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Flash back to the 1760's; a vivid account from Ben Franklin no less, concerning tbe construction of Frontier forts along the Delaware River about the time of Braddock's catastrophic defeat. At that battle the Recoats beng methodically picked off by a mostly Indian and most-likely rifle-armed force....

http://books.google.com/books?id=95...=0CCEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who had been driven from their plantations by the Indians, came to me requesting a supply of firearms, that they may go back and fetch off their cattle. I gave them each a gun with suitable ammunition.

We had not march'd many miles before it began to rain and it continued raining all day; there were no habitations on the road to shelter us, until we arriv'd near night at the house of a German, where, and in his barn, we all huddled together, as wet as water could make us.

It was well we were not attack'd on our March, for our arms were of the most ordinary sort, and our men could not keep their gun locks dry. The Indians are dextrous with contrivances for that purpose, which we had not. They met that day the eleven poor farmers above mentioned, and killed ten of them. The one who escaped inform'd that his and his companions' guns would not go off, the priming being wet with the rain.

..and from that same account a cool example of Native woodcraft, most likely Delawares...

We met with no Indians [while building a fort], but we found the places on the neighboring hills where they had lain to watch our proceedings. There was an art in the contrivance of those places, that seems worth mention.

It being winter, a fire was necessary for them; but a common fire on the surface of the ground would by its light have discovered their position from a distance. They had therefore dug holes in the ground about three feet in diameter, and somewhat deeper; we saw where they had dug with their hatchets cut off the charcoal from the sides of burnt logs lying in the woods.

With these coals they had made small fires in the bottom of the holes, and we observ'd among the weeds and grass tbe prints of their bodies, made by their laying all round, with their legs hanging down in the holes to keep their feet warm, which, with them, is an essential point.

This kind of fire, so managed, could not discover them, either by its light, flame, sparks, or even smoke: It appears that their number was not great, and it seems they saw we were too many to be attacked by them with propect of advantage.

Charcoal fires in pits, and dry feet. I will say that digging a three foot-deep hole in the rocky hilltops in that area seems like no mean feat, perhaps he meant the slope.

Birdwatcher