So my question is: What are the most essential supplies they would need, things that would help them get other supplies from the wild or from the random person they may come across? Is what I'm asking feasible at all? What are some items that you can't really get from the wild?

~~Shawshank
 

So my brother and I are going on a wilderness trek, starting in, say, California. We'll need immediate food supplies, but since beef is scarce in this part of the country, we'll pack fish and fruit and eat sparingly. The north part of the state, and on up into Oregon and Washington, water is fairly common, so a couple of canteens will do for that, though rationing is still required. At least one change of clothes in the wet seasons, and as you get further north, throughout the wet year, and you can't imagine how useful a knife and hatchet are.

But here's something you can think about: itenerant workers. No teenager, especially back in the 19th century, was without his/her talents. If your characters are good at working with wood, or metal, or leather, or are strong lifters, or know somethinga about hunting or fishing, they can make moeny at any town they come to, and this will keep them doing very well. Every town, especially in the undeveloped far west, was in need of someone to fill positions in society. This also makes for wonderful plotlines.
 

And the town they come from- its a small town on the rise. Off near some large lake or river, with more people moving west- they are using it as a stopping place on their way out there, making business and population rise. Perhaps about 1,500 people and growing.

As for character abilities- I'd envision that one was a bit of an intellectual, maybe an amateur cartographer, and also pretty well-read and also able to pick up languages pretty quickly- a natural interpertator. While the other one would be more really resourceful- come up with something pretty easily and also a pretty good sailor. Good at the sails of a boat, and a natural mechanic- so he has sort of a natural inclination to understand how machinery operate.

Maybe that's a bit more to go on?

[This message has been edited by Shawshank (edited July 13, 2005).]
 

There's going to be lots of cattle, if not local, than imported on the budding railroads. I'd say your characters would do very well to stock up on beef jerky, and bread wouldn't be too hard to find, either. Butter and cheese would come with the beef, but these wouldn't last very long in backpacks. Tins of salt and pepper and lesser spices could save them their sanity. Again, a good knife and hatchet will be required, and a fire-flint would come in very handy. Water is going to be scarcer, so they'll need at least four canteens between the two of them. They might find nuts and berries in the woods. Changes of clothes, something solid, probably leather, to keep the rain off, and very solid boots. In a booming town, it's arguable whether or not they'd have much money. And if they have a trade, any tools that come with that. That's all I can think of.
 

But really! I'm serious. Boys in that time usually owned a gun and knew how to use it. Remember the book "Summer of the Monkeys?" All Jay Berry wanted was a pony and a 22. (Sorry if I wrote the gun description down wrong. Not exactly my area of expertise, and my DH is not here to ask.)

~LL
 

Guns. Fire-making equipment. Good weather-protecting clothes. If it were me, I'd check out wilderness survival manuals, esp. if you can find one from a while back (maybe the Boy Scouts' Fieldbook).
 

By the 1890's, America was already getting pretty well settled. Probably most the towns that exist today (and a good many that don't exist anymore) were around back then, if a bit smaller. This is well after the Civil War, well after railroads, during the electrification period.

If either of them has good survival skills, then all they really need is a good knife. If both have excellent survival skills, then they don't need squat. If neither has survival skills, then they can't live off the land, and that's that. And given that you've chosen the 1890's as your setting, they probably don't need to do so. Cheerful faces and a saleable skill or two would be all they'd need (and they don't really need either of those).
 

The book about her is FOLLOW THE RIVER by James Alexander Thom. Very interesting and worth reading. (I read it while living not far from that river. I wondered what she would have thought if she could have seen how much things had changed.)
 

flint and steel for starting a fire
something to cut wood with
something to kill and prepare meat with (preferrably more than one kind of thing--fishing gear, hunting gear, gutting knife, etc)
something to boil water in
something to carry water in
something else to cook food in
rope
salt
something to keep warm and dry in
a compass

[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited July 14, 2005).]
 

You don't need pots and pans - the native americans used to cook in hollowed out stones or baskets by heating up rocks and dropping the hot rocks in water to make it boil. The water keeps the basket from burning.

One of the best all time series of books on survival techniques has been written by Tom Brown, Jr. His first book, called "The Tracker" tells how he was trained to track by a Native American man who he came to know as Grandfather. He is an incredible person, and the things he tells about tracking are fascinating. He's written autobiography (The Tracker) and technical field guides about tracking. He was the consultant on the movie "The Hunted" which was in theaters a couple of years ago (filmed in the Portland, Oregon area). He also does consulting with law enforcement to track escaped prisoners and threatening stalkers. He writes about going into places like Death Valley, and surviving quite handily with only a knife and a small bit of plastic and a cup. The plastic is formed into a cone and becomes a condensation collector for water.

Anyhow, if you want to brush up on survival techniques, especially ones used by native americans, this is the author to read!

 

In this day and age, we've developed a superior technology for getting stranded. It would actually be a lot harder to get stranded in the 1890's, if you wanted to be stranded somewhere away from civilization, you had to walk there first
 

They would also want extra socks and GREAT boots. Fishing line. And possibly a good hound dog. Most folks in these regions would have at least one musical instrument to pass the evenings (harmonica, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, mouth-harp, etc.---an upside down pot would do). A needle and thread, both for patches and briars/splinters. Alcohol of some sort, although they'd be liable to stumble upon someone's still.