Cabin Kits of Miniature Log Cabins- Rustic Replicas

Frontier Fort

2012-01-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

We've all seen a western movie starring a young cavalry officer. His station is a frontier fort made of rough, log walls. Inside this wall of logs, a raised platform (called a gallery) was used by riflemen and cannon to defend the fort from attack. If you look closely at an old fort, you'll also notice one or more heavily-built structures situated at strategic points like the corners of the walls or over the main gate These structures, called blockhouses. are often two stories high with the top floor wider than the bottom. Both levels might have window openings that were protected by heavy shutters. Cut in the shutters, as well as the upper walls were narrow slits. These slits, dating back to Medieval castles, originally protected archers. In the American West, the slits were wide enough so that a rifleman, stationed inside the wall, could pivot his weapon and aim at anything in a wide arc. From the outside, the slit offered a very small target to the attacker. The top floor of the blockhouse was the last bastion for the forts' 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 attackers who dared breach the walls. Thus, the fort and blockhouse were important buildings in North America. Once inside, a small group of armed defenders might survive attack from a far superior force.

Hand-split Clapboard

2011-12-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

In the old days, wood siding was split from logs and attached with hand-made iron nails. I asked an enactor at the Plymouth Settlement why clapboards were used on these houses, but not on houses in the Jamestown Settlement? Both settlements dated to about the same time. Both settlements built timber frame houses with the walls filled in with waddle (branches woven together) and daub (a mixture of mud and organic materials added for strength).He told me that they didn't have a good source of lime in the Plymouth area. They had tried burning oyster shells but it was very labor intensive. The lime, when added to mud, would waterproof the mixture. Without lime, the mud walls were quickly eroded by rain. Also, as the Bay Colony is much colder than Virginia, an additional layer of clapboard better insulated the homes.

Rustic Log Cabin

2011-11-20T09:41:00.001-08:00

In pioneer days, when shelter was needed, it was common to build a rustic log cabin. A crew of lumbermen might need winter quarters in the area where they were cutting virgin timber. A miner or trapper, merchant or farmer had moved into a new territory and needed a safe, cozy shelter. With a minimum of tools and time, a log cabin home could be constructed. No nails were used in this structure. The log walls are interlocked and the thick roof shingles are held in place by a crude external framework of saplings. Often the floor was dirt. As there is no chimney visible on this rough structure, it might have been used for storage rather than "living space"? Over time, additional structures might be raised to be used as a stable, barn, chicken house, spring house, smoke house. As the community grew, the pioneer families might build a rustic log cabin church, school, grist mill or barn.

Two-Pen Dog Trot

2011-10-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

This log cabin miniature is based on a pre-Civil War log cabin home I visited several years ago. If you are a real estate agent you might list this dwelling as double cabins connected by a breezeway. The folks who built the original called this log cabin home a two-pen-dog trot. Let me explain. The pioneers called a room a pen. This cabin has two rooms . . or two pens. The open, roofed area between the cabins was called a dog trot. Likely, this area was taken over by the family dogs as they were protected from inclement weather and close to family members who fed, played and hunted with them. If you have a few dogs, you know how restless they can get! Thus, the antsy dogs trotting around in this sheltered space became part of the description.

La Salle and the Griffin, Part 2

2011-08-09T06:50:00.000-07:00

In 1678-79 La Salle, the famous French Explorer, financed the construction of the first sailing ship on the Great Lakes. The ship was built in the wilderness near Niagra Falls on the Niagara River. La Salle’s plan was to buy a ship-load of furs at deeply-discounted wilderness prices and sell them in Montreal at a huge profit.

In May 1679, the hull of the sailing ship was launched into the Niagara River. A party of Iroquois Indians who watched the launching were amazed that the Frenchmen could build, what the Iroquois thought was a floating fort, so quickly.

LaSalle named his ship Le Griffon (The Griffin), after a mystical creature with the body and legs of a lion and the beak and wings of an eagle. The ship carried a carved image of Le Griffon on her bow.

The Griffin was anchored in the Niagara River for several weeks while her masts and rigging were completed and supplies and gear loaded aboard. The ship carried small arms, powder, trade goods, merchandise, provisions and seven cannon for protection.

On August 7, 1679, Le Griffon was towed into Lake Erie. A hoped-for wind from the northeast arose. The 32 Frenchmen on board asked God to bless their venture as Le Griffon got underway.

For eons, the Native Americans could only hug the safety of the shore as they paddled their fragile Birch- bark canoes around the lakes. Le Griffon was the first craft to boldly cross the fresh-water seas called the Great Lakes.

Three days later, August 10th, Le Griffon reached the Detroit River, sailing between Grosse Isle and Bois Blanc island. The river was bordered on each side by vast prairies. In the distance were hills covered with vines, fruit trees, thickets and tall forest trees. Wild game abounded, including many species new to the crew. Soon the sails used to shade the deck of the Griffin, sagged with the carcasses of several deer killed by the crew. A variety of trees, suitable for building, covered the shore. Nut and fruit trees as well as wild vines, heavy with ripening grapes, grew in abundance.

The Griffon entered Lake Huron on August 23, crossed the Bay of Saginaw and was becalmed among the islands of Thunder Bay. Near Presque Isle on the 25th and 26th of August, the ship was battered by storms and rough seas.

On the 27th of August the ship rounded Point St. Ignace, and anchored in the bay of Michilimackinac. Here the crew found a settlement of Huron, Ottawa and a few Frenchmen.

The weary crew rejoiced as The Griffin anchored in this safe harbor. A salute was fired from the deck, and thrice answered by Huron firearms. The Franciscans celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Ottawa, thanking God for their safe arrival. La Salle attended the Mass, dressed in fine clothes, including a scarlet cloak bordered with gold lace. More than a hundred bark canoes, filled with curious Indians, swirled around the mighty ship.

The Griffin

2011-07-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

For over 100 years, New France dominated the fur trade. Frenchmen penetrated far into the North American wilderness to purchase furs from the Native Americans. The French traded for the furs with a variety of manufactured items such as iron cookware, cloth, mirrors, blankets, guns, brandy and knives which they carried with them.

All the trade goods and furs were transported in hundreds of birch-bark canoes. The fragile canoes were 35-40 feet in length and capable of carrying about two tons of cargo. Crews of men, known as voyageurs, paddled the canoes and carried their cargo and canoes over dry land when a “portage” was necessary.

A round trip voyage, which began and ended in Montreal, was long, dangerous, time-consuming and physically demanding. The fur trading companies needed to hire hundreds of young men from the fledgling colony of New France which often created a shortage of labor.

Hiring crews of young, strong men was not difficult. Paddling a canoe, discovering new lands, living with Native Americans, trading for furs and making good money was far more exciting than the drudgery of clearing new farmland and performing the never-ending chores of farming.

In 1678, Rene Robert Cavelier de la Salle, the famous French explorer, thought he had a better idea.

La Salle’s plan was to build the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. The ship, constructed on the Nigara River, could sail the Great Lakes, around the clock, in most kinds of weather and require just a few men to transport a large cargo.

Fill the ship with a cargo of trade goods and supplies. Deliver the supplies at Fort Michilimackinac. Use the trade goods to refill the ship with furs purchased cheaply around the Great Lakes.

Sail back to Lake Erie and transship the furs to Montreal where they could be sold at an huge profit.

In 1678, la Salle led a party of Frenchmen he had hired to a site on the Niagara River. Here, his men were ordered to build a sailing ship of about 45 tons burden. This large schooner would be the first sailing ship to ply the waters of the Great Lakes.

It took most of the winter of 1678-79 to construct the ship. La Salle was absent much of the time as he needed to resolve his private financial affairs. Building a large ship, especially in the wilderness, required the transportation of men, tools and many supplies. . . all of which had to be carried by canoes. The men would also build rough-hewn log cabins in which to live and work.

Midwest Exploration

2011-07-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

Part of the upper Midwest was once called the Northwest Territory. This vast area was home to many Amerind tribes. In 1673, the first European explorers (Marquette and Jolliet) explored the upper Mississippi River. Their voyage took them along the western shore of Lake Michigan, into Green Bay, down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi. They paddled the Mississippi River to the Arkansas River. Their return trip took them up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River, through the Chicago Portage, and the Chicago River and back into Lake Michigan. Later, La Salle continued the exploration of the Mississippi River to its' mouth and claimed a huge territory for France. In time, the French built forts throughout the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara, Pittsburgh, Mackinaw and down the Illinois River. This was at a time well before English settlers had passed through the Cumberland Gap to settle the Ohio Valley and Kentucky. French Voyageurs traveled as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Tetons near today's Yellowstone Park. The Great Lakes and the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other river systems were the French men's super highways. The wealth they gathered were the skins of wild animals, especially Beaver, 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 knives, tools, kettles, blankets, guns, gunpowder, brandy and many other trade goods. Tons of these animal skins were shipped to France most years where they were processed into felt and made into stylish hats.

New Orleans

2011-05-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

France claimed the Mississippi River because the upper regions were first explored by Father Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673. At that time, Europeans had this agreement that if my countryman sees it first, it is ours! A little later, the lower Mississippi was explored and claimed for France by La Salle.

Obviously, Native Americans had been fishing, traveling and living on the banks of the Mississippi River for eons.

The French wanted title to these lands (and rivers) for two important reasons. . . the first was to continue the expansion of their fur-trading monopoly. The movement of trade goods and furs was dependent on water routes. Second, New France was isolated for six months as the St. Lawrence river froze in November and did not become navigatable until late Spring. A warm water port near the mouth of the Mississippi river could provide year-round water access to the American heartland of the continent. That was the plan!
Long before the American Revolution, French forts dotted the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara and Mackinaw to protect the French fur-trading monopoly from encroachment.

French voyageurs traveled by canoe as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Teton range near today’s Yellowstone National Park. The Great Lakes, the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other rivers became the super highways of the French. Voyageurs paddled 35 foot Birchbark canoes, filled with almost 2 tons of trade goods, into the wilderness. At times, they might paddle 70 miles or more in a day. At other times, they carried (portaged) their large canoes and cargo from one waterway to another.

Their destinations were log cabin trading posts and Native American villages scattered throughout the wilderness. The native peoples trapped and prepared wild animal skins which they traded for a variety of French manufactured merchandise.

On their return trips, the voyageurs carried dozens of 80 lb. bundles of valuable furs back to Montreal. The economy of New France depended on these skins arriving each year. Shiploads of furs were shipped from Quebec to France, each year, where most of them were processed into felt and fashioned into stylish, very expensive hats.

As for the French warm-water port at the mouth of the Mississippi River? It is called New Orleans and still has a Canadian (Cajun) flair.

Indiana Trading Post

2011-04-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

For nearly two centuries, felt hats and fur coats were high fashion in Europe. The felt was made from animal hair. . . the best quality felt made from Beaver. The trapping of Beaver in Europe was so intense that the species was nearly extinct. The first French explorers found a rich, new source of Beaver and other animal fur bearing animals in New France. Soon, French voyageurs from eastern

Canada

(New France) were traveling far and wide in search of the valuable skins. The French didn’t trap and prepare the furs; their American Indian allies did. A quantity of skins would be exchanged for an iron pot, metal hatchets, a gun and gunpowder, scissors, knives, cloth, needles and other items. This log cabin was built by Joseph Bailly in northwest Indiana in the 1820’s. Pottawatomie Indians brought furs to Bailly’s store each spring to trade for merchandise. Bailly would pack the furs he bought into 60 lb. bundles and ship them (by boat) to Mackinac, at the top of Lake Michigan. At Mackinac, Bailly’s furs, along with furs from many other traders, were shipped (again by boat) to Montreal and on to Quebec. In Quebec, the furs were loaded onto large sailing ships and carried to Europe. In Europe, the hair was removed from the skin, processed into felt and fashioned into men’s and women’s hats. By 1830, the fur trading business had ended as over trapping nearly depleted the Beaver in North America and the felt hat was no longer in fashion.

Too much lobster

2011-03-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

The first Europeans to colonize North America believed the abundance of gold and jewels found in Mexico and Peru also existed in northern lands. Finding these riches was priority one! Gentlemen adventurers clamored aboard wooden ships, driven by gold fever. They were sure they would find fabulous wealth in the New World! Instead, most became victims of starvation, disease and violence.

