New France

Last year, I started http://www.oldquebechistory.com/ to share the history I’ve learned about Canada. Because my ancestors were among the few Europeans who settled New France (Quebec) prior to 1650, I've read many history books about how the settlers of New France lived, what they ate, how they traveled, what they accomplished. I learned that nearly half the population of Quebec immigrated to the USA between 1850 and 1900. Many settled in New England, especially manufacturing towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. But these were not the first French to settle in what is now the United States. "The Louisiana Purchase" was a vast land originally discovered by Father Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673 and claimed for France by La Salle when he explored the lower Mississippi River. French forts dotted the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara and Mackinaw long before English settlers had penetrated the Appalachian mountains. French men traveled by canoe as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Teton range near today’s Yellowstone Park. The Great Lakes, the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many rivers were the super highways of French Voyageurs. These men carried tons of trade goods, by canoe, into the wilderness. At times, they could paddle 70 miles per day. At other times, they were required to carry their birch bark canoe and up to 3 tons of cargo from one waterway to another. On their return trips, the voyageurs carried bundles of valuable skins from wild animals that flourished in the interior. The economy of New France depended on these skins arriving in Montreal and Quebec each year. The native peoples trapped, prepared and traded these skins for metal tools, kettles, needles, ribbons, blankets, beads, guns, gunpowder, lead shot and brandy. Shiploads of these animal skins were shipped from Quebec to France, each year, where most of them were processed into felt and fashioned into stylish, expensive hats.

Fort de la Caroline

St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest continuously inhabited European city in North America. This Spanish town was founded by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles in August of 1565. St Augustine is over 40 years older than the English colonies of Jamestown, Virginia (1607), Bermuda (1608) and Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620).
But Spain was not the first European country to attempt colonization in North America. A French expedition of a few ships was organized by Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and led by navigator Jean Ribault. This little fleet landed on the Florida coast in February, 1562. They erected a monument, claiming the territory for their king and sailed on to present-day Parris Island, South Carolina.
Here, Ribault erected a second monument establishing a northern border of a territory they named New France. Ribault’s men built a fort called Charlesfort, named for their king, Charles IX. Leaving twenty-eight men to defend the fort, Ribault and the remainder of his men sailed back to Europe for more supplies and settlers. However, Ribault was arrested and imprisoned in England where he languished for a year.
As the months went by, the French manning Charlesfort grew desperate. Their supplies were dwindling, forcing the French to rely on trade with the natives to obtain corn and other foods. The natives did not grow large surpluses of food and grew hostile when the French demanded the very food from their mouth.
After a year of no relief ships, the men of Charlesfort decided it was time to sail back to Europe. They built an open boat and shoved off. During their voyage, starvation and thirst reduced them to cannibalism before the survivors were finally rescued in English waters.
Meanwhile, René Goulaine de Laudonnière, Ribault's second-in-command on the 1562 expedition, commanded a fleet of ships carrying 200 new settlers back to Florida. Construction of a new settlement, Fort de la Caroline, atop St. Johns Bluff, on the St John's river was begun on June 22, 1564. For a year, the men and women of this new colony suffered from hunger, Indian attacks, and mutiny.
The colonist did not clear land to plant crops. They were promised that France would provide all the settlers, craftsmen, tools, food, livestock, arms and munitions the colony needed. The colonists only task was to search for sources of gold, silver and precious stones. These treasures must exist in Florida in great abundance as they did in the Spanish colonies of Peru and Mexico! Well, they did not!
Unfortunately, while the French settlers were searching for Florida gold, the Spanish court learned of Fort de la Caroline. Spain could not tolerate a foreign colony lying so close to the route of their annual Spanish treasure fleet. This threat must be eliminated!

Pea Soupers

Voyageur canoe passing a waterfall (Ontario), 1869, by Frances Anne Hopkins.

