Re: MtMan-List: direction?

["Kurt Westenbarger" <kwesten@wyellowstone.com>]

Interesting question.  Don't know about in a historic context but modern river
rats are
always facing downstream.  ie river right is your right hand side when facing
downstream.  It's kind of a general rule that prevents confusion in whitewater
situations.  Like having certain colored bouys on your right side when at sea
(which I didn't know.  I also didn't know the Army Corps faced upstream.). 
Again I don't know if this would apply to boatmen with keelboats or steam. 
Regardless of what the "rule" is it depends upon both partys in a conversation
knowing that rule.  If you read, hypothectically, "traveled the right side of
the river" in some Mtn man's journal we first might need to consider the
writer's backround.  Was he a sea-goer at one time, an engineer, a keal
boater, or strictly horse?  Gets confusing don't it?  When reading journals
perhaps it's best when encountering such a direction reference to read ahead
and find the destination or some other recognizable landmark before assuming
the writer is facing up or downstream.

Kurt

Rkleinx2@aol.com wrote:

> Please clarify this for me.
> When someone writes or says that something is on the right side of a river is
> he refering to looking up or downstream?
> Thanks.
>         Dick