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Post by spence on Jun 19, 2024 13:03:08 GMT -7
During the construction of a stockade at Gnadenhutten, PA, January, 1755, Indians watched the construction from an overlooking hillside. From _The First American_ The life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, by H. W. Brands, on page 266:
"On a wooded hill overlooking the fort Franklin's men discovered several holes dug in the dirt. At the bottom of these holes were the ashes of charcoal fires; in the grass at the edges of the holes were the imprints where Indians had sat, their feet hanging down in the holes next to the smoldering (but nonsmoking) fires. Thus warm and invisible, the Indians had watched the fort go up."
“In the fall of 1755, after Gen. Braddock's defeat there were several companies of militia sent into Northampton, and other frontier counties, to guard the inhabitants. Among the rest was one raised by Isaac Wayne, father of the late General Wayne, with whom I entered as a volunteer, being then turned of sixteen years. Our company, with some others, rendezvoused at Easton, under the command of Genl. Dr. Benjamin Franklin, for some days, until the arrival of a New England Gentleman, of the name of Clapham, who took upon him the command, and Dr. Franklin returned to Philadelphia. Soon afterwards we were ordered to take a place called Canoten Hatten (Gnadenhutten), a Moravian town and settlement, the inhabitants of which had been all murdered by the Indians. We erected a Stockade Fort there, to which was Given the name of Fort Allen. The fall and winter were spent in erecting a number of Stockade forts on the frontier of Northampton county. In the month of February We were relieved and discharged.”
Col. Samuel Miles’ manuscript, dated February 4, 1802.
Pennsylvania Archives
[There were two Gnadenhutten massacres, the one in 1755 in Pennsylvania mentioned here when several Moravian missionaries were killed by NAs, another in Ohio in 1782 when 96 Christian Lenape and Mohican NAs were killed by colonial militiamen.]
Those fire holes caught my attention.
youtube.com/watch?v=RIPSEfcz718
spence
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Post by spence on Jun 19, 2024 13:06:01 GMT -7
Sorry, I see the the video I linked to is no longer available. It was about building a smoke-free fire hole in modern times. It was called the Dakota fire pit, maybe you can find it.
Mea culpa maxima.
Spence
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Post by paranger on Jun 19, 2024 18:10:24 GMT -7
I learned to build a Dakota hole in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school in 1993. Still tactically relevant.
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Post by brokennock on Jun 19, 2024 18:36:47 GMT -7
Thank you Spence.
I've been interested in this concept for quite a while.
I'm doing something wrong in my small scale attempts at this. I can see how a bark or wood fire can be lit and kept going in a hole. I can't figure out how to light and keep lit a charcoal fire down in a hole.
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Post by straekat on Jun 20, 2024 10:19:50 GMT -7
Sorry, I see the the video I linked to is no longer available. It was about building a smoke-free fire hole in modern times. It was called the Dakota fire pit, maybe you can find it. Mea culpa maxima. Spence
Spence, is this it? If it isn't, it does discuss how to make a fire-pit, fuel sources, and making one smokeless.
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Post by straekat on Jun 20, 2024 10:23:24 GMT -7
Thank you Spence. I've been interested in this concept for quite a while. I'm doing something wrong in my small scale attempts at this. I can see how a bark or wood fire can be lit and kept going in a hole. I can't figure out how to light and keep lit a charcoal fire down in a hole.
Is there a reason why you want to use charcoal?
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Post by straekat on Jun 20, 2024 10:31:54 GMT -7
The commenter in the youtube video mentions a fire-pit can reduce or eliminate the chances of someone seeing smoke or fire coming from it. What isn't mentioned is that fires -do- produce a distinct odor of something burning and/or cooking.
A thought: in the woods, a sensitive nose -game animals and humans too-, and especially down-wind of where the fire is, can pick up that scent and then run from or follow it to where the source might be. |
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Post by spence on Jun 20, 2024 13:14:14 GMT -7
Yes, straekat, that's the video I lost. Thanks.
Spene
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Post by brokennock on Jun 20, 2024 19:29:02 GMT -7
The commenter in the youtube video mentions a fire-pit can reduce or eliminate the chances of someone seeing smoke or fire coming from it. What isn't mentioned is that fires -do- produce a distinct odor of something burning and/or cooking.
