Old Quebec History

French Style Log Cabin

2010-02-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

Attending a Rendezvous at Fort De Chartres, in southwestern IL, I saw a small log cabin constructed in the New France style. Instead of stacking square-hewn logs in a horizontal fashion with inter-locking corners, the French set these logs upright. The logs were pegged on the bottom to a horizontal footer and pegged on the a top with a horizontal header. The gaps between the logs were filled with stones and a chinking mixture of mud or clay mixed with straw, horsehair or cat-tails.

The back half of this particular shed is being used as a chicken coop. I suspect the front half is used to store tools or seeds or grain. The original church (St Francois-Xavier) in my grandparent's Charlevoix village, in Quebec, was built by this same vertical log walls technique.
American history, log cabin, pioneers, Quebec history, tourism

New France Riches

2010-01-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Before the first explorers came to Canadian waters with the hope of finding a direct route to China. . . fishermen came for the Cod. The Grand Banks had an abundance of various fish that would be caught, cleaned, salted, sun dried or smoked and sold in France, Portugal, Spain and other European countries. This was the major export of New France! On his first voyages, Champlain like Cartier, searched for a passage to China. A little later Champlain brought men to the lands around the mouth of the St Lawrence and a little later to Quebec to experiment in settlement. He respected the Amerinds and befriend many Native American tribes over time, build a network of outposts that spread Christianity and developed a trading monopoly, exchanging French manufactured goods for furs. At one time, French forts dotted the Great Lakes at Detroit, Duluth, Niagara and Mackinaw while the English and Dutch where bottled up by the Appalachian mountains. French men traveled as far as the Rockies, naming the Grand Tetons, through the Great Lakes, to the sources of the St Lawrence, Ottawa and many other river systems. These were the French men's highways. Brigades of these hardy voyageurs paddled large birch-bark canoes up to seventy miles a day, delivering trade goods to outposts, returning with up to 4 tons of wild animal furs to Quebec and on to France. The economy of New France depended on these furs. In France, most of these furs were processed into felt and made into stylish hats.

Wind Mill

2010-01-07T08:46:00.000-08:00

During the seventeenth century, military officers, gentlemen of means or a Catholic order would request a large parcel of land in New France. Soldiers, men who had served as contract labor and others might, in turn, ask for a small section of this land. This section would usually be a long narrow ribbon of land with the front edge bordering on a river. As there were few roads in New France, freight and people moved by boat during the warmer months. In the winter, horse drawn sleighs used the rivers as frozen highways.

The habitants (farmers) would clear the land closest to the river and grow wheat and other grain crops. The habitants would pay a few coins rent as well as a share of their crops and a portion of livestock to the owner of the land.

The owner, in turn, was expected to pay for the construction of a wind mill. The wind mill was used to grind the habitants' wheat and rye into flour. A portion of the flour was paid to the miller for his services.

This windmill dates back to the days of New France and is located on Ile aux

Champlain and the New World (part 3)

2009-12-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

Samuel Champlain returned home from New Spain and reported to his king, Henri IV, in the winter of 1602. The king, impressed with the detailed maps, drawings and writings, awarded Samuel a pension and job as one of his royal geographers. At this point in his young life, Champlain was comfortable. He owned property and had an annual income, compliments of the king. If he wished, Sam could settle down in a seaport town on the coast of France, marry, raise a family, dabble in trade and commerce.

Instead, Champlain shared a dream with Henri IV . . . to establish a French colony in the New World. Many years earlier, Francois I had financed three explorations by Jacques Cartier. The quest was to discover a watery passage to China. Cartier penetrated the St Lawrence river as far as Ile d'Orleans and beyond. Because of Cartier's voyages, France claimed the Atlantic coast of North America and the interior to the fortieth parallel as "Nova Francia". This claim was respected by several European nations. By 1504, dozens of Breton and Normand fishing boats were catching cod off the Grand Banks each summer. Some boat crews were also trading European products for valuable furs. It was time to further explore, experiment and eventually establish a permanent settlement.