The Europeans carried a limited supply of food. They were promised regular resupply by ship. This rarely happened.

You would think after the first colonists build log cabins and a stockade wall they would focus on growing food as well as learning to hunt, fish and gather foods in this new land.

Instead, the Europeans exploited the local natives. When supplies ran low, the colonists traded metal tools and trinkets for the small amounts of surplus food the Native Americans grew and gathered. Soon this food was consumed. The colonists then demanded and ultimately confiscating (by force) all the food of the Amerinds. As the colonists were armed with guns and cannon, they usually won the day. However, the friendship and cooperation of the knowledgeable neighbors was lost.

Many American Indian tribes practiced slash and burn farming. They cleared a piece of land and burned the brush and trees. Burning released nutrients that fertilized the soil. Next, they planted corn, squash and bean seeds together in many small hillocks. As the plants grew, the corn stalk supported the bean vine while the squash vine covered the ground and discouraged weeds. Many Native Americans also exploited an abundance of salt and fresh water resources as well as woodlands and plains.

As an example, in the early years of European colonization, lobster was abundant in shallow waters. It has been said that a ships’ boy could catch 40 to 50 lbs. of lobster in an hour or two.

A little later in history, New England farmers used lobsters to fertilize their fields.

In fact, lobster was so cheap and plentiful that indentured servants often insisted upon a stipulation in their employment contract that they not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week!

Oysters, clams, scallops, crabs, cod and many other varieties of fresh and salt water fish, whales and eels filled the coastal waters, bays, lakes and rivers of North America. Even the Maple tree produced sap which was boiled into sweet syrup or sugar!

The St Lawrence river was filled with such an abundance of migrating eels each year that it was nicknamed the "Manna of New France".Wild grapes and various berries grew in the northern climes.

Among the wild game a hunter could harvest were bear, deer, woodland bison, buffalo, elk, moose, turkey, assorted water fowl and many other critters that roamed the continent’s various ecosystems.

Over time, the colonists tamed the wilderness, cleared and planted the land, harvested the rivers, lakes and seas and found fabulous wealth. Some New World plants and animals (like corn, potatoes and turkey) were introduced to Europe and other Old World areas. In return, the Spanish introduced orange trees in St Augustine, Florida as well as horses, beef cattle and pigs. Some of these animals escaped and populated the South, Southwest and the Great Plains. Feral pigs, a big nuisance today in many U.S. states, were introduced by De Soto and other Spanish explorers.

The invasion of new species continues to this day with the Zebra Mussel. It hitch a ride across the Atlantic on freighters, traveled the St Lawrence Seaway, and has found a new home in the Great Lakes.

Huron Home

2011-03-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

This is a reconstruction of a Huron dwelling of the 17th century. It stands in St Ignace, at the top of Lake Michigan. A French mission was built in the 1670s. Here, the Jesuit missionary, Father Jacques Marquette preached to the Huron people. Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet led a small group of voyageurs that discovered and explored the upper Mississippi in 1673 . In 1675, Marquette died and was buried on the shore of Lake Michigan, Two years later, his bones were retrieved and taken to St. Ignace for reburial. Several Huron families called this structure "home". It is built of logs and branches of various lengths and sizes. The skin is tree bark. Holes in the roof allowed smoke to escape from several small fires that were used to cook family meals and for warmth. A long wooden bench runs the entire length of the structure on each side. Here, people slept and stored their belongings. There was very little privacy in this building. But,from what I have read, our sense of privacy is a rather modern concept. It appears this home was quick to build as there were plenty of hands helping gather the needed materials. The tools originally used were flint axes and knives.

Rustic Log Cabin

2011-02-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

In the past, when shelter was needed, it was common to build a rustic log cabin. A crew of lumbermen might need to build winter quarters close to an area where they were cutting old growth timber. Perhaps a miner or trapper, merchant or farmer had moved into a new area and needed more substantial shelter than a canvas tent or a lean-to of branches. With a minimum of tools and time, a log cabin home could be built. No nails were used in this structure. The log walls are interlocked and the thick roof shingles are held in place by a rough external frame. Often the floor was dirt. As there is no chimney visible on this rough structure, perhaps it was used for storage rather than "living space"? Over time, additional structures might be raised to be used as a stable, barn, chicken house, spring house, smoke house. The community might even work together to raise a rustic log cabin church.

Log Cabin Inn

2011-02-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

This old inn reminds me of log cabins I've seen in Virginia, Missouri and other parts of the country. Originally, this log cabin inn had a large, public room on the main floor and two bedrooms upstairs. As this inn was built in southern Illinois, it might have had a guest named Abraham Lincoln from time to time. Prior to becoming president of the United States, Lincoln served as a circuit court judge and was required to travel from town to town.

In the past, frontier inns had one large, second-floor bedroom which was exclusively for women. The room was reached by an enclosed staircase inside the inn. A second upstairs bedroom, was exclusively used by the men. It was reached by another separate staircase.

There was no access from one bedroom to the other. There were no accomodations for married couples.

Complete strangers slept together, sometimes several crammed into a bed. There was no inside plumbing. Instead, there was an outhouse or two. Inside (usually stored under the bed) was a chamber pot. Water for drinking and washing was drawn from a well. A pitcher of water was placed, along with a basin, on a table in each bedroom. A guest could pour a little water in the bowl to wash their hands, face and more using a chunk of home-made lye soap and a wash cloth. Cologne or perfume was lavishly used by some travelers, as little extra clothing could be carried in their saddlebags, or trunk.

As rough and rugged as this inn appears to us today, it offered a welcome respite to people who might have been sleeping on the ground for days, cooking over campfires, freezing in winter or being eaten alive by bugs in summer.

Here, one could buy a hot meal for a penny or two, enjoy a drink, catch up on the news and sleep in a soft bed.

Fort de la Caroline

2011-01-29T14:29:00.000-08:00

But Spain was not the first European power 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, claimed 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 crew returned to Europe for additional 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 food. The natives did not grow large surpluses of food and grew angry when the hungry Frenchmen demanded the very food from their mouths. After a year of no relief ships, the desperate men of Charlesfort decided 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 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 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 would not tolerate a foreign colony lying so close to the route of their annual Spanish treasure fleet. The Spanish sent a fleet of ships to destroy Fort de la Caroline and execute most of its' inhabitants. Once this was accomplished, the Spanish founded a town nearby and named it St Augustine!

The Voyageur

2011-01-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

Animal furs were a valuable product of North America in the 17th century. The economy of New France (Quebec Province, Canada today) depended on the yearly collection and export of furs to France. You’d think the furs would be valued as a source of leather or a luxury item when fashioned into beautiful fur coats, stoles and gloves. Instead, it was the undercoat of the Beaver hair that was most prized as it was removed and processed into very fine, waterproof felt. This felt was fashioned into waterproof hats that were a stylish and very expensive accessory for well-dressed European gentlemen and ladys.

In North America, crews of French, French-Canadians and American Indians paddled 30’ birch-bark canoes, filled with up to three tons of supplies, into the back country. Thier job was to restock a chain of fortified trading posts the French had built throughout the Great Lakes and along major rivers. These posts secured the French fur-trade region.

The canoe men were called “voyageurs”, which means “travelers”. Their strength and endurance is legendary. They worked up to 14 hours a day, paddling 55 strokes per minute as they sang lively songs. Some days they could move their canoes up to 100 miles. When they could go no further by water, they portaged (carried) their canoes and supplies over dry land that separated the lakes and rivers they traveled. Few voyagers could swim. Many drowned in wild, white-water rapids or in sudden violent rain squalls as they were crossing the Great Lakes. It has been said that their huge Birch Bark canoes were so fragile that one large wave would snap them in half. Hence, if the weather was threatening, the voyageurs would wait ashore.

A bundle of furs weighed about 90 lbs. Bundles of trade goods were packed to weigh the same. A routine portage meant each voyageur must carry 2 bundles (180 pounds) at a time, across rugged, sometimes muddy trails. Every ½ mile or so the men set down their bundles and ran back for 2 more.

There were two categories of voyageurs: the pork eaters (mangeurs de lard)) and the winterers (hivernants).The men who paddled from Montreal to the rendezvous at Grand Portage and returned to civilization lived on a diet of salt pork. . . so were called pork eaters. Some men transported merchandise deeper into the wilderness, remained at a winter outpost and lived “off the land”. These men were called “winterers”. Winterers traded for furs in native villages and in the spring transported the furs to a rendezvous post.The furs were transported from these rendezvous posts to Montreal and Quebec where they were shipped to France

Thomas Lincoln Log Cabin

2010-12-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

Near Champaign Illinois, off I-57, are the small towns of Arcola, Arthur, Mattoon, and Charleston. Outside Charleston is the historical site of the Lincoln Log Cabin, operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. On this land, Thomas Lincoln, the father of President Abraham Lincoln, spent his later life as a farmer. His two-pen (two room) home has been reconstructed along with several farm buildings and stocked with the tools, the livestock and the people needed to run a typical 1840s farm. Next door to Thomas Lincoln, another working farm is also exhibited. It belonged to Steven Sargent, who used more-progressive farming techniques. The photo is of the Thomas Lincoln cabin. It was built on the site of the original cabin in 1935. The two whitewashed rooms are small and cozy with low ceilings and wood floors (considered a luxury in pioneer times). Two hearths (one in each room) share a common chimney built in the middle of the log cabin home.

Jamestown Settlement

2010-11-24T06:43:00.000-08:00

In May, 1607, three small ships anchored by a small wooded island in the James river. The settlers aboard the vessels disembarked and began constructing the first permanent English Settlement in North America. Until 1994, it was believed that the site of the original fort had been swept away by the river. Then, the site was found. In the year since, excavation of the site has been conducted and hundreds of artifacts found.

I find this photograph interesting. It shows how a wall (in this case the wall of a fort) was constructed without nails. A shallow trench was dug and the bottom edge of the logs making up the palisade walls, were buried. The soil was firmly tapped down to anchor the logs in place. The top of the walls was secured by attaching planks to the logs using wooden pegs. . . dozens of them. . that were driven into holes drilled through the plank and into the log.
This same wooden pin technique was used, centuries later, in the construction of log cabin homes.

Log Cabin Blockhouse

2010-10-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

We've all seen a western movie with the star, a young cavalry officer, stationed at a frontier fort made of rough, log walls. Inside this wall of logs, a raised platform (called a gallery) was used by riflemen and cannon to defend the fort from attack. If you look closely at an old fort, you'll also notice one or more heavily-built structures situated at strategic points like the corners of the walls or over the main gate These structures, called blockhouses. are often two stories high with the top floor wider than the bottom. Both levels might have window openings that were protected by heavy shutters. Cut in the shutters, as well as the upper walls were narrow slits. These slits, dating back to Medieval castles, originally protected archers. In the American West, the slits were wide enough so that a rifleman, stationed inside the wall, could pivot his weapon and aim at anything in a wide arc. From the outside, the slit offered a very small target to the attacker. The top floor of the blockhouse was the last bastion for the forts' 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 attackers who dared breach the walls. Thus, the fort and blockhouse were important buildings in North America. Once inside, a small group of armed defenders might survive attack from a far superior force.

Feast of the Hunter's Moon

2010-10-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hoping last weekend’s Lake Michigan storms wouldn’t spread to West Lafayette, IN, Mary and I drove to the town’s Feast of the Hunter’s Moon. This annual and extremely popular event is 44 years old! Commemorating 18th century French Rendezvous, the “feast” gives enactors the opportunity to dress and live as 18th century French voyageurs and colonials, as well as members of various American, British and Scottish military units, and Indians from several Native American tribes.

Groups staked out their designated ground and pitched tents or lean-to’s and dug fire pits to cook meals and keep warm. Most slept there overnight. Many small tents welcomed visitors to peruse “18th century wares” the merchants might have sold or traded.

Hoards of folks visited this large “tent city” to see the enactors and sample 18th century fare, like buffalo (burgers) and roasted corn, followed by a cold bottle of home-made root beer. Vendors sold toy bows, swords, spears, and handcrafted skinning knives. Plush furs, jewelry, and racks of hand-sewn period clothing caught the attention of many as well.

Visitors enjoyed 18th century music performed at the open air venues. Here you might listen to a quintet of French Voyageurs singing a lively tune; over there you could linger and enjoy an octet of folks playing Dulcimers. Further down the hill a large group of British Soldiers played a number of drum and fife tunes.

