RAY HARWOOD'S JOURNAL

2012-01-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

ODD AT CHEWY'S JAN 26 2012

ALTON SAFFORD R.I.P.

2012-01-21T21:40:00.000-08:00

ALTON SAFFORD (LONG BOW)

Photo by Christopher Nyerges Sage keeps old-school skills Longbow’ Safford takes his craft back to primitive times By Christopher Nyerges 10/01/2009 Like it? Tweet it! SHARE IT!Alton Safford is more affectionately known as “Longbow” to his friends. He’s a legend in bow-making circles, one of the old-school bowyers who worked his way up through the ranks. Currently a spry 95, he lives in the mountain region near Wrightwood and has been making bows since age 9.Longbow was born on the Toppenish Indian Reservation in eastern Washington, where he developed a lifelong interest in Native American culture. I recently paid him another visit at his home and was again treated with a trip to his incredible workshop and “museum” of his life’s work, which includes not only handmade bows and arrows, but flint-knapped knives, leather work, bone work and much more. Longbow has made hundreds of bows and thousands of arrows in the primitive manner. He is one of the four livingmasters of the old school of archers, along with Frank Garske, Wright Huff and Dr. Charles Grayson. He continues to make bows and go on hunting expeditions using the bows he made. “A bow is not difficult to make, relative to arrows and string,” he explained. “But you must have a knife. Two knives are better — a machete-like Bowie and a pocketknife. If your plane crashed in the woods and you had no knife, you could still make a shelter and stay warm and dry. But without a knife, forget about making a bow.” To begin, Longbow says you need a standing dead tree limb at least 4½ to 5 feet long, and about 1¼ to 1¾ inches thick. You don’t want green wood, since it is too heavy and doesn’t cast the arrows well. And you don’t want downed wood, since it will likely be waterlogged or rotten.You want a piece of wood that is free of knots, checks, bumps and irregularities. A slight bend is OK. “You can make a good bow from just about any type of wood, but some are better than others,” Longbow pointed out. “The best bow-making woods are yew, osage, mulberry, black locust, apple, juniper, hickory and ash. But in a survival situation, you use whatever wood is available.”Before you start to work on a particular piece of wood, Longbow suggests testing some of the smaller dead branches from the same tree by bending them to see if they will stand the stress.Next, look at your piece of wood — the stave — and determine which way it will bend. Cut away wood only from the belly of the stave — the part that faces you when you shoot it — but don’t touch the back. “Slowly, carefully and evenly, cut flat strips down the belly of the bow all the way. As you remove wood from the belly, test the bow periodically by bending it,” Longbow explained. This process can take hours until the bow begins to take shape. When you are satisfied that the bow is bending evenly, cut nocks on each end for the bowstring, and you have a bow. Longbow suggests always carrying good cordage for the bowstring into the woods, since the bowstring can be difficult to manufacture from plants alone. “And, lo and behold, you have a bow,” Longbow exclaimed. “Twang it gently and listen to it — isn’t that a sweet, ancient and exciting sound? It was the first stringed musical instrument.”You don’t need to create a monster bow, he said. “Many Indian bows were rated at only 35 to 45 pounds of pressure. Keep your bow light and it will be easier to shoot more accurately, and its arrows will be easier to make.” ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"Yes, sad news. While a difficult father, I grew to love him as a remarkable man. We're planning a memorial in Wrightwood on Dec 28th (I'll post details soon). Others are talking about a memorial knap in. Come spring, we'll scatter his ashes over Shepard Pass. We'll have Alton's Wrightwood memorial on Wednesday, Dec 28, 2 - 5 pm at the home of Phyllis Gallagher. 5276 Orchard Drive (off Lone Pine Canyon near where it crests over the town). Informal, drop by any time. Spread the word. Thanks. - Tony Safford,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Alton Safford passed away on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Miriam, and his children. His son Tony Safford and his wife Julie will be in Wrightwood for a celebration of his life, which is being held at Phyllis & Ed Gallagher's on Wednesday, December 28th from 2-5pm, @ 5276 Orchard Drive in Wrightwood. Please join friends and family to remember him and to share a story or two about his life...there are so many!''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''OOutdoor Notes / Earl Gustkey : Wrightwood Man, 73, Charged in Bighorn Sheep ShootingOctober 17, 1986|EARL GUSTKEYA Wrightwood man faces a maximum fine of $3,000 and a year in jail on charges that he killed a desert bighorn sheep in an Angeles National Forest canyon.Game warden Dick Phillips found a freshly killed bighorn ram Oct. 7 in Vincent Gulch, just off California 2 near Wrightwood. The animal appeared to have been deliberately concealed in brush.Phillips and other officers from the Department of Fish and Game began a stakeout that lasted 30 hours, on the expectation that whoever shot the ram would return. Alton L. Safford, 73, entered the canyon and was arrested when he emerged with a bighorn skin and a leg.A later search of Safford's home turned up the rifle wardens suspect he used to shoot the ram, along with illegal animal parts that included eagle feathers and talons. Safford is to appear in Antelope Valley Municipal Court in Lancaster Nov. 18 to answer charges of illegal possession of a bighorn sheep.Game wardens reported heavy turnouts in several Southern California deer hunting zones on opening day last Saturday. Hunter pressure was described as heavy in Zone D16 (San Diego County and western Riverside County) areas north of Interstate 8. And in the Santa Ana River drainage areas of Zone D14, warden John Slaughter said that hunter pressure was the heaviest he's seen in his nine opening days there.Pressure was also reported heavier than last year in Angelus National Forest, Zone D11, but hunter success was described as slight.Arizona game wardens are reminding hunters to observe a cardinal rule of gun safety, a violation of which cost an Arizona hunter his life recently. Rabbit hunter Paul Reece used the stock of his shotgun to flush a rabbit from a cholla cactus patch. The shotgun was triggered and the blast killed him.Wardens cited numerous accidents over the years resulting from hunters using their shotguns or rifles as walking sticks, or pulling loaded guns out of vehicles barrel first.In a few years, North America's tallest bird, the five-foot whooping crane, may again be seen flying over the eastern United States.Federal biologists are studying areas in Michigan, Georgia and Florida where new flocks of whoopers could be established. The birds once nested widely over the eastern U.S. but by 1850 were hunted to near-extinction for their feathers.Today, about 180 whoopers exist in three flocks, the largest of which is the Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock which winters on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas coast.When a site is selected, biologists will begin a process called cross-fostering. They will take eggs from whooper nests in Canada and place them in the nests of sandhill cranes, which are not endangered. Canadian whoopers will then lay new eggs and start over while the sandhill cranes hatch the whooping cranes and raise them as their own.Briefly The 3,427-pound great white shark caught by Donnie Braddick off Montauk, N.Y., last August has been submitted to the International Game Fish Assn. for world-record status. If accepted, the IGFA said, the shark will be recognized as the largest fish ever caught on rod and reel. . . . The National Coalition for Marine Conservation will hold its "Fish for the Future" barbecue Nov. 15 at Sea World's Nautilus Pavilion in San Diego. . . . Pheasant hunters planning to hunt in Kern County and other counties north of Kern are advised to double check the state hunting regulations pamphlet, where a misprint may cause hunters to incorrectly believe there is an eight-bird possession limit. . . . Art's Fishing Tackle in Gardena will be the site of a long-range fishing seminar Saturday with San Diego skipper Frank LoPreste present from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. . . . Saltwater fly fishing authority Alex Siemers will present a seminar on fly fishing for bonito and shark when he appears at the San Gabriel Valley Fly Fishers' meeting Wednesday at the Legg Lake-Whittier Narrows Visitors' Center in El Monte.'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''More on Longbow Just spoke with Terry Cornett who knew Longbow (Alton Safford) well. Longbow was 97 or 98, and was living at home, still in good health, still jogging in town. He just died in his sleep last week! Terry said that Longbow had gotten a little slower (who could blame him!?), and didn’t like living alone with his wife in an assisted care home.Longbow wrote for Wilderness Way on how to make arrows and bows the Indian way, and he occasionally went to various events, including Dirttime two years ago.There is no word yet about any service to be held, but I will post if I hear anything. Longbow, you lived a good life and we wish you wellBy Christopher Nyerges, on December 27th, 2011''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Longbow was a really unique man... He was also very easy to like, he was a generous man. Christopher and I visited him a few times in his home, the interviews were packed with info. . An amazing place filled with indin artifacs, some real, some he replicated. He slipped in and out of Dirttime a few times.. Several years ago Christopher and I were at Altons and I noticed his big Didge Ram 4x was loaded. I asked where he was going.. "Why Im leaving on a hunting safari to Africa to bow hunt". He was 92. How damn cool is that!? His wife knew my cousins and my aunt and uncle in Lompoc , Ca... ( pronounced Lompoke, an indin word) I first met Longbow in 1993, at a powwow near Wrightwood. He invited me to come , so I did. We had talked on the phone a few times before that. You can catch pictures of him in some of the Mountain Man publications as well ... I am really sorry to have missed his service... I left town on Friday... Just got back Dude,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I was privileged to meet Alton a little over 20 years ago- don't remember exactly when but I remember where- A yearly meet at a ranch area near Wrightwood. Almost at a dead run you could spot him just about everywhere he went- his beautiful white hair flying- a boyish look on his face saying "I'm busy and I'm about to get busier". A generous man he was- we traded bow wood several times over the years - he even asked me to make a bow for his collection- which I did, an Ishi style plum bow- and, he immediately "modified" it. It was a better bow after he finished. He chuckled "Sorry, you know I can't leave things alone." I traded him some desert Juniper (really old main trunk wood with very tight rings- counted over 90 ) and he made the most beautiful wide limbed flat bow I had ever seen- such is the craftsman he was. That grove of Juniper still stands- a testimony to Alton's spirit. For those who didn't know him- count it a loss, for those who did- count it a blessing. A man of his character is seldom seen. In addition to his love of all things natural he was a servant- he retired years ago from the Santa Barbara School system as head of the Special Ed department- dedication being uppermost in his life. A man I truly loved. AUTHOR? See Paleo PLanet.