Walter Harper
Introduction of Walter Harper, String
Hello in Camp,
I was born on 180 acre farm
in southeast Kansas in “52”. My
dad was a lead and zinc miner and we heated the house with coal and had no
running water. The outhouse was about 75 yards from the house.
My first school was a three room school house that taught 8 grades.
When my dad died in ‘63’, mom and I moved to town, but I still had
plenty of woods experience due to my grandmother had 80 acre and uncle had 80
acre in northeast Oklahoma. I spent
almost every weekend out there in the woods and started hunting at the ripe old
age of 13 with a 22rifle or a 12 gage. Just
rabbits and squirrels, that was all there was at the time in our area.
When I graduated from HS, I
went right in the Navy and spent 20 years on Submarines and that is how I got to
Silverdale Washington. I found a 45
cal pistol in the dumpster on the base I was on and ask my brother in Kansas on
what to do with it due to never having fired a black powder gun before.
He told me that he put 80 grains of 2f in his 50 cal. Hawkins so 60
grains should do the trick. Well you can imagine that I made a lot of smoke and did not
hit the target. I let it lay for a
while. I a few months, I went home
to Kansas for a visit with my brother. Fred,
and I were drinking a few beers and we decided to shot some cans.
Well we shoot everything from a 30/40 kraig to 22 and then the Hawkin 50.
To make a long story short, Fred sent the 50 home with me. A few months latter I went to the Poulsbo Sportsman Range to
shoot the ‘50’ and that is where I meet up with Bill Collins and Lyle Horne.
Talked with them a while and they invited me to shoot with them that day
and soon I was invited to come to the by monthly meeting and then out on the
ground and then I became a member of the AMM in 1992.
My mountain name is “3
strings”; you can just call me String for short. I got it on my first outing
and don’t ask why or how.
I hold #1636, I am a
Bosloper. I need to complete the
following requirements;
Aux Aliment du pay
5 days travel.
The paper and 3 more days on the ground.
I have a set of hand sewn
cloths; I can build a fire with flint and steel and bow drill, make meat from a
primitive setting, and cook a meal in a primitive camp.
I held a trapper permit in Washington (no good at it), I have made furs
ready for market, and I can pack a canoe and a man for travel.
I have packed a horse but I am not very experience at it.
I can tan hides and am currently working on parts of an elk hide and a
black tail deer skin. I can throw sign but I am slow at it. I have stayed in a Western Territorial for 7 days in Oregon.
I am currently living in the
Big Hole Valley, in Wisdom, Montana. Been
here since Memorial Day, 06. I
like it here and plan on staying for a while. 3 or 4 or 5 years, or more.
Depending on how the job goes.
I am married and have been
for 20 years to my wife, Terri. My
son Derek is in the AMM as a junior member. He is 17. My daughter,
Heather, enjoys the AMM functions and likes to participate at Fort Nisqually, a
Hudson Bay Company Fort in Tacoma as a reenactor.
Derek and I have also volunteered at Fort Nisqually for the last 12
years.
I believe I have told you
all there is to tell and look forward to meeting each of you on the ground.
Walt Harper
String
#1636
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