Thoughts of a Modern Day Mountain Man Chapter 3

This is the third of a weekly blog series that will focus on leadership in the outdoors and how to get the most from the least. Even though the title is called, “Thoughts of a Modern-Day Mountain Man”, it will hopefully cover topics that are useful to everyone.

Chapter 3: Don’t be afraid to get to know the locals.

Kurt Hahn (Education reformer and founder of Outward Bound) told the story of a distinguished American who, while being shown around Salem School, asked Hahn's colleague, Prince Max von Baden, what he was most proud of in the school. The Prince's reply was to the effect that nothing was original and that they had borrowed from all sorts of other educators and institutions. The American expressed the view that surely all schools should aim at being original, to which Prince Max quickly replied:

“In education, as in medicine, you must harvest the wisdom of a thousand years. If you ever come across a surgeon and he wants to extract your appendix in the most original manner possible, I would strongly advise you to go to another surgeon.”

For a modern-day mountain man, nothing is more important than knowledge. Sometimes this knowledge can be obtained through personal experiences that are happenstance or unintentional. However, without a doubt, the best way to gain meaningful knowledge is by learning from those who came before you. In the mountain man’s life of yesteryear, working with and getting to know the locals not only made trade possible, but allowed them to stay alive. Knowing where to find valuable resources such as food, water, animals to trap, tools and materials for shelter, etc. meant not only the difference between the financial success or ruin of the trapping company, but more importantly the difference between life and death. It would have been possible to obtain some of this knowledge by sheer personal determination or dumb luck, but was always accomplished much more easily and successfully by working with and learning from the locals. As this modern-day mountain man has moved from place-to-place and worked for many different organizations, I have learned through experience, sometimes painfully, that the best way for a modern-day mountain man to thrive and have success in unfamiliar territory is to watch, listen and learn when arriving at a new place. There are times where this process or this mindset can be very intimidating. If we look at the historical perspective of the golden age of the mountain man (1820-1840), we know this process isn’t always easy, but it is essential. Since the Louisiana Purchase, there was always a link in Westward expansion that happened because of the ability for those great explorers to establish communication and learn from the locals. One of the many goals, but perhaps the most important goal of the Lewis and Clark expedition, was establishing contact with the local populations’ spread throughout the North American West. Their goal was to establish trade and learn as much as possible about the newly purchased land. Sacagawea, the legendary member of the Corps of Discovery, was essential in accomplishing this goal, if for no other reason than to express that they were a peaceful party on a quest of knowledge. The mountain men that followed, some of whom were members of the Corps of Discovery, used the knowledge obtained by Lewis and Clark and began to add their own knowledge and relationships with the Rocky Mountains. All of the Westward expansion that followed started with a few simple positive conversations with the locals. I don’t want to forget about the part of history that turned ugly and evil, but it didn’t start out that way.

Sharing ideas with the locals.

When I was new to camping ministry and camp programs in general, I was blown away by all of the activities and programs that were foreign to me. In most cases, those activities and programs were presented in a way that made it seem like they were completely original and developed wholly at that site. The more I traveled and the more I learned, I realized all of those activities were based upon foundations that were laid many years before. Those programs were walking in the footsteps of giants but choosing to ignore the tracks before them. The modern-day mountain man as a keen observer, and life-long learner, will always seek out the best possible local person or source to get the information needed and put it to good use. There is certainly something to be said about the level and talents of a particular facilitator, but the knowledge from the locals is a constant valuable companion if only the modern-day mountain man seeks it out.