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,#15[-]Posts: 410(12/27/11 6:01 AM)ReplyQuoteMoreMy Recent Posts This is an interesting read. I broke it down to more palatable chunks. Hope that's OK. REWRITE OFTHE 1988 WRIGHTWOOD KNAP IN The 1988 knap-in started with only Peter Ainsworth, Bob Bean and Ray Harwood, but by friday night the place was crowded. I remember the 1988 Wrightwood knapin. This was one of the knap-ins held at Jackson lake. Jackson lake is an alpine type lake in the high country. Location and Directions: Jackson Lake is located in the Angeles National Forest near the city of Wrightwood. From Los Angeles take I-10 East to I-15 North. Travel N. on I-15 to Cajon Pass - Hwy. 138. Turn left (north) on Hwy 138 and travel 8 miles to Hwy. 2. Turn Left on Hwy 2 and travel 10 miles to Big Pines, then turn Right on County Road N4 and travel 3 miles to the lake. This is a small lake of 7 surface acres at an elevation of 6,000 feet. It is open all year but sometimes freezes over during the winter. Tent and RV camping is available near the lake. There are no concessions. Nearest supplies are 7 miles to the East in the own of Wrightwood. It was cold at night and warm and sunny in the day. It was the most beautiful place for a knap-in of all. The camp was a flat plateau just above the lake itself and it had a hard sandy floor, it had a good open area for archery, atlatl and knapping. Jim Winn came up to Wrightwood in 1988, he had skipped a year or two. Jim's interest in flintknapping began shortly after he moved to Oregon in 1979. His neighbor was an avid collector and took him on his first arrowhead hunt. He was hooked! Jim spent the next few years actively hunting points. Some of the points he found were incredibly well knapped, and I became determined to learn how it was done. He discovered DC Waldorf's book, "The Art of Flintknapping" and he been knapping ever since! Jim Winn used the traditional methods of percussion and pressure flaking to knapp his points. Never use flake over grinding. His tool kit includes both aboriginal or traditional tools such as antler and stone percussors as well as more modern tools such as copper. Most of his knives and points are knapped from spalls or cobbles of chert, jasper, or obsidian. I had done some rabbit hunting, atlatl shooting and Barney DeSimone and I had been to Jim's house, then in the Valley to flute Clovis with a jig. Barney DeSimone came up "the A-wop-a-hoe", was his joke- he is Italian and everyone thought he was an Indian, so he said I am a "wop" and a hoe -so people thought he was a "A-wop-a-hoe", which is not a real tribe! Steve Carter came up from Ramona in his old flatbed truck, Steve was into pattern flaking and amazingly thin percussion bifacing before anyone else I have known about. Alton Safford was there and he demonstrated using sinew, bow shooting- did knapping and ate a lot of apples, he also brought some longbows he had made, his nickname is "Longbow Safford" . Peter Ainsworth and Jeannie Binning showed up from the acedemic knapping community and were doing very nice "Crabtree" large biface work. I can't remember much more about that knap-in except it was really fun and wonderful 4 days in heaven. WRIGHTWOOD KNAP IN STARTED IN 1984, SET UP BY RAY HARWOOD AND ALTON SAFFORD AT JACKSON LAKE., BUT OUR FIRST CALIFORNIA FLINTKNAPPING RENDEZVOUS WAS IN 1983 AT CSUN. SET UP BY RAY HARWOOD. AT THE FIRST KNAP IN 1983 : RAY HARWOOD, ALTON SAFFORD, JOHN ATWOOD, RICK WESSEL, CLAY SINGER, GEORGE HUFF, JENNIE BINNING, ROY VANDERHOOK, TERRY FREDERICK, JOE DABIL, FRED BUDINGER, TED HARWOOD, NANCY HARWOOD, BRIAN GUNTHER, AND A HOST OF OTHERS. FIRST LOCATION: C.S.U.N. . SECOND: JACKSON LAKE FLAT. THIRD; CAMP GUFFY (TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN) FOURTH: INDIAN HILLS RANCH. Ray had flintknapped in an artistic vacuum until he was in his early 20s. This is when Ray met fellow Ishi fans, Joe Dabil, Barney DeSimone, Steve Carter, Jim Win, Jennie Binning and Alton Safford. Barney had a small business called Yana Enterprises where he marketed his Ishi posters and items and had become an expert Ishi style knapper, to the point that he had killed a wild boar on Catalina Island armed with a sinew backed bow and Ishi tipped arrow of glass of his own making. Atlton was an avid traditional bow hunter and knapper, he had even hunted big game in Africa a few times with stone points. Years later Alton and Ray started the yearly California Flintknapping Rendezvous. Joe Dabil had become a California legend by the late 1970s and had the nick name of "Indian Joe", this name given to him by the prominent archaeologists of the day. Joe could make fire in of minutes with a natural yucca file board and mule fat stick. Joe was also a master of the Ishi style flintknapping methodology. Joe's Ishi points of both glass and obsidian were each an impressive work of art. Ray and Joe became friends and Ray began to study Joe's flintknapping methods. Joe Dabil had learned the arts of wilderness survival hands on. Joe was an Olympic class long distance runner in the 1960s, and when a Doctor informed him he had a life threatening decease he fled into the wilderness. There in the woods, alone, Joe eked out a survival on natural foods. Eventually Joe relearned the arts of Ishi, sinew back bow making, arrow-smithing, fire drill technology, cordage making, brain tanning and of coarse...flintknapping. As miracle have it, Joe lived out his death sentence and is still practicing wilderness skills today. Steve Carter was already an established master knapper when Ray met him in the early 1980s. Steve had been friends with J.B.Sollberger of Dallas, Texas and with J.B.s inspiration, at the 1978 Little Lake knap-in, Steve developed his own unique knapping style, one in which he detached the flakes of the top of the preform as opposed to the bottom that rests on the palm of the hand. Steve was versatile and also used the Ishi style knapping techniques. Steve's work even impressed the Grand Masters; Sollberger, Titmus, Callahan and Crabtree. Jimm Winn was there at the second or third Wrightwood knap-in with Barney Desimone and George hough and George Hough and Dick Baugh. Jim did a lot of heat treating of local materials there in the famous Wrightwood fire pit at Jackson Lake Flat. After the close of the Flintknappers' Exchange in 1981, there was a void for two years. Communication among flintknappers slowed to a stop. In 1984 at the knap-in at the Northridge Archaeological Research Center I was talking about the need for a newsletter to Clay Singer and Terry Frederick, they suggested I do it, well I had dyslexia, couldn't type and had no money, okay! Alton Safford, Jeannie Binning and Joe Dabill encouraged as well. I couldn't get anyone to help me with the project so I did it myself. I started work on the first issue, all the words were misspelled, the grammar was just as bad, I cut and past the cover. I wanted to call it the Flintknappers' Monthly but I couldn't find those words in the old NARC newsletters so I got close with "FLintknapping Digest" and cut and pasted it on the cover. I used the address list in the old Flintknappers' Exchange at the end of each article to find the knappers. It worked I began to get a flood of mail about it. It was really amateurish and I got a lot of flak, but everybody who got it loved it. Clay Singer said "it has a folksy, underground publication look" . In any case it got better with each issue. I remember asking J.B. Sollberger to write an article for me and he got really mad. He said that I was just trying to associate with his name to gain fame and make the newsletter sell better , I was unaffected and said yes, so do I get the article? We got along fine after that and I did get the article, I think he trusted me to tell the truth after that. He even made me some fluted points. The "J.B." in J.B. Sollberger is rumored to stand for "John the Baptist" . So you see with a reputation like that truth means a lot. I was amazed that the little newsletter was doing so well, my mom was too, she never thought such a weird newsletter would work. I was 24 years old when I started the newsletter and didn't have a whole lot else going, it was great, I met all my flintknapping heroes. One day I got a letter from D.C. Waldorf and he was asking about something, I can't remember, but he referred to the Flintknapping Digest as "The Digest", I put the letter in the next issue and from then on that's what everyone called it. Even now I see it referenced to time and again and it is almost always given its affectionate name "The Digest" it gave knappers a worm and fuzzy feel, like an old dog that you had when you were a kid. Even old dogs pass on, and in the late 1980s, even with Val Waldorf's help, I couldn't do it anymore. After some coaxing the waldorf's took pity on me and took the newsletter over. They gave it a face lift and a new name "Chips" . .Paul Hellweg, a fellow Army Tanker. Paul, likes to specialise inground stone axe manufacture, and he is quite good at it. He was actually a Crabtree and Flenniken Student, but went over to the servival camp when he got a job teaching it at C.S.U.N. where I first met him in the early 1980s. Paul wrote some nice articles for the Flintknapping Digest in 1984 and published a book on knapping the same year, Flintknapping, The Art of Making Stone Tools that has sold over 50,000 copies. Hellweg has also writen many other books and is doing quite well financially. I attented a week long Callahan school with him in the summer and and he appears to be thinking of redoing his book and becomming more active in the knapping world. San Diego, California was a hot bed of really good knappers in the early 1970s, it sprung from a visit from Sollberger sometime in that era. Only Steve Carter remains of that group. Navodne (Rod) Reiner, another California sad story , Rod was one of the San Diego flintknappers that Steve Carter hung around with in the 1970s. Like Steve, Rod was a really good flintknapper, all traditional, and good person. Rod did a lot of knapping and made nice pieces of lithic art but was also interested in the experimental aspect as well. Rod came up with the two man fluting technique; Reiner gripped the biface in his left hand, held it down tightly against his thigh, while his right hand used the full weight of his body from the shoulder to bear down on the flaking tool. Then, to this he added a little more force by using a second person to deliver a light tapping blow to the end of the pressure flaker with a mallet. Reiner stated that the mallet strikes just at the instant that the pressure flake is pressed off. With Rod's method both constant pressure and a releasing percussion impact a nice flute is detached. Rod, whom was also at the Little Lake knap-in was a very good knapper and a big influence on Steve Carter, but Rod was killed early on in a hunting accident. Chris Hardacker was another, he just faded into the woodwork, I saw him working as a digger for Jeannie Binning at one of her digs in the middle 1980s. Robert Blue of Studio City, California was inspired by a collection of Reinhardt's points , Reinhardt had been long dead but Blue did find fellow Gray Ghost collector, Charlie Shewey in Missouri. Robert offered to buy all of Shewey's Gray Ghosts and Richard Warren points and that money was no object. Charlie refused Blue's offer, but directed Robert to Richard Warren. After Robert bought a fair number of points, Warren shared some of his secrets with Robert Blue and introduced him to Jim Hopper, whom Warren had taught. Jim Hopper andRobert Blue became good friends and Robert became very good at art knapping. Barney DeSimone, couched Robert through his early years of knapping. Later Robert inspired Barney to return somewhat to lapidary knapping. It was Robert Blue that taught Ray Harwood to knap in the lever style of Reinhardt, Ray produced dozens of "Raynish Daggers" with the lever flaker. The Raynish Daggers were simply slab points in the form of 10 inch Danish Daggers ("2-D daggers" -not 3 dimensional). These were what Callahan called the ugliest Danish Daggers he had ever seen. After Robert's death and some prompting from DeSimone and Callahan, Harwood returned to traditional flintknapping. One interesting bit of knapping lore I overheard at a knap in goes like this:" Steve Behenes had invented this steel fluting jig that could flute supper this preforms. Steve was close to Robert Blue at the time and he sent Robert a thin Folsom and the detached flutes, Robert returned the detached flute -and he had fluted them ! Joe Dabil, Joe had become a California legend by the late 1960s and had the nick name of "Indian Joe", this name given to him by the prominent archaeologists of the day. Joe says he learned his style by trail and error using books with Ishi points as a pattern,same for the knapping tools. His notching style comes a great deal from Errett. Joe could make fire in of minutes with a natural yucca file board and mule fat stick. Joe was also a master of the Ishi style flintknapping methodology. I first came to here about him in about 1969 and then in the 70s, he gave demos on Catalina Island for Archaeologists and movie people. His points were often seen for sale for $3.50 up and down the central to northern California coastal towns, these populated by thousands of hippies. I remember buying one in a hippie shop in Pismo Beech in 1976. The hippie lady at the counter said I could meet the knapper, but like as ass I sais "naw it's OK. I did end up meeting him 8 years later, in 1984, at CSUN. Joe's Ishi points of both glass and obsidian were each an impressive work of art. Ray and Joe became friends and Ray began to study Joe's flintknapping methods. Joe Dabil had learned the arts of wilderness survival hands on. Joe was an Olympic class long distance runner in the 1960s, and when a Doctor informed him he had a life threatening decease disease he fled into the wilderness. There in the woods, alone, Joe eked out a survival on natural foods. Eventually Joe relearned the arts of Ishi, sinew back bow making, arrow-smithing, fire drill technology, cordage making, brain tanning and of coarse...flintknapping. As miracle have it, Joe lived out his death sentence and is still practicing wilderness skills today. The information set forth in this text relied heavly on the fallowing publications: Fintknapper's Exchange: Atchiston, Inc. 4426 Constution N.E. Albuquerque, NM 87110 Etidors: Errett Callahan, Jacqueline Nichols and Penelope Katson. Flintknapping Digest. Harwood Archaeology 4911 Shadow Stone Bakersfield, CA 93313 Editor: Ray Harwood Bulletin of Primitive Technology. Journal of the Society of Primative Technology P.O. Box 905 Rexburg, ID 83440 Dave Wescot, Editor Chips Mound Builder Books P.O. Box 702 Branson, MO. 65615 Editors: Val Waldorf, D.C. Waldorf and Dane Martin. New Flintknapper's Exchange. High Fire Flints 11212 Hooper Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70818 Editors: Jeff Behrnes, Steve Behernes and Chas Spear 20Th Century Lithics. Mound Builder Books P.O. Box 702 Branson, MO. 65615 Editors: Val Waldorf and D.C. ========================================================================================Tate Tanka Date: 23-Dec-11 Yes,..I `ve known Alton since the mid-90`s. We have camped to gether many times, knapped together ( no wise cracks) ..he taught me how to build bows. He received a phd in psychology @ USC in 1951. Worked with Doug Easton on the first silk backed recurves. He sent me a Christmas card and said that he had an Oregon Ash longbow for me. I wrote him back ( an actual letter) and told him I`d be up in a few weeks and we`d go kill a crow with it. I`ll miss the guy. At least he didn`t end up in a nurseing home. Last year he crossed Shephard Pass in the Sierras on horseback and then spent a week in the hospital with a staff infection he got in his saddle sores. I truely tough old bird.........................................................................................

