Tour Name: A Pioneer Family

Index Page

Welcome to my tour called “A Pioneer Family.” Come with me and you’ll learn about my first year living in Illinois in 1832.

Starting a new life on the prairie was a real adventure, and a lot of hard work. What kinds of things would you need to start a new life in a new place?

Section 1: Welcome to Belleville

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Hello there! My name is Victoria Allen, but my family calls me Vicky. I live near a town called Belleville, Illinois. Belleville is located in the southern part of the state, east of the Mississippi River.

We are called pioneers, because we are the first settlers in the area. Pioneers explore and settle new areas, and prepare the way for others to follow. Now more and more people are coming to this young state, Illinois. Sean: You can base your map on this image (in case you don’t have one). The map should include cardinal directions and show the location of Belleville and Chicago. I am trying to find a picture of Belleville in 1832 to include as a detail.

Title: Illinois

Caption: I live near a town called Belleville, Illinois. Belleville is located in the southern part of the state, east of the Mississippi River. Source: Not needed if done in-house

Journal Activity: What are some things about pioneer life that you want to learn about? List at least 3 questions you have.

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Belleville means "beautiful city" in French. In fact, the word Illinois is a French word, too. It is a French version of the Algonquin name Illini, which means superior men. This is the name some Native Americans who lived in this area called themselves. Many of the Native Americans who lived in this area have migrated to the northwestern part of the state where there are fewer settlers.

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I don’t know French myself. My family came to the United States from Wales. My grandparents came to the United States in the mid-1700s and settled in Virginia as farmers. And we are farmers, toomy father, mother, three sisters, and two brothers! My family is one of the first to come live in this new state of the union! Illinois became the 21st state back in 1818. Now there are 23 states! The United States is much larger now than when my grandparents arrived.

Title: Illinois in 1818Caption: Map of Illinois in 1818, the year it became a state.Source: State of Illinois

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My great uncle was the first person in my family to come to Illinois. He fought in the Revolutionary War. He was granted 100 acres of land for his participation in the war. Now people can buy land here in Illinois at low prices—only $1.25 an acre.

Picture OR possible interactive graph allowing students to compare the size of 1 acre and 100 acres to something familiar to students (city block, football field, height of John Hancock building, etc.)

1 acre = 43560 square feet / about 4947 meters

Math Activity: How much would it cost to buy 100 acres if land cost $1.25 per acre? (Answer $125)

Section 2: The Trip to Illinois

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Getting to Illinois from Virginia was a long and difficult journey. We left in August 1832. Mother and Father had to pack all of our belongings and us in a covered wagon, driven by a team of oxen. We took some food, a skillet, a long rifle, an axe, our cast-iron plow, woolen blankets, and a cow. It took about 6 weeks to cover more than 900 miles. A lot of that time father and mother traveled by walking alongside the wagon. They kept watch for other travelers, and looked for sources of food and places camp for the night.

Sean: Check Field images or send them to me and I will look for a covered wagon image that I didn’t write down the source number for!

covered wagon, items they traveled with.

Math activity – It took 6 weeks for Vicky’s family to travel 900 miles from Virginia to Illinois? How many miles per week did they travel? (Answer 150 miles per week.) How many miles per day did they travel? (Use round numbers.) (Answer 21 miles per day.)

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It was a dangerous trip. The roads were poor and there were no bridges. We heard that people could get lost in the prairie grass, which can grow as tall as a man. We had to complete the journey before it got too late in the season. We needed to build a house and plant wheat before it got too cold. Otherwise, without food and shelter our family might not survive.

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At night we’d stop to rest. Father would make a fire, and Mother would cook some cornbread and coffee. We’d have a little bit of salt pork or a squirrel or rabbit, if Father caught one. Sometimes we’d eat dandelion greens and berries we picked along the way. The oxen and cow would graze while we sat around the campfire with our dinner. Then Mother would put us to bed for the night in the wagon.

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At night we could hear the animals. The wolves howled and the owls hooted. Father and Mother kept watch during the night but it was still a little scary. We were out in the middle of nowhere in a covered wagon. There was no one around to help us if we got into trouble.

I always felt better when I started to hear the birds singing. That was a sign morning would come soon.

Sean – please crop this picture to focus on owl.Title: Great Horned OwlCaption: At night we could hear the animals, such as the Great Horned Owl.Source: The Field Museum, Z94230c

Journal activity: What are some sounds you hear at night?

Section 3: Building a House

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The first thing we had to do when we got to Illinois was clear the land. Father worked hard with his axe to cut down some of the largest trees I’d ever seen! The logs were used to build our house. Father and my older brothers laid the logs out in a rectangle as the foundation. Then they had to lift more and more logs on top of the foundation to build up the walls of the house. The logs were cut at each end to fit into each other. Any cracks between the logs were filled with bits of wood and mud to keep out the cold and damp.