Samuel Champlain (Part 2)

2009-12-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

Samuel Champlain sailed on his uncle's ship to Spain. They were hauling Spanish soldiers and war equipment home to Spain at the conclusion of the French Religious Wars. Sam's uncle was an interesting character, part sailor, part merchant, part pirate, part spy. Among the Spanish who safely arrived in Spain was a high ranking officer who had befriended Samuel. Shortly after arriving in Spain, Sam's uncle leased his ship to the Spanish yet again. . . this time to cary merchandise to New Spain and Samuel Champlain was to go along to protect his uncle's interests.

Champlain saw much of the Spainish possessions in the New World. . . and was very taken by the beautiful islands, the exotic plants and animals and the several indian cultures he saw. Many of the indians were enslaved by the Spanish and worked to death. There were also many African slaves . . . also worked to death. The Spanish, did not consider these people to be human beings. Champlain, on the other hand, saw the indigenous people as possessing a highly-developed cultures, some of whom had mastered sciences like astronomy, archetecture, mathematics, writing and government.

Champlain saw Panama, Mexico city, Havana and other cities. He observed and drew detailed maps of harbors, defenses, shoals, channel depths and whatever else he could. Because of his training as a cartagrapher, navagator and artist, his maps were very accurate for his time. Sam was very cautious about recording this sensitive information. If the Spanish discovered his writings and maps, Champlain would be condemned as a spy, possibly torured and surely hanged.

Samuel Champlain

2009-12-05T06:01:00.000-08:00

Samuel Champlain, founder of New France, was a very interesting guy. He and his men built and occupied the first permanent European settlement in Quebec in 1608.

Some speculate Sam was one of several illegitimate sons of Henry IV, King of France. It is surmised that he was baptized in the Huguenot faith as the given name Samuel was very popular among Protestants at the time.

Sam grew up in a family of successful merchant sea captains on the Atlantic coast of France. Champlain was well educated for the times and trained in art, navigation, map making and music. Sam also had a keen interest in nature as well as human cultures. He also had easy access to his king.

Champlain and his family lived and fought for Henry during the French Religious Wars. The Catholics and French Protestants (called Huguenots) were involved in bloody battles and brutal atrocities. . .all in the name of Christianity. This bloody conflict would blaze for a few years, settled down then flared up again. At one point, foreign powers were invited by the Catholics and the Huguenots to send armies to strengthen their forces. The Spanish (a Catholic country) and the English (a Protestant country) were most eager to help.

Finally, after many battles and sieges, Henry switched his religious affiliation for the third and final time from Catholic to Huguenot to Catholic (which was the largest religious affiliation in France).

The war ceased and the foreign armies were asked to leave or would be driven out. By royal decree, Henry IV created a realm that was officially Catholic . . but tolerant of other faiths. This was a big idea in the late 1500s!

The Spanish decided to remove their army by sea but did not have enough ships to bring their men and supplies home. Most Spanish ships were occupied in transporting the gold, silver and other treasures home from their New World empire.

Champlain’s uncle owned a large cargo ship that he leased to the Spanish. Champlain hoped that by joining his uncle on a sea voyage to Spain, he might find a way of getting passage to Cuba or Mexico. Champlain met with his king to ask permission. Henry IV agreed to the scheme and ordered Champlain to report to him upon his return.

Daughters of the King

2009-11-14T05:39:00.000-08:00

In the early days of New France, the vast majority of immigrants to the colony were men. Population growth was very slow in Quebec, as you might imagine. Most of the men returned to France after they had fulfilled their employment contract. The French people knew quite a bit about their wilderness colony as the Jesuits published a "best seller"each year called, "Jesuit Relations" which was based on written reports from their missionary priests. To be sure, passages in the books were genuine "hair raisers"! Nevertheless, a trickle of Frenchmen migrated because of the lucrative fur trade and the vast, unclaimed land waiting to be claimed and cleared. The French king, Louis IVX, wanted to greatly increase immigration of his Roman Catholic subjects rather than just dumping convicts, Huguenots and undesirables on the Quebec waterfront. The obvious solution to population growth was to encourage more French women to start a new life in Quebec. King Louis came up with a proposition. All young, single, unmarried women who were willing to immigrate to New France would be given a dowry of money, sewing and household items and other goods a new wife needed to start a home . . . and of course a one way ocean passage. These young ladies were soon referred to as the "Daughters of the King". Early on, the streets of Paris and other towns were swept clean of homeless women, female criminals, prostitutes, etc. and all were encouraged to make the trip. Soon, the King realized that it would be better to recruit women who grew-up on farms as they would already be accustomed to the rigors of a pioneer wife. When the ships carrying "Daughters of the King" docked at Quebec each year, a gaggle of bachelor Frenchmen would be waiting. The men would rush aboard to meet the women, hoping to find a "keeper". Choosing was not the exclusive right of the men. The young women could reject a suitor as well. Those who agreed to wed were immediately married by Jesuit priests waiting on the pier.