The audience and enactors, a cross-section of middle-America, clearly enjoyed celebrating their heritage. And more than a few learned a bit about our American history. As for Mary and me . . . we plan to return in 2011!

Log Cabin Tools

2010-09-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken inside a tool shed 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 a log cabin home, barn and other structures and maintain an 1840s farm. See the big, two-man cross-cut saw with it's massive teeth? This saw was used to quickly tear through large logs. In the corner is a sickle used to cut hay and grain crops like wheat, oats and bran. 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.

Native American Home

2010-09-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

This dwelling, the Native American tepee, appears to be cool and spacious. It was erected quickly from plentiful natural materials. The frame is long, slender saplings. The skin is large, overlapping pieces of tree bark. The bark is held in place by lashing additional saplings to the framework. The doorway is large. . . allowing good air circulation. The structure is waterproof and most of it is portable.To me, the teepee was a practical, high-tech invention of the seventeenth century. This particular tepee was erected at St Ignace in the upper peninsula of Michigan. In contrast, the early European settlers built small structures constructed of massive amounts of timber-framed logs, stone, mud and brick. Their log cabin homes were built to last for many years rather than a few seasons.

Fort St Louis

2010-08-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Starved Rock State Park is located, one mile south of Utica, Illinois along the Illinois River. Here, at the end of the last Ice Age, glacial melt cut through soft, sandstone bluffs, carving over a dozen deep, narrow canyons.

In May of 1673, Louis Jolliet, Father Marquette, and five French voyageurs in two canoes, were the first Europeans to travel through the Starved Rock area. They were returning to St. Ignace (located on the upper peninsula of Michigan) from an exploration of the upper Mississippi River.

Father Marquette returned to the area in 1675 to establish a Mission in the large Kaskaskia Indian village located across the Illinois River from Starved Rock.

In time, New France claimed the entire Mississippi Valley and all of the Great Lakes. To defend their claim, the French built a chain of rough-hewn forts throughout the Great Lakes and along important river routes. As the Illinois River was the quickest route from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, a southern defense, named Fort St. Louis, was contructed atop Starved Rock in the winter of 1682-83. The new fort commanded a strategic position high above the last rapids on the Illinois River.

In February 1684, 500 Iroquois warriors attacked the new log fort. Command of the fort was shared by explorer Henri Tonti and French army officer, Chevalier Baugy. Their command consisted of a tiny army of twenty-two French soldiers, traders, trappers and craftsmen along with twenty-four Shawnee, Miami and Loup warriors and their families.

Perched high above the river, Fort St Louis could not be taken by direct attack. The Iroquois tried, several times, and failed. The Iroquois warriors had no other choice but surround and starve the people in the fort. The French were short of food and gunpowder. . . but so were the Iroquois who had just traveled from their homelands east of Lake Erie . . . on foot! The food supplies and equipment they carried were minimized to gain speed. Now their supplies were gone and the Iroquois were forced to rely on local food sources. As you can imagine, 500 hungry men could quickly deplete local food sources. For eight days the Iroquois attackers hung on, sniping, probing the forts’ defenses, torturing a few captives. As the days passed, it became obvious to the Iroquois that they had no choice but to return home.

By the early 1700s, the French had abandoned Fort St Louis and moved to what is now called Peoria, where they built Fort Pimitoui. Over the next twenty years, the remains of Fort St. Louis, now a haven for trappers and traders, slowly disappeared.

The diorama pictured was researched and built by the History/Social Science Department and students of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois. This reconstruction is based on descriptions of the fort by LaSalle, Henri Joutel, property deeds, business and French army documents. These sources describe the fort of 1684 as upright logs and earthworks of about 600 feet in circumference which protected housing for up to fifty men, contained seven bastions, a storehouse, forge, officers’ quarters, a chapel and at least three traders’ log cabins.

Ozaukee County Pioneer Village

2010-08-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we visited a Pioneer Village, about thirty miles north of Milwaukee. The weather was great and the log cabin homes , various shops, a school and a barn are well maintained and open to the public. Most of the buildings are also furnished.

One small building of interest is common in the rural areas around Quebec Province, Canada. It is a small chapel, built in the 1840s and dedicated to St. Apollinaris. I learned, St Apollinaris was one of the first bishops and a martyr of the early Catholic church.

Generally, in Canada, two of these chapels were built along a main road, flanking the local parish church. Perhaps German communities shared this tradition with the French?

La Salle and Le Griffon - Part 3

2010-07-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Image of Le Griffon from an old wood block

In 1678, while The Griffon project was being executed, La Salle had sent about a dozen men and merchandise to Michilimackinac to begin trading with the Illinois Indians. This advance party of Frenchmen, eventually convinced themselves that La Salle would never successfully build a large sailing ship in the wilderness and sail it on the Great Lakes. Hence, they chose to serve their own self-interests rather than carry out La Salle’s orders.

At Michilimackinac, a handful of these mutinous men, as well as what was rightfully La Salle’s trade goods and furs, were seized. A posse, lead by La Salle's second in command, Tonty, was sent to Sault Ste. Marie to arrest a few more deserters and recover more of La Salle’s property.

As the summer season was nearly over, La Salle ordered is men to raise anchor. The Griffon set sail for the straits and into Lake Michigan (then called Lake Illinois) on September 12. A fair wind propelled the ship to Washington island, situated at the entrance to La Grand Baie, now called Green Bay, about forty leagues from Michilimackinac. Washington Island was inhabited by Pottawatomie.

Some of the party La Salle had sent to Lake Illinois, the previous year, were found here. They had followed the instructions of their employer and traded merchandise for nearly twelve thousand pounds of furs, in anticipation of the arrival of the Griffon. The ship anchored in a small bay, known now as Detroit Harbor, on the south side of the island, and weathered a violent storm that lasted four days.

Winter was not far away. La Salle’s crew packed the Griffon with the furs and were ordered to sail back to the Niagara River and store the furs at a log cabin warehouse that had been built above Niagara Falls. From here, the men would transship the furs to Fort Frontenac where they would be used to settle La Salle’s debts.

La Salle did not accompany his crew aboard the Griffon. Instead, he planned to travel by canoe south to the head of Lake Michigan and on to the land of the Illinois.

La Salle could only trade for four canoes. Hence, much of the merchandise and supplies he planned to take with him on his southern exploration was left on the Griffon with instructions to drop it off at Michillimackinac and then proceed to the Niagara River.

On September 18, the crew prepared to sail. A west wind slowly propelled the Griffon from her safe harbor. A single cannon thundered as she bade “farewell” to La Salle and his small party of French explorers.

The Griffon, under the command of the pilot, Luc and assisted by a crew of five experienced sailors, carried a fabulous cargo of great value.

Nothing more was heard or seen of her. . . until recently!

La Salle and the Griffin, Part 2

2010-07-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

In 1678-79 La Salle, the famous French Explorer, financed the construction of the first sailing ship on the Great Lakes. The ship was built in the wilderness near on the Niagara River. La Salle’s plan was to buy a ship-load of furs at deeply-discounted wilderness prices and sell them in Montreal at a huge profit.

In May 1679, the massive hull of the sailing ship was launched, sliding easily off her stocks into the Niagara River. A party of Iroquois Indians who witnessed the launching were shocked that the Frenchmen could build what the Iroquois thought was a large, floating fort in so short a time.
LaSalle named his ship Le Griffon (The Griffin), after a mystical creature with the body and legs of a lion and the beak and wings of an eagle. The ship carried a carved image of Le Griffon on her bow.

The Griffin was anchored in the Niagara River for several weeks while her masts and rigging were completed and supplies and gear carried aboard. The ship was loaded with all necessary arms, merchandise and provisions, including seven cannon.

On August 7, 1679, Le Griffon was towed into Lake Erie. A wished-for wind from the northeast arose. The 32 Frenchmen on board asked God to bless their venture as Le Griffon got underway.

For eons, the Native Americans could only hug the safety of the shore as they paddled their fragile canoes around the lakes. Le Griffon was the first craft to boldly cross the fresh-water seas called the Great Lakes.

Three days later, August 10th, Le Griffon reached the Detroit River, sailing between Grosse Isle and Bois Blanc island. The river was bordered on each side by vast prairies. In the distance were hills covered with vines, fruit trees, thickets and tall forest trees. Wild game abounded, including many species new to the crew. Soon the sails used to shade the deck of the Griffin, sagged with the carcasses of several deer killed by the crew. A variety of trees suitable for building covered the shore. Nut and fruit trees as well as wild vines, heavy with ripening grapes, grew in abundance.

The Griffon entered Lake Huron on August 23, crossed the Bay of Saginaw and was becalmed among the islands of Thunder Bay. Near Presque Isle on the 25th and 26th of August, the ship was battered by storms and rough seas.

On the 27th of August the ship rounded Point St. Ignace, and anchored in the bay of Michilimackinac. Here the crew found a settlement of Huron, Ottawa and a few Frenchmen.

The weary crew rejoiced as The Griffin anchored in this safe harbor. A salute was fired from the deck, and thrice answered by Huron firearms. The Franciscans celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Ottawa, thanking God for their safe arrival. La Salle attended the Mass, dressed in fine clothes, including a scarlet cloak bordered with gold lace. More than a hundred bark canoes, filled with curious Indians, swirled around the mighty ship.

The first sailing ship on the Great Lakes - Part 1

2010-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Old wood cut of the Griffon

For most of its history, New France controlled the lucrative fur trade. Frenchmen penetrated far into the North American wilderness to purchase luxurious furs from the Native Americans. The French purchased the furs with a variety of manufactured items such as iron pots, cloth, mirrors, blankets, guns, brandy and knives that they carried with them.

All the manufactured items and furs were transported in hundreds of birch-bark canoes. The fragile canoes were 35-40 feet in length and capable of carrying about two tons of cargo. Crews of men, known as voyageurs, paddled the canoes and, when necessary, carried the cargo and canoes over dry land when a “portage” was necessary.

A round trip voyage, which began and ended in Montreal, was long, dangerous, time-consuming and physically demanding. The fur trade needed to hire hundreds of young men from the fledgling colony of New France which often created a shortage of labor.

Hiring crews of young, strong men was not difficult. Paddling a canoe, discovering new lands, living with Native Americans, trading for furs and making good money was far more exciting than the drudgery of clearing new farmland and performing the never-ending chores of farming.

In 1678, Rene Robert Cavelier de la Salle, the famous French explorer, thought he had a better idea.

La Salle’s business plan might have read like this:

1. Build a large ship to sail the Great Lakes. A sailing ship can travel round the clock in all weather and requires few men to transport a very large cargo.

2. Fill the ship with trade goods. Use the trade goods to purchase large quantities of prime furs cheaply in the wilderness.

3. Sail back to Lake Erie and transship the furs on to Montreal where they can be sold at an huge profit.

In 1678, la Salle led a party of Frenchmen he had hired to a site about six miles above Niagara Falls on the Niagara River. Here, his men were ordered to build a sailing ship of about 45 tons burden. This large schooner would be the first sailing ship to ply the waters of the Great Lakes.

It took most of the winter of 1678-79 to construct the ship. La Salle was absent much of the time as he needed to resolve his private financial affairs. Building a large ship, especially in the wilderness, required the transportation of men, tools and many supplies. . . all of which had to be carried in by canoes. The men would also have built rough-hewn log cabins in which to live and work.

La Salle had borrowed all the money he could to finance his fur trading endeavor and was now overextended. In his absence, he had his second-in-command, Tonty, supervise the ship’s construction.

Louisiana Purchase

2010-07-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

You probably know about "The Louisiana Purchase" made during Thomas Jefferson's presidency. The Purchase was vast, consisting of all the lands drained by all the rivers that flowed into the Mississippi river. France originally claimed the Mississippi River because the upper regions were explored by Father Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673. At that time, Europeans had this belief that if my countryman saw it first, it was mine. The lower Mississippi was explored and claimed for France by La Salle a little later.

Obviously, the Native Americans had been fishing, traveling and living on the banks of the Mississippi River for eons.

Anyway, prior to the American Revolution, French forts dotted the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara and Mackinaw to protect the the French fur-trading monopoly.

