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| Warner packs worn in various ways |
Sunday, May 28th, 1775. Proceeded up the River. Saw a great many
Buffaloes cross the River above us, all hands went ashore to surround them. I
kept on the outside of them and shot a fine young Heifer,
some of the rest shot a Cow and Calf. Our stupid company will not stay
to jerk any, tho' we are in want of provisions. Camped on a gravelly Island.
Beech bottoms and cedar hills with few rivulets.
Monday, May 29th, 1775. This morning George Rice (without any
provocation) began to abuse me in a most scurrilous manner, threatened to scalp
and tomahawk me. I was for bestowing a little manual labour upon him, but he
flew to his Gun and began to load, swearing he would shoot me. I did the same,
and had it not been for the timely interposition of my worthy Friend, Mr.
Nourse, I believe one of us would have been killed. A great deal of abusive
language was given on both sides, but nothing more. I have expected this for
some time. He did it on purpose to get off his engagement to go down the Ohio,
which it has effectually done. Proceeded a little way up the River to a great
Buffalo crossing, where we intend to kill some meat. Our provision is almost
out.
So with
everyone focusing on a young Virginian starting a world war on this date I
figured I check in to see what everyone’s favorite Mike Burke impersonator Nicholas
Cresswell was doing on his journey. Cresswell is one of my favorite Journals of
the 18th century. It has everything observations on local color,
clothing, and he goes thru all of the 3 stages of the 18th century
journal.
What
I’m referring to is the basic stage process you find in most 18th
century narratives. Stage 1: is the start Tons of food, see a lot of game,
world is great. Stage 2: flour starts to run out, someone gets sick/injured
maybe it starts to rain Stage 3: no bread for days, you might die, you have no
shoes and all paths are covered with legos.
At
different points you can see Cresswell cross from one stage to another for
example Stage 1:
Indian Country--Tuesday, August 22nd, 1775. A very heavy fog this
morning. We had got two bottles of Rum, two loaves of Bread, and a Bacon Ham
along with us. Agreed to take a Dram to prevent us catching the Fever and Ague,
but drank rather too much and most stupidly forgot our provisions. Got to
Logg's Town about noon, crossed the River and went to Mr. John Gibson's. Lodged
there, but would not make our wants known for fear of being laughed at. We
crossed the River in a Canoe made of Hickory Bark, stretched open with
sticks.
Earlier on his trip you can see a definite case of stage 2
starting:
Harwood's Landing--Sunday, June 4th, 1775. Arrived at Harwood's Landing
in the evening. Saw a Rattle Snake about 4 feet long. A bark Canoe at the
landing. We have been Fourteen days in coming about 120 miles. My right foot
much swelled, owing to a hurt I got by bathing in the River. Rocky and Cedar
hills, along the banks of the River. My foot very painful.
Monday, June 5th, 1775. This is called Harwood's Landing as it is
nearest to a new Town, that was laid out last summer by Captn. Harwood, who
gave it the name of Harwoodsburg about 15 miles from the Landing for which place
Mr. Nourse, Mr. Johnston, Taylor and Rice set out this morning. I would have
gone with them, but my foot is so bad I am scarcely able to walk.
Applied a fomentation of Herbs to assuage the swelling. Very little to eat and
no possibility of getting any flour here. Must be without Bread very soon
And a few days later he is definetly in a mental stage 3:
Saturday, June 24th, 1775. This morning set out to the Lick without
breakfast. The reason was we had nothing to eat. Three of us stayed at the Lick
till the afternoon waiting for the Buffaloes but saw none. When our out Hunters
came loaded with meat and informed us they had killed a Buffalo about five
miles off, set out and found it, and loaded ourselves and returned to the Camp,
but never so much fatigued before. Having already experienced the want of
victuals, was willing to guard against it for the future. I believe I have
exerted myself more than I can bear. It is judged by the company that I brought
between 70 and 80 pound of meat, exclusive of my Gun and Shot pouch. To add to
my distress my shoesoles came off and I was obliged to walk bare foot for six
miles. Find myself very unwell. Shot a Pole Cat. One of our Company missing.
