeology".
So below I have set out a scenario, and please feel free to participate.

Woodsman By John Buxton.

The Scenario.

It is sometime in the early to mid 18th century. You have been a few years in the New World doing various jobs to earn money. Recently you have been hired to range the area around a small community in New England looking for any sign of Indians. If you do find any sign of them being in the area, you are supposed to get back to the community as fast as you can and report your findings to the local militia.


You could be gone for any length of time from a few days to a month, depending on if you find anything, and it is now Indian summer, a time just before the leaves fall from the trees and bushes. There is a possibility that you could be discovered by an enemy, in which case you must just do the best you can to get back to the community.


You could of course get injured in some way and once again you will have to deal with it the best way you can. Now the question is, what equipment do you decide to carry with you when ranging the wilderness? You need to travel as light as you can, but at the same time you must be as self-reliant as possible. So some compromise must be made between these two principles, minimum weight, and maximum self-reliance.


Here below is a list of items you can take with you, you may add to this list if you think it necessary, or you can take away from this list if you don’t think an item is necessary. I will welcome any feedback on this that you are prepared to offer.

• .60 cal/20 gauge fusil. 42 inch barrel.
• .60 calibre smoothbore pistol.
• Shot pouch and contents.
• Powder horn.
• Butcher/Hunting knife.
• Legging knife.
• Clasp knife.
• Tomahawk.
• Tinderbox.
• Belt pouch.
• Fishing lines in brass container.
• Two snares.
• Gunpowder wallet (contains spare fungus tinder at present).
• Knapsack.
• Ball mould and swan shot mould.
• Lead ladle.
• Cup.
• Trade kettle.
• Medical pouch.
• Housewife.
• Piece of soap and a broken ivory comb.
• Dried foods in bags.
• Wooden spoon.
• Gun tools and spare springs.
• Compass.
• Whet stone.
• Oilcloth.
• One blanket (Monmouth cap, spare wool weskit and wool shirt rolled inside blanket).
• Leather costrel.

Friend or Foe By Griffing.

Woods Lore.

Woods lore.

• Never step over a log or fallen tree if you can’t see what is on the other side!


• Always check above for widow makers and dead branches before setting up camp.


• Set up your shelter first before collecting fire wood and making fire.


• Stack your fire wood close to the shelter so you do not have to leave the shelter to stoke the fire.


• Always store dry kindling in back of your shelter in case the fire should go out in the night.


• Always carry spare tinder in your pack.


• Take your powder horn off and place it in the back of your shelter or under your blanket before making fire!


• Always try and set up camp in daylight, and check the camp site for ant and spider nests.


• Layer your clothing on a trek so you can remove or add to suit the temperature. Don’t push too hard and perspire, if your clothes do get wet in winter, take them off in front of the fire and dry them out before bedding down, or you will get cold in the night.


• Always carry a little dry kindling and a candle in your fireworks bag.


• When your gunpowder wallet is empty, it is a good place to store spare tinder.


• When looking for dry kindling in wet weather, look under rocks and fallen trees, look in hollow trees, cut wood from dead trees; under the surface it will be dry.


• Prepare several sizes of kindling before making fire.


• Make your bed up off the ground winter and summer.


• To keep a straight line in the woods, always line up several trees in the direction you are travelling. When you get to the last but one, put your back against the tree and line up several more trees.


• Always carry a canvas or oil cloth on a trek.


• Always carry a tomahawk/hatchet and a knife.


• Trees will usually fall down hill, but not always!


• The bark will come off a living tree easier in the summer than in the winter.


• Any large animal is dangerous if wounded.


• Snakes are slow to move in spring, take care where you tread.


• If you have to cross a creek or river, always check the depth with a stick before stepping into the water; and check in front of you as you go.


• When drying your moccasins in front of the fire, do it slowly! Do not overheat the leather.


• Three shots in succession and repeated are a distress signal.


• Always plug the vent hole before making fire with the lock of your gun.


• Always make sure your gun can’t fall when not in your hands!


• If you should lose the trail when tracking wounded game, mark the last sign with your handkerchief or neckerchief or patch cloth and move in ever increasing circles around your marker until you pick up the sign again. Always take care the game is not waiting in ambush!


• Be sure to clearly sight your game before you shoot.


• Be sure of the area beyond your target.


• A ball or bullet can ricochet off water.


• Always keep your blades sharp, a blunt blade is dangerous.


• When using an axe or hatchet/tomahawk, make sure you are clear should the tool glance off the wood.


• Always carry a bandage for injury or snake bite.


• Some people have survived 3 weeks without food, but depending on exertion and weather conditions you will need water within 3 days. Always carry water with you.


• On long treks, carry a ball mould and a lead ladle. You can remould the spent lead you retrieve from game.


• Do not use dried grass or bark as wadding if there is a danger of starting a fire!


• Use rocks or green wood at the back of your fire to reflect heat into your shelter during winter, but NEVER use river rock or rocks from a creek or stream for in or around your fire. They hold water and can explode with the heat.


• Char your tinder in the fire and extinguish it by placing it in your tinderbox and closing the lid.


• Keep some uncharred tinder in your tinderbox.