As you might imagine, the most desirable ladies among the Daughters of the King were big and muscular and able to work side-by-side with their husband clearing land, tending livestock as well as keeping house and birthing babies. However, these pioneer ladies of New France liked to "doll-up" too. If they could, they'd buy the latest Paris fashions and show off at church to such an extent that the priests were constantly complaining.

Ile d'Orleans

2009-10-21T04:38:00.000-07:00

Soon after Champlain founded Quebec, some habitants began clearing land on the island named Ile d’Orleans. Here, the fertile soil originally nourished an abundance of wild grapes. Today, the island is noted for its’ strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and other crops.

The earliest settlers built their log cabins here, believing they were safe from Iroquois attack. They were wrong! Despite Indian invasions, the number of Habitant families eventually grew, multiplied and prospered.

From the North end of the island, you can see Quebec. It is just a few miles across the river. On a good day, the Habitant could harvest some ripe vegetables or berries, sail across this watery expanse and sell his produce in the city. He could also buy some coffee, tobacco or other small luxury and sail home.

In time, five parishes served the islands’ religious and some of its’ administrative needs. This photo is of the parish church of St Jean. The current church was erected about 1747, a dozen years prior to the British Conquest. Here, my earliest known ancestor, Joseph DeMeulle, was buried in 1759.

Today, Ile d'Orleans is connected to the north shore of the St Lawrence river via a bridge near Montmorency Falls.

Streets of Quebec

2009-10-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

This is a recent photo of a main street in Quebec. Today, cars, buses and trucks travel this narrow lane. . and in early morning and late at night a horse and carriage. The clop, clop, clop of the horses' iron shoes on the pavement makes one think about the distant past of Quebec city. Long ago, this road might have been a dirt path and then a cobblestone street. It not only served as a transportation artery through the neighborhood but also a convenient site for the residents of the houses to dump their household garbage and even their chamber pots! In the wintertime each snow covered the streets, burying the growing mess. During the Spring thaw the rains and melting snow flushed the street clean. . . .polluting streams and eventually the St Lawrence river. In the Summer and Fall, the streets and the river had to be dismal. During warm weather, water borne diseases took many lives because of the poor sanitation here and in every other city in North America and Europe.

The Root Cellar

2009-07-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

This is a root cellar at the Thomas Lincoln Log Cabin in Illinois. Dug into a hillside, this cellar has some carrots, cabbages and dried spices. It doesn't look very appetizing, does it? In pioneer days, preserving foods was an important job. In the past, there were no refrigerators or freezers (except the weather), tin cans, freeze-dried foods or neighborhood supermarkets. People ate what they could grow, hunt or gather. Some surplus foods needed to be protected from both weather too hot or too cold. Fresh peas were strung on threads and hung inside until they dried rock-hard. These dried peas were a Quebecois staple, used in pea soup as well as stews. Cabbage was preserved by cutting it into slaw and pickling it in vinegar. Some cuts of meat and fish were salted, pickled, sun dried, cured, or smoked. Some fruits and vegetables (like apples, carrots and turnips) could be stored in cold cellars. Fruits could be made into preserves. Wheat and other grains would be ground into flour at the local mill. Surplus milk could be made into cheese. Preserving foods was a big job in pioneer days. . . but necessary to survival!

