TRAIL & CAMP-FIRE STORIES
By Julia M. Seton
Seton Village Press, 1968, 156 pages
This is a fun book of short stories, mostly centered around Native American lore or summer camp experiences. About the first half of the book shares tales that start in a modern-day setting involving mostly Canadian native settings that quickly transition to similar settings from more ancient myth or legend. The latter half are more about modern-day (1960s) camp experiences.
Probably my favorite is The Story of the Two Pots. It’s a tale of two camps not far from each other. Both had a clay sculpting class. In the more well-to-do camp money was spent to bring in very fine potter’s clay from out of state, with lots of well-prepared pigments for adding splashes of color. At the camp for the not-so-wealthy campers the teacher described a spot along a nearby creek where they could find local clay that would need some extra work to clean and soften. They could use their shoestrings to cut out the clay in blocks. Several campers saw a chance to splash in the creek and play in the mud. They quickly volunteered to gather the clay. The teacher asked if anyone new of a large pile of ashes. Several said they did and volunteered to collect what would become the based for blacks and grays. Another knew where there was some lye near a cow barn. Another camper volunteered where there were broken bricks for red coloring. This approach went on until they had all the ingredients that could be obtained at hand for molding, coloring and curing the clay into works of art. Though it may have been true that those with the more expensive camp had better quality materials, the story argues the school potters had learned very little. “Our boys learned much and will never forget it.” “The first class was for making pots; the second class was for making boys.”
The stories can each be read in about 10 to 15 minutes making them usable for campers with short attention spans, especially in the evening after long days full of energetic activities. It is also about the right size to fit into a camp or hiking pack.
By Julia M. Seton
Seton Village Press, 1968, 156 pages
This is a fun book of short stories, mostly centered around Native American lore or summer camp experiences. About the first half of the book shares tales that start in a modern-day setting involving mostly Canadian native settings that quickly transition to similar settings from more ancient myth or legend. The latter half are more about modern-day (1960s) camp experiences.
Probably my favorite is The Story of the Two Pots. It’s a tale of two camps not far from each other. Both had a clay sculpting class. In the more well-to-do camp money was spent to bring in very fine potter’s clay from out of state, with lots of well-prepared pigments for adding splashes of color. At the camp for the not-so-wealthy campers the teacher described a spot along a nearby creek where they could find local clay that would need some extra work to clean and soften. They could use their shoestrings to cut out the clay in blocks. Several campers saw a chance to splash in the creek and play in the mud. They quickly volunteered to gather the clay. The teacher asked if anyone new of a large pile of ashes. Several said they did and volunteered to collect what would become the based for blacks and grays. Another knew where there was some lye near a cow barn. Another camper volunteered where there were broken bricks for red coloring. This approach went on until they had all the ingredients that could be obtained at hand for molding, coloring and curing the clay into works of art. Though it may have been true that those with the more expensive camp had better quality materials, the story argues the school potters had learned very little. “Our boys learned much and will never forget it.” “The first class was for making pots; the second class was for making boys.”
The stories can each be read in about 10 to 15 minutes making them usable for campers with short attention spans, especially in the evening after long days full of energetic activities. It is also about the right size to fit into a camp or hiking pack.
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