Wilderness Squatters Drop Out of Society for Four Years

A couple disheartened over America's second election of President Bush in 2004 share their story about their decision to discontinue participating in a society and tax system that supported what they feel was an illegal war, resulting in the couple's disappearance into the wilderness for nearly four years, emerging in time to vote for change.

[Interviewer] I would like to begin the interview by thanking Bill and Carol for graciously offering to share their story and their views. Both have requested that their last names be withheld to protect their privacy.

[Interviewer] What triggered your decision to "drop out of society" for nearly four years, and escape to the wilderness?

[Carol] To tell you the truth, we became disillusioned with the American public after they elected Bush to a second term. We simply couldn't survive another four years under someone who attacked another country who did nothing to us. Watching Bush take office for a second term was like watching another train wreck ready to happen. We refused to be part of it.

[Bill] Also, we wanted no part in a society or tax system that supported what we felt were murder and lies. We felt we had no other choice but to drop out of society until such time that change was possible. We chose survival in the wilderness, as far away from civilization as possible, yet still within the boundaries of the United States.

[Interviewer] How long in advance did you plan this trip, and did anyone else know you were going?

[Bill] Well, we started planning a year before the 2004 presidential election when we realized there was a good possibility that we might be in for another four years of the same corrupt government under Bush.

[Carol] We didn't keep this a secret from our immediate families, but told no one else. Our families were loyal to this request. They begged us to reconsider, but nothing could change our minds. After the 2004 election was over, our families knew we would be leaving. They wanted to keep in touch with us, so they bought us a GPS, satellite-based communication equipment, and radio that all ran on rechargeable batteries which we kept going with a solar-powered battery charger they gave us.

[Interviewer] Did you actually take four years' worth of food with you into the wilderness?

[Carol] To be honest, we didn't need to bring four years' worth of food, because we did grow quite a bit of food. We built a greenhouse for growing fruits and vegetables longer than the outdoor growing season would allow. Also, we carried as much dried food as possible, such as fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, rice, grains, and beans such as pintos, navy, black eyed peas, and other types of dried beans. My parents gave us a book of edible wild plants and how to prepare them. We used that book daily.

[Bill] We were close enough to a water source that we were able to fish.

[Interviewer] I'd like to hear more about this greenhouse later, but first I would like to ask you where you lived during the four years you were in the wilderness, and how did you select a particular spot?

[Bill] We wanted to be as far away from civilization as possible, yet be close to a source of water and live in a climate that would allow us to grow food at least part of the year. We looked for a vast wilderness that had no access to roads. We managed to find a location in Montana accessible only by rafting down a river then hiking about 30 miles through mountain passes. It was a full 3-day hike with heavy gear, maybe 2 days with a light pack. We knew we had found our "home" when we hiked over one particular crest and stumbled upon a beautiful meadow and stream nestled between the mountains. We both felt that survival and even building a homestead in this location was definitely possible.

[Interviewer] How is it that for four years no one investigated smoke that would have resulted from cooking or heating?

[Carol] We were so far away from civilization that smoke in our area may have gone undetected with no problems. But just to be on the safe side, we never built a fire out in the open, but always under heavy fir tree covering which dissipates smoke fairly well. We built our cabin under forest cover so that it could not be seen from the air.

[Interviewer] What kind of supplies and tools did you carry with you, and how did you haul them 30 miles through mountain passes?

[Bill] [Pulls out list to read from] Here's what we took with us: dried foods, seeds for planting, lighters, utensils and tools for building, gardening, repairing, cooking, sewing supplies, fabric, plastic sheeting and tarps, lots of rope, two large blowup rafts (with manual tire pump), extra shoes, boots, clothing, blankets, first-aid kit, coats, hunting rifle with extra ammunition, fishing net and pole, toiletries, cookware, dinnerware, oil, salt, spices, paper pencils, and the communications and radio equipment my family gave us, plus the solar powered battery charger.

The truth of the matter is that this was far more than the two of us could ever carry, so my brother drove us to the river where we loaded everything onto our two rafts. We secured the rafts together and surrounded them with inner tubes for stability and backup in the event of a puncture or rapid water. We traveled slowly down the river at [looks at Carol] wouldn't you say maybe four miles an hour? [Carol nods yes]. We floated for about two days, including several stops to stretch and prepare meals. Our GPS guided us to our final stop where we unloaded and deflated the rafts. We packed as much as we could possibly carry and hid the remainder for another trip. Our GPS kept track of our path as we hiked for three days to our new home. We unloaded and went back for the next load.

[Carol] Basically, it took over a week to carry everything from the river to our new home. I can't remember ever being so tired in my entire life.

[Interviewer] So there you were, in the middle of a vast wilderness with a pile of supplies. What was the weather like, and how did you take cover from the elements? Did you feel safe from wild animals?

