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buckwheat
01-02-2009, 15:37
A couple of guys (trail names "Merry Weather and "Will I Am" are gearing up for a long trail. Here's what they're packing.

Mathematical Instruments:



surveyor’s compass
hand compass
quadrants
telescope
thermometers
2 sextants
set of plotting instruments
chronometer (needed to calculate longitude)

Camp Supplies:



150 yards of cloth to be oiled and sewn into tents and sheets
pliers
chisels
30 steels for striking to make fire
handsaws
hatchets
whetstones
iron corn mill
two dozen tablespoons
mosquito curtains
10 1/2 pounds of fishing hooks and fishing lines
12 pounds of soap
193 pounds of "portable soup" (a thick paste concocted by boiling down beef, eggs and vegetables)
three bushels of salt
writing paper, ink and crayons

Presents for Indians:



12 dozen pocket mirrors
4,600 sewing needles
144 small scissors
10 pounds of sewing thread
silk ribbons
ivory combs
handkerchiefs
yards of bright-colored cloth
130 rolls of tobacco
tomahawks that doubled as pipes
288 knives
8 brass kettles
vermilion face paint
33 pounds of tiny beads of assorted colors

Clothing:



45 flannel shirts
coats
frocks
shoes
woolen pants
blankets
knapsacks
stockings

Arms and Ammunition:



15 prototype Model 1803 muzzle-loading .54 caliber rifles
knives
500 rifle flints
420 pounds of sheet lead for bullets
176 pounds of gunpowder packed in 52 lead canisters
1 long-barreled rifle that fired its bullet with compressed air, rather than by flint, spark and powder

Medicine and Medical Supplies:



50 dozen Dr. Rush’s patented "Rush’s pills" ... "For What Ails 'Ya"
lancets
forceps
syringes
tourniquets
1,300 doses of physic
1,100 hundred doses of emetic
3,500 doses of diaphoretic (sweat inducer)
other drugs for blistering, salivation and increased kidney output

Traveling Library:



Barton’s Elements of Botany
Antoine Simon Le Page du Pratz’s History of Louisiana
Richard Kirwan’s Elements of Mineralogy
A Practical Introduction to Spherics and Nautical Astronomy
The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris
a four-volume dictionary
a two-volume edition of Linnaeus (the founder of the Latin classification of plants)
tables for finding longitude and latitude
map of the Great Bend of the Missouri River

Not exactly into the whole "ultralight ... leave no trace (http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/idx_equ.html)" philosophy, eh?

Worldwide
01-02-2009, 15:41
What is this the Lewis and Clark expedition?

If so they forgot the muskets and black powder!

Worldwide
01-02-2009, 15:42
Oh wait they got that stuff too!

Blissful
01-02-2009, 15:49
For the Indians - peace medals with Jefferson's face on them

The pills were affectionately called Rush's thunderbolts. :)

JAK
01-02-2009, 15:52
I need a link for the frocks.

Panzer1
01-02-2009, 16:06
What is this the Lewis and Clark expedition?

If so they forgot the muskets and black powder!

It sounds like it could be Lewis and Clark.
I know Lewis and Clark brought an early "air rifle" to show to the indians.

Panzer

Blissful
01-02-2009, 16:08
It sounds like it could be Lewis and Clark.

Panzer

You win!!!!

:banana


lol

(The Rush's pills give it away)

Panzer1
01-02-2009, 16:21
They also had a small cannon on their boat that went with them part way.

Panzer

Panzer1
01-02-2009, 16:23
You win!!!!

Actually, I think Worldwide guessed it first.

Panzer

buckwheat
01-02-2009, 16:53
I need a link for the frocks.

Here ya go! (http://disposable-clothing.com/frocks.html)

Panzer1
01-02-2009, 17:00
Lewis and Clark were the ultimate backpackers even though they started off with a boat.

Panzer

Bearpaw
01-02-2009, 17:05
I need a link for the frocks.

Try the one in the upper left (http://www.harriets.com/Colonialmen.htm).

Mags
01-02-2009, 17:45
"As we passed on, it seemed those scenes of visionary enchantment would
never have an end."


...and they appreciated what they went through as well.

I think that is why many of us do outdoor activities. To see scenes of visionary enchantment. And hope they never end.

Many Walks
01-02-2009, 18:14
Good to see they're packing light leaving the anvil and kitchen sink at home.

Panzer1
01-02-2009, 18:34
Good to see they're packing light leaving the anvil and kitchen sink at home.

This was before the discovery of "ultralight" backpacking.

Panzer

solo29
01-02-2009, 18:40
dont forget the peace pipe just in case

buckwheat
01-02-2009, 18:53
I think that is why many of us do outdoor activities. To see scenes of visionary enchantment. And hope they never end.

When I'm stuck at home, I hike in Google Earth. I'll pick a random place somewhere where I think to myself "There's no way anyone has ever gotten to that place." Then, I start zooming in, and find stuff like this:

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/1816366.jpg

and I realize that I have to quit living the life that I'm living and go live a different kind of life. One with less money, and more this.

waywardfool
01-03-2009, 09:51
I bought Vol. 1 of their journal for 50 cent at a book store sale several years ago. Very interesting read if you ever run across it. I gotta find Vol. 2 somewhere.

Scrapes
01-03-2009, 18:54
From what I understand Les Stroud has begun his next adventure/outdoor series, walking in the foot steps of the early explorers, and I do believe he will be recreating the trip of Lewis and Clark. Should be interesting.