RAY'S 2011 SCUBA DIVE, WITH JAMES AND DAVE

2011-08-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

YOSEMITE HOSTED KNAP-IN

2011-08-10T20:08:00.000-07:00

Photos by: Ray Harwood

FROM GLACIER POINT
Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located in northeastern Mariposa County, California, at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor.

The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet (1,200 m) during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.[5]

The bears in Yosemite are all black bears, even if they are brown or blonde.
The bears feed on plants in the meadows in the moring and afternoon. The bears
do try and eat your camp food.

Ray Harwood knapped these obsidian items. These were viewed by thousands of
interested visitors during the Yosemite knap-in.

The Yosemite shuttle goes all through the park for free! starts at 7:30 A.M.

Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located in northeastern Mariposa County, California, at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor.

You can see Yosemite Falls from numerous places around Yosemite Valley, especially around Yosemite Village and Yosemite Lodge. A one-mile loop trail leads to the base of Lower Yosemite Fall (the eastern side of the loop, from the shuttle stop to the base of the waterfall, is wheelchair accessible).

Ben_Cunningham was the host of the knapin. Ben works hard there at the museum and indian village.

Ken Kehoe

Knappers Unite!

At the 2011, 18th Annual Coyote Hills Knap-In!

Aug. 27th and 28th (Sat. & Sun.) from 10:00 to 4:00

at

Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, CA.

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills

Camping available for Sat. night.

For more details call Ken Peek at:

(510) 537-1215.

Hope to see you there
Ken Kehoe

Ken Peek

Jeannie Binning. California State University Riverside PhD in Archaeology . Flintknapping since the 1970s.
Archaeologist, Flintknapper, Primitive Technologist.

Here is Jeannie's School:

LITHIC TECHNOLOGY FIELD SCHOOLField School Dates: Saturday, June 11 to Friday, June 24, 2011
Field School Location: California Desert Studies Center, ZZYZX, California
Desert Studies Center Information: http://biology.fullerton.edu/dsc/school/about.html
Registration Instructions: Complete this Registration Form and return it to the address below with a refundable deposit ($450) or payment in full. Upon receipt of your completed Registration Form, you will be sent a confirmation letter and additional information. Please note that the remaining payment is due two weeks before the Field School begins (May 27th). Checks or money orders only.

Class of 2000 · PhD · Archaeology
Website http://www.obsidiandesigns.com
About Susan: Archaeologist, Flintknapper, Primitive Technologist, Science Fiction Fan
Susan Gleason.Owner at Phoenix Obsidian Designs. Studied Archaeology at University of California, Riverside. Lives in Grass Valley, California. It's complicated...From Grass Valley, California. Born on October 27, 1970. Susan said she sold a very large quantity of lithic art at the Yosemite knap-in.

Yosemite, Flintknapping. .Knap In, Ray Harwood. obsidian, Bakersfield Arrowheads, Hank Ray, Jeannie Binning, Ben_Cunningham, Susan Gleason,Bears, Deer, Half Dome.

Link to Merkle's 'Finegold knap in". Merkle and Patric Aims are long time flint knappers, Pat is a member of the "Bakersfield knappers".http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/44156/Finegold-knap-in-photos-and-article

Above Ray Harwood shows how to spall obsidian. Below RAy sits in a native bark dwelling with his "Moby Dick" arrowhead.

Ray started flintknapping in 1969. He got his Archaeology degree in 1984, Studied with lithics expert Clay Singer. Ray often plays country blues guitar or banjo at
knap ins. Ray has a black belt in Karate and was a tanker (armor) in the Army.
Ray is an avid mountain biker, scuba diver and other stuff.

THE YOSEMITE KNAP IN AUGUST 6TH AND 7TH, 2011

The above is the T shirt Ray designed, and wore at the knap in.

"Chip" the flintknapping bear

Forwarded Message ----
From: "Ben_Cunningham-Summerfield@nps.gov"
Sent: Wed, June 29, 2011 4:39:19 PM
Subject: Yosemite Valley Knap-In

Good Afternoon Fellow/ess Knappers -
I am dashing this note off to get an idea of how many of you might be
interested in attending a knap-in here in Yosemite National Park. In case
you are wondering Dave Sunderland sent me your e-mail addresses. If you
are interested please send me your mailing address and telephone number(s)
and the best to reach you at. This is simply exploratory and I am looking
at August 6 and 7 for the actual knap in with arrival possible on the 5th.
I have some details to wrap up with camping arrangements and such, but
please let me know one way or the other.

Thanks
Ben
209-372-0303 - office
209-352-4086 - cell

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mariposa Grove
Some of the most remarkable natural resources to be found in Yosemite National Park are the giant sequoia trees. In the park these trees are found in three separate groves. The largest group of these trees is located in the Mariposa Grove.

Perhaps the most remarkable sequoia in the grove, and indeed the park, is the Grizzly Giant, originally known as the "Grizzled Giant." This enormous tree is believed to be 2700 years old, the oldest known sequoia tree. Sequoias are among the oldest know organisms on earth, surpassed only by the venerable bristlecone pines.

MR. LAND ROVER GOES TO: BAKERSFIELD HOOTERS CAR SHOW, JUNE 2011

2011-06-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

MR. LAND ROVER GOES TO: BAKERSFIELD HOOTERS CAR SHOW, JUNE 2011

They are the Bakersfield Diamond Divas, all girl, flat track roller derby team: the glam roller derby located in Bakersfield, California. They are starting their third season and are ready to take roller derby in a whole new direction. Their inspiration for their team comes directly from the pin ups of the 1940's. They Loved Mr. Rover ! Lots of folks were interested in Mr. Rover!

The car show was at Hooters on Rosedale Highway in Bakersfield, California. In the USA. This was Mr. Rover's second car show, he always draws quite alot of interest.

WESTERN LITHICS' WORLD NOTCHING CONTEST YEAR # 3 2011

2011-06-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

SIDE 2

THE 2011 TROPHY

THE WESTERN LITHICS' "WORLD NOTCHING CONTEST" (YEAR # 3, JUNE 2011)
CONTEST SPONSORED BY: WESTERN LITHICS, WORLD FLINTLNAPPING SOCIETY AND FLINTKNAPPING DIGEST

BUENOS NOTCHES

2011-06-13T20:05:00.001-07:00

The flakes on the glass is information, all three dimensional items can be recorded in two dimensions. The reality of the glass point is that if the point was never knapped the empty space that fills the notch would still exist, but the point would not. Light particles pass through the empty space of the notch, but also through the glass. I have no quarrel with your judgments, if judgment really exists. There was a time that there was a mass of glass, then converted to energy and much of the mass is gone, but information is left in the form of scars on the face of the mass. There are those whom say they have a god shaped hole in their soul. I say the notch is a soul shaped hole in an arrowhead. The mass that was there is gone, the notch is an absence of material or mass and it has been replaced by emptiness and information. In flint knapping there is no absolutes, just a random predictability. Cause and effect and the soul shaped hole. Space and time exist inside the notch and the notch exists inside space and time. You are only limited by your own imagination and the false idea of reality. If the material was there in a block, then not there- as a notch and one bent light and changed time then in some dimension the notch is not there and if the point is smashed and ground into powder, how do you know the notch is not still there?

Knap-in photo of Ray Harwood and Gary Picket is by :Corina Roberts. Used with her permission.

STANDING BEAR KNAP IN

2011-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

TAKING MR. ROVER FOR A WALK

2011-05-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

Emerald Cove Park Knap-In

2011-05-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

Emerald Cove Park Knap-In
May 21 2011Emerald Cove Park Knap-In
May 21 2011
Park Address
4303 Patton Way
Size of Park
12.4 Acres
Park Hours
6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Park Directions
Emerald Cove Park is on the southwest corner of Patton Way and Hageman Road. The park site is adjacent to Discovery Elementary School.

This was Mr. Rover's first knapin. He had a blast!

FINEGOLD KNAP IN, MAY 2011

2011-05-08T16:02:00.001-07:00

THE REPLICAS

For more information go to www.lettherockroll.com.

THE FLINTKNAPPING

ON THE WATER

THE MUSIC

FUN AND FOOD

LAST YEARS' FINEGOLD
FRESNO/FINEGOLD KNAP-IN 2009.

The Road to Finegoldknap-in at Merkle's Ranch is about 11 miles from the Verlo Gas station on Highway 41, in the foot hills just above Fresno, California(to the East.)
Just fallow the signs shown above. The road is paved for a while than a good dirt, country road through majestic ridges and and rolling hills dotted with beef cattle, wild turky and so on. Oak trees and and old brown barns and fences along the root.
One small creek bed before the main river crossing and your there.

I got to the main knapping camp friday afternoon and visited everyone and setup my camp next the the river. I had my archery equipment, my dobro guitar, mountain bike and flintknapping kit. I set up my bed in the back of my Ford Explorer. Then I walked over to the fire and did some more visiting. The noext morning (Saturday), Patrick Aims and his large family had gallons of coffee bewing and the delectable aroma filled the camp. The they cooked up some amazing breakfast vidals.

Flintknapping, the art of chipping knives and arrowheads out of flint and obsidan started about 8:30 AM on Friday(Saterday for me) and went on from there to Sunday afternoon.

JOKING AROUND: Giant potato gun firing, John Piri befriending a Llama, Gary with Ray point in head, and friends head in hole.

