Cabin Kits of Miniature Log Cabins- Rustic Replicas

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

The Governor of Illinois has become a national, even an international celebrity. His impeachment from office is viewed as a done deal. Our governors' criminal trial will soon start. I'm sure it will be national news too. And who know, maybe a few more well-connected Illinois politicians will find themselves in trouble.

Because of our state problems and a national recession, our Illinois elected officials has voted to shut down seven historical sites. Among them are 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 elsewhere in this blog. They are really interesting sites that have been visited by hordes of families, hundreds of reenactors, herds of happy school children and many others. The films, volunteers and staff were informative and enthusiastic. But because the state does not charge the public an admission charge, the sites were an expense that could no longer be justified.

Hopefully, the state will find the funds to reopen these sites soon. . .but in this economy, it seems doubtful.

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.