On the Trail: An Outdoor Book For Girls by Lina Beard and Adelia Belle Beard (1915)

On the Trail: An Outdoor Book For Girls by Lina Beard and Adelia Belle Beard (1915), a book available on Gutenberg.org. We loved spending time with this free download.

This 1915 treasure begins, "The joyous, exhilarating call of the wilderness and the forest camp is surely and steadily penetrating through the barriers of brick, stone, and concrete; through the more or less artificial life of town and city; and the American girl is listening eagerly."

The sisters, Mary Caroline "Lina" Beard (1852-1933) and Adelia Belle Beard (1857-1920) previously authored "The American Girls Handy Book" in the 1880s (various dates are credited) and were part of an esteemed outdoors family.

Their brother, Daniel Carter Beard (1850-1941) was an illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America.

The sisters were instrumental in the movement to develop a girl’s counterpart to the Scouts. Lina hosted an organizational meeting in 1912 for a “Girl Pioneers of America” organization, a precursor to the Camp Fire Girls.

Why I love On the Trail: The Beard sisters' book has an exuberant, carefree sense of play. Stalking birds, and bending back branches, the girls run roughshod through the forest, unencumbered by a sense of responsibility for nature. And yet, I’m charmed by it all.

I grew up in the American Midwest in the 1960s and 1970s, where there weren’t many trees, let alone full forests. Undaunted, a church camp leader set up a “wilderness home” just a few paces away from our assigned cabins. To give us the full experience, he chopped down a few spindly trees to lash a camp “kitchen table” together and strung up hammocks. That short-sightedness and waste is here in On the Trail, too. I wince at the sacrifice of trees for something as ephemeral as a “camp,” and the taking of branches for a bough-bed. And while much of On the Trail seems as silly as feeding bears by hand or taking birchbark to make drinking vessels, I think these girls must have had the times of their lives in camp.

I am reminded of this passage in the book on Camp Spirit:

”Thoughtfulness for others; kindliness; the willingness to do your share of the work, and more, too; the habit of making light of all discomforts; cheerfulness under all circumstances; and the determination never to sulk, imagine you are slighted, or find fault with people, conditions, or things. To radiate good-will, take things as they come and enjoy them, and to do your full share of entertainment and fun-making—this is the true camp spirit.”

—Beth Nobles, Nature Book Guide

“To all girls who love the life of the open, we dedicate this book”

More from the opening passages: ‘It is awakening in her longings for free, wholesome, and adventurous outdoor life, for the innocent delights of nature-loving Thoreau and bird-loving Burroughs. Sturdy, independent, self-reliant, she is now demanding outdoor books that are genuine and filled with practical information; books that tell how to do worth-while things, that teach real woodcraft and are not adapted to the girl supposed to be afraid of a caterpillar or to shudder at sight of a harmless snake. In answer to the demand, "On the Trail" has been written.’

Caption: “Stalking wild birds.”

“The authors' deep desire is to help girls respond to this new, insistent call by pointing out to them the open trail. It is their hope and wish that their girl readers may seek the charm of the wild and may find the same happiness in the life of the open that the American boy has enjoyed since the first settler built his little cabin on the shores of the New World. To forward this object, the why and how, the where and when of things of camp and trail have been embodied in this book.”

Caption: “Blazing the trail by bending down and breaking branches.”

Caption: “A bear would rather be your friend than your enemy.”

The sisters provide guidance on how to walk in the woods:
“Walking slowly you can realize the solemn stillness of the forest, can take in the effect of the gray light which enfolds all things like a veil of mystery. You can stop to examine the tiny-leafed, creeping vines that cover the ground like moss and the structure of the soft mosses with fronds like ferns. You can catch the jewel-like gleam of the wood flowers. You can breathe deeply and rejoice in the perfume of the balsam and pine. You can rest at intervals and wait quietly for evidences of the animal life that you know is lurking, unseen, all around you; and you can begin to perceive the protecting spirit of the wild that hovers over all.

“To walk securely, as the woodsmen walk, without tripping, stumbling, or slipping, use the woodsmen's method of planting the entire foot on the ground, with toes straight ahead, not turned out. If you put your heel down first, while crossing on a slippery log as in ordinary walking, the natural result will be a fall. With your entire foot as a base upon which to rest, the body is more easily balanced and the foot less likely to slip. When people slip and fall on the ice, it is because the edge of the heel strikes the ice first and slides. The whole foot on the ice would not slip in the same way, and very often not at all.

And advice on mountain climbing:

“The campers should go together to climb the mountain, never one girl alone.

“Before starting, find a strong stick to use as a staff; stow away some luncheon in one of your pockets; see that your camera is in perfect order, ready to use at a moment's notice; that your water-proof match-box is in your pocket filled with safety matches, your pocket-knife safe with you, also watch and compass, and that the tin cup is on your belt. Your whistle being always hung around your neck will, of course, be there as usual.

And canoeing:

Caption: “Keep your body steady.”

The sisters provide recipes for camp cooking, diagrams of knotting techniques, instructions on camp construction and sanitation, advice on avoiding pesky plants and animals, and interesting facts about enjoying the outdoors.

We enjoyed reading this advice: ”Leave corsets at home, they have no place in the outdoor life, and you will be freer if you discard the dress skirt when at camp and on the trail. Have your muscles free, be able to take in long, deep breaths, to move readily all portions of your body, and not be hampered in any way by ill-fitting, uncomfortable clothing. There must be unrestricted freedom of arms and limbs for a girl to be able to use them easily in climbing mountains or hills, scrambling over fallen trees, sliding over rocks, jumping from stone to stone, or from root to half-sunken log on wet trails of the forest.”

You can download On the Trail here from Gutenberg.org.

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