French voyageurs traveled by canoe as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Teton range near today’s Yellowstone National Park. The Great Lakes, the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other rivers became the super highways of the French. Frenchmen paddled 35 foot canoes with almost 2 tons of trade goods into the wilderness. At times, they were able to paddle 70 miles in a day. At other times, they carried (portaged) their large, birch bark canoe and its' cargo from one waterway to another. Their destinations were log cabin trading posts and Native American villages scattered throughout the wilderness. The native peoples trapped and prepared plush wild animal skins which they traded for a variety of French manufactured merchandise.

On their return trips, the voyageurs carried dozens of 80 lb. bundles of valuable furs back to Montreal. The economy of New France depended on these skins arriving each year. Shiploads of furs were shipped from Quebec to France, each year, where most of them were processed into felt and fashioned into stylish, very expensive hats.

Kinmundy, Illinois

2010-07-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

The small town of Kinmundy, in southern Illinois, 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 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 antique 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 log cabin home, much like this, that Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln and other pioneers lived and raised their families.

Two Pen Log Cabin

2010-07-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

This log cabin model is based on a pre-Civil War log cabin home I toured several years ago. If you are a real estate agent you might list this dwelling as double cabins connected by a breezeway. The folks who built the original called this log cabin home a two-pen-dog trot. Let me explain. The pioneers called a room a pen. This cabin has two rooms . . or two pens. The open, roofed area between the cabins was called a dog trot. Likely, this area was taken over by the family dogs as they were protected from inclement weather and close to family members who fed, played and hunted with them. If you have a few dogs, you know how restless they can get! Thus, the antsy dogs trotting around became the name for this sheltered space.

Pea Soupers

2010-06-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

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

Frenchmen in the Old Northwest country around the Great Lakes) had little opportunity to prepare a hot meal. Yet, men paddling very large birch-bark canoes with up to 3 tons of furs or merchandise from dawn to dusk needed at least one nutritious meal daily. 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 pot 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.

Old Northwest Trading Post

2010-06-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

For nearly two centuries, felt hats and fur coats were high fashion in Europe. The felt was made from animal hair. . . with the best quality felt made from Beaver. The trapping of Beaver in Europe was so intense that the animal was nearly extinct. A rich, new source of Beaver and other animal furs was exploited by French voyageurs from eastern Canada (New France) who traveled far and wide in search of the valuable skins. The French didn’t trap and prepare the furs; the American Indians did. A quantity of preserved skins could be exchanged for an iron pot, metal hatchets, a gun and gunpowder, scissors, knives, cloth, needles and other items.This log cabin was built by Joseph Bailly in northwest Indiana in the 1820’s. Pottawatomie Indians brought furs to Bailly’s store each spring to trade for merchandise. Bailly would pack the furs he bought into 60 lb. bundles and ship them (by boat) to Mackinac For almost two centuries, felt hats were the fashion in Europe. The felt was made from animal hair. . . with the best quality felt made from Beaver.The French from eastern Canada (Quebec Province) ranged far and wide in pursuit of animal skins. The French didn’t actually trap and prepare the skins, the American Indians did and traded the preserved skins for iron pots, metal hatchets, guns and gunpowder, scissors, knives, cloth, needles and other items.This log cabin was built by Joseph Bailly in northwest Indiana in the 1820’s. Pottawatomie Indians brought furs to Bailly’s store each spring to trade for merchandise. Bailly would pack the furs he bought into 60 lb. bundles and ship them (by boat) to Mackinac at the top of Lake Michigan. At Mackinac, Bailly’s furs, along with furs from many other traders, were shipped (again by boat) to Montreal and on to Quebec. In Quebec, the furs were loaded onto large sailing ships and carried to Europe. In Europe, the hair was removed from the skin, processed into felt and fashioned into men’s and women’s hats. By 1830, the fur trading business had ended as over trapping nearly depleted the Beaver in North America and the felt hat was no longer in fashion.

New France History

2010-05-13T06:39:00.000-07:00

I live in an area of the Midwest that was once called the Northwest Territory. This vast area was originally home to many Amerind tribes. In 1673, the first European explorers (Marquette and Jolliet) explored the upper Mississippi River. Their voyage took them along the western shore of Lake Michigan, into Green Bay, down the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi. They traveled down the Mississippi River to the present state of Arkansas. Their return trip took them up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River, through the Chicago Portage, and the Chicago River and back into Lake Michigan. Later, La Salle continued the exploration of the Mississippi River to its' mouth and claimed a huge territory for France. In time, the French built forts throughout the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara, Pittsburgh, Mackinaw and down the Illinois River. This was at a time well before English settlers had passed through the Cumberland Gap to settle the Ohio Valley and Kentucky. French Voyageurs traveled as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Tetons near today's Yellowstone Park. The Great Lakes and the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other river systems were the French men's super highways. The wealth they gathered were the skins of wild animals, especially Beaver, 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 knives, tools, kettles, blankets, guns, gunpowder, brandy and many other trade goods. Tons of these animal skins were shipped to France most years where they were processed into felt and made into stylish hats.

Hand-Split Siding

2010-04-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at Plimouth Settlement. The wood siding shown was split from logs and attached with hand-made iron nails. I asked an enactor why there was clapboard on these houses, but not on houses in the Jamestown, VA Settlement? Both houses were built of timber frames and the walls were filled in with waddle (branches woven together) and daub (a mixture of mud and organic materials added for strength).He told me that they didn't have a good source of lime in the Plimoth Plantation area. They had tried burning oyster shells but it was labor intensive. The lime, when added to the mud, waterproofs the mixture. Without lime, the walls will quickly eroded by the rain. Also, as the Bay Colony is so much colder than Virginia, a layer of clapboard helps insulate the home.

Chicago Portage

2010-04-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

It was the spring of 1673. Pere Marquette, Louis Jolliet and five French voyageurs pushed their Birch bark canoes away from the misty shore of what is now the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and dipped their paddles into the icy water. Their goal was to find and explore the mighty river Native Americans had described.
They quickly paddled south along the west shore of Lake Michigan into Green Bay and the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River. This small group of Frenchmen explored the Mississippi River as far south as Arkansas, stopping at Native American villages along the way to exchange gifts, gather information and speak of peace and trade.
On their return trip, the Frenchmen were told of a faster route home. "Paddle up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River and Portage Creek thru Mud Lake and on to the Chicago River. This river will empty into Lake Michigan", the Native people said . Taking this route, the Frenchmen swiftly returned to Upper Michigan.
Incredibly, the entire round trip had taken just five months.
For eons, countless Native Americans had traveled this route. For 150 years after Marquette and Jolliet, the Chicago Portage was used by thousands of French explorers, British traders and American pioneers traveling to the Western and Southern parts of the country.
When the water was high, it was possible to paddle the entire way. When the water was low, Mud Lake became a mosquito-infested swamp filled with hungry blood-sucking leaches. The voyageurs were forced to drag their canoes with up to 3 tons of merchandise and gear through waist-deep muck. If the weather was very dry, the travelers might be required to carry their canoes and baggage on the Long Portage Trail for as long as 95 miles!
Incredibly, a section of this important portage remains in its' natural state while the rest of early Chicago, like Fort Dearborn, the Du Sable log cabin and the original Lake Michigan shoreline have vanished under yards of dirt, concrete and rubble. Only here can you hear the native birds, hear the water tumbling over a beaver dam, smell the wildflowers and almost hear the conversations of long-gone men as they traveled through this now historic site.

Custom Cabin Kits

2010-02-22T07:22:00.000-08:00

Some people ask if we make custom log cabin kits. Most are looking for a miniature version of an old cabin on their property or a replica of their original family homestead. We have even made kits of historical cabins, like the Apple River Fort cabin. The original stands in Elizabeth, IL, a few miles outside of Galena.

Usually, the customer has an old photograph, a property description, an old deed or even a drawing. Based on the factual information, we do our best to guesstimate height, dimensions, placement and size of doors/windows, etc.

Our latest custom project was replicating a Pennsylvania family farmhouse from the early 1700s. The original log cabin was built atop a stone spring house. The family had an old photo of the house, from the 1950s. The cabin had been sheathed with clapboard and the chimney (which was originally on the outside wall had been enclosed during an enlargement of the structure.

Luckily, the customer discovered the original length and width of the cabin from an ancient property deed.

We shipped the custom kit around Christmas 2009. The customer ordered custom-made windows and doors from another supplier. As you can see, the cabin is shaping up nicely. . . . on top of what will appear to be the springhouse’s stone foundation!

Log Cabin Kitchen

2010-02-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

In the past, a log cabin home was a pioneer family's first shelter. As the family grew and prospered, a new home might be built. In this case, from the 1840s, the new home was a frame structure with wood siding. Our pioneers, being frugal, usually saved the log cabin, using it for other purposes. In this case, it was used as a cookhouse. The lchimney is interesting. You'd think a wood chimney is a fire hazzard. But the split wood shell you can see serves as the support for a fire-hardened, mud-lined inner flue. This type of chimney construction was common in Jamestown, Plymouth and other English settlements of the 17th century. Cooking could be a big job in the 18th and 19th century as families were usually large and additional hired hands might be needed at certain times of the year to care for livestock, tend fields and harvest crops. Almost everything in the kitchen was made fresh daily. Ummm, I can almost smell the fresh bread baking!

Log Cabin Barn

2010-02-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

In the old days, the barn was as important as todays’ garage. It housed some of the livestock, equipment (like saddles, mowers, plows) and food (hay, corn and oats) for the farm animals and seeds for next years' crops.
This pioneer barn, typical of structures built around 1845, is located at the Thomas Lincoln Farm in Lerna, Illinois. Thomas Lincoln was the father of President Abraham Lincoln.

As you can see, the barn (a reconstruction) is a large structure made of long logs notched at the corners. The walls are not chinked, as the animals living inside do not require any additonal protection from the changing Illinois weather. The barn is high and dry, with two large doors in the middle.

Pioneer Hotel

2010-01-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

This old inn reminds me of log cabins I've seen in Virginia, Missouri and other parts of the country. Originally, this log cabin had two large, public rooms on the main floor and two rooms upstairs. As it stands in southern Illinois, an inn very much like it, might have had a guest named Abraham Lincoln as he traveled from town to town serving as a circuit court judgeIn the past, frontier inns had one second-floor sleeping chamber which was exclusively for women. The room was reached by a staircase inside the inn. A second upstairs bedroom, was only for men . It was reached by another separate staircase. There was no access from one bedroom to the other.Travelers slept together, sometimes several to a bed. There was no inside plumbing. Instead, there was an outhouse or two. Inside (usually stored under the bed) was a chamber pot or two. Water for drinking and washing was drawn from a well. A pitcher of water was placed, along with a basin, on a table in each bedroom. A guest could pour a little water in the bowl to wash their hands, face and more using a chunk of home-made lye soap and a wash cloth. Cologne or perfume was lavishly used by some travelers, as little extra clothing was carried in their saddlebags, or trunk.As rough and rugged as this inn appears to us today, it offered a welcome respite to people who might have been sleeping on the ground for days, cooking over a campfire, freezing in winter or being eaten alive by bugs in summer.Here, one could buy a hot meal for a penny or two, enjoy a drink, catch up on the news and sleep in a soft bed.

Jamestown residence

2010-01-16T06:27:00.000-08:00

In 1607, three English ships embarked from London and rocked and rolled across the Atlantic Ocean. . . finally landing on a small island 60 miles up the James River in what was to become the Virginia Colony. The voyage took 114 days. On this small island, the English built James Fort, a triangle of palisade walls, several houses, a warehouse and a church.

This photo is one of the buildings, based on archaeological evidence. It is a timber frame structure. The plastered areas are constructed of waddle (small sticks woven into a mesh-like pattern) and daub (mud plastered over the waddle). A coating of lime (made by burning oyster shells) covered the outside to waterproof the house from rain and snow.

The windows had bars (offering protection from bigger critters like bears and raccoons) and probably oiled paper or animal skins to keep out the winter winds and the rain of summer.

The floor was dirt. A door or two, a large fireplace and wood chimney lined with clay finished the structure. The Englishman's' home. . far away from home!

James Fort Barracks

2010-01-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

The earliest buildings at James Fort appear to have been “mud and stud” structures. Post holes were dug along the length of each wall and the end of the main structural posts were buried. This construction technique is similar to the method used to build the fort palisade walls. The walls are tied together with horizontal studs and the open spaces between the main structural posts are filled with smaller saplings.

