Question for the "old guys"...Is it just me or are there others?

[Rock Home Isle]

I am a child of the late 40’s and 50’s, back when things were much simpler and straight forward where you heroes on TV were the likes of Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett and later Daniel Boone. Soon I will be 65 and am now fully retired, and for some reason, perhaps old age, senility, a rebellion against this modern age and what is happening to our society, or something else, I have developed a desire or longing to experience to a certain extent the lives of our country’s pioneers. To that extent I have started to develop some skills with outside Dutch Oven cooking, making coffee over a camp fire, making basic leather cases for various hunting knives, shooting flintlock pistols and rifles and cap & ball revolvers, and pursuing an in-depth study of the period of our country’s history from the French & Indian Wars up through the period a few years beyond the Civil War. My question for those members of a similar age is am I alone in this somewhat crazy endeavor or are there others out there like me? Bob P.

Very nice thread resurrection.

I have had these thoughts many times. I have pondered many times about what these early pioneers saw as they lived their lives. I would have loved to see the western US at the time of Lewis & Clark…explore Kentucky at a period in history when herds of bison roamed east of the Mississippi River. I recall many times, as a kid, when I hunted prairie dogs with my .50 calibre muzzleloader…my minds eye saw herds of bison, as I focused in on my next shot.

My personal bent is not to just visit a particular period in history…but also meet historical figures. What were these people really like, what did they think about, what were their passions?

As a school educator, I had an assignment in my class…”When in History would you enjoy visiting? And why .“ It’s pretty cool reading the thoughts and dreams of my students…well those that took the assignment seriously.

These thoughts are not strictly limited to those of us who have experienced a longer span of life.

 

[oldwood]

I'm 75 just now , and got started on my historical journey in 5th grade. Found a Pa. State Historical marker out in south central Greene Co. Pa.. Since my History teacher was covering local history at the time , and he lived within a few hundred yards of the marker , I probed his knowledge of it. He spent a full 2 min's.explaining the 50 years between the F and I war , and the end of the Indian occupation of Ohio. For me , all he accomplished was to give me "snow job" because he was basically close to clueless. I loved the guy , but to 5th graders , he knew enough to get along. He was in heavy fighting in WW2 European theater , so he taught us more of that history. Back to the Historical marker. All my history teacher did was to light a 60+ year search for the truth about what happened there. My feeble attempt at researching the Indian wars , fell short , until my 1st year of high school. We were commanded to learn to research topics , and write reports. I discovered the famous book from Kentucky , called The History of the Settlement of Kentucky , by Herbert Altschiller , (official State Historian of Kentucky ). Altschiller , (Incorrect spelling) , really dives into the weeds. I was shocked , but highly gratified to confirm , my 5th grade assumption that there was "more to the story" was correct. Currently , I have 15 + books on the subjects of the F and I.war years, the back country history of the American Rev. War , And the Indian wars fought on the American frontiers in the Appalachian regions. I have given programs about the era s mentioned and how the American Long rifle history fits in. All the other crap about my profession and life , are irrelevant , and something I went through . The only thing important to me now are my Religion , history , and 18th century gunbuilding. ..................oldwood

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Hard to imagine these days living in a much smaller world and focused on your day to day life. No hourly avalanche of information to process, just more of a task oriented existence I think. Things might get hectic once in awhile but it likely wasn’t a daily state of mind like today.

 

[ozarkjim]

Hard to imagine these days living in a much smaller world and focused on your day to day life. No hourly avalanche of information to process, just more of a task oriented existence I think. Things might get hectic once in awhile but it likely wasn’t a daily state of mind like today.

hi all, I turned 80 a month ago, and I feel that every one of you old boys including me are all from the same mold! I am sure that we all look back and remember the 50’s with great memories many of you told of the same things that we all have experienced, I taught h.s. Science & math in Reynolds’s county mo. Retired moved to Fulton, mo. And my wife talked me into teaching college math for another 10 years. I made many friends in mo. Shooting BP, now I only shoot flint pistols, I do miss all the fun with Ronnie friends! Thanks to all of you for bringing back so many fine memories! Ozarkjim