Frenchmen in the Old Northwest (lands around the Great Lakes) had little opportunity to prepare a hot meal. Yet, men portaging canoes and up to 3 tons of furs and merchandise as well as paddling their large birch-bark canoes from dawn to dusk needed at least one daily, nutritious meal. Here is an early recipe for a hot, satisfying stew that was enjoyed by the voyageurs.
"The tin kettle in which we cooked our food" a trader wrote, "held eight to ten gallons. At the end of a long day paddling our canoes, the cook hung our kettle over the fire, nearly full of water. Nine quarts of dried peas- one quart per man, our daily allowance - was added to the heated water. When the peas had all burst, two or three pounds of salt pork, cut into strips, where added for seasoning, and the kettle was allowed to simmer all night. At daybreak, the cook added four biscuits, broken up,to the mess and invited all hands to breakfast.
The swelling of the peas and biscuits filled the kettle to the brim and was so thick that a stick would stand upright in the stew. The hungry Voyageurs squatted in a circle around the kettle. Each man used his wooden spoon to ladle the hot meal from the kettle to his mouth, with lightning speed, and soon filled his belly."

Pea Souper, a nickname for French-Canadians, originated because of this daily breakfast repast.

Log Cabin Tool Shed

This photo is of the inside of a tool shed located at the home of Thomas Lincoln. Thomas Lincoln was the father of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the U.S.A. As you can see, a lot of cutting and shaping tools were needed to build and maintain an 1840s farm. See the big, two-man cross-cut saw with it's huge teeth. This saw was used to quickly tear through large logs. In the corner is a sickle used to cut hay and crops like wheat. There are also an assortment of axes and adzes and smaller finishing saws. I don't see any awls, augers, planes or chisels. . . these tools might have been stored elsewhere as they were more refined and required care in maintaining their razor-sharp edges. A carpenter might have dozens of planes, each with a different cutting profile that could be used to create grooves, rounded edges or smooth the surface of a board.

Little (Log) House on the Prairie

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Laura Ingalls Wilder is famous for her books about pioneer life. Her stories were the basis for the popular TV series, "Little House on the Prairie". Laura was born in 1867 in a log cabin near the village of Pepin, in Western Wisconsin. Today, the area is rolling hills, dotted with fields of maturing corn and grazing cattle. The Mississippi river, wedged between two high ridges, is a few miles away.

A replica of Laura's birth cabin was built outside Pepin. As you can see, the log walls are tightly fitted together. There is no chinking. The top side of each pine log is "cupped" along it's length with the bottom of the next log rounded to fit. I wonder how this skilled construction was possible in the days of hand tools?

The cabin was divided into three rooms. You can see the log ends of the dividing wall protruding through the outside wall. Above this wall was an loft. I suppose this space was used for sleeping and storage. A massive stone fireplace was used for warmth and cooking.

Kinmundy, IL

Kinmundy,IL is home to Ingram's Pioneer Log Cabin Village. Here, in a secluded forest, more than a dozen pre-Civil War cabins have been moved, carefuly restored and reassembled. Several also contain period furniture.

It is an interesting place because of its' authentic feel. The paths are dirt, the parking lot is a grassy field, the log cabins are rustic, small and seasoned by over a 150 years of Illinois weather. Yet, the former family homes are sound and cozy. I recommend visiting the place as a family outing. There is plenty of room to run and play.

It was in a cabin, much like this, that Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln and other pioneers lived and raised their families.

Fur Trading

At the top of Lake Michigan, on the shore of the Straits of Mackinac,stands a reconstruction of a fortified trading post from the New France era.In the 1600s and early 1700s,the French controlled the fur trade. This fort was built to protect their monopoly as well as offer safe refuge and supplies to Frenchmen living in the wilderness. In the winter months, many Native Americans hunted and trapped wild animals the Europeans prized for their furs. In the springtime, Native Americans might "Rendezvous" at the fort and other French settlements. A growing fleet of both Indian and French canoes would paddle through the Great Lakes and on to Montreal. In Montreal, the French residents would trade items the Indians wanted for their furs. Beaver and other furs might be traded for a quantity of a musket, powder and shot, blankets, cloth, mirrors, ax heads, knives, an iron kettle or a measure of brandy. When the Rendezvous ended, the Montreal traders shipped their bundles of furs to Quebec where ocean-going sailing ships transported the furs to France. Some furs might be used as a fur coat or collar. . . but most beaver furs were processed into felt and transformed into fashionable, expensive hats.