Ten Curious Cases of Getting Lost in the Wilderness

[DGUtley]

Ten Curious Cases of Getting Lost in the Wilderness

Historical accounts of disorientation tell us a lot about how people have navigated relationships and space over time.


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People get lost all the time. Usually, these bouts of disorientation end happily enough. A hiker backtracks to find a missed trail marker, or a driver rolls down a window to ask a pedestrian for directions to a certain street or landmark. However, every so often, people get utterly lost, so lost that they scramble their brains along with their bearings. I call this extreme version of getting lost “nature shock,” the title of my 2020 book, and several years ago, I set out to find the terribly lost in American history.


Over five centuries, North Americans traveled from relational space, where people navigated by their relationships to one another, to individual space, where people understood their position on Earth by the coordinates provided by mass media, transportation grids and commercial networks. By meeting distressed individuals teetering on the edges of the worlds they knew, I learned how people constructed their worlds and how these constructions changed over time. And in so doing, I stumbled upon the twisted route Americans followed to reach a moment when blue dots pulsating on miniature screens tell them where to go.


The Trader - In 1540, Perico, a Native American guide in the involuntary service of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s invading army, met his limit. The boy was a nimble navigator, a skilled linguist and monger of gossip. Prior to being taken captive, enslaved and baptized by the Spaniards, Perico had traversed the Mississippian chiefdoms of the southeast, suppling wealthy clients with goods like oyster-shell jewelry and copper disks. He connected people and commodities across territories by extracting news of high-demand ceremonial items from strangers. On the outskirts of a thick forest 20 miles from Cotifachequi, a city rumored to possess gold in the uplands of today’s South Carolina, Perico’s network failed him. He ran out of people to ask for directions and “began to foam at the mouth and throw himself to the ground as if possessed by the Devil.” While his captors watched on, he came undone, an excruciating ordeal brought on by social dislocation as much as geographic confusion. Perico recovered enough to lead de Soto into a weeks-long ramble in the woods, but he remained shaky until the army accidentally stumbled upon some local residents with whom he could converse.








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[Peter1469]

What Are 411 Cases?

Missing 411 cases are a colloquial classification that documents missing person cases that fit a number of criteria:

• The disappearance occurred in a national park, rural area, or large reserve of public land.
• Exceptionally odd circumstances surround the disappearance.
• Mental illness or voluntary disappearance does not appear to be the cause.

The term “411” actually has its origins in an inconspicuous computer term that refers to data that cannot be found or a corrupted link. It is certainly an apt metaphor for the state of these individuals who have vanished.


Missing 411 Investigations by David Paulides

Missing people in the USA or across the world are an unfortunate but regular occurrence. In fact, with as many as 90,000 people declared legally missing in America at any given time, it is hard to ignore the issue. However, stories of Missing 411 victims do not take place only in rural areas. David Paulides, an investigator who spent 20 years of his life as a police officer, has uncovered a number of puzzling trends.


The vast majority of these strange disappearances occurred on clearly marked and popular hiking trails. Additionally, victims are often proficient outdoorsmen and women, hikers, and hunters who know their backwoods well. Paulides has dedicated nearly a decade of his life to the research of 411 cases and has written a series of books on the subject. However, he has never suggested a cause.


Although there are both national and even international examples of far older cases, David Paulides’ efforts to synthesize records apply to recent history. His work focuses on an analysis of case files acquired through the Freedom of Information Act. Subsequently, with his methodical compilation of data, he identifies trends.


One of the most startling of these is the mystery of 411 disappearance hotspots. Whether it’s the nature of the terrain or something else, there seem to be concentrations of disappearances in certain areas. There are a number of these cluster spots across the globe, however, one of the most prevalent and recurring seems to be the Yosemite National Park in California.

[RMNIXON]

I have heard about these 411 cases and some are downright Spooky!

[Peter1469]

I have heard about these 411 cases and some are downright Spooky!

David Paulides. He is an ex-cop. Good in interviews.

[DGUtley]

The Bermuda triangles of the wilderness?

[Peter1469]

The Bermuda triangles of the wilderness?

I think the (conspiracy) theories are different.

[donttread]

Ten Curious Cases of Getting Lost in the Wilderness

Historical accounts of disorientation tell us a lot about how people have navigated relationships and space over time.




Attachment 56752


People get lost all the time. Usually, these bouts of disorientation end happily enough. A hiker backtracks to find a missed trail marker, or a driver rolls down a window to ask a pedestrian for directions to a certain street or landmark. However, every so often, people get utterly lost, so lost that they scramble their brains along with their bearings. I call this extreme version of getting lost “nature shock,” the title of my 2020 book, and several years ago, I set out to find the terribly lost in American history.


Over five centuries, North Americans traveled from relational space, where people navigated by their relationships to one another, to individual space, where people understood their position on Earth by the coordinates provided by mass media, transportation grids and commercial networks. By meeting distressed individuals teetering on the edges of the worlds they knew, I learned how people constructed their worlds and how these constructions changed over time. And in so doing, I stumbled upon the twisted route Americans followed to reach a moment when blue dots pulsating on miniature screens tell them where to go.


The Trader - In 1540, Perico, a Native American guide in the involuntary service of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s invading army, met his limit. The boy was a nimble navigator, a skilled linguist and monger of gossip. Prior to being taken captive, enslaved and baptized by the Spaniards, Perico had traversed the Mississippian chiefdoms of the southeast, suppling wealthy clients with goods like oyster-shell jewelry and copper disks. He connected people and commodities across territories by extracting news of high-demand ceremonial items from strangers. On the outskirts of a thick forest 20 miles from Cotifachequi, a city rumored to possess gold in the uplands of today’s South Carolina, Perico’s network failed him. He ran out of people to ask for directions and “began to foam at the mouth and throw himself to the ground as if possessed by the Devil.” While his captors watched on, he came undone, an excruciating ordeal brought on by social dislocation as much as geographic confusion. Perico recovered enough to lead de Soto into a weeks-long ramble in the woods, but he remained shaky until the army accidentally stumbled upon some local residents with whom he could converse.








https://getpocket.com/explore/item/t...=pocket-newtab

Interesting stuff. We have places where you could wander for days and never see a person or even a real trail. My parents told stories of an Indian fella who would occassionally go into the woods with nothing but a knife and walk out a few weeks later as well as ever. But when you are out in the woods and not sure where you are , or more importantly , know the way out, a panic starts to want to rise up that must be squelched