George W. Sears Nessmuk

George Washington Sears (1821–1890), known by his pen name Nessmuk, was an American writer, adventurer, and early conservationist who popularized ultralight canoe camping and backpacking through articles in Forest and Stream magazine.[1][2] Born in Massachusetts, he learned woodcraft from a Native American mentor of the Nipmuk or Narragansett tribe, worked as a whaler and cobbler, and settled in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania in 1848, where he decried industrial destruction of forests.[3][4][6] His 1884 book Woodcraft and Camping influenced outdoor recreation and environmentalism.[6][8]