Charlesfort and Fort Caroline

2009-07-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

We recently visited St Augustine, Florida, 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 was over 40 years old when the English colonies of Jamestown, Virginia (1607), Bermuda (1608) and Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620) were started.
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 small fleet landed on the Florida coast on a river they named River of May (now the St. Johns River) in February 1562. They erected a monument and claimed the territory for their king, Charles IX, then sailed on to present-day Parris Island, South Carolina.
Here, Ribault erected a second monument establishing a northern border of a land they called New France. Ribault’s men built a fort called Charlesfort. Twenty-eight Frenchmen where left to defend the fort. Ribault and the remainder of his men sailed back to Europe to gather more supplies and settlers for the new colony. However, Ribault was arrested and imprisoned in England due to complications arising from the French Wars of Religion. Here, he languished for a year.
As the months went by, the French manning Charlesfort were growing desperate. Their supplies were dwindling, forcing the French to rely on trade with the native populations to obtain corn and other food crops. The native populations did not grow large surpluses of food and were growing 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 some 200 new settlers back to Florida, where they founded Fort de la Caroline atop St. Johns Bluff 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, plant crops nor care for livestock. 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 other precious minerals. These precious minerals must exist in Florida 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, a foreign colony lying so close to the route of the annual Spanish treasure fleet. This threat must be eliminated!

French Florida?

2009-04-29T07:47:00.000-07:00

Quebec, founded in 1608, was not the first French colony in North America.

The Florida coast was first sighted by Spanish explorer and treasure hunter Don Juan Ponce de Leon on Easter Sunday, 1513. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Florida, which means "Land of Flowers".

The Spanish attempted to establish a colony in Florida several times between 1514 and 1564. Each attempt failed.
In 1564, about 200 French Huguenots founded Fort Caroline, on a bluff overlooking the St John’s river, on the east coast of Florida.
Perhaps many of these French men and women wished to escape the bloody religious wars raging in France. Others probably hoped that La Florida was as rich in gold and silver as Mexico and Peru.
For a little over a year, the French colonists suffered from over-work, hunger, sickness, heat, bugs, snakes, Indian attacks, and mutiny. They also caught the eye of the Spanish who considered the French colonists heretics, illegal squatters and a potential threat to Spanish treasure fleets which hugged the Florida shoreline on their return to Spain.
In August, 1565, a large French fleet arrived at Fort Caroline with much-needed supplies, munitions, and hundreds more soldiers and settlers. It seemed Fort Carolina would succeed!
At the same time, Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Spains’s most-experienced admiral and newly-appointed Spanish Governor of Florida, arrived with orders to drive out any pirates and foreign colonists from Spanish lands.
After a brief skirmish with the French, the Spanish ships were forced to retreat down the Atlantic coast. They found a safe harbor 35 miles south of Fort Caroline and founded a settlement they named St. Augustine.
As an aside, St. Augustine, Florida, is still a vibrant community and considered the oldest permanent European city in North America.
The French ships, transporting most of their troops, were pursuing the Spanish fleet when they were hit by a hurricane. Most of the French fleet was sunk and many soldiers and sailors were drowned or marooned along the Florida coast.
While the French fleet battled the hurricane, the Spanish took the offensive. After trudging overland through driving rain, mud, and razor-sharp Palmetto plants, the Spanish attacked a surprised Fort Caroline garrison at dawn. Of the 200 to 250 French settlers and soldiers inside the fort, only 50 or so women and children were taken prisoner and a handful of soldiers managed to escape. The remaining settlers and soldiers were esscorted, a few at a time, to a nearby clearing where they were methodically “put to the sword.”
As for the marooned French sailors and soldiers, Menéndez and his Spanish troops found them unarmed, hungry, and disorganized. He ordered them to surrender. Assuming his men would be well treated, the French commander capitulated. Instead of mercy, Menéndez put all the French officers as well as several hundred soldiers and sailors to the sword at a place now known as Matanzas (massacres) Inlet.
The Spanish leveled Fort Caroline and built a new fort on the same site. In April 1568, Dominique de Gourgues led a French force which attacked, captured and burned this new Spanish fort. In revenge for the 1565 massacre, de Gourgues ordered all his Spanish prisoners slaughtered.
In a bloody era of religious wars, this New World atrocity shocked Europeans and ended French Huguenot hopes of establishing a Protestant colony in North America.
You see, until the British Conquest in 1759, only Roman Catholics were allowed to settle in New France (Quebec).

