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The young men and women of to-day have little conception of the mode of life among the early settlers of the country. One can hardly conceive how great a change has taken place in so short a time.

In a new country, far removed from the conveniences of civilization, where all are compelled to build their own house, make their own clothing and procure for themselves the means of subsistence, it is to be expected that their dwellings and garments will be rude. These were matters controlled by surrounding circumstances and the means at their disposal.

Some few of the earliest settlers constructed what were called "three-faced camps," or in other words, three walls, leaving one side open; but this was in reality only resorted to by some of the transient squatters who only remained long enough to find a purchaser for their claim to the land, and then move on farther west to repeat the process. These "three-faced camps are described as follows: The walls are built seven feet high, when poles are laid across at a distance of about three feet, and on these a roof of clapboards was laid, which were kept in place by weight poles placed on them. The clapboards were about four feet in length, and from five to eight inches in width, split out of white oak limber. No floor was laid in the "camp." The structure required neither door, window or chimney. The one side left out of the cabin, answered all these purposes. In front of the open side was built a large log heap, which served for warmth in cold weather and for cooking purposes in all seasons. Of course there was an abundance of light, and on either side of the fire, space to enter in.

They were probably more easily constructed than the ordinary cabin, but in this region very few are remembered, as having been built. A more common place of abode was what might be called a "four faced camp." This was constructed in a good deal the same manner except that it had four sides.

The cabin was a material advance for comfort, in home life. This was built of logs, the spaces between the logs being filled in with split sticks of wood called "chinks," and daubed over both inside and out, with mortar made of clay. The floor, sometimes, was nothing more than earth tramped hard and smooth, but it was commonly made of "puncheons," or split logs with the split side turned upward. The roof was made by gradually drawing the top to the ridge pole, on cross pieces, laying the "clapboards," which being several feet in length, instead of being nailed were held in place or kept from rolling off by "knees" placed against the one below, which served as a prop. For a fire-place, a space was cut out

of the logs on one side of the room, usually about six feet in length, and three sides were built up of logs making an offset in the wall. This was lined with stone, if convenient; if not, then earth. The flue, or upper part of the chimney, was built of small split sticks, two and a half or three feet in length, carried a little space above the roof, and plastered over with clay; when finished it was called a "cat and clay" chimney. To describe it more minutely, the sticks are laid just as bricks are, with mortar; the clay is mixed with cut straw or grass to prevent it from crumbling, and then the outside and inside were plastered with the clay and rubbed smooth with the hands. The door was made by cutting a space in one side of the room of the required size, the door itself being made of clapboards secured by wooden plus to two crosspieces. The hinges were also sometimes of wood, while the fastenings consisted of a wooden latch catching on a hook of the same material. To open the door from the outside, a strip of buckskin or leather was tied to the latch and drawn through a hole a few inches above the latch-bar, so that on pulling the string the latch was lifted from the catch or hook, and the door was opened withoul further trouble. To lock the door, it was only necessary to pull the string through the hole to the inside. Here the family lived, and here the guest and wayfarer were made welcome. The living room was of good size, but to a large extent it was all--kitchen, bed-room, parlor and arsenal, with flitches of bacon and sometimes rings of dried pumpkin suspended from the rafters.