All the rest (except Tilling and myself) are going this evening, as they expect
he is killed by the Indians. But I think he has lost himself in the Woods. Very
arduous task to persuade them to stay, as they all expect to be killed before
morning.
Saturday, July 1st, 1775. This morning John Clifton left us. He intends
going home by land. He has behaved very well. Our provisions almost done, all
our hooks and lines broken, all our feet so tender by standing continually wet
that it is impossible for us to hunt, and the small quantity of provision we
have is swarming with maggots. Our Flour expended and this night we have put
the last of our Indian Corn to boil (about three half pints, sprouted as long
as my finger). This we have always reserved for Sunday dinner with a little Elk
fat rendered amongst it and thought it delicious.
Most narratives are a mix of these stages and the crying,
joy and flour that go along with them. One thing all of these stages point out
is the sheer disposable nature of 18th century clothes/gear when
constantly used. I think this is something that is lost to a lot of folks
especially when buying/making gear. Knapsacks, moccasins, breeches, shirts etc
in the period are not items that are meant for a long life.
Cresswell
is constantly lamenting the state of his clothes on his journey:
Tuesday, July 18th, 1775. At Mr. V. Crawford's, Jacob Creek. These
rascals have wore out all the clothes I left here, so that I am now reduced to
three ragged shirts, two pair linen breeches in the same condition, a hunting
shirt and jacket, with one pair of stockings.
Redmont,
Berkeley County, Virginia--Saturday, October 14th, 1775. Got up early this
morning and mended my breeches with a piece of my shirt lap. Shaved and made
myself as decent as my circumstances would admit. After settling with Mr.
Connel, I have only one penny left. No money to be got at Mr. Gibb's as he is
not at home. Went to Mr. Nourse's, who makes me welcome and will assist me to
Leesburg.
The start of this rant was the fact I’ve been looking at a lot of
info over the past few days on knapsacks and the very nature of them in the
period was a pretty temporay item. For example by the revolution it was a
common practice to cut out the men’s knapsacks from the last campaign seasons
tents. Both items would be pretty beat after daily use. And As I was reading
George Beddingers papers I came across an awesome qute about his use of a
knapsack:
Bedinger having a small bear skin knap-sack containing a few land
papers of value for safety bent down a
sapling & fastened his knapsask upon it and let it up
Automatically on reading this my brain went to the Elisha Gross knapsack. It’s an extant 18th century knapsack made of
bearskin currently in a private collection. Of course this then led to me
recall the knapsack mentioned in the James Brown probate inventory which led to
hours of reading all the material I could find on 18th century
knapsacks.
So
looking at a lot of history/trekking boards you find a lot of folks trying
their hand at making a serviceable period knapsack. Often the question or
mention of waterproofing the knapsacks comes up. This s an attempt to save
folks a lot of time and money.
Gear breaks and breaks down especially in the
humidity of the early summer. The augusta county motto has become “ when its
hot you sweat when it rains you get wet” Once you accept this mindset it’s easy
to try and get past modern Ideas of “waterproofing” your gear. In my experience
waterproofing 18th century gear is a fools errand. Stuff can be made water
resistant for a time but for the time and work you put in it you don’t get much
return. In all honesty if you have an item that needs to be kept dry (medicine,
your cell phone etc) you are honestly just better off using a modern container
and stashing it in your pack in a small red pouch. This lets you or anyone that
needs to get into your pack know where your medicine/phone/epipen is
quickly.
That being said a good knapsack is
an important piece of gear when trying to head into the woods. Luckily now more
then ever thereis a lot of information online about the use of knapsacks in the
18th century and construction notes on the originals.
A great read can be found here at
the 17th regiment of lobsterbacks
And this collection of info put
together by John “mr. bibliography” Reese and Steve “I’ll document that” Rayner
The
knapsack I push most folks towards is the simple David Uhl knap sack or the
Warner pack. Both are super simple to sew and good practice for anyone looking
to try their hand at sewing.
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| David Uhl knapsack... |
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| Warner Knapsack |
Now
comes the part to try and help the folks who “need” to waterproof their packs.