Animation or interactive showing construction of a log house.

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We didn’t have glass, nails, screws, or bolts to use. These things are expensive! Mother covered the windows with greased animal skins. The skins kept out the wind, rain, and snow but didn’t let much light in! Father used wooden pegs as hinges for the doors.

Do you know what happened? Almost as soon as father finished the house there was a week of cold rainstorms and heavy winds, but everyone was safe and dry inside. The poor cow and oxen had to stay outside, though! They like it fine because there is a lot of prairie grass for grazing.

Title: Log cabinCaption: We didn’t have glass, nails, screws, or bolts to build our house. Source: Chicago Historical Society

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Father also had to clear some of the land around the house so we could start planting. He burned the tree stumps that were left behind and started digging up tree roots and plants. One of the first things a pioneer does is plant a garden. But winter was coming fast, so Mother relied on food supplies of Indian corn, potatoes, and salt pork. Mother cooked hominy, mush, corn bread, and potatoes in the fireplace.

The fireplace is used for cooking and to keep us warm, but it only warms up the side of you that’s facing the fire. During the winter, either my backside or my frontside is always cold!

Picture of domestic life

Interactive: Now you’ve arrived in the prairie! What do you do first? Students make choices about how to set up their homestead so that they will have shelter and food in the short-term and long-term.

Section 4: Land of Plenty

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Illinois is located in an area of the United States called the Midwest. Father says there are a lot of good reasons for people to move here. There is lots of fertile land for growing corn and wheat, and there are all kinds of trees. The trees supply wood for building houses and fences, making furniture, and fuel for cooking and heating.

For food there are plenty of rabbits, deer, squirrels, wild turkeys, dandelions, wild strawberries, nuts, and many other wild plants to eat. The wild turkey is my favorite!

Caption: Wild turkeys and deerTitle: For food there are plenty of rabbits, deer, squirrels, wild turkeys, dandelions, wild strawberries, nuts, and many other wild plants to eat. The wild turkey is my favorite!Source: The Field Museum, Z93883c and Z93886_2C

Journal Activity: What kind of meal would you cook if you were on the prairie?

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Underground there is lots of coal for fuel and lead for metalworking. There are creeks for sources of water. And the mighty Mississippi River is less than 20 (twenty) miles away from where we live! It’s mighty because it’s the largest river in North America. There are all kinds of boats on the river carrying lumber, produce, and other goods for trade. I even saw a boat that traveled all the way from New Orleans, Louisiana!

Map of the Mississippi River showing locations of Belleville, Chicago, New Orleans.

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In Belleville, people can find work at Mr. Fowler’s coal mine or Mr. Chapman’s flour mill. The town had to build the mill so that they would have a place to grind all the wheat that is grown in this area into flour. The coal and flour from Belleville get shipped to other places, like St. Louis, Missouri. It even gets loaded onto flatboats on the Mississippi River and shipped to cities and towns throughout the Midwest.

Picture of flatboats on the Mississippi

Section 5: Growing Wheat

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Let me tell you about our wheat harvest this year. Growing wheat is easier in the Midwest than back in Virginia. Wheat grows well in a dry climate with little rainfall. It can survive cold winters and grows well during a hot, dry summer. The climate of Illinois is perfect for growing wheat.

The soil in Illinois is so fertile that we don’t even have to use manure on our crops to help them grow! Mother says that back in Virginia, the Native Americans taught farmers to use dead fish as fertilizer for their crops. That’s because the soil in Virginia is much thinner and sandier than in the Midwest.

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But it was easier to use a cast-iron plow on Virginia soil than on Illinois soil! A plow breaks up the soil so that seeds can be planted. The soil in Illinois is much thicker than back east, so it gets stuck to the bottom of the plow. When that happens the plow doesn’t do its job and you have to stop and scrape the soil off of it. And guess who gets to walk alongside the plow and scrape it every few steps when we’re planting? Me!

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We planted wheat that first fall in Illinois. Father hitched the plow to one of the oxen. We all followed behind, dropping wheat grains into the furrows left by the plow, and stopping now and then to clear off the soil that got stuck to it.

Caption: Planting wheatTitle: Planting wheat in the fall. Source: The Field Museum, B83280C

Section 6: Harvest Time

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In the early summer it’s time to harvest the wheat. Father borrowed two sickles from Mr. Carr to help with harvesting. Mr. Carr is our neighbor three to the miles east.