Likely, the vertical members were further strengthened by weaving small, flexible saplings or vines into the walls,

The roof structure was built of rafters and covered with light-weight thatch or reeds. The walls were covered with a thick coating of mud. Likely the outside surface was covered with a plaster or clay to waterproof the structure. The floor was dirt. A large fireplace and chimney was constructed in the middle of this structure as it served as a barracks.

Like the log cabin, this ancient post-in-ground building technique is still in use today!

Jamestown Fort

2010-01-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

In May, 1607, the first permanent English Settlement was started on a small, wooded island in the James river. Until recently, It was believed that this portion of the island had eroded and the tiny walled community destroyed. In 1994, the site was discovered. Since then, much exploration of the site has been conducted.

I find this photograph interesting. It shows how a wall (in this case the wall of a fort) was constructed without nails. A shallow trench was dug and one end of the logs, making up the palisade walls, were buried. The soil was firmly tapped down to anchor the logs in place. The top of the walls were secured by attaching planks to the logs using wooden pegs. . . dozens of them. . that were driven into holes drilled through the plank and into the log.

This same wooden pin technique was used, centuries later, in the construction of log cabin homes.

Log Fort

2009-12-25T07:42:00.000-08:00

We've all seen John Wayne portray a handsome 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 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, like the four corners of the walls. These are called blockhouses. They are often two stories with the top floor wider than the bottom. Both levels might have window openings that were protected with heavy shutters. Cut in the shutters, as well as the upper walls were narrow slits. These slits, dating back to Medieval castles, were originally used by archers to fire arrows. In the American West, 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 very small 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 attackers 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.

2009-12-16T05:24:00.000-08:00

Long ago, a log cabin home was a pioneer family's first shelter. In time, as the family grew and prospered, a new home might be built. In this case, the new home, built in 1840, was a frame structure. Our ancestors, being very frugal, often recycled their old cabin. In this case, it was used as a cookhouse. You'd think the log chimney would be a fire hazzard. However, the split wood veneer you can see actually housed a fire-hardened, mud-lined inner flue. This type of chimney construction was very common in Jamestown, Plymouth, Quebec, Montreal and other settlements of the 17th century. Cooking was a big job in the 17th and 18th centuries as families were usually large and additional hired hands might be needed at certain times of the year to care for livestock, clear land, tend fields and harvest crops. Nearly everything in the kitchen was made from scratch daily.Ummm, I can almost smell the fresh baked bread!

Mackinac Cabin

2009-12-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

On the Straits of Mackinac, at the top of Lake Michigan, stands a reconstructed, fortified, trading post from the New France era. In the 1600s and early 1700s, many Native Americans hunted and trapped the animals Europeans prized for their fur. When they had gathered enough furs, the Native Americans might travel to a French settlement. Here, they traded their furs for items they valued. A beaver fur might be traded for a quantity of beads, blankets, cloth, mirrors, ax heads, knives or an iron kettle. Most years, the French traders tightly packed the furs into bundles and transported them, by canoe, to Montreal and on to Quebec. From here, sailing ships transported the furs to France. Some lush furs might be made into a collar or a coat. Most beaver furs were processed into felt and transformed into fashionable, waterproof, expensive hats. This French-Canadian cabin differs from the American style built byDavy Crocket and Daniel Boone Instead of a wall of horizontal logs, the French set the logs vertically, pegging the bottom end to a footer and the top end to a header. The gaps between the logs were filled with stones and mud. Using this method, the French could build a one-room log cabin or a much larger structure using a standard log length. Often, French cabins had steep roofs. I'm told, this was to prevent a thick blanket of snow from accumulating and then slipping off the roof and blocking the door. Dormers were added to light a loft used for storage and/or sleeping.

Clapboard

2009-12-05T11:32:00.000-08:00

This wood siding , seen at Plimoth Settlement, was split from logs and attached with hand-made iron nails. I asked an enactor why there were clapboards on these houses, but not on houses in the Jamestown Settlement? Both houses were built of timber frames and the walls were filled in with waddle (branches woven together) and daub (a mixture of mud and organic materials added for strength).He told me that they didn't have a good source of lime in the Plimoth area. They had tried burning oyster shells but it was very labor intensive. The lime, when added to mud, would waterproof the mixture. Without lime, the mud walls quickly eroded by rain. Also, as the Bay Colony is so much colder than Virginia, an additional layer of clapboard better insulated the homes. However, the windows in these homes were basically an opening covered by drafty wooden shutter.

Frontier Roads

2009-11-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

In the past, traveling on land was difficult. Our pioneers could walk, ride on top of an animal, sit in a wagon or sleigh pulled by an animal or travel by water. This photo is of a wagon used to transport merchandise, produce, wood, household goods or people. It is similar but smaller than Conestoga wagons which were used by our pioneers. The roads people traveled were raw, dirt trails. At times, they were choked with mud or clogged by fallen trees, rock slides or drifting snow. A few roads were toll roads and might have sections of “corduroy” road which was paved with logs. What a jarring experience that must have been! Rivers and streams had to be crossed. Bridges were rare in the countryside. Instead, a large raft might be available to float your animals, wagon and family across a river. This was called a ferry. A man would transport the raft across the river by pulling on a rope or push it along with a long pole. There was a fee for his service. In some areas, you might have to swim your livestock and float your wagon across a stream. Sometimes animals or people drowned during these crossings. As there was no highway system, road signs were few and far apart. Large groups of people hired a guide to show the way. Some people relied on crude maps, landmarks they were told about or asked people they met along the way.

Lincoln Log Home

2009-10-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of the Lincoln Log Cabin bedroom, home of Thomas Lincoln. Tom was the dad of Abe Lincoln. The bed is typical of the 1840s. The bed frame appears to be home-made of clear pine. The mattress is supported by ropes threaded through holes in the bed frame to form a head-to-foot, side-to-side grid. The mattress is a cloth bag stuffed with straw or feathers. A feather mattress was a cozy,warm haven during the frigid Illinois winters, especially when the outside door was just a few feet away. Under the bed is a second bed, called a trundle bed, which was pulled out at night. The trundle bed might have been occupied by the family's children. . . . several of them might have shared the bed each night. And lastly,there is a cradle. This piece of furniture was typically used by a family eight, nine, ten or more times as new babies were born in this room. Most children were born at home as late as the 1920s. Notice, the cabin walls are white-washed. Many pioneers painted the inside walls of their log home white to magnify the daylight that penetrated the small cabin windows.

The Voyageur

2009-09-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

Beaver skins were a valuable commodity of North America in the 17th century. New France (known as Quebec Province, Canada today) nearly monopolized the collection and export of furs to Europe. You’d think the furs would be valued as a source of leather or the natural resource used to fashion beautiful coats, stoles and gloves. Instead, it was the hair that was most valuable as it was processed into very fine, waterproof felt. The felt was fashioned into hats that were a stylish and very expensive accessory for the well dressed gentleman and his lady.

In North America, crews of French, French-Canadians and American Indians paddled 30’ birch-bark canoes, filled with up to three tons of supplies, into the back country. There job was to restock a chain of fortified trading posts the French had built throughout the Great Lakes and along major rivers. These posts secured the French fur-trade monopoly.

The canoe men were called “voyageurs”, which means “travelers”. Their strength and endurance is legendary. They worked up to 14 hours a day, paddled 55 strokes per minute as they sang lively songs. Some days they could move their canoe up to 70 miles. When they could go no further by water, they (portaged) carrying their canoe and supplies across dry land that separated the lakes and rivers they traveled. Few voyagers could swim. Many drowned in wild white-water rapids or in sudden squalls as they were crossing Great Lakes. It has been said that their huge Birch Bark canoes were so fragile that one large wave would break them in half. Hence, if the weather was threatening, the voyageurs would wait ashore.

A bundle of furs weighed about 90 lbs. Bundles of trade goods were packed to weigh the same. A routine portage meant each voyageur must carry 2 bundles (180 pounds) at a time, across rugged, sometimes muddy trails. Every ½ mile or so the men set down their bundles and ran back for 2 more.
There were two types of voyageurs: the pork eaters (mangeurs de lard)) and the winterers (hivernants).

The men who paddled from Montreal to the rendezvous at Grand Portage and returned to civilization lived on a diet of salt pork. . . so were called pork eaters.
Some men transported the merchandise deeper into the wilderness and stayed at a winter outpost and lived “off the land”. These men were called “winterers”. Winterers traded for furs in native villages and in the spring transported the furs to a rendezvous post.

The furs were transported from these rendezvous posts to Montreal and Quebec where they were shipped to France.

Frontier Cabin

2009-09-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

In the past, when temporary shelter was needed, it was common to quickly build a rustic log cabin. A crew of lumbermen might need winter quarters close to and area where they were cutting virgin timber. A miner or trapper, merchant or farmer was moving into a new area and needed shelter. With a minimum of tools and time, a log cabin home could be built. No nails were used in this structure. The log walls are interlocked and the thick roof shingles are held in place by a rough external frame. Often the floor was dirt. As there is no chimney visible on this rough structure, perhaps it was used for storage rather than "living space"? Over time, additional structures might be raised to be used as a stable, barn, chicken house, spring house, smoke house. The community might even build a rustic log cabin church.

Fort St. Louis

2009-08-12T05:21:00.000-07:00

Starved Rock State Park is located on the Illinois River, one mile south of Utica, IL. Here, glacial melt sliced deeply through sandstone bluffs, creating over a dozen deep, narrow canyons.

In May 1673, Louis Jolliet, Father Marquette, and five Frenchmen in two canoes, were the first Europeans to travel through the Starved Rock area. They were returning to St. Ignace (located in the upper peninsula of Michigan) from an exploration of the upper Mississippi River.
Father Marquette returned to the area in 1675 to establish a Mission in the Kaskaskia Indian village located across the Illinois River from Starved Rock.In time, New France claimed the entire Mississippi Valley and all of the Great Lakes. To hold their claim, the French built a chain of forts throughout the Great Lakes and along important rivers.As a southern defense, the French built Fort St. Louis atop Starved Rock in the winter of 1682-83. This site was chosen because of its commanding strategic position high above the last rapids on the Illinois River.In February 1684, the newly built fort was attacked by 500 Iroquois warriors. Sharing command of the fort where explorer Henri Tonti and French army officer, Chevalier Baugy. Their command consisted of a tiny force of twenty-two French soldiers, traders, trappers and craftsmen. In addition, twenty-four Shawnee, Miami and Loup warriors and their families were safely protected by the forts’ log walls.Perched 170 feet above the river, Fort St Louis could not be taken by assault. The Iroquois tried, but were driven off. The invaders had no choice but to besiege the place. The French were short of food and gunpowder. . . but so were the Iroquois who had just traveled a great distance on foot. With their food supplies mostly consumed, the Iroquois soon depleted the local area of fish and game. For eight days the Iroquois hung on, sniping, probing the forts’ defenses, torturing Shawnee captives and growing more desperate. Soon, the Iroquois realized they had no choice but to withdraw.By the early 1700s, the French abandoned Fort St Louis and moved to what is now called Peoria, where they built Fort Pimitoui. Over the next twenty years, the remains of Fort St. Louis, now a haven for trappers and traders, slowly disappeared. The diorama pictured was researched and built by the History/Social Science Department and students of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois. This reconstruction is based on descriptions of the fort by LaSalle, Henri Joutel, property deeds and a variety of business and French army documents. These sources, though contradictory at times, describe the fort of 1684 as upright logs and earthworks of about 600 feet in circumference which protected housing for between eleven and fifty men, contained seven bastions, a storehouse, forge, officers’ quarters, a chapel and at least three traders’ cabins.

Two-Pen Dog Trot

2009-07-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

New France

2009-07-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

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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

2009-03-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Pioneer Waterways

2009-03-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Our friends to the north found road-building almost impossible. Below Quebec city, the people lived in a mountainous region with thick stands of trees and sometimes six feet of snow on the ground.

Instead of roads, everyone relied on the St Lawrence river for travel. During the 17th century, every farm was surveyed as a thin, long ribbon of land that touched the river. The farmers built their log cabins near the river... and close to their neighbors. This proximity provided them with extra hands in case of a fire or attack.