Sometimes in the more extreme cases a pioneer's cabin was erected of poles that one man could lay together without "notching," after reaching about the height of a man, it would be covered with the bark taken from some Indian's abandoned "Wick-e-up," the cracks filled with prairie grass, and skin hung upon the inside and outside to keep the wind from blowing out the grass. The skins thus used were wolf, bear, deer, elk, and frequently buffalo. The fire was built on the ground and a hole left in the roof for smoke to escape. No floor was had until the season came to "peel Linn bark." A door would be made, almost always, in these extreme cases, of an elk skin. In cases of this kind the beds were made of prairie hay, spread on the ground floor. Sometimes, a forked stake would be driven into the ground at an equal distance from two walls which were at right angles, and poles laid through the fork to the walls. On this would be laid "shakes" and brush until quite a fair bedstead would be the result. For bed clothes, when quilts were wanting, skins and robes would make up the deficiency, and in cases like those just mentioned, skins were almost wholly used. In a great many instances all of the household furniture was home-made, blocks being used for chairs, and rude benches which were made from "shakes" with the "easy side up," holes bored in the bottom and rude legs inserted. A place for cooking utensils was made by boring holes in the wall, placing a smooth shake upon pegs which had been driven in, and a shelf was complete. In these extreme cases the pioneers usually, had a few knives and forks and plates, but there were many who had neither. One of the pioneer Methodist preachers in this part of the State, told the writer that he had many times, notwithstanding he was given the best, sat upon a rude block, which he doubted not conformed to the rule of "easy side up," and in eating cut his venison upon a piece of bark laid upon his knees, using his own jack-knife. It is difficult to describe some of the tables used, they were of all shapes and sizes, sometimes a "shelf" would be made upon which the victuals were served. Sometimes a box or two in which the clothing was stored, pegs would be driven into the log walls and clothing bung upon them. Books were very seldom found in these extreme cases, except probably a fraction of a book here and there, which was well thumbed. In one corner was placed the trusty rifle, and just above it were hung the powder horn, shot flask and hunting pouch. Often a loft was made to the cabin for a sleeping place and the storage of "traps" and articles not in common use. This was reached by a ladder secured to the wall. Sometimes the bed rooms were separated by sheets and blankets suspended from the rafters, but until the means of making these partitions were ample, they all lived and slept in the same room. If a stranger was present, partaking of the hospitality, the light would be blown out when the old folks wished to retire; the children would undress while the "stranger was looking the other way." Frequently the pigs and chickens inhabited the same room.

Familiarity with this mode of living did away with much of the discomfort, but as soon as improvement could be made, there was occasionally added to the cabin an additional room, or a "double log cabin," being substantially a "three faced camp," but generally the old cabin was replaced by a better one.

The furniture in the cabin corresponded with the house itself. The articles used in the kitchen were as few and simple as can be imagined. A "dutch oven," or skillet, a long-handled frying pan, an iron pot or kettle, and sometimes a coffee pot, constituted the utensils of the" best furnished kitchen. A little later, when stone formed the base of the chimney, a long iron "crane" swung in the chimney place, which on its "pot-hook" carried the boiling kettle or heavy iron pot. The cooking was all done on the fire-place and at the fire, and the style of cooking was as simple as the utensils. Indian, or corn meal, was the common flour, which was made into "pone" or "corn-dodger," or "hoe-cake," as the occasion or variety demanded. The "pone" and the "dodger" was baked in the Dutch oven, which was first set on abed of glowing coals. When the oven was filled with the dough,the lid, already heated on the fire, was placed on the oven and covered with red hot coals. When the bread was done it was taken from the oven and placed near the fire to keep warm while some other food was being prepared in the same "oven" for the forthcoming meal. The "hoe-cake" was prepared in the same way as the dodger--that is, a stiff dough was made of the meal and water, and, taking as much as could conveniently be held in both hands, it was moulded into the desired shape by being tossed from hand to hand, then laid on a board or flat stone placedat an angle before the fire and patted down to the required thickness on the "johnny-cake board." In the fall and early winter, cooked pumpkin was sometimes added to the meal dough, giving a flavor and richness to the bread not attained by the modern methods. In the oven from which the bread was taken, the venison or ham was then fried, and, in winter, lye hominy, made from the unbroken grains of corn, added to the frugal meal. The woods abounded in honey, and of this in pioneer times, the early settlers had an abundance the year round. For some years after the very first settlement, corn meal formed the staple commodity for bread; but as soon as the settlers began trading at Council Bluffs, flour could be obtained more easily than corn meal, for the reason that it was easier to grind.

These simple cabins were inhabited by a kind and true-hearted people. They were strangers to mock-modesty, and the traveler seeking lodgings for the night, or desirous of spending a few days in the community, if willing to accept the rude offerings, was always welcome, although how they were disposed of at night the reader may not easily imagine; for, as described, often a single room would be made to serve the purpose of a kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room and parlor, and many families consisted of six or eight persons.

Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, January, 2025 from: "History of Cass County, Together with Sketches of Its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens", published in 1884, Springfield, Ill: Continental Historical Co., pp. 262-267.