Read Online The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert - Free Book Online
Authors: Elizabeth Gilbert
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gripped by a compulsion that they could not resist. No man
becomes a Man of Destiny unless he believes, with great conviction, that he has a unique contribution to make to the society
of his day. Conceit? No! Just a sense of mission and the courage to follow through. He who is compelled by an inner conviction that he has a mission which he must accomplish, that he was born for this purpose, that he must and will follow through; that man will be a Man of Destiny.”
The best way to groom such heroic figures was to start with the young, Chief believed, and in the wild. After all, he wrote,
“the real American boy has inherited too much of the pioneer spirit to feel at home in the city.” So he suggested that parents
remove their boys from the “emotional stress of life” and relocate them to “a Camp with a Purpose,” where the “grandeur of
the mountains,” combined with the guidance of counselors selected by the director for their “mature, wholesome, intelligent,
responsible leadership,” would help the boys grow, “as nature and God intended, into the full stature of manhood.”
Camp Sequoyah was no Hitler Youth Camp. Chief believed that no boy in America, no matter how weak or how flawed (or, incredibly,
given the era, no matter what race or religion), should be excluded from the opportunity to become a Man of Destiny through
attending Camp Sequoyah. Was your son a “regular healthy boy” already blessed with a “superb physique”? Why, he would naturally
return from Sequoyah “with his splendid powers multiplied.” Was your son “over-bright, sullen, and sometimes antagonistic?”
Don’t hesitate to enroll him in Sequoyah; the fresh air will teach him “the necessity of developing his body and keeping it
on par with his mind.”Was your son “timid, diffident, and slow to make friends?” Sequoyah would teach him to socialize. Was
your son a bully? Sequoyah’s counselors would teach him that picking on others was “cowardly and despicable.”Why, even if
your son was “big and fat and always being teased,” Camp Sequoyah was where he should go, if not to achieve a superb physique,
then at least to learn how to “take a joke and to make the best of being teased.”
Eustace Conway’s mother was Chief Johnson’s only daughter. (There’s a wonderful photograph of Sequoyah in the 1940s, with
the whole camp gathered in rows according to age. It’s all ramrod-straight men and earnest crewcut boys grinning at the camera,
with one exception— the little blond girl in a white dress seated at the center of the throng—Chief’s daughter, Eustace Conway’s
mother, age five.) Karen grew up at Camp Sequoyah, surrounded not only by woods and boys, but by ideals. She loved her father
and, more than either of her siblings, obediently accepted his dogma. When it came time for Karen to marry, she even chose
one of her father’s favorite counselors as a husband. She fell in love with the brilliant young Eustace Conway III, who, with
his strict personal discipline, physical grace, MIT degree, and keen love of the outdoors, must have seemed the incarnation
of Chief’s dearest principles.
And though her husband put aside his dreams of teaching the natural world when he entered corporate life, she never lost her belief in the woods. So when Karen Conway’s first son was born, there was no question as to how she would raise him. Free,
challenged, inspired to attempt heroic feats, and always outdoors. It was due to his mother’s hand that Eustace could throw
a knife accurately enough at the age of seven to nail a chipmunk to a tree. And kill a running squirrel at fifty feet with
a bow and arrow by the time he was ten. And set forth into the woods, alone and empty-handed, when he was twelve, to live
off the land and build his own shelter.
While Mr. Conway kept patiently explaining to young Eustace what a feeble idiot the boy was, Mrs. Conway went to the
becomes a Man of Destiny unless he believes, with great conviction, that he has a unique contribution to make to the society
of his day. Conceit? No! Just a sense of mission and the courage to follow through. He who is compelled by an inner conviction that he has a mission which he must accomplish, that he was born for this purpose, that he must and will follow through; that man will be a Man of Destiny.”
The best way to groom such heroic figures was to start with the young, Chief believed, and in the wild. After all, he wrote,
“the real American boy has inherited too much of the pioneer spirit to feel at home in the city.” So he suggested that parents
remove their boys from the “emotional stress of life” and relocate them to “a Camp with a Purpose,” where the “grandeur of
the mountains,” combined with the guidance of counselors selected by the director for their “mature, wholesome, intelligent,
responsible leadership,” would help the boys grow, “as nature and God intended, into the full stature of manhood.”
Camp Sequoyah was no Hitler Youth Camp. Chief believed that no boy in America, no matter how weak or how flawed (or, incredibly,
given the era, no matter what race or religion), should be excluded from the opportunity to become a Man of Destiny through
attending Camp Sequoyah. Was your son a “regular healthy boy” already blessed with a “superb physique”? Why, he would naturally
return from Sequoyah “with his splendid powers multiplied.” Was your son “over-bright, sullen, and sometimes antagonistic?”
Don’t hesitate to enroll him in Sequoyah; the fresh air will teach him “the necessity of developing his body and keeping it
on par with his mind.”Was your son “timid, diffident, and slow to make friends?” Sequoyah would teach him to socialize. Was
your son a bully? Sequoyah’s counselors would teach him that picking on others was “cowardly and despicable.”Why, even if
your son was “big and fat and always being teased,” Camp Sequoyah was where he should go, if not to achieve a superb physique,
then at least to learn how to “take a joke and to make the best of being teased.”
Eustace Conway’s mother was Chief Johnson’s only daughter. (There’s a wonderful photograph of Sequoyah in the 1940s, with
the whole camp gathered in rows according to age. It’s all ramrod-straight men and earnest crewcut boys grinning at the camera,
with one exception— the little blond girl in a white dress seated at the center of the throng—Chief’s daughter, Eustace Conway’s
mother, age five.) Karen grew up at Camp Sequoyah, surrounded not only by woods and boys, but by ideals. She loved her father
and, more than either of her siblings, obediently accepted his dogma. When it came time for Karen to marry, she even chose
one of her father’s favorite counselors as a husband. She fell in love with the brilliant young Eustace Conway III, who, with
his strict personal discipline, physical grace, MIT degree, and keen love of the outdoors, must have seemed the incarnation
of Chief’s dearest principles.
And though her husband put aside his dreams of teaching the natural world when he entered corporate life, she never lost her belief in the woods. So when Karen Conway’s first son was born, there was no question as to how she would raise him. Free,
challenged, inspired to attempt heroic feats, and always outdoors. It was due to his mother’s hand that Eustace could throw
a knife accurately enough at the age of seven to nail a chipmunk to a tree. And kill a running squirrel at fifty feet with
a bow and arrow by the time he was ten. And set forth into the woods, alone and empty-handed, when he was twelve, to live
off the land and build his own shelter.
While Mr. Conway kept patiently explaining to young Eustace what a feeble idiot the boy was, Mrs. Conway went to the
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