 

[springfield art]

I am a child of the late 40’s and 50’s, back when things were much simpler and straight forward where you heroes on TV were the likes of Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett and later Daniel Boone. Soon I will be 65 and am now fully retired, and for some reason, perhaps old age, senility, a rebellion against this modern age and what is happening to our society, or something else, I have developed a desire or longing to experience to a certain extent the lives of our country’s pioneers. To that extent I have started to develop some skills with outside Dutch Oven cooking, making coffee over a camp fire, making basic leather cases for various hunting knives, shooting flintlock pistols and rifles and cap & ball revolvers, and pursuing an in-depth study of the period of our country’s history from the French & Indian Wars up through the period a few years beyond the Civil War. My question for those members of a similar age is am I alone in this somewhat crazy endeavor or are there others out there like me? Bob P.

You're kidding, right? There's plenty, mostly in our age range; leftovers from the good old days; which reminds me there's a magazine called Backwoodsman, which is somewhat basic in content, but covers all that sort of stuff you just mentioned. It doesn't get too carried away, but always has something simple regarding camping, knives, muzzleloading, craft, survival, etc. Check one out on the newsstand, it's a bi-monthly and very sincere in that it's a family-run operation. I like Muzzleloader Magazine in that it has lots of history and always a craft article. Thanks. Both are bi-monthly.

 

[springfield art]

I taught both my boys and daughter how to change a tire, jump start the car, and change the oil, and a couple other things a driver of a car should know before I let them get a drivers license. Now that I'm fairly senior I can still do these things though some of them might be painful afterwards.

Now, the mfgrs. use a quack oil drain plug that requires a special socket. They don't want people draining into the creeks and city drains. I used to change my own, but then you have to hassle with finding a place to dispose of properly. Easier to just let the local repair shop do it.

 

[2 shots]

any place that sells oil must take back used oil.

 

[TFoley]

There is a special place in Hell awaiting the inventor of the FIVE-sided Allen key - you can't call it a hex-wrench, can you? And yet a number of modern cars use this kind of plug on the sump, or so I'm told.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Yes, tac, it's kind of like dealing with the Whitworth threaded and head sized bolts in English cars.

Then there's my common market Alfa Romeo with its assortment of metric and SAE sized bolts.

Yes, I do like doing things with the consideration of the old fashioned ways.

 

[LME]

I don't like old people! I quit going to my class reunions because a bunch of old people started going! LOL!

 

[deerstalkert]

when i limped my way north 30 years ago I was still a relatively young man. my thoughts were to check out of humanity and the world in general. thought i could regress to the state my ancestors enjoyed before that ship hit Plymouth Rock.
I found the most remote undeveloped spot still in the good old USA and bought a derelict homestead that had been abandoned in the 1920's.
i carved a clearing on the mountain side for our cabin and cut Cedar logs for the walls. decided quickly that that wasn't the best idea for matrimonial bliss, so had dimensional lumber milled on the site and stick framed the house and used the cedar for siding.
we used candles and coal oil lamps for the first 10 years. hauled water for the first 3 years. established a water line from a creek 900 feet above us and used that for 10 years.
one can still escape into the past, but I have slowly advanced into the present again. as i aged the comforts of the 20th century beckoned to me. haven't accepted the 21st yet! today we have electricity from an off grid system. nice to read by. power company offered to run power out to us for a paltry 60k. told them i could buy lots of batteries and panels and diesel for 60k.

 

[Dale Lilly]

At 68 (damn that sounds old) I have come back to black powder. Here in North East Texas it was 72 here today and it was bright sunny. I took my new Cimmaron 1860 to the range and along with a triangle file I worked on getting the point of impace and the sight picture correlated. Right now it is 2 inches high at 25 yards. Now that was a good afternoon! Geo. T.

.Add 22 years to that .. now you are old. I am old... 90+ polecat

 

[nkbj]

Hitting the woods for a week with my supplies and smoke pole was great fun in the mid 70's.
Now it would be reckless endangerment!

