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21 Comments

  1. This was a great article, Thank you.

    Your encouragement to continue the study is well taken and I look forward to doing it this summer in between pulling weeds and canning.

    2. Agreed, it gives the person a lot to think about. I wonder how many pairs of shoes were required by each member of the expedition. I wonder how much water was carried daily, or did they depend n natural sources to provide them.

  3. I agree that sewing skills are not very often talked about in survival circles, but they should be. It isn’t just making new clothes, though that is important. You will need to make halters for animals, knife holsters, shoes, bags, repair clothes. My husband is notorious for burning holes in his clothes while welding, and so I have to find a way to patch them. I shop thrift stores for pants of similar colors, but may be different sizes, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller. I cut the legs off and sew it on the front of his favorite pants that he won’t get rid of.

    1. Rose, you are a gem. The value of a good woman as a partner is incalculable. When I was a boy, the girls next door made a high percentage of their own clothing. That is a skill that has mostly been abandoned by modern women. Pity.

      1. Thank you for the compliment. If my husband wasn’t so stubborn about refusing to “give up on old clothes, just because they have a few miles on them…” I might not work quite so hard at it.

        I too think it is a pity that this skill is largely lost. We are poorer as a society because we lack these skills. It isn’t just sewing, though sewing is a snapshot of the larger picture. This country was built on the skills of down-to-earth people who knew how to patch and make do with literally nothing. They re-used things and rebuilt things and make things better.

        I am not very modern in my thinking. I am very old fashioned. I love the old ways. I would do much rather have an old 70s green washer and dryer that never wears out, than a new one with a computer that breaks every 2 years. I would much rather drive an old 50s truck that is a gas hog and struggles to start, than a modern truck made from plastic that electronically shifts. I could easily live like they did 200 years ago. Sure, it’s tiring, but life was better. It was more wholesome. Society was better.

  5. An enjoyable read about one of my favorite subjects! I would encourage the reading of “The Journal of Patrick Gass” (Carol Lynn Macgregor), Patrick Gass was L+C’s Sergeant and kept a journal as well. Part of the preps at Ft Clatsop for the return trip was a salt works. They kept a kettle boiling sea water for their return trip supply of salt. I would imagine that in a total collapse, after things settled down a bit, that a regional salt trade could become quite lucrative.

  6. One of the things I think about a lot is the dangers of Bugging Out and “running afoul of the natives”. THAT is a much bigger issue in a SHTF situation than most of the tactical folks realize. Walking the countryside or gravel roads in full militaristic GI type kit is going to get a lot of good but follish folk hurt and killed. If you got to go, go.. but hitting the road in SHTF is the last resort…. I suggest if you got to go stay non tacitical looking… jeans or hiking pants and a tee shirt, and that way you are much more tacitical in funtion… At your home in defending the homestead for life and liberty… then sure.. kit up with plate carriers and such. If you cross a field and a farmer is watching you come in full kit through a scope… they may shoot and ask questions later in SHTF. I remember a line form the movie, Oh don’t be concerned about the M16 slung on my shoulder, just home security on the road. Come across the field using bounding tactics in kit and reception will be very different. Food for thought.

  7. We visited Fort Clatsop in Oregon last summer. They built an exact replica of the original fort, based on the notes and drawings of the expedition. They believe it’s location is within a few yards of the original. It was very interesting and informative.

  8. Excellent article for SurvivalBlog, S.K. … The Journals for the Lewis and Clark expedition are available to read for ~free at various sites on the Internet.

    2. I just ordered The Frontiersmen from my library. The author’s name is spelled thus: Eckert, Allan W.

      He has written quite few books in that genre. I appreciate the lead onto some good adventure reading.

      Carry on

  10. If you go to Monticello, as you walk into the main entrance it is full of many of the things that Lewis and Clark found and brought back to Jefferson. Jefferson by far was our smartest President.

  11. Outstanding post. Undaunted Courage is one of my all time favorite books. Good health, being physically fit, and mastering basic skills are vital for surviving any long term disruption. Basic skills: fire building, wilderness first aide, water treatment, and marksmanship will serve very well. Always buy good quality boots and try to have a spare set.

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