Top Patrick Aims with Fox skin quiver he made. 2, Gary archery. 3, Matt Archery.
4, Ray Harwood archery.

Finegold knap-in all night jam session. Started about 4:30 PM and went allmost all night long.

Carol Peri and her buffalo chilli and Patric Aims and family made tri-tip and fixins, Gary brought his famous pies. I ate so much I passed out at the bon fire and my hat caught on fire. FOOD WAS GREAT!!!!

Easter

2011-04-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

Easter
Easter

The Flintknappers’ Parable :

2011-04-10T08:48:00.001-07:00

The Flintknappers’ Parable :

The Flintknappers’ Parable :I once sat and observed the trade of a flintknapper.
The artist was at a later stage of reducing a large white stone into a long, thin well flaked blade. With each carefully planned flake detachment, a new opportunity for yet another flake removal arose, a new fork in the road.
Life is like a flintknapper taking flakes off a biface, each new flake that is removed, good or bad, long or short, yields a new opportunity and a new fork in the road, he must decide which path to take.
After quite some time, the thin well shaped blade was nearly complete; a load snap broke the repetitive metronome like blows, some choice vernaculars from the flintknapper’s tongue. Yet the flintknapper did not discard the stone. The flintknapper reached into his kit and pulled out an abrasive stone, removed the jagged spots from the end shock and began thinning down the area. After a bit of time and “clank, click, clank” of the flintknapper’s tools, I heard a bystander comment;"those are the two most beautiful matching white spear points I have ever scene”. It appeared as if the knapper had set down with the purpose of creating this beautiful matching set of white spear points and this flintkanpper was the star of the knap in. Life is like that, sometimes we have our biface of life snapped in half, and when all seems lost, and after some flakes of time, and against all odds, something great comes out of it.

DAD AT A BASEBALL GAME 1945

2011-03-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

2011-03-23T21:21:00.001-07:00

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

2011-03-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Old engine at Stove Pipe WEll's in Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

Death Valley, Ray Harwood

WORKIN ON THE ROVER, By Hank Ray

2011-03-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

B26 MARAUDER MEN

2011-02-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

GETTING THE ROVER

2011-02-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

LAND ROVER

LAND ROVER

LAND ROVER

LAND ROVER

LAND ROVER

Daniel Forschler, chainsaw carving in Coarsegold and Oakhurst, California

2011-01-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

Daniel Forschler, chainsaw carving in Coarsegold and Oakhurst, California

Yosemite Hike Sept 2010.

2010-12-29T17:12:00.000-08:00

NEW WOODEN FLOOR

2010-12-29T17:07:00.000-08:00

SHOPPING IN THE SNOW

2010-12-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

KAYAKING IN THE DEC. 2010 BAKERSFIELD FLOOD

2010-12-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

KAYAKING AT BEACH PARK BAKERSFIELD, DEC 26TH, 2010

2010-12-26T15:59:00.000-08:00

More Sespe Wilderness Hiking

2010-12-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

Ray Harwood, Back Packing Dec 24 and 5 2010, Sespe Wilderness

2010-12-25T17:29:00.000-08:00

Ray Harwood, Back Packing Dec 24 and 25, 2010, Sespe Wilderness

Ray Harwood, Back Packing Dec 24 and 25, 2010, Sespe Wilderness

Ray Harwood, Back Packing Dec 24 and 25, 2010, Sespe Wilderness

Ray Harwood, Back Packing Dec 24 and 25, 2010, Sespe Wilderness

Ray Harwood, Back Packing Dec 24 and 25, 2010, Sespe Wilderness

NORTHRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER (NARC, 1982) RAY HARWOOD, KNAPPING

2010-12-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

NORTHRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH CENTER (NARC, 1982) RAY HARWOOD, KNAPPING
PHOTO BY JOHN ATWOOD

Yosemite National Park's Glacier Point

2010-12-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

-November 2010-

This is the most amazing view I have ever seen!

Glacier Point
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search

"Glacier Point, as seen from Yosemite Valley. In springtime, this cliff face is covered with dozens of freshets and tiny waterfalls from the snowmelt, the largest being Staircase Falls.Glacier Point is a viewpoint above Yosemite Valley, in California, USA. It is located on the south wall of Yosemite Valley at an elevation of 7,214 feet (2,199 m), 3,200 feet (980 m) above Curry Village. The point offers a superb view of Yosemite National Park's Yosemite Valley, including Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, and Clouds Rest."

MERRY FLINT-MAS TO ALL, Obsidian Santa

2010-12-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

2010-12-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

KOOKOONAUTS OF BAKERSFIELD

FLINTKNAPPING PHOTOS

2010-12-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

THE KOOKOONAUTS

2010-12-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

JAMES STUDYING BUGS IN SOUTH AMERICA FOR HIS PhD

2010-12-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

BRYAN GRADUATES FROM COLLEGE WITH HONORS

2010-12-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

BRYAN GRADUATES FROM COLLEGE WITH HONORS

,

GIANT ANTS RULE

2010-11-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

flintknappers' dream 0001

2010-08-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

RON RAMOS ON THE BAKO KERN

2010-08-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

FLINTKNAPPERS' MEMORIAL PAGE.

2010-08-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Swoose— From Ray
It was early one Saturday afternoon and I got a call from a flintknapper from Texas, he had read the tip flute article I had published in Gary Foggleman’s “Indian Artifact Magazine”. My name is “Swoose!” Swoose gave me a dtailedaccount of the article, he understood the anomaly better than I did- and I wrote the article!. Swoose agreed that a premature flute termination may have, in some prehistoric situations, been overcome by turning the point around and fluting the point from the tip.
A few decades ago a Hungarian inverter, Emo Rubik, invented the mind bending puzzle know as Rubik’s Cube. Flintknapping, the lithic arts, are much like Rubik’s Cube in that a systematic line of attack to break down the sequence into sub problems and then face those on a case by case scenario optimally. Swoose , through his own mastery of deduction, mastered the puzzle, the puzzle of paleo flintknapping.
John Alexander, who goes by the nickname "Swoose," Used a unique process that involves a combination of levered pressure against a prepared platform and a slight percussion strike against the flat surface of the biface near the platform. Striking the surface, which is already under pressure, initiates the fracturing process. Bob Patten (2005) refers to "Swoose's" method of fluting as "axial compression." This technique produces long flutes that relate to Barnes and Cumberland points. (Bostrom, Casting Lab).
According to John Whittaker, author of “American Flintknappers”: “Flint knappers can also be considered a subculture, a smaller unit within American culture as a whole”. All of us that fit into this subculture have our own little niche . Swoose found his as a master of his own method of paleo knapping .

Star Trek creator Gene Roddeberry’s landmark space burial about a decade, or so, ago have long since come crashing back to earth with the hope of space immortality . There was a bumper sticker that Bob Patten used to sell “Love is fleeting, Stone is forever” , I think Bob was right, this being the case Swoose will live forever through his magnificent
Parallel flaked and fluted flint art.

Swooses’ life as told by Peter Bostrum’s Lithic Casting Lab”

“-"Swoose" lives in a small west Texas town called McCamey where he's called home for 86 years. He has many other talents other than flintknapping. The local community is proud of his athletic accomplishments. In various Senior Texas and World track and field events he's held 9 age group world records and received over 400 gold medals. In 2000 John Alexander was inducted into the Texas Senior Games Hall of Fame. When asked by Peter Bostrom, of Lithic Casting Lab, how he came up with the idea of fluting in this peculiar way, "Swoose" says he was exposed to the basic concept when he was stationed in New Guinea during World War II. New Guinea was and still is one of the best locations in the world to observe primitive technology. He was assigned to the 912 signal company and was on active duty from 1942-1945. Before the war, "Swoose" was a ham radio operator. He began with his crystal set in 1933. His knowledge of electronics guided his time in the military towards radar, specializing in repair and installation. In New Guinea he says when the local natives needed power to do something, they used levers. His experimenting with pressure using a lever has produced a simple forked limb method of removing a long Cumberland style channel flake.

Richard (Dick) Phillips passed away in Grand Junction, CO, on April 23rd, 2010. He was 65. I first met Dick Phillips in 1985. Dick was a regular at the Wrightwood Knap-in at Jackson Lake. Dick would delight in pretending to arrest me and take me to the shooting range to try out his latest gun purchase. Dick was great at everything he tried and he was a really tough guy. I had just talked to Dick days before he passed away about a hiking visit with him.

He is most remembered as the CA Fish and Game Warden for the community of Wrightwood, serving from 1985 until his retirement in 2004. Prior to his State service, Phillips also served the public as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy and a US Forest Service Smoke Jumper. Dick also saw extensive combat in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Conflict.

Happy Hiking and Hunting Dick

Friends payed their final respects, at a Memorial Service for Dick Phillips held on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM at:
Saint Pius V Church
7691 Orangethorpe Ave.
Buena Park, CA 90621

Peter Wayne Ainsworth 1955 ~ 2009 Peter Wayne Ainsworth passed away peacefully
on August 7, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah after a short fight with esophageal
cancer.Peter was born April 10, 1955 in Bethesda, Maryland while his father was
serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was the oldest of three children of Marvin
and Aline Ainsworth, and grew up in San Diego, California. He graduated from
University High School in San Diego in 1973 and served in the U.S. Marine Corps
between 1977 and 1979. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Anthropology from the
University of Utah and lived with his wife Betsy in Salt Lake City, Utah for the
past 13 years. Peter's lifelong passion was archaeology and primitive
technology. It was both his work and his play. At the time of his death, Peter
was the Cultural Resource Program Lead for the Bureau of Land Management, Salt
Lake Field Office. Peter is survived by his wife Elizabeth (Betsy) Skinner; his
parents, Marvin and Aline Ainsworth of San Diego, California; his sister Anne
Ainsworth of San Diego; his sister Susan Ainsworth Smith of Gresham, Oregon; his
niece Camille Ainsworth of Albany, Oregon; and his niece Bernadette Ainsworth of
Gresham, Oregon. The family wishes to thank the staff of the University of Utah
Hospital and the Huntsman Cancer Institute for the care they gave to Peter. We
also thank Alpine Hospice, and especially Sandy Jensen, for helping Peter and
Betsy through his final days. No service is planned at this time. In lieu of
flowers please make donations to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation of Salt Lake
City, Utah. (www.huntsmancancerfoundation.org)

Friends- Jim Winn and Barney Desimone discussing knapping technology.

Barney Desimone and Alton Safford

Stever Carter flintknapping. Steve Carter came up from Ramona in his old flatbed truck, Steve was into pattern flaking and amazingly thin percussion bifacing .

Peter Ainsworth gets some advice from Jeannie Binning.

Barney DeSimone with one of his knives, note the detailed pattern flakes, his son came withhim this year and holds up a nice biface made by his pop.

Jimm Winn with one of his flint knives. Jim Winn used the traditional methods of percussion and pressure flaking to knapp his points. Never use flake over grinding. His tool kit includes both aboriginal or traditional tools such as antler and stone percussors as well as more modern tools such as copper. Most of his knives and points are knapped from spalls or cobbles of chert, jasper, or obsidian.

