Frontier Blockhouse

Most of us have seen John Wayne portray a calvary officer in a western movie. He is stationed at a frontier fort made of rough, log walls. Inside the wall, a raised platform (called a gallery) was used by troopers could to shoot and sometimes fire cannon at their attackers. But, if you look closely at an old fort, you'll often observe one or more heavily-built structures situated at strategic points along the walls. These are the blockhouses. They are typically two stories with the top floor wider than the bottom. Both levels might have window openings that were protected with heavy shutters. In the shutters, as well as the upper walls were narrow slits. These slits, dating back to Medieval castles, were originally used by bowmen to fire arrows. In the New World, the slits were used to protect riflemen. The slits were wide enough so that a rifleman, stationed inside the wall, could pivot his weapon and aim at anything in a rather wide arc. From the outside, the slit offered a narrow target to the attacker. The second floor of the blockhouse was the last bastion for the fort's defenders. It had a ladder that could be pulled up and a heavy trap door that could be slammed shut. Slits in the floor might be used to pour boiling water or shoot any attacker who dared approach the walls. Thus, the fort and blockhouse were important buildings in North America. Once inside, a small group of people might survive the attack of a far superior force.