Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1914-07-23
Any man of fair health could do Ii


my knowledge no other man In the
history of civilization ever did what n
did
The idea Of this experiment came to
me about year ago while l was
spending a few weeks at Bradford, Vt.
At the time was painting pictures of
outdoor life in a little log cabin on
what is known in that locality as Sad
dleback mountain. | was painting a
moose, and as | added touch Of color
to the canvas began to wonder how
many people would notice that par
ticular bit of color, which from a.
standpoint of faithful portrayal was
as important as the eye of the creature
itself.
From this thought my mind wan
dered on to the realization that the
people Of the present time were sadly
neglecting the details of the great book
of nature
And as thought / forgot the picture
before me- | said to myself, Here. /
know something about nature. Won
der if it would not be possible for me
to do something for the benefit of 9th.
ers."
Then / would laugh at the idea of my
doing anything for the world! Prob
ably all of us have wild dreams now
and then. I am beginning to think that
wild dreams are wonderful things to
have. | have always hoped. more than
,I- %I0% I sceOE
do something which would benefit
mankind. even in small way.
| believed there was too much arti-
fetal life at the present day in the
cities. | found myself comparing our
present mode of living with the wild,
all of a sudden | wondered if the man
of the present day could leave all his
luxury behind him and go back into
the wilderness and live on what nature
intended him to have.
In that thought came the birth of the
idea.
That night | went down TO the hotel
in Bradford and began talking it over
with several of my friends At first
they all laughed at the absurdity OF
man of today going back to the life of
the primitive man Of yesterday | re-
member as we sat around the fireplace
they asked me all kinds of questions.
/ told them that in order to make
such an experiment interesting it
would be necessary for man to enter
the woods entirely naked, without even
match or a knife, and live d Stipu-
lated time without the slightest CON-
munication or aid from the outside
world.
"What would you do for ire?" one
man asked me-
/ replied to that very quickly.
Another wanted to know what food
I would be able to get in the wilder
ness and how l would get it without
weapons. / mentioned dozen ways.
Then the conversation became like
game. Every one wanted to see if he
couldn't stick me in some way.
That night I couldn't think of a sin
gle thing that would keep me from I'M
dertaking such an experiment.
In the busy days which followed l
promptly forgot all about the idea. just
as nine-tenths of all ideas are forgot
ten Not until the beginning of last
summer did the thought take hold of
me again.
From time to time my friends would
jokingy inquire when l was going to
leave them and become a wild man.
Then all of a sudden it hit me hard.
Another mood seized me like the one
had felt in the cabin while painting
the picture of the moose. said-and
this time | meant it, ''I'll try this
stunt and demonstrate to the people
that there are marvellous things to be
derived from life in the great out
DOORS"
When I told my friends that / really
was going to try the experiment during
the months of August and September
they became serious indeed. They
were not joking now when they cried,
do not think of such a thingw They
reminded me that it might be easy
enough to answer all their theoretical
questions satisfactorily, but to actual
~ find fire and food and clothing would
be impractical and. indeed, utterly i'm
possible.
But my mind was fully made up.
left Bradford Immediately for Bos-
ton to make preparations for the trip.
By preparations | do not mean that I
went back to the city to train for the
trip. went to Boston simply to dis
cuss with other friends the plans that
were in my mind.
First of all. it was necessary for me
to choose a location for the expert
ment. This was some task. inasmuch
as | desired to enter a wilderness far
away from civilization, where | would
not be bothered by people from the
outside world.
Finally decided that ! would go
into the forest on the 4th of August,
in what is known in the northwest
Maine country as the Dead River re
Gion.
This country is covered with heavy
black growth timber. Directly north i
is Bear mountain, below which stretch