The late George Hough has some flint he had dug up in Idaho, Jim Winn, Barney Desomone and his son and others were getting there trades ready. Jim got mad at me because I took some hammer stone swings a really big beautiful piece that he had his sights on, luckily I didn't damage it to bad and he was able to use it.

Alton Safford hada bone to pick!

Dr. Peter Ainsworth was knapping some large obsidian bi-faces in the Crabtree tradtion that year.

The1988 knap-in started with only Peter Ainsworth, Bob Bean and Ray Harwood, but by friday night the place was crowded.

I remember the 1988 Wrightwood knapin. This was one of the knap-ins held at Jackson lake. Jackson lake is an alpine type lake in the high country. Location and Directions: Jackson Lake is located in the Angeles National Forest near the city of Wrightwood. From Los Angeles take I-10 East to I-15 North. Travel N. on I-15 to Cajon Pass - Hwy. 138. Turn left (north) on Hwy 138 and travel 8 miles to Hwy. 2. Turn Left on Hwy 2 and travel 10 miles to Big Pines, then turn Right on County Road N4 and travel 3 miles to the lake. This is a small lake of 7 surface acres at an elevation of 6,000 feet. It is open all year but sometimes freezes over during the winter. Tent and RV camping is available near the lake. There are no concessions. Nearest supplies are 7 miles to the East in the own of Wrightwood. It was cold at night and warm and sunny in the day. It was the most beautiful place for a knap-in of all. The camp was a flat plateau just above the lake itself and it had a hard sandy floor, it had a good open area for archery, atlatl and knapping.
Jim Winn came up to Wrightwood in 1988, he had skipped a year or two. Jim’s interest in flintknapping began shortly after he moved to Oregon in 1979. His neighbor was an avid collector and took him on his first arrowhead hunt. He was hooked! Jim spent the next few years actively hunting points. Some of the points he found were incredibly well knapped, and I became determined to learn how it was done. He discovered DC Waldorf’s book, “The Art of Flintknapping” and he been knapping ever since!

Jim Winn used the traditional methods of percussion and pressure flaking to knapp his points. Never use flake over grinding. His tool kit includes both aboriginal or traditional tools such as antler and stone percussors as well as more modern tools such as copper. Most of his knives and points are knapped from spalls or cobbles of chert, jasper, or obsidian. I had done some rabbit hunting, atlatl shooting and Barney DeSimone and I had been to Jim’s house, then in the Valley to flute Clovis with a jig.
Barney DeSimone came up "the A-wop-a-hoe", was his joke- he is Italian and everyone thought he was an Indian, so he said I am a "wop" and a hoe -so people thought he was a "A-wop-a-hoe", which is not a real tribe! Steve Carter came up from Ramona in his old flatbed truck, Steve was into pattern flaking and amazingly thin percussion bifacing before anyone else I have known about. Alton Safford was there and he demonstrated using sinew, bow shooting- did knapping and ate a lot of apples, he also brought some longbows he had made, his nickname is "Longbow Safford" . Peter Ainsworth and Jeannie Binning showed up from the acedemic knapping community and were doing very nice "Crabtree" large biface work. I can't remember much more about that knap-in except it was really fun and wonderful 4 days in heaven.

WRIGHTWOOD KNAP IN STARTED IN 1984, SET UP BY RAY HARWOOD AND ALTON SAFFORD AT JACKSON LAKE., BUT OUR FIRST CALIFORNIA FLINTKNAPPING RENDEZVOUS WAS IN 1983 AT CSUN. SET UP BY RAY HARWOOD. AT THE FIRST KNAP IN 1983 : RAY HARWOOD, ALTON SAFFORD, JOHN ATWOOD, RICK WESSEL, CLAY SINGER, GEORGE HUFF, JENNIE BINNING, ROY VANDERHOOK, TERRY FREDERICK, JOE DABIL, FRED BUDINGER, TED HARWOOD, NANCY HARWOOD, BRIAN GUNTHER, AND A HOST OF OTHERS. FIRST LOCATION: C.S.U.N. . SECOND: JACKSON LAKE FLAT. THIRD; CAMP GUFFY (TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN) FOURTH: INDIAN HILLS RANCH. Ray had flintknapped in an artistic vacuum until he was in his early 20s. This is when Ray met fellow Ishi fans, Joe Dabil, Barney DeSimone, Steve Carter, Jim Win, Jennie Binning and Alton Safford. Barney had a small business called Yana Enterprises where he marketed his Ishi posters and items and had become an expert Ishi style knapper, to the point that he had killed a wild boar on Catalina Island armed with a sinew backed bow and Ishi tipped arrow of glass of his own making. Atlton was an avid traditional bow hunter and knapper, he had even hunted big game in Africa a few times with stone points. Years later Alton and Ray started the yearly California Flintknapping Rendezvous. Joe Dabil had become a California legend by the late 1970s and had the nick name of "Indian Joe", this name given to him by the prominent archaeologists of the day. Joe could make fire in of minutes with a natural yucca file board and mule fat stick. Joe was also a master of the Ishi style flintknapping methodology. Joe's Ishi points of both glass and obsidian were each an impressive work of art. Ray and Joe became friends and Ray began to study Joe's flintknapping methods. Joe Dabil had learned the arts of wilderness survival hands on. Joe was an Olympic class long distance runner in the 1960s, and when a Doctor informed him he had a life threatening decease he fled into the wilderness. There in the woods, alone, Joe eked out a survival on natural foods. Eventually Joe relearned the arts of Ishi, sinew back bow making, arrow-smithing, fire drill technology, cordage making, brain tanning and of coarse...flintknapping. As miracle have it, Joe lived out his death sentence and is still practicing wilderness skills today. Steve Carter was already an established master knapper when Ray met him in the early 1980s. Steve had been friends with J.B.Sollberger of Dallas, Texas and with J.B.s inspiration, at the 1978 Little Lake knap-in, Steve developed his own unique knapping style, one in which he detached the flakes of the top of the preform as opposed to the bottom that rests on the palm of the hand. Steve was versatile and also used the Ishi style knapping techniques. Steve's work even impressed the Grand Masters; Sollberger, Titmus, Callahan and Crabtree. Jimm Winn was there at the second or third Wrightwood knap-in with Barney Desimone and George hough and George Hough and Dick Baugh. Jim did a lot of heat treating of local materials there in the famous Wrightwood fire pit at Jackson Lake Flat. After the close of the Flintknappers' Exchange in 1981, there was a void for two years. Communication among flintknappers slowed to a stop. In 1984 at the knap-in at the Northridge Archaeological Research Center I was talking about the need for a newsletter to Clay Singer and Terry Frederick, they suggested I do it, well I had dyslexia, couldn't type and had no money, okay! Alton Safford, Jeannie Binning and Joe Dabill encouraged as well. I couldn't get anyone to help me with the project so I did it myself. I started work on the first issue, all the words were misspelled, the grammar was just as bad, I cut and past the cover. I wanted to call it the Flintknappers' Monthly but I couldn't find those words in the old NARC newsletters so I got close with "FLintknapping Digest" and cut and pasted it on the cover. I used the address list in the old Flintknappers' Exchange at the end of each article to find the knappers. It worked I began to get a flood of mail about it. It was really amateurish and I got a lot of flak, but everybody who got it loved it. Clay Singer said "it has a folksy, underground publication look" . In any case it got better with each issue. I remember asking J.B. Sollberger to write an article for me and he got really mad. He said that I was just trying to associate with his name to gain fame and make the newsletter sell better , I was unaffected and said yes, so do I get the article? We got along fine after that and I did get the article, I think he trusted me to tell the truth after that. He even made me some fluted points. The "J.B." in J.B. Sollberger is rumored to stand for "John the Baptist" . So you see with a reputation like that truth means a lot. I was amazed that the little newsletter was doing so well, my mom was too, she never thought such a weird newsletter would work. I was 24 years old when I started the newsletter and didn't have a whole lot else going, it was great, I met all my flintknapping heroes. One day I got a letter from D.C. Waldorf and he was asking about something, I can't remember, but he referred to the Flintknapping Digest as "The Digest", I put the letter in the next issue and from then on that's what everyone called it. Even now I see it referenced to time and again and it is almost always given its affectionate name "The Digest" it gave knappers a worm and fuzzy feel, like an old dog that you had when you were a kid. Even old dogs pass on, and in the late 1980s, even with Val Waldorf's help, I couldn't do it anymore. After some coaxing the waldorf's took pity on me and took the newsletter over. They gave it a face lift and a new name "Chips" . .Paul Hellweg, a fellow Army Tanker. Paul, likes to specialise inground stone axe manufacture, and he is quite good at it. He was actually a Crabtree and Flenniken Student, but went over to the servival camp when he got a job teaching it at C.S.U.N. where I first met him in the early 1980s. Paul wrote some nice articles for the Flintknapping Digest in 1984 and published a book on knapping the same year, Flintknapping, The Art of Making Stone Tools that has sold over 50,000 copies. Hellweg has also writen many other books and is doing quite well financially. I attented a week long Callahan school with him in the summer and and he appears to be thinking of redoing his book and becomming more active in the knapping world. San Diego, California was a hot bed of really good knappers in the early 1970s, it sprung from a visit from Sollberger sometime in that era. Only Steve Carter remains of that group. Navodne (Rod) Reiner, another California sad story , Rod was one of the San Diego flintknappers that Steve Carter hung around with in the 1970s. Like Steve, Rod was a really good flintknapper, all traditional, and good person. Rod did a lot of knapping and made nice pieces of lithic art but was also interested in the experimental aspect as well. Rod came up with the two man fluting technique; Reiner gripped the biface in his left hand, held it down tightly against his thigh, while his right hand used the full weight of his body from the shoulder to bear down on the flaking tool. Then, to this he added a little more force by using a second person to deliver a light tapping blow to the end of the pressure flaker with a mallet. Reiner stated that the mallet strikes just at the instant that the pressure flake is pressed off. With Rod's method both constant pressure and a releasing percussion impact a nice flute is detached. Rod, whom was also at the Little Lake knap-in was a very good knapper and a big influence on Steve Carter, but Rod was killed early on in a hunting accident. Chris Hardacker was another, he just faded into the woodwork, I saw him working as a digger for Jeannie Binning at one of her digs in the middle 1980s. Robert Blue of Studio City, California was inspired by a collection of Reinhardt's points , Reinhardt had been long dead but Blue did find fellow Gray Ghost collector, Charlie Shewey in Missouri. Robert offered to buy all of Shewey's Gray Ghosts and Richard Warren points and that money was no object. Charlie refused Blue's offer, but directed Robert to Richard Warren. After Robert bought a fair number of points, Warren shared some of his secrets with Robert Blue and introduced him to Jim Hopper, whom Warren had taught. Jim Hopper andRobert Blue became good friends and Robert became very good at art knapping. Barney DeSimone, couched Robert through his early years of knapping. Later Robert inspired Barney to return somewhat to lapidary knapping. It was Robert Blue that taught Ray Harwood to knap in the lever style of Reinhardt, Ray produced dozens of "Raynish Daggers" with the lever flaker. The Raynish Daggers were simply slab points in the form of 10 inch Danish Daggers ("2-D daggers" -not 3 dimensional). These were what Callahan called the ugliest Danish Daggers he had ever seen. After Robert's death and some prompting from DeSimone and Callahan, Harwood returned to traditional flintknapping. One interesting bit of knapping lore I overheard at a knap in goes like this:" Steve Behenes had invented this steel fluting jig that could flute supper this preforms. Steve was close to Robert Blue at the time and he sent Robert a thin Folsom and the detached flutes, Robert returned the detached flute -and he had fluted them ! . Joe Dabil, Joe had become a California legend by the late 1960s and had the nick name of "Indian Joe", this name given to him by the prominent archaeologists of the day. Joe says he learned his style by trail and error using books with Ishi points as a pattern,same for the knapping tools. His notching style comes a great deal from Errett. Joe could make fire in of minutes with a natural yucca file board and mule fat stick. Joe was also a master of the Ishi style flintknapping methodology. I first came to here about him in about 1969 and then in the 70s, he gave demos on Catalina Island for Archaeologists and movie people. His points were often seen for sale for $3.50 up and down the central to northern California coastal towns, these populated by thousands of hippies. I remember buying one in a hippie shop in Pismo Beech in 1976. The hippie lady at the counter said I could meet the knapper, but like as ass I sais "naw it's OK. I did end up meeting him 8 years later, in 1984, at CSUN. Joe's Ishi points of both glass and obsidian were each an impressive work of art. Ray and Joe became friends and Ray began to study Joe's flintknapping methods. Joe Dabil had learned the arts of wilderness survival hands on. Joe was an Olympic class long distance runner in the 1960s, and when a Doctor informed him he had a life threatening decease disease he fled into the wilderness. There in the woods, alone, Joe eked out a survival on natural foods. Eventually Joe relearned the arts of Ishi, sinew back bow making, arrow-smithing, fire drill technology, cordage making, brain tanning and of coarse...flintknapping. As miracle have it, Joe lived out his death sentence and is still practicing wilderness skills today. The information set forth in this text relied heavly on the fallowing publications: Fintknapper's Exchange: Atchiston, Inc. 4426 Constution N.E. Albuquerque, NM 87110 Etidors: Errett Callahan, Jacqueline Nichols and Penelope Katson. Flintknapping Digest. Harwood Archaeology 4911 Shadow Stone Bakersfield, CA 93313 Editor: Ray Harwood Bulletin of Primitive Technology. Journal of the Society of Primative Technology P.O. Box 905 Rexburg, ID 83440 Dave Wescot, Editor Chips Mound Builder Books P.O. Box 702 Branson, MO. 65615 Editors: Val Waldorf, D.C. Waldorf and Dane Martin. New Flintknapper's Exchange. High Fire Flints 11212 Hooper Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70818 Editors: Jeff Behrnes, Steve Behernes and Chas Spear 20Th Century Lithics. Mound Builder Books P.O. Box 702 Branson, MO. 65615 Editors: Val Waldorf and D.C.