Log Cabin Kitchen

2009-04-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

In the past, a log cabin home was a habitant’s first shelter. Trees were abundant and must be cut-down to open land for crops and fields. In time, as his family grew and prospered, a new, bigger home might be constructed. In this case, from the 1840s, the new home was a frame structure with wood siding. Our ancestors, 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 would be a fire hazard. But, the split wood shell you see serves only as support for a fire-hardened, mud-lined flue. This type of chimney construction is very old and was common in the English settlements of Jamestown and Plymouth. I assume, French settlements of the 18th century also used this construction where stone was not readily available . Cooking was a big job in the 17th and 18th centuries as families were usually large and additional hired hands might be fed at certain times of the year as they were needed to care for livestock, clear more land, tend fields and harvest crops. Nearly everything in the kitchen was made fresh daily.
Ummm, I can almost smell the 5 lbs. loaves of fresh bread baking in the outside oven!

New France Cooking

2009-04-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

This is a modern 17th century log cabin kitchen. A microwave, stove, toaster or any other electric appliance is over 200 years in the future. Refrigeration and a freezer are only available in winter. A spring house can keep butter, cheese and other food products cool in summer. There is no inside running water, hot or cold. Lighting (other than that from the small window) is provided by the fireplace, a candle, or a whale oil lamp. If it is a warm day, you might prop open the door for more light. . . but that might let in the flies and bugs and critters. The fireplace serves as stove and a furnace too in the winter months. In the summer, mother might cook outside so her log cabin home isn't heated. What you eat depends on the season. This cabin was built close to the St Lawrence river. Much of the year, you could fish for your dinner. At certain times of the year, eels were so abundant they were called "Quebec Manna". At other times, the river was frozen. There was an abundance of wild game in the forest. You could hunt moose, bear, deer, rabbit or turkey. You might also raise farm animals like pigs, cattle, chickens and geese for food. Many Maple trees were tapped for syrup and sugar each spring. There were also farm crops like wheat, peas, cabbage and a number of herbs and vegetables. Wheat was ground into flour and made into large 5 lb loaves of bread which were baked in large outside ovens. Green peas were strung on strings and hung from the rafters to air dry. The French Canadians ate so much pea soup that they were nicknamed "Pea Souper".

Sailing to New France

2009-03-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

300 years ago, wind power was the only way Europeans could reach the Americas. The French and many other nations had colonies in the New World. These colonies needed to be supplied with settlers, tradesmen, soldiers and mechanics, food, seeds, lifestock and manufactured products. The returning ships also needed to ship valuable New World products back to European investors.

While Spain received armadas of ships filled with Inca and Peruvian gold and silver, England received hogsheads of valuable tobacco and France received shiploads of timber and bundles valuable furs. And, of course, nearly every European nation carried home boat-loads of Cod fish from the Grand Banks.

Getting back and forth to the New World was not as simple as hoisting a sail or two and steering a merchant ship as it was pushed by wind power across 1200 leagues of cold Atlantic water.

Usually, prior to embarking on a New World voyage, everything was emptied from the ship and it was towed into shallow water. Using ropes and pulleys, the ship was tipped (careen)on its’ side. One side of the bottom of the ship was scraped, rotten wood replaced, joints filled with oakum and tar. When one side was done, the boat was rolled onto its’ other side and the laborious work repeated.

When refloated, the ballast, which consisted of many wooden barrels filled with stones, were carefully replaced in the bottom of the ship. It was important where the ballast was placed, as this heavy weight counterbalanced the wind-filled sails, preventing the ship from tipping over.

Next the ship was towed to a berth where its’ mast, spas, cables, rigging and sails where inspected, repaired or replaced where necessary, tarred, painted, etc.

Lastly, the ship’s crew loaded provisions, water, cargo and any passengers welcomed aboard. All these preparations could take a couple of months.

