French Style Log Cabin

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 16th and 17th century, 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 glass 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 log cabin differs from the American style built by Davy Crockett or 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 small, one-room log cabin or a much larger structure using a standard log length. Often, French cabins had very 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. Roof dormers were added to light the space used for storage and/or sleeping.