[Bill] We arrived in late March, so the mountaintops still had snow, and the days were 50 to 65 and sunny. Night temperatures were around 25 to 40. It was actually very comfortable. Before we got there, we had studied the climate, terrain, and the wildlife, so we knew that we might see black bears, moose, mountain lions, and wolves. We brought a hide-tanning kit along just in case we were forced to shoot any animals for our own protection; and unfortunately, did have to shoot a bear. But we used the meat and the hide.

[Carol] The first thing we did when we arrived was start building our cabin. At first, it was only a one-room home just to get something over our heads in as little time as possible. Once that was done, we added to it. We brought screening along, which worked well for windows. We built shutters that covered the screens during rain, cold weather, or just to keep animals out. We had plenty of screen left over, so we made bug-proof food-drying boxes so that we could dry herbs, vegetables, fish, and berries to store up for the winter.

[Bill] The second thing we did was start a garden with cold-weather vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, cabbage, kale, leeks, and parsnips. After that, we built a greenhouse by constructing 4 log walls with a plastic tent-like roof. We built a rough wood-burning stove out of stone and clay and vented the smoke out a chimney. This stove kept the greenhouse warm enough to keep snow off the roof and grow food most of the year. The plants that needed the most warmth were planted closest to the stove.

We anticipated having to find a way to get water from the stream to the garden in the event of a dry spell. Since the garden was at a lower elevation than the upper part of the stream, we were able to build a narrow wooden chute that channeled some of the stream water to the garden. It worked really well.

[Interviewer] Besides fish, did you eat any other type of meat?

[Carol] Actually, we didn't have any fish until we dammed up the stream, far away from the garden of course, which resulted in a pond with an accumulation of fish. Once the fish were trapped in the pond, we were able to catch them with a net or fishing pole.

The pond attracted ducks and geese, so we crafted a cage that captured up to two birds at a time. They could get in, but they couldn't get out. We always saved the feathers and stuffed them into our huge, puffy bedspread, which was a lifesaver when winter came.

[Interviewer] How cold did it get in the Winter?

[Carol] In the Wintertime, it would hit 25 below a couple times, but it didn't stay, fortunately. It was tough to keep the cabin warm enough on those days. I'd say that an average Winter night was between 10 above and 10 below in the coldest months, with a few cold spikes down to 20 below, and even less frequently down to 25 below. I don't know what we would have done without our feather-bedspread.

[Interviewer] Did you ever run out of food?

[Carol] No, because we dried lots of vegetables, fruit, fish and poultry. The bear we mentioned earlier also provided meat through the Winter. We smoked most of that in order to preserve it.

[Interviewer] How did you end up killing a bear?

[Bill] I came back to the cabin one afternoon after gathering firewood, and I heard Carol scream. I soon realized that she had climbed up a small tree to get away from a bear that had been snooping around the cabin. I saw the bear at the bottom of the tree up on its hind legs with its front paws up on the tree. Black bears are not usually aggressive like that, but I suppose there are always exceptions, and this seemed to be one. I ran inside and grabbed the hunting rifle. When the bear saw me run toward the house, it ran in my direction. But by the time it got to the cabin, I had the barrel pointed at its head from a window. It took 5 shots before it went down. I felt really bad about having to kill a beautiful animal, but it was a matter of our survival. It would have been back. We smoked all the meat and tanned the hide with a kit we brought with us.

[Interviewer] How did you store an entire Winter's worth of food without having animals get into it?

[Bill] We built tight, rodent-proof storage bins from slotted boards and kept them in our cabin until we completed the fruit cellar.

[Interviewer] Tell me about the fruit cellar. How do you make a fruit cellar?

[Bill] Near the cabin was a hill beside our meadow. We dug into that hillside as far as we could with the tools we had, and basically created a "cave" lined with timbers. It was backbreaking work. The most important thing was to make it rodent proof. The timbers had to be very tight, and the front door had to fit like a glove, and we did manage to do just that. We became experts at making tight-fitting wooden structures. We covered the front of the cellar with earth (except for the door of course) to insulate it from extreme weather. When we were all finished, it looked just like a door built into a hillside. You'd never know there was a cellar inside unless you opened the door and looked inside.

[Interviewer] How did you get drinking water?

[Bill] There really is no drinkable water in the U.S in any stream or lake because of parasites and other microbes. We simply boiled water for drinking. We did bring along a small handheld microfilter water pump with refill cartridges, but we used that sparingly, because each cartridge was only good for 200 gallons.

[Interviewer] How did you find water when it was 25 below zero and everything outside was frozen?

[Carol] The fruit cellar never froze, so we kept a large leak-proof wooden cask of clean water in the fruit cellar. It was our backup supply. We had another leak-proof cask inside the cabin.

[Interviewer] How did you wash? Did you bathe in the pond?