You can paint either of these packs with a linseed oil/red ochre paint to make
it water resistant or (I’m getting emails over this one) A quick non beeswax
fix is to go to tractor supply and buy a small can of barn red oil paint and
use it. It works really well and you avoid the bursting into flames problem
that linseed oil and beeswax can bring about. I’ve had two packs (one Uhl style
and one warner style) that were painted with Linseed oil by different makers.
It took months for my Uhl style pack to dry properly and the warner style pack was not painted properly
resulting in the fabric tearing easily and after a few uses Burst into
nothingness on a trek.(sorry Dave)
Maybe I
can hit up a knowledgeable person to write me up some tips to post here on
treating cloth until then I’ll push folks towards Tractor supply. Ok so back to the warner pack...
The pack itself is nothing more then the shell of it at this point. The carrying and closure straps are gone and all that remains of them is the light spot showing where something was attached so if they were leather or cloth straps is up to debate and argument based on research. The reproduction I carried had the closures made from tape ties and I found that this was really helpful and simple way of closing the pack.
while digging thru info I found a runaway ad that maybe describing a similar closure on another Knapsack:
Fleming
Elliot is described to be about five feet ten or eleven inches high, with dark
hair, a long full visage, a small beard, and a fair complexion. He wore a
cocked hat, white shirt and trowsers, and a light coloured waistcoat without
sleeves, and had with him a small knapsack with clothes, tied with blue or
green binding. Sept 16 1775 Pa gazette
This style of knapsack has two interal pockets and allows you to sandwich your blanket between the pockets thus keeping your gear semi dryer then when your blanket is slung across the top. If you get stuck in a bad weather situation my best advise it to do what they did. Stash your gear in your pack get your packs under cover and just go cresswell:
Tuesday, June 27th, 1775. Very stiff current all day, heavy showers and very sultry. It is a custom with our company, as soon as it begins to rain to strip naked and secure their clothes from the wet. I have attempted it twice to-day, but the drops of rain are so disagreeable to my skin, that it obliged me to put on my shirt. Killed a Faun. Saw a Bear cross the River, but could not get a shot at her. All hands very weary and very crabbed.
You dry out quicker then your clothes and lets face it sitting in a rainstorm in the woods in a breechclout isn't the weirdest thing you've done in your life.
However No matter what period style pack you use be sure to keep in mind that they are not modern packs. You really don't have room for that much gear so keep that in mnd when packing for a walk. You'll find less is more most of the time and to keep yourself from reaching stage 3 your going to need to pack a lot of flour.
So here are some runaway ads from the Pennsylvania gazette that mention a few details about knapsacks. I'm going to go back to daydreaming about how little gear I can fit into a bearskin pack and keep my treks in the stage 1 zone. I've started a how to on making a warner pack that I'll be posting over the next few days to help folks along.
September 25, 1776
WAS FOUND, on the 27th of August, in the Church at
Princeton, A KNAPSACK , marked T.D. Whoever has lost the same, proving his
property and paying charges, may have it again, by applying to captain JACOB
LEECH, in Cheltenham township, Philadelphia county.
June 29, 1789 near Shippensburg.
RUN away, on the 22d instant, a negroe man, named WILL,
about 40 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches high, full faced, had on, and took with
him, one pair of leather breeches, white wool stockings, two shirts, two pair
of trowsers, new wool hat, and smoke coloured knapsack . Any person taking up
the said negroe, and securing him in gaol, so that he may be had again, shall
receive the above reward, and reasonable charges, paid by
SAMUEL BLYTH,
Alexandria, May 24, 1778.
