Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-08-07
The Outdoor Bow

The outdoor boy-the enthusiastic
Boy Scout, the make.belive cowboy OF
Indian, the amateur hunter-is any
normal boy whether he be raised in
Harlem or Kansas, but some have to
be taught. more than others before
they can enjoy themselves in the wilds
according to Ernest Thompson Seton,
author, naturalist, and Chief Scout OF
the Boy Scouts of America.
"You would be astounded at the ig.
norance of natural things displayed
by many boys when they first come
out here" recently declared Seton to a
visitor who journeyed to his estate
Wyndygoul near Cos Cob, Conn.,, to
ask, How is the outdoor boy pro.
duced?"
In answer Seton laughed and said {:
my whole life work has been to an.
swer that question. Here is part of
the answer" He pointed to a great
pile of ink stained proofs that he was
correcting.
The printed pages were the proofs
of Seton's latest book, Rolf in the
Woods" one of the spring publications
OF Doubleday, Page & Co. Seton
knows the heart of the boys as few
men, do. He has played with them,
and worked with them, both at home
and in camp. That the boys might
better learn of the wild things in their
natural state he has kept .Wyndygoul
as much like the primal forest as pos.
sible, making q great play ground for
the boys as we'll as a heven for his
wild bird and animal friends. ApprC-
priately Wyndygoul is the scene of the
opening chapters of Rolf in the
Woods, ;" At the base of Abs rock, a
historic cliff only a few yards from
Seton's home, Rolf Is described as be-
ing sheltered by Qonab. the last <
the Myanos Sinawa, whose counterpart
in real life lived and died there. Rolf
learned his first lessons in woodlore
from The Indian, and there formed his
frs. and Strongest f~:endsh;? t;:at last
plain country, and later as scouts In
plain country, and later as scouts in
the war of 1912.
Rolf in the Woods" forms what may
be considered as the second step in
Seton's development Of his ideas of
the value of woodcraft in the formation
of character. Seton's first book along
this line, 1.-TWO Little Savages," also
published by Doubleday, Page & Co.,
starts with boy of nine and takes him
to the aeg of fifteen. Rolf in the
Woods" takes another boy. Rolf, from
the age of fifteen to manhood. Seton's
NFo~,,ol ~ tho Dow Coo,,<hc ~ -, or}oo
however crystalizes and Classics all
the woodlore and scouting detail he
has been developing for SO many years
in simple and attractive form.
The lesson Of the woods in Rolf is
delivered in such fascinating form
that no normal human being, man or
woman, boy or girl, could fail to un-
derstand the truth of one of the clos.
ing passages in Rolf:
And when the years had added
ripeness to his thought, and the kind
gods of gold had filled his scrip, it
was that his ampler life began to
bloom. His was mind of the best
begetting, born and bred of an ancient
clean-blooded stock; inhexibly prin-
cipled; trained by God-fearing moth.
er, nurtured in the cradle of adversely,
schooled in a school of hardship, de-
veloped in the big outdoors, wise in
the ways of the woods, burnt in the
fire of affliction, forced into self-re-
lance, inspired with the lofty inspir-
alton of sacrificial patriotism-the
good stuff Of his makeup shone, as
shines the gold in the fervent heat;
the hard blows that prove or crush,
had proved; the metal had rung true;
and in the great valley Rolf Kittering
was a man of mark.
"The coutry's need Of such is ever
present and ever seeking"
In and out through Rolls adven-
lures Seton has woven the spirit of
fair play and true hearted comrade-
ship of the unfettered outdoors, togeth-
er with enough woodcraft to enable
an ordinarily resourceful boy to make
his own way in the woods. From the
making of fire by rubbing two dry
sticks together after the Indian meth
cd, to trapping the widest animals,
and carrying through hair raising
feats Of scouting, the woodlore Is all
xiven. Rolls teacher, Quonab, gives
an excellent clew to Seton's own meth