A thought: in the woods, a sensitive nose -game animals and humans too-, and especially down-wind of where the fire is, can pick up that scent and then run from or follow it to where the source might be. For what it is worth, I have seen deer that seemed more attracted to a woodsmoke smell than repelled by it. |
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Post by brokennock on Jun 20, 2024 19:30:34 GMT -7
Thank you Spence. I've been interested in this concept for quite a while. I'm doing something wrong in my small scale attempts at this. I can see how a bark or wood fire can be lit and kept going in a hole. I can't figure out how to light and keep lit a charcoal fire down in a hole.
Is there a reason why you want to use charcoal?
"...Franklin's men discovered several holes dug in the dirt. At the bottom of these holes were the ashes of charcoal fires..." |
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Post by Black Hand on Jun 21, 2024 3:18:32 GMT -7
Animals have been smelling smoke for time immemorial - it may be a matter of amount that alarms them rather than it's presence.
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Post by bushfire on Jun 21, 2024 4:05:30 GMT -7
Regarding game and fire, this passage always stuck with me. A passage I might add from my favourite book. Written in the 1953 it was about lessons in nature learned growing up in the British Raj of the late 19th century.
“As Kunwar Singh and I walked down the watercourse that morning I could see a cloud of black smoke rising high into the sky, and presently the distant roar and crackle of a great fire came to my ears….Great sheets of flame were curling up into the cloud of black smoke on the edge of which hundreds of starlings, Mina’s, rollers, and drongos were feeding on winged insects that were being caught up by the hot current of air and whirled high into the sky. Many of the insects escaped capture by the birds in the air and were landing on the sandy bed of the watercourse where they were being pounced on by the peafowl, jungle fowl, and black partridge. Among these game birds a herd of some twenty cheetal deer were picking up the big red fleshy flowers the high wind was dislodging. The heat from the fire could now be felt in the watercourse, and as the deer, peafowl, jungle fowl, and black partridge climbed the right bank and disappeared into the jungle”.
Jungle Lore - Jim Corbett.
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Post by straekat on Jun 21, 2024 14:06:02 GMT -7
Animals have been smelling smoke for time immemorial - it may be a matter of amount that alarms them rather than it's presence.
The food chain/pyramid of predators and prey insures that curious and especially young animals that are not aware of possible danger are not going to survive to old age. An animal that learns to associate danger with past experiences are apt to shy away from past experiences.
Smoke can occur from fires set by lighting, other circumstances, or by humans. The amount of smoke could be a warning signal, but I suspect that when an animal (or human) encounters smoke outside of when, where, or how it might occur can also alarm an animal that is food for something higher on the chain.
I would suggest caution when comparing modern current day environments with those of the past. Ecological conditions in the United States and elsewhere have changed radically since the 18th century, and those ecological changes have also impacted animal behavior. Today, in the eastern US, deer and other wild animals are commonly found in and around suburbs and are not always spooked by humans on foot or in vehicles. Familiarity with humans in urban settings has resulted in many deer acting as if they were in petting zoos.
Also, in the United States, hunting for several species is regulated and restricted to certain times of the year. Prior to the middle of the 19th century, hunting and fishing could be a year round thing.
Now that this thread has been sufficiently set up for further hijacking, should we start a thread or something similar in the hunting section of the forum?
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Post by straekat on Jun 21, 2024 14:17:32 GMT -7
Something to mull over for those who think our body scent or scent is or isn't important when hunting, should consider deer have an acute sense of smell that is thought equal to a dog's ability to determine numerous odors at once, and zone in on specific ones that past experiences may be associated with other animals, food, danger, etc. One source I've read said white-tailed deer can detect some scents as far away as one-half of a mile. Bears are able to detect the scent of blood at even greater distances.
Smoke might mask underlying scents although I suspect they do not prevent dogs (or deer?) from recognizing several underlying scents or odors present at the same time, that humans can not.
Now, back to the topic of this thread. My apologies for going off on a tangent. If BH wants to move what I've said to start another thread, I'd be happy to spout off more elsewhere!   |
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