FLINTKNAPPERS' MEMORIAL MUSICAL TRIBUTE

2010-08-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

Richard (Dick) Phillips

2010-08-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Richard (Dick) Phillips passed away in Grand Junction, CO, on April 23rd, 2010. He was 65. I first met Dick Phillips in 1985. Dick was a regular at the Wrightwood Knap-in at Jackson Lake. Dick would delight in pretending to arrest me and take me to the shooting range to try out his latest gun purchase. Dick was great at everything he tried and he was a really tough guy. I had just talked to Dick days before he passed away about a hiking visit with him.

He is most remembered as the CA Fish and Game Warden for the community of Wrightwood, serving from 1985 until his retirement in 2004. Prior to his State service, Phillips also served the public as a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy and a US Forest Service Smoke Jumper. Dick also saw extensive combat in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Conflict.

Happy Hiking and Hunting Dick

Friends payed their final respects, at a Memorial Service for Dick Phillips held on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:00 AM at:
Saint Pius V Church
7691 Orangethorpe Ave.
Buena Park, CA 90621

Dewey Dietz Letter

2010-06-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Cherry Lake Kayaking

2010-05-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Cherry_Lake_Stanislaus_National_Forest_USGS_TOPO_Map

May 2010, Kayak trip: Went out in the morning about 6 AM. It was raining a bit and I thought of aborting. The weather cleared up so I launched and sarted paddling out. About 40 minutes out a blizzard hit. I actually did not think I would servive. My hands were frozen and I had the beginnings of hyperthermia. I figured any little tip or submerged bourder, the lake would own my soul. Above me a bald eagle squeeled and lit in a near suger pine. The clouds were low and the snow turned to a burning ice and hail. I passed a waterfall on my right and suddenly I was at the damn and climbing out into the car, I turned the heater on and sat for 20 minutes before I stopped shivering. The banks are steep and the water was cold.

"Cherry Lake (upper) and Lake Eleanor (lower). Cherry Lake is within Stanislaus National Forest and is operated by the Turlock Irrigation District. Lake Eleanor is within Yosemite National Park and is operated by Hetch Hetchy Water & Power - San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Both lakes provide irrigation water and power to the Central Valley and provide drinking water and power to San Francisco and other Bay Area cities. "

FLKR

see also: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_s8jit_WcIPI/Sn3XPvOSmvI/AAAAAAAACiE/FBrTGqz4q_E/s400/darcy%2Blast%2Bcanyon.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kayakingkalifornia.blogspot.com/&usg=__CqJvExBqjmUe5RzqHb709RNHxo0=&h=300&w=400&sz=36&hl=en&start=28&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=KEk_NWZc8qmCiM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcherry%2Blake%2Byosemite%26start%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLL_en%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1