Each farm had a pier and small boats or canoes that they used to fish and take their produce to market. As the St Lawrence River has swift flowing tides, you could be pushed to Quebec and home on the currents. There was also a real danger of drowning. . . which was the main cause of death in the colony of New France.

In the winter, the St Lawrence river froze, proving an icy highway for horse draw sleighs.

Winter was also the season when trees were cut, dragged to the river and transformed into large rafts. When the St Lawrence river thawed each spring, they floated their rafts to Quebec city.

The wood was purchased and used locally to build homes and ships, furniture and barrel staves. . .and much wood was also shipped to France for use as ship masts and many other products. In fact, lumber,furs and fish were the principal export items during the Old Regime.

Huron Dwelling

2009-02-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

This is a typical Huron home of the 17th century. It stands in St Ignace, at the top of Lake Michigan. Here, a French mission was built in the 1670s. Father Marquette, the famous French explorer and Jesuit priest, was buried here.

Several Huron families called this structure "home". It is built of logs and branches of various lengths and sizes. The skin is tree bark. Holes in the roof allowed smoke to escape from several small fires that were used to cook family meals and for warmth. A long wooden bench runs along the entire length of the structure on each side. Here, people slept and stored their belongings. There was very little privacy in this building. But,from what I have read, our sense of privacy is a rather modern concept. It appears this home was quick to build as there were plenty of hands helping gather the needed materials. The tools originally used were flint axes and knives.

Sign of the Times

2009-01-24T09:16:00.000-08:00

Because Illinois (like other states) is having financial problems, our Illinois elected officials close seven historical sites, for several months, last year. Among them were Fort Des Chartres, The Pierre Maynard home, Kaskaskia, Apple River Fort and the Thomas Lincoln log cabin home.

Three of these historic sites are featured in this blog. They are all really interesting sites that are visited by hordes of families, hundreds of reenactors, herds of happy school children and many others. The films, volunteers and staff are informative and enthusiastic. But, because the state does not charge the public an admission fee, the sites are an expense that can not be justified.

Perhaps Illinois will consider funding these important historical sites by charging the public a small admission fee. . . like other states do . . . . soon!

Event from the French and Indian War

2009-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, a lady from West Virginia called to ordered a Franklin cabin kit. She said the photo of the miniature log cabin kit looked exactly like the old cabin on her farm. She said her log cabin dated to the French and Indian War. Her pioneer ancestors had built their log cabin home in a hollow, deep in the Appalachian mountains. While her family was carving their farm from the wilderness,France and England,Holland and Spain were again at war in Europe. The war (called the Seven Year War in Europe) soon spilled over into North America. British and Colonial troops started attacking French Canadian forts in the Ohio Valley. The French retaliated by sending war parties into New England and the South. On one of these raids, the woman told me, a war party came to her ancestors' cabin. The father was away on business. The indians quickly killed the hired hand and ransacked the cabin. The mother and her children were taken captive and led off to Canada. The father, returning home a few hours later, learned what had happened.Swiftly, he recruited a few neighbors to help him track the war party north. When his wife and children arrived in Canada, a French family paid a randsom for their release and welcomed them into their home. When the father arrived in Canada,he learned that his family was safe and sound. He gathered them up and led them back to their mountain home in West Virginia. Here, the family has continued to reside for over 250 years.

American Indian Home

2008-12-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

This low cost summer home, the tepee, appears to be cool and spacious. It was erected quickly from natural materials. The frame is long, slender saplings. The skin is tree bark. The bark is held in place by lashing additional saplings to the framework. The door is very large. . . allowing good air circulation. The structure is waterproof and much of it is portable.
To me, this American Indian home was as high-tech in the seventeenth century as the Birch bark canoe. This tepee stands at St Ignace in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

In contrast, the Europeans built of massive log, stone, mud and brick. Their log cabin structures were built to last for years rather than a season or two.

Pioneer Inn

2008-12-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

This log cabin reminds me of old inns I've seen in Virginia and other parts of the country. Originally, this log cabin had two rooms on the main floor and two rooms upstairs.

In the old days, inns had one second-floor sleeping chamber exclusively for women which was reached by one staircase. A second upstairs bedroom, only for men, was reached by a separate staircase. There was no access from one bedroom to the other.

Travelers slept together, sometimes several to a bed. There was no bathroom. Instead, there was an outhouse or two and chamber pots.

Water for drinking and washing was drawn from a well. A pitcher of water was placed, along with a basin, on a table in each room. A guest would pour a little water in the bowl to wash their hands, face and more using a chunk of home-made lye soap and a wash cloth. Cologne or perfume was lavishly used by some travelers, as little extra clothing was carried in their saddlebags, or trunk.

As rough and rugged as this inn appears to us today, it offered a welcome respite to people who might have been sleeping on the ground for days, cooking over a campfire, freezing in winter or being eaten alive by bugs in summer.

Here, one could buy a hot meal for a penny or two, enjoy a drink, catch up on the news and sleep in a soft bed.

The Chicago Portage

2008-11-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

It was the spring of 1673. Father Marquette, Louis Jolliet and five French voyageurs pushed their Birch bark canoes away from the misty shore of what is now the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and dipped their paddles into the frigid water. Their goal was to find and explore the mighty river the Native Americans had been describing.

Over the next weeks, they paddled along the western shore of Lake Michigan and into Green Bay, then into the Wisconsin River and finally the Mississippi River. This small group of explorers explored the Mississippi River as far south as Arkansas, stopping at Native American villages along the way to exchange gifts, gather information and speak of trade and friendship.

On their return trip, the Frenchmen were told of a shorter route home up the Illinois River, the Des Plaines River and Portage Creek thru Mud Lake to the Chicago River, which emptied into Lake Michigan. Taking this route, the Frenchmen quickly returned home. Incredibly, the entire round trip had taken just five months.

For eons, countless Native Americans had traveled this “shorter” route. For 150 years after Marquette and Jolliet, the Chicago Portage was used by thousands of French explorers, British traders and American pioneers traveling to other parts of the country.

When the water was high, it was possible for these travelers to paddle the entire way. If the water was low, Mud Lake became a large, mosquito-infested swamp and travelers were forced to drag their canoes and baggage through waist-deep muck. If the weather was very dry, the travelers might be required to carry their canoes and goods on the “Long Portage Trail” sometimes as far as 95 miles!

This statue, erected on the site if the Chicago Portage, depicts Father Marquette, Louis Jolliet and a Native American dragging their canoe through the area. Incredibly, a large portion of the Chicago portage exists, just as it was 300 + years ago.

French Creole cabin

2008-11-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, is an ancient village built close to the Mississippi River. It is located about 40 miles south of St. Louis. Here, French merchants lived in the early 1700s. One style of log home they built is the Creole house. It is built of vertical log walls, held in place by a horizontal header and footer . The gaps between the logs are filled with rocks and clay. The hip roof is covered with wood shingles and a wide veranda surrounds the house. The veranda provides plenty of shade and helps keep the inside rooms cool in summer. A stone kitchen was built in the rear of this house. Many homes in the south had a "summer kitchen" that was separate from the main house. Obviously,a separate kitchen helped keep the living quarters cooler and also reduced the risk of a house fire. Just imagine the disastrous consequences of a house fire in the days before fire departments!
One safety technique employed by folks in the past was to build a freestanding chimney that did not touch the roof. If a fire started in the chimney, the family could pull it away from the house, saving their home from the flames.

Making Shakes, Shingles and Boards

2008-11-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

This picture is from Plimoth Plantation. An enactor,dressed as an English settler of the 1620s, is splitting siding from a piece of wood. His tools are a froe and mallet. The froe was used to make shakes, shingles and boards by cleaving a piece of wood along the grain. The mallet was used to hammer the sharpened edge of the froe deep into the end of the wood in the direction of the grain. Then, the blade was twisted by moving the froe handle from side to side, splitting the wood along the grain.

The shakes, shingles and boards split in this manner were were important building materials used by the colony.

Hand-Split Siding

2008-10-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

This photo is from Plimoth Plantation. This wood siding was split from logs and attached with hand-made iron nails. I asked an enactor why there was clapboard on these houses, but not on houses in the Jamestown, VA settlement? Both houses were built of timber frames and the walls were filled in with waddle (branches woven together) and daub (a mixture of mud and organic materials added for strength).

He told me that they didn't have a good source of lime in the area. They had tried burning oyster shells but it was very labor intensive. The lime, when added to the mud, waterproofs the mixture. Without lime, the walls are quickly eroded by rain. Also, as the Bay Colony is so much colder than Virginia, a layer of clapboard helps insulate the home.

Thomas Lincoln Log Cabin

2008-10-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

Near Champaign IL, off I-57, are the small towns of Arcola, Arthur, Mattoon, and Charleston.

Outside Charleston is the historical site of Lincoln Log Cabin, operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. On this land, Thomas Lincoln, father of President Abraham Lincoln, spent his later life as a farmer. His two-pen (two room) home has been reconstructed along with several farm buildings and stocked with the tools, livestock and the people needed to run a traditional 1840s farm.

Next door to Thomas Lincoln, another working farm is also exhibited. It belonged to Steven Sargent, who used more-progressive farming techniques.

The photo is of the Thomas Lincoln cabin. It was built on the site of the original cabin in 1935. The two whitewashed rooms are small and cozy with low ceilings and wood floors (considered a luxury in pioneer times). Two fireplaces (one in each room) share a common chimney built in the middle of the house.

Root Cellar

2008-10-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

This is a root cellar at the Thomas Lincoln Log Cabin in Illinois. Dug into a hillside, this cellar has some carrots, cabbages and spices. It doesn't look very appetizing, does it? In pioneer days (1840s) preserving foods was an important job. In those times, there were no refrigerators or freezers, tin cans, freeze-dried foods or neighborhood supermarkets. People ate what they could grow, hunt or gather. Some plants, like peas were strung on threads and hung inside until they dried rock-hard. These dried peas were used in stews and soups. Corn was also dried and ground into corn meal. Cabbage was preserved by cutting it into slaw and pickling it in vinegar. Some cuts of pork, beef and fish were salted, sun dried, cured with herbs (like corned beef) or smoked . . . like ham. Some fruits and vegetables (like apples, potatoes, turnips) could be stored in cold cellars. Many fruits could be made into preserves. Other farm products, like milk, could be made cheese.Preserving foods was a big job in pioneer days. . . but necessary or you didn't eat!

Darke County Log Cabin

2008-09-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Darke County Parks,in Ohio, dedicated this pioneer log cabin at Shawnee Prairie in the fall of 2006. It took four years and many volunteer hours to complete the project.The pioneer log home is constructed from old logs (some 160 years old) salvaged from several log houses and a barn in the area.To complete the two-story structure, a few more logs were needed than could be saved from the antique cabins. As you might assume, 120 to 160 year old log structures have some decay. This picture shows the log cabin under construction.

Old Quebec History

2008-09-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

Recently, I started a new web site http://www.oldquebechistory.com/ I am a citizen of the USA whose ancestors were among the few who settled in New France (Quebec) prior to 1650. My father knew his parents were born somewhere in Quebec Province, CA and immigrated (with their entire family) to New England around 1900. I started searching for my Quebec roots about a dozen years ago. I now know about my French-Canadian family, have visited Quebec several times, met cousins and made new friends. I've read many history books to learn what I could about the people of New France, how they lived, what they ate and 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 industrial cities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. But these were not the first French to settle in what is now the United States . Louis and Clark explored a vast land, "The Louisiana Purchase" that was 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 penetrated the Appalachian mountains. French men traveled as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Tetons near today's Yellowstone Park. The Great Lakes and the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other river systems were the French men's super highways. The wealth they gathered were the skins of wild animals, especially Beaver, 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 knives, tools, kettles, needles, ribbons, blankets, beads, guns, gunpowder, lead shot and brandy. Tons of these animal skins were shipped to France where most of them were processed into felt and made into stylish hats.

Indiana Trading Post

2008-09-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

For almost two centuries, felt hats were the fashion in Europe. The felt was made from animal hair. . . with the best quality felt made from Beaver.

The French from eastern Canada (Quebec Province) ranged far and wide in pursuit of animal skins. The French didn’t actually trap and prepare the skins, the American Indians did and traded the preserved skins for iron pots, metal hatchets, guns and gunpowder, scissors, knives, cloth, needles and other items.

