Early Colonial & Longhunter

[hawkeye1755]

I found an interesting website about 'Early Colonial & Longhunter'.
'The Long Hunter was peculiar to Southwest Virginia only, and nowhere else on any frontier did such hunts ever originate...'
Longhunters
Here is another link.Scroll down to Early Colonial & Longhunter Links.
Link
:hatsoff:

 

This is similar to saying that only people that drive Fords are driving "real trucks".

The statements are reliable only if one defines a "longhunter" by the writer's definition. By his definition one must belong to an organized group to be a "longhunter".

While many hunters did come into the middle ground with a group, they often wound up hunting alone or in parties of 2-3 people. Many times the groups broke up and went seperate ways before reaching the middle ground.

Boone was the most famous of the longhunters and he was a resident of North Carolina. He often hunted alone or with one companion. Many of the other hunters had made brief stops as residents of VA but lived in the Watagua and Yadkin when they made their hunts.

Many of the groups of hunters the author speaks about included men from North Carolina and PA. and the land of origin, on the Holsten and Clinch Rivers, is today in TN which was then a part of North Carolina and was only thought to be in Virginia at that time. The border had not been detirmined.

This is a piece of "documentation" that is slanted by opinion. The opinion is based on a slanted definition. One must accept the definition before one can accept the documentation.

That's my opinion on the author's opinion.

 

Was that article written by Wally G.? :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Boonetract]

Plenty of good info in the paper, but I have a problem with the first lines.

The Long Hunter was peculiar to Southwest Virginia only, and nowhere else on any frontier did such hunts ever originate. True, there were hunters and groups of hunters on all frontiers in pioneer days, but they were never organized and publicized as the long hunts which originated on the Virginia frontier.

Boone's hunts orginating from the Forks of the Yadkin were obviously long hunts, they were paid for by speculators and other creditors, but originated from North Carolina, not Virginia.

While I don't think Boone ever wrote in the Salisbury Gazette "I'ma goin on a Long Hunt!", it was never the less a long hunt.

As he moved farther west, into the Watauga, his parties grew also. .

Ghost made good point's.

The statements are reliable only if one defines a "longhunter" by the writer's definition. By his definition one must belong to an organized group to be a "longhunter".

What he said!

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I found an interesting website about 'Early Colonial & Longhunter'.
'The Long Hunter was peculiar to Southwest Virginia only, and nowhere else on any frontier did such hunts ever originate...'
Longhunters
Here is another link.Scroll down to Early Colonial & Longhunter Links.
Link
:hatsoff:

I highly recommend "Sons of a Trackless Forest" to you. I guess the longhunters operating out of other areas, including the Illinois country would have disagreed.
[url] http://www.mohicanpress.com/mo10017.html[/url]

 

[dlemaster]

I found it pretty interesting. As to the opening statement about Southwest Virgina, just look at the date it was written, March 1970.
In 1970 most folks in muzzle loading were running around in their chrome tanned buckskins, hairy hats, knee high moccasins, beards down to their crotch, and a T/C Hawken rifle. LOL Not much research was being done on the Longhunters. Just goes to show how much we've learned in the last 36 years.

Regards, Dave

 

[Wes/Tex]

I found it pretty interesting. As to the opening statement about Southwest Virgina, just look at the date it was written, March 1970.
In 1970 most folks in muzzle loading were running around in their chrome tanned buckskins, hairy hats, knee high moccasins, beards down to their crotch, and a T/C Hawken rifle. LOL Not much research was being done on the Longhunters. Just goes to show how much we've learned in the last 36 years.

Regards, Dave

:rotf: Think it was a disease back then. We all did our best to look like Fess Parker's left-handed nephew. Oh well, we did have a guy who would eat live grasshopers for the benefit of the local news crews who found us "entertainment"...film at 11!!!!!!!!! :shocked2:

 

Regarding Boone....his last 21 years were spent in Missouri and he went on some pretty long hunts that began in the Femme Osage area, SW of St. Charles, Mo. Yes, it's beyong the generally accepted time period for the "classic" longhunter. I doubt Boone thought he was doing anything different from what he'd been doing most of his life.

Ghost certainly brings up some good points as does the gentleman who pointed out the year the article was published.

Vic

 

[Henry]

most folks in muzzle loading were running around in their chrome tanned buckskins, hairy hats, knee high moccasins, beards down to their crotch, and a T/C Hawken rifle......

