Unsung Heroes of the Wilds

The names of certain hunters, explorers, trappers, soldiers and frontiersmen continue popping up whenever you read about the wild lands. Jim Bridger, Courtney Selous,  Lawrence of Arabia, Samuel Baker, and countless others. Innumerable men cast in these molds braved dangers and feats of bravery that most civilized men of today can scarcely credit as being real. These men live in immortality through not just oral tradition, but through the gift of writing. Some wrote of their exploits, others had their stories written by scribes who wished to preserve their deeds, all of which have been passed down through decades or even centuries.

In reading many of these I found gems of knowledge tucked away in dusty pages that might have otherwise faded from memory. These men were armed with the gift of writing, and allowed themselves to be remembered. However, many of those they encountered did not. African tribesmen, warriors of the American West, local villagers in the remote villages of India, nomadic aborigines in Australia, none of these men had the writing systems or access to distribution that the white explorers had, and sadly many of their own heroes have faded into obscurity. But to my delight many of these explorers shared the same love of heroes that many of us today do and took great pains to document and retell the exploits of lesser known men who might otherwise never be known.

It is here that I hope to recount some amazing feats and tales of these children of nature. Some were wily warriors. Others were simple men but possessed of incalculable bravery.

These explorers found kindred spirits amongst some of these men and women of distant lands and found them worthy of recording. I am eternally thankful that they did, for now in this age of the internet we can honor these heroes better than ever before!

This marks the start of a new series of articles I will be doing: Documenting these lesser known people for us all to remember and enjoy!