This log cabin was built by Joseph Bailly in northwest Indiana in the 1820’s. Potawatomi Indians brought furs to Bailly’s store each spring to trade for merchandise. Bailly would pack the furs he bought into 60 lb. bundles and ship them (by boat) to Mackinac. At Mackinac, Bailly’s furs, along with furs from many other traders, were shipped (again by boat) to Montreal and on to Quebec. In Quebec, the furs were loaded onto large sailing ships and carried to Europe. In Europe, the hair was removed from the skin, processed into felt and fashioned into men’s and women’s hats.

By 1830 the fur trading business had ended as over trapping had nearly depleted the Beaver and the felt hat had become old-fashioned.

Hessler Log Home

2008-09-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

This sturdy log cabin was built in the 1850s, in the southern part of the Old Mission Peninsula in the state of Michigan. The logs were hand hewn from huge pine trees. Modified dove-tailed joints held the corners snugly together without nails or fasteners. A cast-iron stove provided heat and several windows allowed light into the one sparsely-furnished room.

Fort St Louis at Starved Rock, IL

2008-08-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

Starved Rock State Park is located on the Illinois River, a mile south of Utica, IL. Here, glacial melt sliced deeply through sandstone bluffs creating a dozen deep, narrow canyons.In May 1673, Louis Jolliet, Father Marquette, and five more Frenchmen, in two canoes, were the first Europeans to explore the Starved Rock area. They were returning to St.Ignace (in the upper peninsula of Michigan) from an exploration of the upper Mississippi River. Their trip increased knowledge of North American geography and spread French influence among the American Indians living in the upper Mississippi Valley.In 1675, Father Marquette returned to the area to build a Mission in the Kaskaskia Indian village located on the Illinois River across from Starved Rock. Eventually, the French claimed the entire Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. To hold their claim, the French built a fort at the Straits of Mackinac where Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior join. As a southern defense, the French built Fort St. Louis atop Starved Rock in the winter of 1682-83. The site was chosen because of its commanding strategic position high above the last rapids on the Illinois River.In February 1684, the new fort was attacked by 500 Iroquois warriors. Sharing command of the fort where explorer Henri Tonti and a French army officer, Chevalier Baugy. They commanded a small force of twenty-two French soldiers, traders, trappers and craftsmen. In addition, twenty-four Shawnee, Miami and Loup warriors and their families were protected by the forts’ sturdy walls.Perched 170 feet above the river, Fort St Louis could not be taken by direct assault. The Iroquois tried and were driven off. The invaders had no choice but to besiege the place. The French were short of food and gunpowder. . . but so were the Iroquois who had traveled a great distance on foot. With their food supplies mostly consumed, the Iroquois were soon depleting the local game. For eight days the Iroquois hung on, sniping and probing the forts’ defenses. Failing to gain a foothold, the Iroquois realized they had no other choice but to withdraw.

The French abandoned Fort St Louis in the early 1700s and built Fort Pimitoui in Peoria. Fort St. Louis became a haven for traders and trappers for a dozen years or so. By 1720 all remains of the fort were gone.

The diorama pictured was researched and built by the History/Social Science Department and students of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois. This reconstruction is based on descriptions of the fort by LaSalle, Henri Joutel, property deeds and a variety of business and French army documents. These sources describe the fort of 1684 as upright logs and earthworks of about 600 feet in circumference which protected housing for between eleven and fifty men, contained seven bastions, a storehouse, forge, officers’ quarters, a chapel and at least three traders’ log cabins.

Pioneer Travel

2008-08-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Traveling was difficult two hundred years ago. “By land” meant walking, riding on the back of a horse, mule, steer or riding in a wagon pulled by an animal. This photo is an example of an oxen-drawn wagon which might be used to transport merchandise, produce, wood, household goods or people. It is similar but smaller than a Conestoga wagon (also called a prairie schooner) used by the pioneers.The roads people traveled were raw, dirt trails. At times, they were choked with mud or clogged by fallen trees, rock slides or drifting snow. A few roads were toll roads and might have sections of “corduroy” road which were paved with logs. What a jarring experience that must have been!Rivers and streams had to be crossed. Sometimes a bridge was available. The travelers paid a toll to keep their shoes dry. In other places, a large raft might be available to float your animals, wagon and family across a river. This was called a “ferry” and was a business. A man would transport you across the river by pulling on a rope tied to a tree on each shore or pushed the raft along with a long pole. There was a fee for his service. In more rural areas, you might swim your livestock and float your wagon across a stream. You had no other choices. Sometimes animals and people drowned during these swims. As there was no highway system, road signs were probably few and far apart. Large groups of people hired a guide to show the way. Others relied on crude maps, landmarks they were told about or asked people they might see along the way. Our friends to the north, In Quebec, found road-building almost impossible. They lived in a mountainous area with thick stands of trees and sometimes six feet of snow on the ground in the winter. Instead of roads, everyone relied on the St Lawrence river. Every farm was a thin, long ribbon of land touching the river. The farmers built their homes close to the river and near their neighbors. This proximity provided them with some more helping hands in case of a fire or attack. They all had a small pier and a few boats and canoes that they used to fish and take their produce to market. They also cut many trees in the winter which they pulled to the river and transformed into large rafts. When the St Lawrence river thawed each spring, they floated their rafts to Quebec city. The wood was purchased and used to build ships, barges, buildings, furniture and possibly a small wagon like this.

French Fur Trading Center

2008-06-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

On the Straits of Mackinaw was situated Fort Michillimackinac. This French-built, fortified trading post dates back to the late 1600s. At that time, this European settlement was on the edge of the known world. If this large log cabin (a reconstruction) is a true replica of the original, it disproves the notion that all was rough built and raw.This cabin, the trading post, is built in the French style. The logs in the walls are set upright on a footer with a header pegged to the top. The logs were set apart and the gaps filled with rocks and mud. The steep roof required many cedar shingles. The many windows required multiple pieces of glass, shipped by canoe from Montreal or Quebec. . . Or perhaps the window openings were filled with empty wine bottles or oiled paper. Inside, the cabin had twin chimneys. Each chimney could have had back-to-back hearths on each floor. Hence, this cabin might have eight heated rooms. The inside chimneys also radiated heat. In all likelihood, this well-built structure was warm and comfortable in the cruel winter months.

Apple River Cabin Kit

2008-06-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

This is our newest log home dollhouse kit. It is a 1" to the foot scale replica of the cabin in The Apple River Fort, Elizabeth, IL. Here, Black Hawk and about 200 warriors attacked the small community called Apple River Settlement, in 1832. The cabin has an open back. The chimney is stone. The roof is split cedar shingles. The kit includes illustrated plans and an illustrated story of a pioneer family who, in 1830, travel from Pennsylvania to a new life in the old Northwest Territory. The kit was designed and is made in the USA by a juried member of the Illinois Artisan Guild.

Log Cabin Cookhouse

2008-06-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

In the past, a log cabin home was a pioneer family's first shelter. In time, as the family grew and prospered, a new home might be constructed. In this case, from the 1840s, the new home was a frame structure with wood siding. Our pioneers, being frugal, usually kept the old cabin and used it for other purposes. In this case, it is used as a cookhouse. The log chimney is interesting. You'd think a log chimney is a fire hazzard. But the split wood shell you can see serves as the support for a fire-hardened, mud-lined inner flue. This type of chimney construction was common in Jamestown, Plymouth, Quebec, Montreal and other settlements of the 17th century. Cooking could be a big job in the 17th and 18th centuries as families were usually large and additional hired hands might be needed at certain times of the year to care for livestock, clear land, tend fields and harvest crops. Almost everything in the kitchen was made fresh daily.
Ummm, I can almost smell the fresh bread baking!

Log Cabin Essentials

2008-05-29T05:21:00.000-07:00

This photo of a log cabin store room is interesting. . . . not because of what is shown, but what is missing. It wasn't that long ago that the TV, computer, electricity, phones, cars, indoor plumbing and refrigeration were unknown. Look around the storeroom and you will see a few pots, a keg, some chairs, a few handtools, a couple of sacks (probably seeds or flour), some chains and not much more. In the early 1800s, this might be considered all the "essentials" needed to insure a comfortable life on the frontier. Even the rough flooring was considered a luxury as many log cabins had just a dirt floor.

Frontier Blockhouse

2008-05-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Two-Pen Dog Trot

2008-05-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

This log cabin model is based on a pre-Civil War log cabin home I toured several years ago. If you are a real estate agent you might list this dwelling as "double cabins connected by a breezeway". The folks who built the original called this log cabin home a two-pen-dog trot. Let me explain. The pioneers called a room a pen. This cabin has two rooms . . or two pens. The open, roofed area between the cabins was called a dog trot. Likely, this area was taken over by the family dogs as they were protected from inclement weather and close to family members who fed, played and hunted with them. If you have a few dogs, you know how restless they can get! Thus, the antsy dogs trotting around became the name for this sheltered space.

A Plymouth Rock Home

2008-04-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

The first European settlers in New England (1620) built timber-frame homes clad with hand-sawn siding. The dimensional wood was cut in a saw pit. A log was dragged onto a couple of supports over the saw pit and cut with a long two-man saw. One man stood on top of the log while the other stood underneath the log on the floor of the saw pit. Pulling a long, two-man saw up and down cut a straight slice of log. The slice of wood was attached directly to the house frame. As there was no glass for the window openings, the houses were cold and drafty. Often, the family barn was enclosed in one side of the house as cattle and sheep helped heat the interior. Cooking and heating was accomplished by using a large fireplace which was enclosed in a wall. The roof was made of dry reeds. The risk of fire was very high and the chances of saving a burning house very small.

Elizabeth, IL

2008-04-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

Like many folks, I like visiting historical sites to learn how American pioneers like Abe Lincoln, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone lived. A couple of years ago, I visited a fort near Galena, IL called Apple River Fort. It was built at the time of the Black Hawk War as protection from a possible attack. The attack did happen and a small group of pioneer men, women and children defended themselves against 200 Native American warriors. The pioneer men were shocked when one of their friends was killed in the first volley. Three women, instantly assessed the situation and, as mothers often do, took charge. They organized the women and children into a production line to load muskets (a task of several steps) and distribute them to the men defending the walls. They also brought empty muskets back to the production line to be reloaded. The attackers were surprised with the steady firepower from the fort and reasoned that there were many more men than their scouts had reported seeing. Soon the warriors quit their attack, looted the log cabin homes near the fort and rode off. To honor the three brave women, whose given names were Elizabeth, the town voted (a decade later) to change the name of the town to Elizabeth.

The Voyageurs

2008-04-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

Voyageur is a French word meaning “traveler”. During the fur trade era, crews of men who paddled canoes of supplies from Montreal, to “rendezvous” in the back country were called voyageurs. At these rendezvous the supplies were traded for furs which were brought from deeper in the wilderness. The furs were carried by canoe back to Montreal and on to Quebec where they were shipped to France. The majority of voyageurs were French, French/Canadians and Native Americans.
The strength and endurance of these men is legendary. They worked a 14 hour day, paddled 55 strokes per minute and carried their supplies and canoes when they crossed (portaged) the dry land that separated the lakes and rivers they traveled. Few voyagers could swim. Many drowned in rapids or in storms while crossing lakes.
A bundle of furs weighed about 90 lbs. A bundle of trade goods weighed the same. A routine portage meant each voyageur must carry 2 bundles (180 pounds) at a time, across rugged, sometimes muddy trails. Every ½ mile or so the voyageurs set down their bundles and ran back for 2 more.
There were two types of voyageurs: the pork eaters (mangeurs de lard)) and the winterers (hivernants). The men who paddled from Montreal to the rendezvous at Grand Portage lived on a diet of salt pork. . . so were called pork eaters.
The men who transported trade goods deep into the wilderness stayed at winter outpost and lived “off the land”. These men were called winterers. Winterers traded for furs in native villages and in the spring transported the furs from their outposts to a rendezvous post.

Split Pea Soup

2008-03-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Canoe Manned by Voyageurs 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 paddling and portaging canoes, bales of furs and supplies from dawn to dusk needed nutritious food. Here is one 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, would hold 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, the daily allowance - were added to the heating 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 their belly.
Pea Souper, a nickname for French-Canadians, originated because of this daily breakfast repast.