 

[sheriff john]

Worst part of getting old (73), for me is the loss of friends & family on an increasingly frequent basis. All of my black powder buddies are gone. Invites to acquaintances/extended family to muzzleload deer hunt are mostly shunned. There are no longer any matches nor clubs within 100 miles. Two dogs left - one's gun shy, the other's deaf. Neither will tree a squirrel nor retrieve a duck. Solitary shooting/hunting mostly sucks.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Gettin’ old isn’t for wimps.

 

[LME]

Gettin’ old isn’t for wimps.

You got that right! I am older than dirt ! I can remember when the "Dead Sea" wasn't even sick! Lol!

 

[springfield art]

Worst part of getting old (73), for me is the loss of friends & family on an increasingly frequent basis. All of my black powder buddies are gone. Invites to acquaintances/extended family to muzzleload deer hunt are mostly shunned. There are no longer any matches nor clubs within 100 miles. Two dogs left - one's gun shy, the other's deaf. Neither will tree a squirrel nor retrieve a duck. Solitary shooting/hunting mostly sucks.

Yes. I feel guilty sometimes, but I can almost gauge those friends, based upon their health, etc., that will pass before me. Not that I really think I can, but there's likelyhoods based upon family history, over health, smoking, etc. In the end only time can tell. Please have a good Summer!

 

[springfield art]

I'm 75 just now , and got started on my historical journey in 5th grade. Found a Pa. State Historical marker out in south central Greene Co. Pa.. Since my History teacher was covering local history at the time , and he lived within a few hundred yards of the marker , I probed his knowledge of it. He spent a full 2 min's.explaining the 50 years between the F and I war , and the end of the Indian occupation of Ohio. For me , all he accomplished was to give me "snow job" because he was basically close to clueless. I loved the guy , but to 5th graders , he knew enough to get along. He was in heavy fighting in WW2 European theater , so he taught us more of that history. Back to the Historical marker. All my history teacher did was to light a 60+ year search for the truth about what happened there. My feeble attempt at researching the Indian wars , fell short , until my 1st year of high school. We were commanded to learn to research topics , and write reports. I discovered the famous book from Kentucky , called The History of the Settlement of Kentucky , by Herbert Altschiller , (official State Historian of Kentucky ). Altschiller , (Incorrect spelling) , really dives into the weeds. I was shocked , but highly gratified to confirm , my 5th grade assumption that there was "more to the story" was correct. Currently , I have 15 + books on the subjects of the F and I.war years, the back country history of the American Rev. War , And the Indian wars fought on the American frontiers in the Appalachian regions. I have given programs about the era s mentioned and how the American Long rifle history fits in. All the other crap about my profession and life , are irrelevant , and something I went through . The only thing important to me now are my Religion , history , and 18th century gunbuilding. ..................oldwood

Great! I have a friend who has a huge library of Civil War books, and as he's a retired re-enactor of CW Medical Officer, he really knew his stuff. Can't recall the specifics, but there was a great book about the Lewis-Clark expedition came out about 10 yrs. ago; was even on the NY Times best seller list. I have it in paperback, and it's a great bedtime read.

 

[Coinneach]

There is a special place in Hell awaiting the inventor of the FIVE-sided Allen key - you can't call it a hex-wrench, can you? And yet a number of modern cars use this kind of plug on the sump, or so I'm told.

Everything invented after 1865 has been a nightmare.....

 

[Coinneach]

Just turned 70, living on some acres with my last few Horses; off grid with Solar power and Generator; still salvage buttons from old shirts and hem up second hand trews.
I live frugal and comfortable though, retain a goodly stock of Candles and all sort of back up supplies, given up on any interest in current affairs or politics as its beyond anything I can do; let them reap what they sew.
Everything ML and BP keeps me sane enough, that and a couple of trips back to Thailand every year; where I served for a way back in the 70's.
Its my firm opinion that at our age Life needs to be kept simple and uncomplicated, that and an applied detachment from all the current BS that can overwhelm us if we allow it to.
Keep the Faith my kindred brethren.