In upper Michigan, on the Straits of Mackinaw, stood 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. Unlike the typical horizontal log wall construction used by the Americans, these logs are set upright and pegged top and bottom to a footer(bottom) and a header (top). The logs do not butt together. Instead, they are set apart. The space between the logs are filled with rocks and mud. The steep roof required many cedar shingles split with a mallet and a froe. The windows required multiple pieces of glass, shipped by canoe from Montreal or Quebec. . . In other buildings, the window openings might be filled with empty wine bottles or oiled paper. Within the cabin are twin chimneys. Each chimney could have had back-to-back hearths on each floor. Hence, this cabin might have eight heated rooms. The internal chimneys also warmed the stones they were built from, radiating heat. In all likelihood, this well-built structure was warm and comfortable in the cruel winter months.