• Carry your fireworks in a greased leather fire bag to keep them dry.


• Always wrap the head of your hatchet or use a sheath when carrying.


• A button closure on the flap of your shot pouch will keep all inside safe if you should take a fall.


• Wear your powder horn toward your back when hunting.


• Use a hammer cap on your flintlock for added safety.

• Seal inside your lock mortise and barrel channel with beeswax.

• A smokeless fire is made with small dry kindling.

. Carry more than one knife.

Life of Mary Jemison-Indian Capture.

The party that took us consisted of six Indians and four Frenchmen, who immediately commenced plundering, as I just observed, and took what they considered most valuable; consisting principally of bread, meal and meat.

During this time, the Indians stripped the shoes and stockings from the little boy that belonged to the woman who was taken with us, and put moccasins on his feet, as they had done before on mine.

Having given the little boy and myself some bread and meat for breakfast, they led us on as fast as we could travel, and one of them went behind and with a long staff, picked up all the grass and weeds that we trailed down by going over them. By taking that precaution they avoided detection; for each weed was so nicely placed in its natural position that no one would have suspected that we had passed that way. It is the custom of Indians when scouting, or on private expeditions, to step carefully and where no impression of their feet can be left--shunning wet or muddy ground. They seldom take hold of a bush or limb, and never break one; and by observing those precautions and that of setting up the weeds and grass which they necessarily lop, they completely elude the sagacity of their pursuers, and escape that punishment which they are conscious they merit from the hand of justice. After a hard day's march we encamped in a thicket, where the Indians made a shelter of boughs, and then built a good fire to warm and dry our benumbed limbs and clothing; for it had rained some through the day.

Excerpt from William Bartram's Journal 1773.

THE preparatory business of the surveyors being now accomplished, Mr. J. M`Intosh, yet anxious for travelling, and desirous to accompany me on this tour, we joined the caravan, consisting of surveyors, astronomers, artisans, chain-carriers, markers, guides and hunters, besides a very respectable number of gentlemen, who joined us, in order to speculate in the lands, together with ten or twelve Indians, altogether to the number of eighty or ninety men, all or most of us well mounted on horseback, besides twenty or thirty pack-horses, loaded with provisions, tents, and camp equipage.

New Holland & The New World Living History.

I took this photo this morning from our front door and thought it a nice picture to introduce this following article. This is looking east at sunrise near Armidale in New England.

New Holland. The Early Exploration Of Australia.
· 1688 - William Dampier was the first Englishman to land on the, now called, New Holland north-west coast. Part buccaneer, part scientist the adventurer Dampier found it no more "fruitful" than his predecessors.

· 1699 - Dampier returned officially eleven years later as commander of HMS Roebuck on a voyage of discovery for the British Admiralty. He gave the first written impressions of the flora and fauna, as well as the Aborigines which he described as the "miserablest People in the world". But his descriptions, said to be the inspiration for Gulliver's Travels, inspired European scientists.

Cook and Bougainville came to Australia much later because up until then they were both involved in the French and Indian War in the New World.

We have had some enquiries regarding the lifestyle re-enactment of early Australia. As I have explained many times there is good reason for our group to avoid emulating early settlers in Australia. For one the period is too late for our interests, the only dates for exploration that come close to our period of interest are those above. Later than this we fall into the first penal colony and the only personas available at that time would be military and prisoners.
After this we get into free settlement and the atrocities committed against the Native Peoples, and I do not want to go there for obvious reasons. After this we are in the Bushranger period. Bushrangers were the thieves, robbers and highwaymen of Australia and I see no enjoyment opportunities here.
Australian Living History Historians for the most part must emulate the English. If your ancestors came from anywhere else they would not have been in Australia. The skills available are very few, limited basically to those living skills used in England. Your clothing would be basic poor peoples dress and not in very good condition, or it would be military uniform.
For activities there are not many, you would be tied to the penal settlement or a farm whether male or female. Some would have had skills such as carpentry, but the lifestyle would still be poor.



The New World. Life in the Colonies.
Settlement and exploration started very early in the New World. Many people from different countries settled in the New World, not just the English. There were a wide variety of trades being practiced which gives the Living Historian more personas to choose from. This in turn gives a larger variety of period living skills and primitive skills to learn and practice.
With a larger choice of characters to choose from this also gives us more activities and scenarios to work with. There were woodsmen and woodswomen, there were Native Peoples, white Indians and black Indians (captured & adopted into Indian society). Every man in the colony between 16 and 60 years of age was required to join a trained band (militia). These characters alone give us ample opportunities to trek and camp in the woods and practice a large variety of primitive wilderness survival skills.
Lifestyle conditions in the New World settlements were generally good, at least the people owned their own land and were free to make of their lives and living conditions what they would. There were dangers involved, but this only enhances our ability to create more activities and practice more skills. What it all comes down to is a much larger choice of things to do and skills to learn in New World Living History than there is in Australian Living History.
We do what we do for fun, we learn a lot along the way, far more than you will learn from books or in school but to enjoy ourselves is our main aim.

The Greens Rangers Historical Trekking in the UK.

Find more videos like this on Greens Rangers Re enactors of Colonial America

The Half-faced shelter in Fox Valley.