Shelters, Shacks and Shanties

by Daniel Carter Beard

As this book is written for boys of all ages, it has been divided under two general heads, The Tomahawk Camps and The Axe Camps, that is, camps which may be built with no tool but a hatchet, and camps that will need the aid of an axe. The smallest boys can build some of the simple shelters and the older boys can build the more difficult ones. The reader may, if he likes, begin with the first of the book, build his way through it, and graduate by building the log houses in doing this he will be closely following the history of the human race, because ever since our arboreal ancestors with prehensile toes scampered among the branches of the pre-glacial forests and built nest like shelters in the trees, men have made themselves shacks for a temporary refuge. But as one of the members of the Camp-Fire Club of America, as one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America, and as the founder of the Boy Pioneers of America, it would not be proper for the author to admit for one moment that there can be such a thing as a camp without a camp-fire, and for that reason the tree folks and the missing link whose remains were found in Java, and to whom the scientists gave the awe-inspiring name of Pithecanthropus erectus, cannot be counted as campers, because they did not know how to build a camp fire neither can we admit the ancient maker of stone implements, called eoliths, to be one of us, because he, too, knew not the joys of a camp-fire. But there was another fellow, called the Neanderthal man, who lived in the ice age in Europe and he had to be a camp-fire man or freeze as far as we know, he was the first man to build a campfire. The cold weather made him hustle, and hustling developed him. True, he did cook and eat his neighbours occasionally, and even split their bones for the marrow but we will forget that part and just remember him as the first camper in Europe. Recently a pygmy skeleton was discovered near Los Angeles which is claimed to be about twenty thousand years old, but we do not know whether this man knew how to build a fire or not. We do know, however, that the American camper was here on this continent when our Bible was yet an unfinished manuscript and that he was building his fires, toasting his venison, and building sheds when the red-headed Eric settled in Greenland, when Thorwald fought with the Skraelings, and Biarnis dragon ship made the trip down the coast of Vineland about the dawn of the Christian era. We also know that the American camper was here when Columbus with his comical toy ships was blundering around the West Indies.

Genres: Survival, Nonfiction, Outdoors, Architecture, How To, Nature, History

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

In 1905, writer and illustrator Daniel Carter Beard, known as "Dan," founded the sons of Daniel Boone, who in 1910 merged with the newly formed Boy Scouts of America.

"Uncle Dan" Beard, author, led youth and society later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_...

Reviews

[Matthew Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

come for the cool tips on building forts in the woods, stay for the comical old-timey racism, sexism and lead paint!

[Don Alesi · Rating 5 out of 5]

From basic shelters to log homes with plenty of history throughout

This book was written in the early 1900s. From basic lean tos to large cabins it covers them all. It's very basic and that's what made it so much fun to read. The author spends a bit of time talking about the history of the shelters and how young boys of the day can build their forts, tree houses, and underground shelters. It reminds me of my own childhood. I need to go out and be a twelve year old kid again build a fort in my woods .

[Trey Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to some of the principles of North American shelter design. the book is very much a product of it's milieu, Beard's folksy aphorisms have their charming aspects, as well as a (to modern sensibilities) somewhat shocking tendency towards breezy racism. This is not to discount the quality of instruction therein, but it does serve to remind you that you're reading a book almost a century old.

The book is at its best when describing so called "Tomahawk Camps", ones which require little in the way of equipment, and the proper use of indigenous materials. The last half of the book is quite accessible instructions for more complicated projects, such as log cabins, towers, and the design of interior fixtures.

Absolutely worth a read for the outdoors-inclined; even if many of the projects contained are a bit complicated and resource intensive for use in today's wilderness culture, the concepts and techniques Beard lays out are quite practical and adaptable. Also, the price is right! Shelters, Shacks and Shanties is available for free via Project Gutenberg

[Debbie Tremel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For what it is and when it was written this is a good little book. There is information on everything from survival shelters to long-term cabins and with information from anything from bough beds to making a door lock. So there's a lot of good info in here. It is not incredibly user friendly though. There are minimal drawings and diagrams but they are crowded with multiple drawings in one illustration and they are not near the text so you have to do a lot of flipping around to find what goes with what text. This is especially a challenge on Kindle. So if you're interested in shelters, it's a decent resource and would definitely be fun for kids to learn a variety of primitive and more modern construction.

[Bernie May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the old books and picking up skills, tips, and tricks to add to my own. has the occasional "oh, of course that's how that's done" moments. you will, of course, have to let the racists and mysoginistic language slide by as the author is long dead and unavailable for making updates.

[Sarah Ehinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are into self reliance, or just interested in historical life, the designs and instruction in this book are great. Many of these would be fun to construct on your own property, just to see what they would have been like.

[Michaell Cavllaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A GOOD BOOK FOR REFERENCE

The book was very well written, serving as a good reference. I didn't find it very helpful on giving specific instructions on how to build anything mentioned in the book.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite technical. Liked it a lot

[Scott Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to find a better book. I want to build every single structure included. Super super cool.

[David Mancuso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good guide. Should be in every wilderness persons bookshelf!

[Dav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got it from the library and I'm going to buy my own copy of this. It is very well detailed and well illustrated reference on how to build pretty much every shelter humans have ever created, in the Western hemisphere at least, from half caves, lean-tos, stilt houses up to tree houses and the log cabin. I really wish I had a copy of this in my childhood. I grew up in the woods but I see now that the shelters and forts I made were less than primitive.

In addition to architectural and engineering concerns, Beard dips into the prosaic tidbits of how to wield an axe, how to make a bed of leaves, how to keep caches of food safe from roaming critters, and so on.

As I have two daughters, I would love to see a version of it that was more gender neutral, but nevertheless this is the book I'd like them to be flipping through when they're camping one day.

[George Walruff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still relevant today

This book is written in a style from the era that it was published in, so some folks might be put off by some of the ideas presented. That said, it presents relevant ideas on not only the construction of the various structures described, but more importantly the spiritual need to construct them. It describes what one might call the natural "man cave" long before "man cave" became a dream of the "metro culture". The author recognizes that in writing for boys, that even though boys grow older, many don't grow up and this book will definitely appeal to modern boys trapped in an adult world as it must have for the boys of his era.

[Mike T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was interesting how he mentions crowds and pollution and other problems of the cities repeatedly and we think of his time as the "good old days" before cities had these problems.