American Frontiersman

editors ’  welcome

Coming in hot to trot! We couldn’t think of a better way to dive into the action of this year’s summer issue than with artist David Wright’s “No Time To Linger,” which was inspired by the first-person fur trade journals Wright uses for his research. These mountain men on a mission unexpectedly encountered hostile Indians somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and are now hightailing it to a safer location. As much as it disappoints them, the three men intentionally cut their one pack horse loose with the hopes that the marauding Indians might head after it instead of them. Now that’s being survival-minded! With springtime and hostiles now in the rearview mirror, we look to a jam-packed summer issue poised to entertain, inspire and teach you about your favorite backcountry pursuits,…

american frontiersman

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Nino Bosaz EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ryan Lee Price CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Linas Cernauskas PRODUCTION EDITOR Greg Lickenbrock ART DIRECTOR James Allocca PREPRESS MANAGER Michael Toppin PREMEDIA Franco Nguyen DIGITAL MANAGER Matthew Hogan EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Richard Ortega CIRCULATION CONSULTANT Scott Hill/ProCirc COVER IMAGE David Wright* VP/GROUP PUBLISHER & CONTENT DIRECTOR Nicholas S. Seifert ADVERTISING SALES National Office 212-478-1910; sales@athlonoutdoors.com Independent Account Representatives NORTHEAST REGION Scott Buchmayr 978-462-6335 SOUTHEAST & UPPER MIDWEST Amos Crowley 216-378-9811 WESTERN REGION Scott J. Cherek 307-635-8899 MIDWEST/CENTRAL SOUTH Dan Flavin 248-515-8654 DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING Jim Coen 212-478-1949 SALES & MARKETING DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT Carrie Roeder DIGITAL SALES DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING DIRECTOR Brock Norman ATHLON MEDIA GROUP Corporate Officers PRESIDENT, CEO Chuck Allen CFO/TREASURER Mary Lee Vanderkooi…

back to school school

Prickett’s Fort, located just outside of Fairmont, West Virginia, at the confluence of Prickett Creek and the Monongahela River, is a classic 1770s-era frontier fort. The original fort was built in 1774 by Captain Jacob Prickett when Lord Dunmore’s War was raging. And even though that war is largely forgotten today, at the time, it was a violent frontier conflict that brought bloodshed and devastation to the area between the Ohio River and the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. Prickett’s Fort was a privately owned fort built to protect the settlers on the Monongahela River from depredations by the Shawnee and Mingo tribes. During the 1970s, Prickett’s Fort was painstakingly rebuilt using hand-hewn timbers from the many 18th century log cabins and barns that were still plentiful in West Virginia at the…

bringing primitive back

It was as if the Oregon Trail had come back to life at the confluence of Rock Creek and the Grande Ronde River. You could even see the wagon ruts as they snaked down the hillside on the edge of camp. The 1840s saw many an immigrant head this way, and it appeared as if some were here today. In remote, secluded places like these all across the nation’s forests and on private land, people gather to experience a rendezvous with time—primitive American time, around the 1840s—when mountain men and women were trekking the Oregon Trail (and elsewhere) with hopes of a new, better life in frontier America. Now people all across the country are reliving those times. Some are seeking a return to simpler days. Some imagine an era when indigenous…

jim parker is keeping history alive with his period-perfect lassics

Growing up in rural Walker County, Alabama, JIM PARKER enjoyed watching popular TV shows featuring famous frontiersman DAVY CROCKETT and DANIEL BOONE each week as they embarked on another adventure with their longrifles in hand. Like countless other kids, Parker pictured himself in buckskins with a powder horn, a possibles bag, a sharp knife, a bag of round balls and his trusty flintlock. Around that same time, Parker was visiting his grandfather and noticed an old shotgun with bluing worn off that had been “retired,” so he asked his grandfather if he could shoot the well-used gun. His grandfather replied, “If you can get it to work, you can shoot it.” No doubt the older man thought that would end the discussion, but Parker persisted until his grandfather agreed to let…

custom classes

Since 2014, Parker has held weeklong classes at his shop three times a year with up to five students. At first, he had complete “kits” for each student to work on during the week, but he later realized it was hard to make most students happy, as they had different interests and ideas about what they wanted to learn. Now the students bring projects they’re interested in and Parker shares his expertise one on one with each class member on their project during the week. At a recent class, he had two students from Mississippi and one each from Maine, Arizona and Alabama with no two having the same type of project for the week. Parked smiled as he said, “They all accomplished what they wanted and left happy.” He also…