Life in a Log Home
Part II: Building a Log Cabin
Much has been written about log cabins and most of us have visited such
museums, but to refresh our memories, let's take another look at the physical
aspects of the log home.
First, there is a difference between a log cabin and a log house. Cabins
were cruder, built with round logs having most of the bark left on. The
log house was a more "finished" structure, made of logs hewn
"s quare" with the adze and broadaxe.  The
adze blade was set on its handle somewhat as a hoe is. The woodsman first
"chopped" notches in the top of the log, then turned it to the
side.  The
broad axe was used to slice off the uniform cuts made by the adze. The
finished log was more rectangular than square, its depth or width depending
upon the original tree and tapering some-what from the butt or wide end.
This made one end slightly wider than the other; so in building the walls,
the big ends of the logs were turned first one way and then the other
to keep the walls level.
The logs were fitted together at the corners by means of notches and
saddles. These join n "shop." The very earliest settlers sometimes
burned their cabins to retrieve the hardware as they moved on farther
into the wild-erness. Hangers for clothing or harness were made by in-serting
a peg into a hole bored in the wall, or by nailing a forked stick in a
handy place.
Windows and doors were cut after the walls were up and short "blocks"
of logs were cut for the ends to rest on.
Open spaces in the walls were chinked with long wedges split from logs,
like uneven slices of bread. Clay and sand or grass mixtures were plastered
over them to keep most of the weather outside.
 Early
homes were set true to the compass to help the. pioneers keep their directions
straight, particularly on the prairie where there were few landmarks and
where, on a cloudy day, it was easy to become confused and lost. The door
was "to the south" to let in light and to mark the passage of time as
the sun moved a shadow farther and farther along the floor.
Walls were usually "seven logs high" to the loft or cross beams, with
a couple more for head space in the area. Rough boards from a sawmill,
or crude ones split from logs, made the floor of the loft, providing sleeping
space for the overflow from the "pallets" around the fireplace. If there
was a pole bed in the corner, it might be shared by Pa and Ma (with Ma
in the middle) and her sister who was "that way" and thus merited the
comfort of one-third of a bed.
A log house which might be considered typical recently began a new life.
This is the Glenn Sakulin house which was used in the reconstruction of
the storehouse at old Fort Des Moines. The Sakulin house was 20 by 18
feet, with 6 1/2 inch thick hewn oak logs. It was built about 1840, in
Richmond. Iowa. Some time later, probably about 1880, the original log
home was used as the frame for a new house made of boards. In 1982, the
logs were rediscovered and incorporated into the Birthplace of Des Moines
project. At that time, the old logs were found to be so hard that thumb
tacks and roofing nails broke off when they were driven in to mark the
logs.
Was wood different back in the 1840's? The Department of Forestry at
Ames says that the trees cut by the earliest settlers had grown, perhaps
for centuries, on virgin soil rich in the elements that produced lumber
of superior quality. Instead of deteriorating, as our later growth timber
does, it actually seemed to harden with time.
Originally published in the Annals of Iowa, Vol. 37, No.
8 (Spring 1965) Copyright 1965, State Historical Society of Iowa Excerpt
reprinted by permission of the publisher. |