Once the sailors had hoisted the anchor and set the sails, a French merchant ship might anchor in Quebec City in about 70 days. The trip home was usually much faster (33 days on average) because of strong westerly winds.

Of course some French ships never reached home as storms, icebergs, pirates and enemy gun ships took their toll on shipping.

Indiana Trading Post

2009-03-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

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 Quebecois 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, blankets, knives, cloth, needles, spirits and many other items.

This log cabin was built by Joseph Bailly, a Frenchman, 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.

2009-02-16T13:31:00.001-08:00

This is a reproduction of a typical Huron home of the 17th century. It stands in St Ignace, at the top of Lake Michigan. Here, a Jesuit mission was built in the 1670s. Pere Marquette, the famous 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 made of tree bark. Several holes in the roof allowed smoke to escape from small fires that were used to cook family meals and for warmth. A long wooden bench rings the entire length of the structure. Here, the 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. This home was quick to construct as there were plenty of hands helping gather the natural materials. The tools originally used were flint axes and knives.

Sign of the Times

2009-01-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

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 Illinois' problems and a national recession, our elected officials have 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.

These are really interesting historic sites that have been visited by hordes of families, hundreds of reanactors, 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 in Illinois, the sites were deemed an expense that could no longer be justified.

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

Sainte Genevieve Home

2009-01-04T11:05:00.000-08:00

Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, is an ancient French village, originally built along side the Mississippi River, 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!

Pioneer Travel

2008-12-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

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, household goods or people.

Most of the roads people traveled were raw, dirt trails. At times, they were choked with mud, clogged by fallen trees, rock slides or drifting snow.

Rivers and streams had to be crossed. Rarely was a bridge available. In some places, a raft might be available to float your animals, wagon and family across a river. Or, if you really had to get to the other side, you could always swim. Often, animals and people drowned during these swims. In fact, in early New France, drowning was a leading cause of death! Very few people knew how to swim.

East of Quebec city, road-building was especially difficult. The landscape was mountainous with thick stands of trees and sometimes six feet of winter snow on the ground.

Instead of roads, the people of New France relied on the St Lawrence river. Every farm was a thin, long ribbon of land touching the river. The farmers built their log cabin homes close to the river and near their neighbors. This proximity provided them with a few more helping hands in case of 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. In the winter, the Habitants used horse-drawn sleighs to swiftly travel on the frozen St Lawrence River.

Some farmers cut many trees in the winter which they dragged to the river. In the springtime, they transformed the logs 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.

Chicago Portage

2008-11-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

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.

They paddled down the western shore of Lake Michigan into Green Bay and took 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 trade.

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 swiftly returned home. Incredibly, the entire round trip had taken just five months.

For eons, countless Native Americans had traveled 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 to paddle the entire way. If the water was low, Mud Lake became a large, mosquito-infested swamp and the travelers had to drag their canoes and goods 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 up to 95 miles!

Incredibly, a section of this important portage remains in its' natural state.

Fort Michillimackinac

2008-11-11T05:26:00.000-08:00

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 Canadian Voyageurs traveled here from the West and the North to trade beaver and other furs for products manufactured as far away as France. The furs were then transported by canoe to Montreal and on to France where most of them became fashionable (and very expensive) felt hats.

Fort St Louis at Starved Rock, IL

2008-11-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

Starved Rock State Park is located on the Illinois River, about 80 miles southwest of Chicago,IL. Here, glacial melt cut deeply through sandstone bluffs creating a deep, narrow canyons.

In May 1673, Louis Jolliet, Father Marquette and five more Frenchmen were the first Europeans to travel through the 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 Indian tribes of the upper Mississippi Valley.

In 1675, Father Marquette returned to Starved Rock to build a Mission in the Kaskaskia Indian village located on the Illinois River.

Eventually, the French claimed the entire Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. To hold their claim, they 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 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.

Pea Soupers

2008-11-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

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, hauling 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.

French Trading Post

2008-10-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

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. The logs in the walls are set upright on a footer with a header pegged to the top. The logs are 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. Within the cabin walls 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 radiated heat. In all likelihood, this well-built structure was warm and comfortable in the cruel winter months.