Rustic Shelters

2008-03-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

On the frontier, it was common to build a rustic log cabin. A crew of lumbermen needed a bunkhouse close to where they were cutting old growth timber. A miner or trapper, merchant or farmer needed shelter when they moved into a new area. With a few tools and a little time, a rustic log cabin could be built. No nails were used in this structure as the log walls are interlocked and the shingled roof is held in place by an framework of saplings. Often the floor was dirt. As there is no fireplace in this rough structure, perhaps it was used as a storehouse. Over time, additional structures might be built such as a stable, barn, chicken house, spring house, smoke house. As the community grew, the settlers would raise a rustic log cabin church.

An Event from The French and Indian War

2008-03-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, a woman from West Virginia ordered a cabin kit. She said the Franklin miniature log cabin looked much like the old cabin on her farm. She said her log cabin dated back to the French and Indian War. Her pioneer ancestors had built their log cabin home in a hollow, deep in the Appalachian mountains. While her family was carving their farm from the wilderness,France and England,Holland and Spain were again at war in Europe. The war (called the Seven Year War in Europe) soon spilled over into North America. British and Colonial troops started attacking French Canadian forts in the Ohio Valley. The French retaliated by sending war parties into New England and the South. On one of these raids, the woman told me, a war party came to her ancestors' cabin. The father was away on business. The indians quickly killed the hired hand and ransacked the cabin. The mother and her children (those old enough to travel) were taken captive and led off to Canada. The father, returning home a few hours later, learned what had happened.Swiftly, he recruited a few woodsmen and they tracked the war party north. When the mother and children arrived in Canada, a French family paid for their release and brought them into their home. The father, arriving in Canada, learned that his family was safe and sound. He gathered them up and led them back to their mountain home in West Virginia. Here, the family has continued to reside for over 250 years.

Log Cabin Barn

2008-02-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

Log Cabin Barn

In the past, the barn was more important than todays’ garage. It housed some of the livestock, equipment (like saddles, mowers, plows) and food (like hay and oats) for the animals and seeds for next years' crop.

This barn, typical of structures built around 1845, is at the Thomas Lincoln Farm in Lerna, Illinois.

As you can see, the barn, a reconstruction, is a large structure made of long logs notched at the corners. The barn is not chinked, as the animals living inside do not require any additonal protection from the changing Illinois weather. The barn is high and dry, with two large doors in the middle.

Wagon Travel

2008-01-31T06:47:00.000-08:00

Two hundred years ago, “By land” meant walking. You walked or your animal walked as you sat on their back or in a buggy or wagon pulled by an animal. Animal drawn wagons carried freight, produce, your household goods and family from one place to another. The roads traveled were raw, dirt trails. At times, they were choked with mud or clogged by fallen trees, rock slides or drifting snow. A few roads were toll roads and might have sections of “corduroy” road which were paved with logs. What a jarring experience that must have been! Rivers and streams had to be crossed. Maybe a toll bridge was available and the traveler paid a fee to keep their feet dry. In other places, a large raft might be available to take your animals, wagon and family across a river. This was called a “ferry” and might be a family business. A family member would float you across the river by pulling on a rope tied to a tree on each shore or push the raft across with a long pole. There was a fee for this service. In more rural areas, you might swim your livestock and float your wagon across a river. You had no other choices. Sometimes animals and people drowned during these swims. As there was no highway system, the road signs were probably few and far apart. Large groups of people hired a guide to show the way. Others relied on crude maps, landmarks they were told about or asked folks they might see along the way.

English Homes in Jamestown, VA

2008-01-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Early English settlers in Virginia built a fortified settlement called Jamestown. The homes they constructed were not log cabins. Instead, they built small homes of massive, square-cut timbers that were mortised and pegged. The spaces between the timbers were filled with interwoven sticks (called waddle). The waddle was covered (or daubed) with mud. Even the chimney was built in this manner. The hearth was about five feet high so you could walk into the fireplace and look straight up the chimney. The floors were bare earth. There were window openings but often they were covered only by a shutter. As the original settlement was built on an island in the James river, the mosquitoes were plentiful and lethal. The little homes had thatched roofs made of reeds and/or grasses that grew in abundance in the swampy areas around the fort.

Log Cabin Inn

2008-01-04T06:18:00.000-08:00

This log cabin reminds me of old inns I've seen in Virginia and other parts of the country. Originally, this cabin had two rooms on the main floor and two rooms upstairs. In the days of Abe Lincoln, inns had one second-floor sleeping chamber for women which was reached by one staircase and a second upstairs bedroom for men reached by a separate staircase. There was no access from one bedroom to the other. Travelers slept together, sometimes several to a bed. There was no bathroom. Instead, there was an out house or two and chamber pots. Water for drinking and washing was drawn from a well. A pitcher was filled and placed, along with a basin, on a table in each room. The guest would pour a little water in a bowl to wash their hands, face and more using a chunk of home-made soap and a wash cloth. Cologne or perfume was used lavishly as travelers usually carried little extra clothing in their saddlebags, or trunk.As rough and rugged as this inn appears to us today, it offered a welcome respite to people who might have been sleeping on the ground for days, cooking over a campfire, freezing in winter or being eaten alive by bugs in summer.Here, one could buy a hot meal for a penny or two, enjoy a drink, catch up on the news and sleep in a soft bed.

Plymouth Settlement

2007-12-26T04:40:00.000-08:00

The first English settlers of New England built timber-frame homes clad with hand-cut siding. The dimensional wood was cut in a saw pit. A log was rolled onto a couple of supports over the saw pit and cut with a long two-man saw. One man stood on top of the log while the other stood in the bottom of the pit. Pulling the saw up and down cut a straight slice of log. The cut siding was attached directly to the house frame.As there was no glass for the window openings, the houses must have been cold and drafty. Often, the family barn was enclosed in one side of the house as cattle and sheep helped heat the interior. Cooking and heating was accomplished by using a large fireplace which was enclosed in a wall. The roof was made of dry reeds. The risk of fire must have been very high and the chances of saving a burning house very small.

French-Canadian Log Home

2007-12-18T05:21:00.000-08:00

At the top of Lake Michigan, on the shore of the Straits of Mackinac, is a reconstructed, fortified trading post from the New France era.In the 1600s and early 1700s, many Native Americans hunted and trapped the animals Europeans prized for their fur. When they had gathered enough furs, the Native Americans might travel to a French settlement. Here, they traded their furs for items they valued. A beaver fur might be traded for a quantity of beads, blankets, cloth, mirrors, ax heads, knives or an iron kettle.Most years, the French traders tightly packed the furs into bundles and transported them, by canoe, to Quebec. Ocean-going sailing ships carried the furs from Quebec to France.The furs might be used as a fur collar or a coat. . . but most beaver furs were processed into felt and transformed into fashionable, expensive hats. This French-Canadian cabin differs from the American style built by Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. Instead of a wall of horizontal logs, the French set the logs vertically, pegging the bottom end to a footer and the top end to a header. The gaps between the logs were filled with stones and mud. Using this method, the French could build a one-room log cabin or a much larger structure using a standard log length. Often, French cabins had steep roofs. I'm told, this was to prevent a thick blanket of snow from accumulating and then slipping off the roof and blocking the door. Dormers were added to light a space used for storage and/or sleeping.

Apple River Cabin Model

2007-12-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

This picture is a 1" to the foot scale replica of the Apple River Fort cabin, located in Elizabeth, IL. The model looks much like the original full-size cabin and shows the steps the pioneers took to build a log cabin home. The logs are squared and notched to interlock at the corners; The windows and doors are cut out of the walls; the roof framing is built of long, straight, slender saplings and often covered with hand-split cedar shingles. The walls are chinked with a mixture of clay or mud and a fireplace and chimney might be built of stone or wood. This model has a wood floor, but many pioneer cabins had just a dirt floor. Glass was a rarity on the frontier. Window openings might be covered with a piece of oiled paper, an animal skin or wooden bars and heavy shutters. To see other minaiture cabin models, please go to http://www.rusticreplicas.com/

Fort St Louis at Starved Rock

2007-11-08T05:34:00.000-08:00

Lured by tales of a great river to the west, Louis Jolliet, Father Marquette, and five men launched two canoes from St. Ignace in May 1673. Their goal was to find the legendary Mississippi River. Their discoveries greatly increased the knowledge of North American geography and the Indian nations living in the upper Mississippi Valley.

On their return trip, the explorers paddled up the Illinois River, passing by Starved Rock. Located on the south side of the Illinois River, near Utica, Illinois, Starved Rock today is a State Park. Here, glacial melt and stream erosion has sliced through tree-covered, sandstone bluffs creating 18 deep, narrow canyons.

Eventually, the French claimed the entire Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. To hold their claim, the French built a fort at the Straits of Mackinac. Here, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan join and the entrance to Lake Superior is but a short distance away.

As a southern defense, the French built Fort St. Louis atop Starved Rock in the winter of 1682-83. This site was chosen because of its strategic position high above the last rapids on the Illinois River.

In February, 1684, the newly built fort was attacked by 500 Iroquois warriors. Sharing command of the fort were explorer Henri Tonty and a French army officer, Chevalier Baugy, twenty-two French soldiers, traders, trappers and craftsmen. In addition, twenty-four Shawnee, Miami and Loup warriors and their families were protected by the forts’ stout walls.

Perched 170 feet above the river, Fort St Louis could not be taken by assault. The Iroquois tried, several times, but were driven off. The invaders had no choice but to besiege the place.

The French were short of food and gunpowder. . . but so were the Iroquois who had traveled a great distance by foot. They could not carry much and quickly hunted off the local game. For eight days the Iroquois hung on, sniping, probing the forts’ defenses, growing more desperate. Finally, the Iroquois realized they had no choice but to withdraw.

The French abandoned Fort St Louis by the early 1700s and retreated to Peoria, Illinois where they established Fort Pimitoui. By 1720 all remains of the fort at Starved Rock had disappeared.

The diorama, pictured here, was researched and built by the History/Social Science Department and students of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois. This reconstruction is based on descriptions of the fort by LaSalle, Henri Joutel, property deeds and a variety of business and French army documents. These sources, though contradictory at times, describe the fort of 1684 as made of upright logs and earthworks of about 600 feet in circumference which protected housing for between eleven and fifty men, contained seven bastions, a storehouse, forge, officers’ quarters, a chapel and at least three traders’ cabins.

Fort Michillimackinac

2007-10-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

In the late sixteen hundreds, the top of Lake Michigan and the straits which connected Lake Superior to the other Great Lakes was of strategic importance. Here, a fortified trading post controlled the fur trade. Native Americans and Frenchmen traveled here from the West and the North to trade beaver furs for products manufactured as far away as France. The furs were then transported by canoe to Quebec and on to France where most of them became fashionable (and very expensive) felt hats.

Huron Home

2007-10-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

This is a typical Huron home of the 17th century. It stands in St Ignace, at the top of Lake Michigan. Here, a French mission was built in the 1670s. Father Marquette, the famous French explorer and Jesuit priest, is buried here.Several Huron families called this structure "home". It is built of logs and branches of various lengths and sizes. The skin is tree bark. Holes in the roof allow smoke to escape from several small fires that were used to cook family meals and for warmth. A long wooden bench runs along the entire length of the structure on each side. Here, people slept and stored their belongings. There was very little privacy in this building. But, from what I have read, our sense of privacy is a rather modern invention.It appears this home was quick to build as there were plenty of hands helping gather the needed materials. The tools originally used were flint axes and knives.

Tepee

2007-10-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

This low cost summer home, a tepee, appears to be cool and spacious. It was erected quickly from natural materials. The frame is long, slender saplings. The skin is tree bark. The bark is held in place by lashing additional saplings to the framework. The door is very large. . . allowing good air circulation. The structure is waterproof and much of it is portable.
To me, this American Indian home was as high-tech in the seventeenth century as the Birch bark canoe. This tepee stands at St Ignace in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

French Construction

2007-09-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

While attending a Rendezvous at Fort De Chartres, IL, I noticed a log shed that was built in the French style. Instead of stacking hewn logs in a horizontal fashion, the French set them upright and filled the spaces between the logs with stones and mud. This small building is a perfect example of French construction. The back half of this shed is being used as a chicken coop. I suspect the front contains tools or grain.