Fur Trader Lore: Measuring Distance In Pipes

[mso489]

From John McPhee's nonfiction book The Survival of the Bark Canoe, notes that fur traders

traveling in canoes, gotten up in plumed hats and other regalia, would stop every hour and

smoke their churchwarden pipes, so that distance was counted in pipes rather than some other

distance. They would travel so many pipes in a day.

 

[jthomas04]

That's awesome. "You'll wanna stay on this road for half a pipe, take a left, and in two pipes you'll be at your destination!"

 

[freakiefrog]

Wow one bowl an hour all day. I'd want to travel like that. In fact the next time I drive to Casper Wy. from Jackson Ms I'm using this method. Every time we stop I'm finding a tree and going to heat some leaf..I'd be much less stressed that way I think..

 

[jazz]

I love little tidbits like this. How interesting.

 

[blueeyedogre]

I just had the image of driving along and having the GPS voice tell me "One bowl of Capstan and then turn left...." lol