My Side of the Mountain

In September Sam notices various animals preparing for winter: Squirrels and chipmunks collect and store nuts, and birds gather together to migrate south. Sam sees his raccoon pal Jessie C. James getting fat and The Baron “changing his summer fur for his white winter mantle” (87). All of this change sends fear into Sam as he thinks about the long, lonely, and cold winter months ahead. Following in the footsteps of the forest animals, Sam begins his own preparations for winter. He works on making warmer clothes—fur underwear, fur-lined socks, and mittens—and then enacts a plan to build a fireplace and chimney made of clay to heat the inside of his tree.

Sam spends the next three days working on his fireplace and chimney. His biggest obstacle is figuring out a way to let smoke out of the tree so that he can still breathe. Eventually Sam finds a flat stone that he breaks into two pieces and uses to hold up his funnel system for releasing the smoke. While working on the fireplace, Sam panics as a now more grown Frightful flies away and does not return to the sound of his whistles. Sam tells the reader that although he is able to survive without Frightful, he’s grown very attached to the bird and can’t imagine being without her during the winter. Frightful does soon come back to Sam, having caught herself a bird, an act that demonstrates Frightful’s own growth and independence.

As winter approaches, Sam races to gather nuts and fruits, forced to compete against squirrels and other forest critters to collect these foods before they’re gone. Around this same time, Sam realizes that it is Halloween and decides to throw a party. He sets out piles of rabbit, fish, nuts, and fruit as an invitation to the animals that lived near his camp. Sam’s Halloween party starts peacefully, with animals eating these treats here and there; however, the party takes a turn for the worst once Sam goes to bed. In the middle of the night, Sam wakes up to the sound of animals screaming and running around his tree house, creating a mess. Wild animals not only invade Sam’s home, but also find his stored nuts for the winter and throw them everywhere. Sam spends the rest of his Halloween night trying to get rid of his guests, having learned a valuable lesson not to feed wild animals because they’re not all as friendly as The Baron or Jessie C. James.

On an early November morning, Sam awakens to the sound of a rifle shot. Much like in the summer, Sam decides it is in his best interest to remain bunkered in his tree house as hunters roam about. After a week of hiding out and wanting some exercise, Sam goes against his better judgment and starts walking toward the library to visit Miss Turner. Along the way, a shot from a hunter’s rifle whizzes by Sam and causes him to dart up into a tree to hide.

While hiding up in this tree, Sam decides to reenact his plan from the summer, when he would poach dead deer from the hunters. Sam waits and waits until the hunter is gone to go claim another deer in this fashion. Sam is happy to replenish his venison supply for winter as well as make a new jacket. He informs the reader that he would gain a few more deer using this method of stealing deer from hunters before winter officially arrived.

Later on in November, Sam feels an urge to trek into town. Wearing his normal deerskin clothing, Sam naturally draws a lot of unwanted attention and so quickly ducks into the town’s drugstore. Inside the drugstore a young boy about the same age as Sam approaches him, calling him “Daniel Boone” because of his outfit. The boy jokes with Sam, asking if he’s playing cowboys and Indians. After talking for a bit, Sam invites the boy to his home at the Gribley farm property. Sam refers to his new friend as “Mr. Jacket” based on the leather jacket he was wearing during their interaction. At the very end of the chapter, Sam realizes that he forgot to stockpile wood for the winter and needs to do so with the first snowstorm nearly upon him.