RUN away, last Sunday night, from the subscriber, two well
made likely Negroe men, one named Tom, the other Dick. Tom is about 30 years
old, has lost two of his upper teeth, and has several flourishing marks on his
arm and shoulder. Dick is a short well made fellow, about 24 years old, has
several scars on his face, and speaks very little English: Had on when they
went away, ozenbrigs shirts and check trowsers; also a large knapsack and
blankets. Whoever takes up said Negroes and delivers them to me in Alexandria,
shall have Twenty Dollars reward for each, and reasonable charges, paid
byMICHAEL GRETTER,
August 20, 1777
RUN away from the subscribe, living in Northampton township,
Burlington county, a Dutch servant man, named John William Shelock, about 30
years of age, light coloured hair, 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high, pock marked,
light eyes, surly look; had on, and took with him, a light coloured coatee,
a ragged under jacket, ozenbrigs shirt, tow trowsers, an old fur
hat, half worn neats leather shoes, with strings; he had a knapsack on; he will
be apt to change the said dress to a blue coat and jacket, homespun shirt,
snuff coloured breeches, and ribbed stockings. Whoever takes up the said servant,
and delivers him to his master, or secures him in any goal, so that he may be
got again, shall have the above reward, and all reasonable charges, paid by ISAAC BUDD.
Hog skin Knapsack
Hog skin napsack
TWENTY DOLLARS Reward.
RUN away, on the 5th instant, from the subscriber, living in
AllowayCreek precinct, and county of Salem, two Dutch servant men, one named
Charles Geisinger, about 27 years of age, 5 feet 4 inches high, dark
complexion, grey eyes, marked with the small pox about his mouth, short brown
hair; had on, when he went away, an old felt hat, brown linsey jacket, with an
under jacket, the fore parts the same cloth as the other, the back parts of red
cloth, tow shirt, striped trowsers, and new shoes; speaks no English at all.
The other named John Michael Rider, about 5 feet 7 inches high, 21 years of
age, well set, brownish hair, which he wears tied behind, red beard, whitish
eye brows, large curled locks on each temple and a large scar on the sole of
one of his feet; had on, and took with him, two new tow shirts, a pair of tow
trowsers, a pair of home made bearskin breeches, lined with tow cloth, a jacket
of the same with three flowered metal buttons on each sleeve, a red broadcloth
jacket, half worn blue flowered damask ditto, without sleeves and another blue
ditto, bound round the arm holes with linen; also a blue broadcloth coat, lined
with red, with button holes on each side, chiefly false holes, a pair of old
leather breeches, patched with new leather, a large felt hat, with a brass
button, two pair of light coloured yarn stockings, old shoes, a a pair of
boots, grain side out, a large Dutch pillow case of stamped linen, a piece of
white linen for shirts, a silk handkerchief, an stamped linen ditto, and a
hogskin knapsack , with the hair on; he speaks broken English, [and] is a great
talker, smokes much, takes snuff, plays on the fiddle, and pretends to be a
conjurer. They have two fiddles with them, and one of them has plenty of money;
they have both been soldiers, and came last fall from Lisbon, can talk Dutch,
French, and perhaps Portuguese. It is supposed they will change their clothes.
The crossed the river at New Castle, and came up towards Chester, where they
were seen, and it is thought they are gone towards Lancaster or Maryland.
Whoever apprehends or secures the said servants, or either of them, in any of
his Majestygoals, so that their masters may have them again, or brings them to
their respective masters, or to Richard Wister, in Philadelphia, shall have
Sixteen Dollars for the first mentioned, and Four Dollars for the last, besides
reasonable charges, paid by us MARTIN HALTER, HUGH BLACKWOOD RICHARD WISTAR.
July 11, 1767.
September 26, 1781
TEN DOLLARS Reward.
STOLEN, on the night of the 6th of this inst. (September)
from the subscriber, in Whitpain township, Philadelphia county, A pale or
yellowish Bay GELDING, with a bald face, 5 years old, between 14 and 15 hands
high, had no shoes on when taken away, paces and trots, has had a cut across
his right thigh, also a hole through his right nostril, large enough for
onefinger to go in, a tolerable large heavy head. The above described horse was
seen a few days after going towards the Lancaster road, in custody of a man
about 5 feet 4 or 5 inches high, thick and well set, with a hunting shirt,
trowsers and boots, with the trowsers stopped in the head of the boots,
appearing like a soldier, as he had a knapsack stuffed with straw for a saddle.
Whoever secures horse and thief, so that the owner gets his horse again, and
the thief be brought to conviction, shall have the above reward, or FOUR
DOLLARS for the horse alone, and all reasonable charges, paid byABRAHAM
PHILLIPS.
