Here is the most comprehensive guide to making your own Native American tools and weapons. This reference takes you through the steps of the basic flint-knapping of arrowheads and scrapers to the most complex decorating and finishing techniques of painting and fletching. Fully illustrated with photographs and line illustrations, this is the perfect book for the survivalist, historian, student, or Native American enthusiast.
Crafts and Skills of the Mountain Man is a fascinating, practical guide to the skills that have made the mountain men famous worldwide as outdoorsmen and craftsmen. Readers can replicate outdoor living by trying a hand at making rafts and canoes, constructing tools, and living off the land. Learn key skills like: Building a strong fire. Learning to hunt and butcher your meals. Creating a safe and solid shelter. And much more! Whether you’re an avid outdoorsman or a novice hiker, Crafts and Skills of the Mountain Man is your handbook to not only surviving outdoors, but flourishing. The style of the mountain man is unique and popular, especially among young people, historians, and those with a special interest in living off the land. The mountain man has been successful outdoors for ages, and now you can too with the skills, tips, and tricks included in this handy manual. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for hunters and firearms enthusiasts. We publish books about shotguns, rifles, handguns, target shooting, gun collecting, self-defense, archery, ammunition, knives, gunsmithing, gun repair, and wilderness survival. We publish books on deer hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wing shooting, turkey hunting, deer stands, duck blinds, bowhunting, wing shooting, hunting dogs, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
A Seattle Times selection for one of Best Non-Fiction Books of 2010 Winner of the New England Historial Association's 2010 James P. Hanlan Award Winner of the Outdoor Writers Association of America 2011 Excellence in Craft Award, Book Division, First Place "A compelling and well-annotated tale of greed, slaughter and geopolitics." —Los Angeles Times As Henry Hudson sailed up the broad river that would one day bear his name, he grew concerned that his Dutch patrons would be disappointed in his failure to find the fabled route to the Orient. What became immediately apparent, however, from the Indians clad in deer skins and "good furs" was that Hudson had discovered something just as tantalizing. The news of Hudson's 1609 voyage to America ignited a fierce competition to lay claim to this uncharted continent, teeming with untapped natural resources. The result was the creation of an American fur trade, which fostered economic rivalries and fueled wars among the European powers, and later between the United States and Great Britain, as North America became a battleground for colonization and imperial aspirations. In Fur, Fortune, and Empire, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolin chronicles the rise and fall of the fur trade of old, when the rallying cry was "get the furs while they last." Beavers, sea otters, and buffalos were slaughtered, used for their precious pelts that were tailored into extravagant hats, coats, and sleigh blankets. To read Fur, Fortune, and Empire then is to understand how North America was explored, exploited, and settled, while its native Indians were alternately enriched and exploited by the trade. As Dolin demonstrates, fur, both an economic elixir and an agent of destruction, became inextricably linked to many key events in American history, including the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, as well as to the relentless pull of Manifest Destiny and the opening of the West. This work provides an international cast beyond the scope of any Hollywood epic, including Thomas Morton, the rabble-rouser who infuriated the Pilgrims by trading guns with the Indians; British explorer Captain James Cook, whose discovery in the Pacific Northwest helped launch America's China trade; Thomas Jefferson who dreamed of expanding the fur trade beyond the Mississippi; America's first multimillionaire John Jacob Astor, who built a fortune on a foundation of fur; and intrepid mountain men such as Kit Carson and Jedediah Smith, who sliced their way through an awe inspiring and unforgiving landscape, leaving behind a mythic legacy still resonates today. Concluding with the virtual extinction of the buffalo in the late 1800s, Fur, Fortune, and Empire is an epic history that brings to vivid life three hundred years of the American experience, conclusively demonstrating that the fur trade played a seminal role in creating the nation we are today.
Tips, tactics, and techniques for all skill levels. The ancient art of trapping goes back centuries, almost to the beginning of civilization. Native Americans used the pit trap, deadfalls, and snares, the Chinese documented the use of nets and pits in the fourth century BCE, and virtually every civilization can exhibit some example of the use of a trap in one form or another to procure meat, hides, or fur. The fur trade across Europe was dominated by the Russians, which provided furs to the greater part of Western Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages, which prompted the exploration of Siberia and its game rich forests. In North America, trapping was one of the primary reasons why settlers pushed West, taking advantage of the bountiful game across the continent. Fur was used not only for coats, hats, and mittens, it was used as a form of barter. The taking of a fur-bearing animal was and is a big accomplishment, as fooling a crafty animal on its home territory is no easy feat. In Trapping 101, veteran trapper Phil Massaro reveals all the secrets of the trade, from knowing where to set traps, to understanding and using various types of traps, to properly using scents. Tips and tactics for taking beavers, muskrats, weasels, raccoons, skunks, otters, and more are all covered. While there is a wealth of information in here for beginners, information that will help them pick up trapping with relative ease, there are many subtle tips and tricks that even a veteran trapper will appreciate. Times have, of course, changed since the days of the voyageurs and rendezvouses. There are many more people in this modern world, many more dwellings, many more towns and cities. But there is a place for trapping in all this, just as there are places for hunting and fishing. A knowledgeable trapper, following game rules and respecting the animals he is trying to trap, fits right into the grand scheme of Mother Nature existing in harmony with humankind. This book will help you achieve that.
Walks you through every aspect of trapping for survival, safety, profit and pleasure. Learn exactly how to prepare all sorts of traps and snares for trapping on land or water, as well as how to prepare the pelt, tan the fur and extract the meat to maximize the benefits from each successful catch.