AZTECNICS, THE ALTERNATIVE EDGE

2010-05-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

ERRETT CALLAHAN By: Ray Harwood

The Thinking Man: One of the most knowledgeable and talented
flintknappers of our time was a Virginia Flintknapper, whom has
influenced hundreds, if not thousands, Errett Callahan. We can sit
and wonder where Callahan came from and why he was such an influence.
The answer is this, Callahan came into knapping with a great deal of
skill, intellegence and strength, at a time when a whole new
generation of archaeologists were coming out of the old school with a
lot of questions. Crabtree had just released his book and was bumping
out students by the bus load. Archaeology was hungry and Callahan was
just what the doctor ordered. He had fresh ideas and an uncanning
knapping ability intertwined the craft and theory like no one before
or since.
In 1956, just out of high school, Errett spent the summer in
Yellowstone National Park working at the Old Faithful general store.
He was exposed to a lot of history at the park and had access to
obsidian, this gave him the start he needed and he began knapping
seriously then and has been doing it full steam ever since, later
combining his early grinding methods as part of his flaking strategy.
It started on a trip out when he was waiting for the train in
Montana. He went into a local library and found a book on various
point types. He was fascinated by this and it sort of plugged some
into his memory. In his spare time he would try to duplicate these,
using small pieces of obsidian and bottle glass and guided only by
the flintknapping picture in Holling's book. It was another 10 years
before Errett realized that there were other people flintknapping. Up
until then he thought he was the only one.
Errett read more and more of Bordes's works and met him several
times. Francois Bordes stayed at Callahan's house for several days in
1977. Bordes, as Errett, was inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs and he
published numerous science fiction novels. Callahan, as a college
student, had once been assigned to be Bordes's escort to a knapping
demonstration sponsored by the Anthropology department in D.C. for
the Leaky Foundation lectures. In 1977 Bordes spent four days
knapping there in Richmond. Bordes had plenty of money to visit the
U.S.A. because not only was he a master flintknapper and Europe's
leading archaeologist, but also one of the most popular science
fiction writers in France. According to Callahan Bordes wrote dozens
of novels under the pen name of Franci Carsac. Callahan was
influenced quite a bit by Bordes. At the same time Errett was also
reading the works of Don Crabtree. Errett was Fascinated by Crabtree,
they met in Calgary in 1974 and Crabtree gradually became a heavy
influence on Errett's knapping. J.B. Sollberger was another major
influence and led Errett to bigger and better things than he could
have without that input. Gene Titmus of Idaho, a friend of Crabtree
was also a major influence on Callahan, mostly his notching and
serrating techniques. Errett stayed in close contact with Gene for
many years, Gene a master knapper of percussion and, like Don, about
the nicest and humblest guy he'd ever met.
Some other overseas influences on Errett were Jacques Pelegrin and Bo
Madsen. Pelegrin had been Bordes number one student in France,
working under him for years. Pelgrin first trained with Bordes over
six summers, for three weeks each summer. Pelegrin worked with a
hardwood billit, which he learned to use from Bordes's friend in
Paris, Jacques Tixier, whom was one of the Masters of flintworking of
the time. Pelegrin became very good with boxwood. Jacques Pelegrin's
father built a cottage in the French woods, here Jacques reflected on
archaeological concepts and flintknapping. At this time, in the
1970s, Pilegrin was writing a bit back and forth to Master Don
Crabtree in the USA and Jacques had begun to read and interprit
Crabtree's publications. Pelegrin did public flintknapping
demonstations in the Archeodrome, which is on the main road between
Beaune and Lyon, France. He is concidered one of the best
flintknappers in the world. Pelegrin and Bordes learned English
together and spend years flintknapping together and learning, master
and student became knapping partners. Jacques Pelgrin went through
almost all the Paleolthic French technologies while learning his
craft- Levallois, blade making, different kinds of Paleolithic tools,
different kinds of flint cores, and leave points, including Solutrean
pressure material. It is an interesting fact that Pelegrin learned to
flintknap standing up and only changes after his first exposure to
other knappers and text.
Bo Madsen is Denmark's premier flintknapper, a grand- master of the
Danish art. Madison is an expert on Danish lithics and earned his
Ph.D. at Arhus in Jutland, Denmark. Madsen's dagger research
influenced Callahan greatly and this spread to America and in this
era many knappers were attempting dagger production: Waldorf, Patten,
Stafford, Flenniken and Callahan in particular. Errett spend a good
deal of time in the 1970s in Scandinavia and returned again in August
of 1984. Madsen had moved over to the University of Arhus and was
teaching a talented portage, Peter Vemming Hansenat at the University
of Copenhagen, the two had co-wrote and published a paper on the
replication of square- sectioned axes. While in Scandinavia Callahan
gave several flintknapping workshops sponsored by the Archaeological
Institute of the University of Uppsala, Sweden, he was assisted by Bo
Madsen and Dr. Debbie Olausson. According to Callahan, the Copenhagen
area has several talented non-academic knappers as well Thorbjorn
Peterson, Asel Jorgensen, and Soren Moses.
In later years Errett's biggest influence was Richard Warren. Richard
was completely underground and out of contact for most of his
knapping life, he became a lapidary knapper that had an exclusive
clientele. Richard Warren's work was incredibly precise, much more
than anyone at the time thought was possible. Errett had to
reconstruct the Warren technique entirely from scratch. Richard
Warren showed Errett one important thing- perfection is possible- and
that's all he needed to know. Richard Warren died a few years ago,
Warren's curiosity was to know what could be done with flint if
someone picks up where the best stone age knappers abandoned the
craft for metal technology or extinction. In short Richard's quest
was for knapping for the sake of art-perfection, by any means
possible. Richard used the term "Teleolithics" to describe what we
now call lapidary knapping, flake over grinding (lap-knapping). After
Hannus' colon operation, in 1983, for which Errett made the obsidian
blades used in the surgery and observed the entire operation, two of
Callahan's students decided to start a company with him to market
these blades to the medical community. The one who was supposed to do
the marketing dropped out and little became of " Aztecnics".
Errett markets his obsidian art through "Piltdown Productions" in
Virginia. Callahan is best known for his published work The Basics Of
Biface Knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition A Manual For
Flintknappers And Lithic Analysts. This was published in Archaeology
Of North America, . He has also published many other books and
articles. Including: "Flintknappers' exchange" (the original
journal), "The Emic Perspective" and "Flintknapping Digest". The
Basics Of Biface knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition was
the single most influential lithic book ever written.
The Callahan biface book is Vol. 7, No. 1 of the journal Archaeology
Of Eastern North America. The book introduced many new techniques for
the study of stone tools, for standard and experimental archaeology.
The concepts, "the lithic grade scale, and biface staging, are widely
used in flintknapping circles to the point the most new knappers
didn't even know these concepts were fairly new and discovered by
Callahan.
As Crabtree before him Callahan was the only living flintknapper with
the confidence to have major surgery done with stone tools he crafted
himself. According to the news release on December 9th, 1998, Errett
Callahan had major surgery done to repair his right rotator cuff
tendon. The two hour landmark operation was done by Dr. Jay Hopkins
of Blue Ridge Orthopedics at Lynchburg General Hospital. Callahan's
rotor cuff tendon had become completely torn off the top of his
humerus bone and had to be extensively reworked. Dr Hopkins said that
it was as bad a tear as he had ever witnessed. All incisions were
made with Callahan's obsidian scalpels. Dr. Hopkins, after performing
the operation, was impressed with the great reduction of bleeding in
the initial incisions and states: I used the obsidian blade for a
shoulder operation and found them quite satisfactory. They performed
very much like a scalpel and the bleeding with the first cut through
the skin was minimal. Healing appears to be very much normal, if not
accelerated.
Errett Callahan was founder and president of the Society of Primitive
Technology for many years . The Society is an international
organization devoted to the preservation of a wide range of primitive
technologies. The SPT preserves and promotes this knowledge
principally by means of a remarkable magazine, the Bulletin of
Primitive Technology. Errett has now retired from his editor and
chief and president but he will stay an active member. For more
information contact Society of Primitive Technology, P.O. Box 905,
Rexburg, Id 83440. The Bulletin is now being edited and produced by
Primitive skills expert David Wescott. At this time Errett Callahan
is in the midst of writing a major book on flintknapping - everything
he knows...and he knows a lot..The book is going to focus a on Danish
Daggers. The book is addressed to both the archaeologist and
flintknapper a like. This book is a 20-year research project in which
200 daggers were replicated. The research was funded by a grant from
the King of Sweden and by Uppsala University. Callahan is cowritting
the book with Jan Apel, a PhD student at Uppsala and fellow
flintknapper. The new book will do for daggers what his biface book
did for that field. Callahan is also working on a book on
experimental archaeology.
Callahan still puts on his week long classes at Cliff Side on
flintknapping, traditional archery, primitive pottery, lithic
analysis, and more. Bob Verrey, a former student and long time
flintknapper, archaeologist and supplier of knapping tools offers a
scholarship to the school but it is very competitive. .
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Saturday June 3, 2006 - 10:22am (PDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Entry for June 03, 2006
Entry for June 03, 2006 magnify
Crabtree, often referred to as "the Dean of American
flintknapping". He was born June 8, 1912, in Heyburn, Idaho.
According to Harvey L. Hughett of the University of Idaho: Don spent
his early youth in Salmon, Idaho where he first became interested in
Indians and their tools. His mother would have him run errands for
the next-door neighbor and as a reward this woman would give Don an
arrowhead which her husband had gathered. Young Don became fascinated
with these tools and even at this early age began to wonder why and
how they were made. There were, at this time, many Indians in Salmon.
Thanks to Harvey Hughett, at the University of Idaho, whom is now
curator of the Don Crabtree Lithic Collection, we now know much more
about Don Crabtree's childhood. I spoke to Mr. Hughett a few in
October of 1999 (Val Waldorf had no problem either) he gave me
permission to quote his copyright article on Don Crabtree in Chips
Vol. 11, No.3, 1999.: "Young Don became fascinated with these tools
and even at this early age began to wonder why and how they were
made. There were, at this time, many Indians in Salmon. Their custom
was to sit flat on the sidewalk with their legs stretched in front of
them. Don found it great fun to jump over their legs and to talk with
them, for which he was severely reprimanded by his mother.
When Don was six, his Family moved to Twin Falls. This was desert
country and Don spent most of his time hunting for artifacts, Indian
campsites and building his collection of Indian tools. The family's
home was just a stone's through from the Snake River Canyon and Don
spent every possible moment hunting in the canyon, collecting from
campsites and caves and adding to his collection. He also collected
obsidian flakes and began to try to reproduce the artifacts. This
meant more trips to the canyon for knapping material. Soon, young
Crabtree had gathered a fairly large collection of artifacts and his
interest in experimenting with different stones and methods of
manufacture to achieve replication increased. He tried many
approaches to holding and applying force but with little success and
much failure. After interviewing many local Indians, he was
disappointed that he was unable to learn anything of how these
fascinating artifacts were made. Flintknapping was essentially a lost
art even at the time.
Don was constantly in trouble with his father for being away from
home so much, for the many cuts on his hands and the permanent
bloodstains on his clothing. He received many reprimands for coming
home after dark. Even this did not cure him of his quest for
knowledge of the Native Americans and their tools. At one point, his
father became so disgusted with Don spending so much time knapping he
offered to pay him $100.00 if he would promise never to make another
arrowhead. Don wanted a bicycle and a gun so badly that he considered
this offer for some time. However, the love of Indian lore won and he
told his father that he could not give up his attempts to make tools
as the Indians had.
In the late 1930's he was supervisor of the Vertebrate and
Invertebrate Laboratory at the University of California at Berkley,
this is also where Ishi's artifacts are curated. Also, Ted Orcutt
still lived not far to the North. Crabtree also worked in the
Anthropology lab with the well known Anthropologist Alfred Krueber,
whom was Ishi's friend and caretaker at the museum a few short years
before. According to Dr. Errett Callahan (1979), following a
flintworking demonstration at a meeting of the American Association
of Museums in Ohio, in 1941, Crabtree was employed at the Ohio State
Lithic Laboratory with H. Holmes Ellis and Henry Shertrone. He was
also advisor in Lithic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and
the Smithsonian Institution's museum.
During world war II, Crabtree was coordinating Engineer with
Bethlehem Steel in California. Between 1952 and 1962, he was County
Supervisor with the U.S.D.A in Twin Falls, Idaho. In 1962 and 1975,
Crabtree was research associate in lithic technology at the Idaho
State Museum in Pocatello."
Not only was Crabtree a master flintknapper and an inspirational
flintknapper , he was also an expert on the theoretical aspect of
stone tool studies. Crabtree published papers on replicative
flintworking and other aspects of lithic studies in such publications
as:
"American Antiquity" (1939,1968), "Current Anthropology"
(1969), "Science" (1968,1970), "Curator" (1970), "Tebiwa" (1964,
1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973,1974), and "Lithic Technology" (1975).
Crabtree's textbook, "An Introduction to Flintworking", was the main
publication readily available from 1972 on. The Crabtree book,
although 26 years old, is still a classic and is one of the most
referenced books in lithic studies today. The book is easy to read
and is full of excellent drawings and text. The book is available
through the Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho State University,
Pocatello, Idaho. They also have republished Crabtree's articles,
papers, and videos, his articles are better than ours decades later.
Crabtree was featured in many archaeological films in his day, many
were shown around the world in class rooms from elementary school to
doctoral classes. These films influence many up and coming
flintknappers. The film "Blades and Pressure Flaking" (1969) won best
anthropology film at the 1970 American Film Festival.
In 1972, the Idaho Museum of Natural History received a grant from
the National Science Foundation for the production of several 16mm
films featuring the legendary flintknapper. Just a few years ago
these films were dubbed onto VHS video tape and made available to the
public through Idaho Museum Publications. Though faded somewhat, this
footage still maintains its detail and shows Don Crabtree at his
best. In the Shadow of Man , Don is shown quarrying obsidian at Glass
Buttes in Oregon. The Flintworker discusses the basics of
flintknapping, stone tools are made using simple percussion
techniques, and the Hertzian cone theory is introduced. Ancient
Projectile Points covers the making of bifacial points. The hunter's
Edge covers prismatic blade making. The Alchemy of Time concerns heat
treating, and the manufacture of Clovis, Folsom and Cumberland
points. In 1978, Crabtree had open heart surgery with stone tools.
The blades Crabtree made were so sharp that Crabtree's doctor agreed
to use them on him after seeing how sharp they were. The first
surgery one of Crabtrees's Ribs and a lung section were removed, an
18 inch cut. Crabtree's stone tools were so sharp that there was
hardly a scar.
Don Crabtree flintknapped all types of artifacts including fluted
Folsom , parallel flaking, chevron flaking, notching, blade making
and even Ted Orcutt style large obsidian biface points. His large
points were very similar to Orcutts , some were so thin that they
looked like dinner plates, his obsidian arrow points were very
similar to those he helped to curate in Berkley made by Ishi.
While working agate Crabtree noticed that his had a satiny texture
and the Indian arrowheads out of the same material were like opal.
After much experimentation he rediscovered heat treating of flint
materials to improve knapping quality.
In the later part of his life Crabtree traveled the world meeting and
flintknapping with each nations leaders in lithic fields of endeavor
and really opened the door for all of us. During this time
flintknapping saw its heyday, "knap-ins", lithic conferences and
publications. Sort of what what is happening now but with the
academics.
Don Crabtree, Dean of American flintknappers, died on November 16,
1980 from complications of heart disease, within six months of
Francois Bordes . When Bordes and Crabtree passed away the 1970's
academic flintknapping heyday passed away with Them. THE PALEO
KNAPPERS : The Late Don Crabtree, of southern Idaho, is considered to
be the "Dean of American Flintknapping" not only for his fine
publications, but also for the vast amount of important information
he uncovered in a life devoted to the study of stone tools. Don was
most probably the first flintknapper in thousands of years to flute a
Folsom point, as early as 1941 Crabtree was employed at the Lithic
Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania and the prestigious
Smithsonian Institution. He had experimented with fluting in the
1930s but became quite famous for his studies into the Lindenmier
Folsom in 1966 . Don Crabtree passed away on November 16, 1980.
Jeffery Flenniken and Gene Titmus, students of Crabtree carried on
the studies and are still considered to be among the best
flintknappers in the world.
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Saturday June 3, 2006 - 10:18am (PDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments
Entry for June 03, 2006
Entry for June 03, 2006 magnify
ple times.

2010-05-06T16:47:00.001-07:00

Way too much here to write and elaborate on further in this short of a space. Good luck all!

Photos are as follows:

#004 Exact replicas of Ishi's soft iron flake tool lashed on wood handle and his smaller retouch or notch tool
#006 My fine flaking tools, welding rod and a horse shoe nail with end cut off and inserted in wood handle which is a favorite of Jim Hopper.
#008 Close up of how welding rod tips look. Upper one is for super thin entry notching
#015 Point made from white novaculite and Montana banded agate full of "pepper" spot swirls
#010 Close up of back lit Montana agate point. Entry notches are slightly less than 1mm. The blue glass Ishi point was less than that.