I thought this WAS the definition of a longhunter ?

It is certainly the description of many guys I had
by my side as a Milicien Canadien in F&I war events .
Some time , I feel like having a bunch of british spies
around me .

 

Henry, the only Longhunters that wound up in Canada were the really bad ones that got caught and sold to the British! The good ones got away.

Therefore, any Longhunters seen in Quebec are not represenative of the group as a whole.

:rotf:

 

Did Simon Kenton or Daniel Boone ever wind up a P.O.W. up in Canada? I think I remember reading something like that years ago. :hmm:

 

[Henry]

" Henry, the only Longhunters that wound up in Canada were the really bad ones that got caught and sold to the British! The good ones got away. "

So who sold them ? They were not British themselves ?

Did they fight in the American regiments ? the British ?
Do not tell me they were another bunch of " Rangers " !

 

As I understand it most historians consider the classic longhunter period to be between 1760 and 1770. Any that were captured and transported to Canada were former longhunters by that definition. Both Boone and Kenton were POW's and spent time in Detroit. To my knowledge neither ever ended up in what is Canada today as POW's.

Both were captured by the Shawnee. Boone was adopted into the tribe as Sheltowee and Kenton was eventually saved from burning at the stake by Simon Girty and some other British. Both eventually made their escape and returned to Kentucky. Boone migrated to Missouri where he died and Kenton ended up in Ohio where he died.

I would suppose the longhunters of Kentucky could be considered a form of Rangers. Mostly they considered themselves "scouts", according to my research. Kenton certainly kept a crew together to serve as a deterrent to attacks from across the Ohio and as a force for retribution. There was also the Kentucky Militia which most former longhunters were a part of. During the Revolution neither Boone nor Kenton served in the line regiments of the Continental Army.

Vic

 

P.O.W.'s were sold to the Brits at Ft. Detroit and then many sent to Canada as servants or some were held on prison ships. The lucky ones were adopted NDN and the unlucky ones were executed.

 

[hawkeye1755]

Did Simon Kenton or Daniel Boone ever wind up a P.O.W. up in Canada? I think I remember reading something like that years ago. :hmm:

In September of 1778 Simon was captured by Shawnee Indians. Finally in June 1779 he was able to escape from Detroit. After a 30 day march he made it back to the American settlements.To my knowledge Detroit is not in Canada :grin:
:hatsoff:

 

:hmm: Was it considered part of Canada way back then? New France and then England took it over. Then the boundaries were finalized after the Brits were kicked out of there after the war of 1812. Maybe my thinking is wrong on this. It would not be the first time nor the last.

 

[hawkeye1755]

:hmm: Was it considered part of Canada way back then? New France and then England took it over. Then the boundaries were finalized after the Brits were kicked out of there after the war of 1812. Maybe my thinking is wrong on this. It would not be the first time nor the last.

Oh my god,shame on me :redface:
Take the wrong thing in the pipe :grin:

:hatsoff:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Did Simon Kenton or Daniel Boone ever wind up a P.O.W. up in Canada? I think I remember reading something like that years ago. :hmm:

In September of 1778 Simon was captured by Shawnee Indians. Finally in June 1779 he was able to escape from Detroit. After a 30 day march he made it back to the American settlements.To my knowledge Detroit is not in Canada :grin:
:hatsoff:

At one time there was no Canada. :grin:

If you haven't seen the movie, "Black Robe" about an early part of (today's) Canada in the 17th century, I highly recommend it. One of the more factual historical movies I have seen to date. I thought it also brutally and realistically portrayed, peoples, customs, lifestyles, weapons and equipage. It is not a happy movie, no romanticized "Dances With Wolves" or "Last Of The Mohicans" here, with the Huron's bleak future accurately forecast at the end.

 

Yep! Seen it. It is a pretty dark movie. Bad bad Iroquois. Captain Clock was cool though.

 

[Henry]

The " Nouvelle France " ( New France ) was composed of tree
areas : Acadia , Canada and Louisianna .

" Le Détrot " ( The Straight ) was in Canada up to 1760
give or take a few months
( officially 1763 ) then Canada was British ,
later part of the British land became American .
After that Louisianna became american also .

So if the period of the longhunters was from 1760
very few had the occasion of visiting New France .