[Carol] No, we didn't want to get soap into the pond water. We had a wooden bathtub in the cabin next to the water cask, so it was very easy to fill. After a few bucketfuls of cask water, we would add one bucket of boiling water to make it comfortably warm, and we had all the conveniences of home. Bill fashioned a drain at the bottom of the bathtub that channeled the used water outside away from the house.

[Interviewer] Did you take enough soap for four years, or did you run out?

[Carol] We only took enough soap for 8 to 12 months. I had enjoyed soap making in the past, and brought my recipe along. We made a huge batch of bar soap from wood ash we had been saving up for that purpose. We used the ash to make lye, and combined it with the bear fat to make soap. We made so much soap, we had to leave some behind when we returned from the wilderness. We used the soap for everything -- washing hands, body, hair, clothes, dishes, and anything else that needed to be cleaned.

[Interviewer] How would you have made soap without the bear? You mentioned earlier that you had not planned on shooting any animals.

[Carol] Actually, many different oils or fats work in soap making. If we didn't have bear fat, we could have used oil from crambe seeds. We grew crambe in the garden and greenhouse, and the seeds contain about 35 percent oil. We used crambe oil for cooking and lots of other things.

[Interviewer] What about clothing. Did you ever run out of clothing, and if you did, how did you make more?

[Bill] We had fabric along just in case we needed to make clothing, but without a sewing machine, clothing is very time-consuming to make. Fortunately, the clothing we had lasted very well. We needed to make a few repairs with our sewing kit. If we had stayed another four years, we may have had to hike into town and back for more clothing and supplies. We definitely came home with much less clothing than we started with, because some things got damaged and turned into rags. But we never really ran out.

[Interviewer] How often did you hear from your family back home?

[Carol] Every couple of days. We were in touch with them frequently on the electronics they gave us. Whenever our battery power ran down, we used the solar powered battery charger.

[Interviewer] Day-to-day living in the wilderness sounds very difficult, even grueling at times, especially when one imagines all the work it took to build a cabin, a greenhouse, irrigation system, and a fruit cellar, not to mention the worry about always having enough food and water. Was there ever a time that you felt like you bit off more than you could chew? Did you ever worry about getting in over your head?

[Bill] I'll admit that life was really hard that first year [Carol nods in agreement, and smiles]. Many days we worked from sunup to sundown. But we went into this knowing that our first year was going to be the worst. We knew that once we had established our homestead, survival would be easier. Actually, we did more than just survive, we thrived.

To get back to your question, we really never doubted for a minute that we could pull this off as long as neither of us got injured. And believe me, knowing that there is no doctor or hospital nearby makes one live very cautiously. We never risked injury just to save time or energy. For example, we never crossed over a turbulent stream on a log if we could walk a mile around instead.

[Interviewer] Besides survival skills, are there any other skills that you learned in the wilderness that you can use in the civilized world?

[Carol] The first thing that comes to my mind is basket weaving. We made baskets from wood shavings and plant fibers. It was actually fun, and the baskets we made were not only functional but very pretty. We used baskets in daily living because we did not have paper bags. We used baskets to carry things in and to organize cleaning supplies, clothing, reading materials, tools. We kept lots of things in baskets.

[Interviewer] Did you ever worry about getting sick - catching a disease or having an allergic reaction to something without any doctors available?

[Carol] Since we were not around any people, we didn't worry about catching a contagious virus or bacterial infection. Also, we were able to prevent any bacterial infections, like from a wound, with antiseptic liquids and ointments from our first-aid kit. We didn't really worry about getting sick, which may have been naive on our part. I suppose if we were older we would have had the sense to worry more about that type of thing.

[Interviewer] Now that you are both back to life as we know it, do you miss the wilderness?

[Carol] Yes, we miss it. Building a life in the wilderness was really intense, with a mixture of exhilaration, fear, fatigue, combined with a sense of accomplishment and pride. We will always look back on those days as something that really brought us together and built character. We feel that after we did that, we can do anything. When your survival depends upon hard work and relying upon each other, that bonds people. During those four years, we lived a lifetime. But it's really no place to have a baby or raise children. Families need social ties and friends. After all, we are social beings.

[Bill] It was a whole different world, and I miss it too. When you depend upon each other for survival, you really learn to know each other in a way that you never would. You're trusting the other person with your life, and they're trusting you with theirs. It works both ways. Surviving in the wilderness was an education in itself. It's not something you do on a whim-you must be prepared.

[Interviewer] Would you ever go back to the wilderness?

[Bill] Probably not to live. Our families want to visit the homestead that we built and spent four years of our lives at. I'm sure that the next time we go back to our wilderness home will be on a family vacation. Our parents could never make the three-day hike from the river to our homestead, but it would only take a few minutes by helicopter. And a helicopter could easily land in the meadow. Returning to our homestead will be taking a melancholy trip down memory lane. [Bill takes Carol's hand] I think that for both of us, a return trip will be a time to remember and reflect, and be thankful.