2010, WESTERN LITHICS, WORLD FLINTKNAPPING CHAMPION, KING NOTCHER

2010-05-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

2010 WESTERN LITHICS. KING NOTCHER WORLD FLINTKNAPPING CHAMPION TROPHY.

2010, WESTERN LITHICS, WORLD FLINTKNAPPING CHAMPION, KING NOTCHER, STEVE ALLELY

Steve Allely is knapper who began breaking rocks in 1967 and hasn't slowed
down much in the last 40 plus odd years of working stone. He specializes
in beautiful high color points of the Western US although he can make many
styles of points and knives. He is also an accomplished flat work artist
in painting and illustration. Additionally, he is a bow maker specializing in the
subject of Native American archery for over 20 years and has illustrated a
number of books and written the periodic chapter on the subject in the well
known Bowyers Bible book series with Jim Hamm of Bois d' Arc Press.
He has taken a number of deer with his sinew backed bows obsidian tipped
arrows and dressed them out with obsidian knives. He also replicates various
Native American material culture items for museums and interpretive exhibits.
When he's not breaking rock, scraping on bows or wielding paint brushes he
periodically plays Celtic music and doodles with several kinds of bagpipes. Steve and
his wife make their home in central Oregon, a "rock rich" area for a western
knapper.

ISHI, FATHER OF NOTCHING

This years runners up: Second place: Ray Harwood, third place: Joe Dabill.

Nocthing Ishi points #6 [-]

Posts: 3
(05/04/10 9:34 AM)
ReplyQuoteMore
My Recent PostsMessage MeBlockingIgnore User's Posts A few helpful hints on narrow notching is that first you have to make the area of the point you're going to notch, very thin to begin with. That will solve a number of problems before you even start and is essential. You'll need that part of your point thin so you're not fighting any thickness which is highly helpful. I use a filed down very flat and thin welding rod tip with the end having not a point but a tiny flat area as if one flattened off the end of a wooden popsicle stick but at a slight angle instead of at a 90 degree. This flat and thin tip is tiny and miniature is size and looks something like a tiny screwdriver tip for eyeglasses screws only its at a slight angle if that makes sense. You can use a horse shoe nail, regular nail or any other piece of mild steel or iron like Ishi did. I used a 7 or even a 10 power jewelers hood when doing this (its really hard to see it!) and it took several attempts as its very hard to do. I made a very tiny micro notch to start with using the flat thin flaker that I gradually went into the edge of the point a ways. Then as I got the notch started an in a ways from the edge maybe a 11/16" or so, I inserted the flat tool into the notch from the side, gently set up a little platform, and carefully pressed off a little crescent shaped notch flake to expand the notch outward and into the point but not too big, because if that flake is too large it circles back and tears open your tiny narrow notch entry and wrecks it. One has to "micro narrow notch" a little ways into the point from the edge, and then start to take off larger flakes a bit more aggressively. After you get away from the edge it gets much safer and a bit less of a risk to break it. As you notch you have to set up your platforms to the next side you take your flakes off of. I pop off a flake, very gently crunch my way in a ways but build the platform to the opposite side and very gently scrape (grind) it with my flaking tool which is setting up the platform for the next flake on the other side. Then the process repeats if all goes well. What you don't want is to get your edge to thicken up too much in the mid line of the notch and then you can start to get "stuck" and spin your wheels in taking a flake off as your platform is too far from either side stuck in the middle and it starts to get too thick so your tool keeps slipping instead of taking off a flake. You can sometimes power through and pop off a large one but you can wreck it very easily at that point and will be heard quoting Homer Simpson with a loud "D'oh!"...or worse... In short, it takes lots of practice and I've seen a number of Ishi's old points at the Hearst Museum where he "messed up" and popped his notches out wider than he wanted or had planned. That's essentially it, its just meticulous mirco notching. Its not a deep dark secret nor rocket science, just very careful tiny flaking with lots of practice (and many failures) This is probably the tiniest notched point I've ever managed to make with the entries under 1 mm but I was pushing the envelope even for me and it took several tries as I messed up somebefore I was successful. When I notch this way I work on my knee on an old green chain leather apron and hold the tool straight down when I get to the 'insert it into the inner notch" stage if that makes sense. The tiniest mistake of twisting your tool wrong can mess you up if you aren't super careful. Practice on glass or obsidian flakes a lot, the more you do it the better you'll get at it. I'll try to post some pics I have if I can ever figure out how to attach them as this web site doesn't seem to allow to pull a saved jpeg off my computer to post.

Way too much here to write and elaborate on further in this short of a space. Good luck all!

Photos are as follows:

#004 Exact replicas of Ishi's soft iron flake tool lashed on wood handle and his smaller retouch or notch tool
#006 My fine flaking tools, welding rod and a horse shoe nail with end cut off and inserted in wood handle which is a favorite of Jim Hopper.
#008 Close up of how welding rod tips look. Upper one is for super thin entry notching
#015 Point made from white novaculite and Montana banded agate full of "pepper" spot swirls
#010 Close up of back lit Montana agate point. Entry notches are slightly less than 1mm. The blue glass Ishi point was less than that.

2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley

2010-04-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley, CEDAR CAMP: OFFICIAL CAKE

Getting gas in Crocket, Ca. Getting ready for the Mendo Land Rover Trip.

At a rest area on the way to the Mendo Land Rover Ralley.

3 Land Rover Series Vehicles.

Daniel making the river crossing. 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

Greg Harwood, River Crossing. 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

Greg and Katlyn's camp, at Cedar Creek. 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

Harwood Brothers. 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

DAY TRIPS.2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

DAY TRIP IN DEEP SNOW AND MUD. UPPER LAKE JOURNEY. 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

BACK AT CAMP, CEDAR CREEK, 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

MUSIC AT NIGHT.camp, at Cedar Creek. 2010 Mendo, Land Rover Ralley.

GOING HOME SOON

MY DAD'S LAND ROVER, 1960S

2010-04-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Bryan Harwood on Rockwell's TV show

2010-04-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Bryan Harwood on the Rockwell Country Music Show, Will be on TV this Wensday Night!
Bryan will perform his new song "Good Friends" about his historic friends Buck Owens, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. Filming was rapped up tonight at Trout's Historic Black Board Stage. Bryan has been performing in Bakersfield for several years.

n

Arrowheads of Cobalt Blue

2010-04-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Gary's Blue knife points

Cherrie Currie of the "Runaways" with a Blue arrowhead made by Ray

Ray's Blue Arrow head,

Cherie Currie from the Runaways.

2010-03-22T05:39:00.001-07:00

YAY -here is my cobalt blue arrowhead I chipped with rock and roll legend Cherie Currie from the Runaways. She wrote the book from the new blockbuster movie by the same name. Movie scout David Mckinney took the photo! Thanks

http://readmezzanine.blogspot.com/2010/03/cherie-currie-neon-angel-book-signing.html

CHERIE CURRIE GUITAR BOOGIE

Hank Ray | MySpace Music Videos

MY LAND ROVER TRIPS 1964 TO 1981

2010-03-14T09:23:00.001-07:00

2010-03-13T17:24:00.000-08:00

RARE J.B. SOLLBERGER ARTICLE

2010-03-06T03:54:00.000-08:00

FRONT COVER

INSIDE COVER

PAGE 36

page37

PAGE 38

Page 39

Page 40

PAGE 41

J.B. SOLLBERGER- BLUES

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE TEXAS MASTER; In the states of Texas was a long lean bloke, it
wasn't Johnny Smoke, it was paleo flintknapping pioneer, J.B.
Sollberger. I was aquatinted with Mr. Sollberger and know that he was
a true master flintknapper and influence to hundreds.
Though they were contemporary, Carabtree and Texan, J.B. Sollberger
spurred on two separate schools of thought. Crabtree the obsidian
school and Sollberger the Texas flint school. Though both are
flintknapping, the methodology is very different.
In the realm of thought and mental visualization, deep in the mind is
the perfect visualization or pure idea, the mental template. For most
craftsmen by the time this idea becomes a piece of work it has lost a
bit of perfection. On rare occasion it is manifested in a piece of
art work, this was the case with the magnificent flintwork of J.B.
Sollberger, of Dallas, Texas.
Sollberger was a true flintknapping pioneer and a legend in his time.
Not only was Sollberger a master knapper, he was truly a gentleman
and humble as well. He was very analytical with his theoretical
papers and articles being the best in the field. His literary works
were of the highest quality where he published in many journals
including American Antiquity, Lithic Technology, Flintknappers'
Exchange, Flintknapping Digest, and The Emic Perspective.
J.B. Sollberger started flintknapping when he was middle aged, some
time around 1970. He always had a curiosity about knapping but didn't
get the "lithic erg" until he observed a scrapper making
demonstration at the 1970 Dallas Archaeological Society meetings.
Ironically Don Crabtree came to Dallas to the meetings but J.B.
Sollberger had to work so he missed the opportunity to meet Crabtree.
The next week he tried to make up for it buy going on his first flint
hunt and ordering Crabtrees book. Upon reading this, Sollberger got a
basic tool kit together and began experimenting.
Sollberger recalled seeing a forked stick in a museum in Texas as a
boy and began experimenting with his famous "fork and lever" knapping
style. Sollberger was very successful in his experiments and was soon
making fine arrow heads with his rig.
According to Sollberger (1978) " back in 1933 I suppose, we were just
boy artifact collectors. We made this trip to San Antone to see the
Witte Museum and inside they had a forked stick a little over a foot
long with something like 3/4 of an inch gap between the two forks. It
struck me that pressure flaking could be done with leverage by laying
the biface material across this forked stick and using the fork as a
fulcrum for a lever".
In 1990, John Wellman spoke to Solly and said that Solly was really
interested in the East Wenatchee Site in Washington and he had made
several large fluted points including an eight inch Cumberland he had
spend eight hours preparing and fluted off the tip. This was really
advanced work for the year and to me Sollberger's work remains
unsurpassed.
Bob Vernon, an old time Texas knapper once conveyed this story about
Sollberger to me: " If any of you ever had the privilege of sitting
alongside Solly at a small knapping session, you'll remember his dry,
but gentle, humor. Like the times when he would say, " That platform
looks a like a strong `un- guess I better drag out ol' "he-poppa-ho"
(his mega-moose billet)."
Almost all Sollberger's work was in flint or chert, I have only seen
one item made by Sollberger of obsidian. The obsidian point is in the
collection of Steve Carter, a master flintknapper from Ramona,
California. The obsidian point was very nice and very delicate, this
shows the diversity in craftsmanship Sollberger had. The last time I
spoke to J.B. Sollberger he was crafting a set of masterful flint
Folsom points out of Texas flint. He had made quite a few thousand
points in his time and was using 1,000 pounds of flint a year. Even
when Sollberger was quite old he continued being very active in
knapping and writing. In a letter from Sollberger to Steve Behrnes
Sollberger described this incredible expedience, " My house, on
Monday nights, is known as the Sollberger Clovis Factory. Joe Miller
and Woody Blackwell made Tee Shirts to that name which we often wear.

FLINTKNAPPING WORLD RARE COMIC BOOK

2010-03-04T20:41:00.001-08:00

FLINTKNAPPING WORLD RARE COMIC BOOK

Renagade Rock-Hound Disguises

2010-02-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

Renagade Rock-Hound Disguises