I think maybe that black on his face is from frostbite. Could be wrong tho.

We had one Smiling Charlie. He lived most of his life in the woods. The story I heard was he got picked on as a kid so he just bugged out. He lived under rock houses and caves on the mountain. I am sure he probably worked some logging or whatever but mostly no one saw him for years. One of dads friends run up him one time squirrel hunting and he asked him to sell him some shotgun shells. He said he would give him some but he wanted to pay and pulled out a faded 20 dollar bill that was almost white he had it so long. He give him all his shells and told him to kill him a deer but he said he would not they were his friends. When he got real old some of the relatives went and got him out of the woods and the local news did a story on him and he took them to one of his rock houses and he had spider webs rigged up so he could tell if anyone had been there and he had big piles of hickory nuts and walnut's piled up inside to eat on. A lot of Indians lived under rock house and that is just a big rock ledge that sticks out and often they would wall the front up with logs or brush. I have seen some on the creeks here that are big enough you could build a normal house under them. I think he died in the early 80's.

We had the Fort Fisher Hermit Robert Harrill.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Harrill

The Legend: Fort Fisher Hermit

https://www.ourstate.com/fort-fisher-hermit/

Where'd a hermit go to get a riding lawn mower? When I think of a hermit I don't really relate to a well groomed lawn.

I got to meet this old boy a few years back in Kansas. He ran a sheep operation and had a decent house. But he preferred to live in an old Van with a small wood stove to keep it warm. He didnt seem to find it odd in any way. Folks like to take pot shots at old vehicles at times in the Prairie country. Who would of thought someone lived in it. He at times kept a lamb or two with him to keep him company inside the van.

i have been known to stay in some "unreasonable to some" places while trapping over the years. Who am I to judge.

Thank you everyone for your posts. When I originally put that website up about 15 years ago, I could not find anyone who knew of a real hermit in the woods.

He was not frostbite, that was just dirt.

We kinda think he was a mental patient at one time, and received electric shock therapy, so some thought was the reason he stayed out there.

Dunno, he was a good guy, we use to take him pipe tobacco. Live to a long age also, Im guessing from low calories.

We had an in-town hermit of sorts. He lived in a wooded area near an interstate clover leaf in a blue tarp walled building. We called him 2 dogs, since he always had 2 dogs with him. In the dead of winter, he went bare footed. the climate here is not all that cold, but it does freeze for periods of time.

My brother had an album by Herman’s Hermits when I was a kid.

I've known three hermits in my lifetime, two in Mo. and one in Nv. All three were honorable men, just antisocial and independent.

I would get a pet volleyball for company...

Seriously though, interesting stuff. Keep em coming.

Mike

I thought it was Dugout Dick that was on the Snake river?

West Texas had the "Burro Lady" , or "La Reina" as she was often called. Below is a link to a story about her at her passing.

https://www.texasobserver.org/2461-the-mystery-everyone-loved/

I haven't seen another human in 8 days

Skunk - that is quite an extensive website. Near Steubenville is certainly not northeast Ohio.

Not odd at all.


Wow!

Are those deer or sheep skulls on the roof?

I heard stories there use to be one in Idaho somewhere along the snake river that lived in a cave.

You're thinking of Sylvan Hart aka Buckskin Bill....he was on the River of No Return..........in Idaho.

http://www.badgerbushcraft.com/blog/books/42-qthe-last-of-the-mountain-menq][/quote]

I thought it was Dugout Dick that was on the Snake river?
[/quote]

Nope. Sylvan Hart (Buckskin Bill) was on the Middle Salmon. Dugout Dick just died a couple years ago, and he was on the upper Salmon near the community of Elk Bend. Both were interesting characters, and not to take anything away from them, but they had way more daily contact with other humans than White17 gets in a year.

And I like it just that way ! Actually the state trooper stopped by for coffee about a month ago. Big doin's !!

Reminds me of that old Laurel & Hardy movie where the war has been over for many years, Stanley is still in the foxhole guarding. There's a huge pile of used ration cans. Those two were classics.