Neighbors here share all kinds of things. When somebody slaughters a pig or steer, they share the meat with their neighbors. Supplies are expensive and we have to make a trip to Belleville or even farther to purchase items. The sickles Mr. Carr loaned us would have cost one dollar apiece to buy!

Caption: Men harvesting wheat using sickles.Title: In the early summer it’s time to harvest the wheat. Father borrowed two sickles from Mr. Carr to help with harvesting. Source: The Field Museum, CSB54792

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While carrying the sickle home, Father tripped on a log and fell. He cut his knee badly with the sickle. The wound got infected and Father took ill for almost a week. Mother cared for him as best she could. She had to leave me in charge of his care while she and my brothers went to the field to cut down the wheat. The closest doctor was a day’s journey away, and there wasn’t time to make the trip. If we didn’t cut the wheat down right away, the whole crop would be lost!

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After the wheat was harvested we went to work on threshing and winnowing. That’s when we shake the wheat as hard as we can until the grain falls off. What’s left is stuff we don’t want—just the chaff and stalks. Sometimes we shake and shake and get nothing at all! That’s because we’re not shaking wheat, but a WEED! There is a weed that grows alongside the wheat that looks just like it, but it’s inedible—not even the chickens will eat it. We call the weed “cheat” on account that it looks just like wheat but it cheats us out of money because we can’t sell it!

Caption: Wheat and its relatives. Title: There is a weed that grows alongside the wheat that looks just like it, but it’s inedible—not even the chickens will eat it. We call the weed “cheat” on account that it looks just like wheat but it cheats us out of money because we can’t sell it!Source: The Field Museum, B79676

Section 7: Household Help

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By the time the wheat was ready to sell, Father was well enough to make the day-long trip to Mr. Varley’s store. Mr. Varley pays a half a dollar per bushel of wheat, or you can have a few cents more per bushel in barter.

We brought Mr. Varley 50 bushels of wheat. We bartered one bushel. In return, Mother took a yard of printed brown calico. She also bought a few pounds of coffee, two tin milk bowls, iron tools, ammunition, two pairs of shoes (one pair for herself and one pair for father), and other supplies. We came home with $5 dollars in paper money

Picture of items, calico, tins, example of currency

Journal Activity: Vicky’s family brought 50 bushels of wheat to Mr. Varley’s store. How many bushels did they sell to Mr. Varley? (Answer 49) How much money did they make from the sale of their wheat? (Answer $24.50) What was the total cost of supplies Mother bought at Mr. Varley’s store? (Answer $24.50 – 5 = $19.50)

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Most of the things we need we make at home, so we really don’t buy much at Mr. Varley’s store. We make our own soap, candles, clothing, furniture, and other things. Mother makes soap from potash. This is a strong chemical that is made by boiling down wood ashes mixed with water. The potash is mixed with animal entrails and more potash until the mixture becomes soft soap.

Interactive showing how these items are made

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Everybody in my family has a job to do on the farm, so no one gets to go to school. Some children in Illinois go to school, but you have to pay money to do so. Now that I am 10 years old my job is gardening and helping with the cleaning, sewing, and looking after the young ones.

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After our first winter here, Mother planted a vegetable garden with potatoes, carrots, peas, melons, pumpkins, and kidney beans. It is my job to pick all of these and make sure we replant when things needed replanting. I can cook also! I help Mother when she makes meals and when she cans food so we can store it for later. She even showed me how to make a cobbler, a sweet dessert using wild strawberries.

Picture showing food sources

Journal Activity: Compare and contrast living and working in a city to what you have learned about living and working on a farm.

Section 8: Night Life

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One thing I love about living in the prairie is the big sky at night. The land is so flat that the sky seems to go on forever. And there are so many stars! In the summer you can even see shooting stars.

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Last night Father and I stood in the doorway and looked at the sky. He pointed out the Big Dipper to me. The seven stars that make up the dipper are really easy to spot. Father told me the two end stars in the dipper bowl can be used to locate the north star, Polaris. People can use the Big Dipper to find their direction north if they ever get lost.

Just when Father was telling me about the Big Dipper we heard wolves howling in the distance. For a minute I was scared! Then I remembered that we have a sturdy log house to live in. I feel safer now than when we were in the covered wagon.

Picture of Polaris

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At night there are a lot of animals making noise--raccoons, bull-frogs, crickets, and owls. We can always tell when the animals have been in our garden during the night because of the melon rinds we discover in the morning. They can hollow out a melon as clean as it can be scraped with a spoon. And the first time I saw raccoon tracks I didn’t believe they belonged to an animal. I thought my youngest sister had left handprints in the snow!

Title: Raccoon tracksCaption: And the first time I saw raccoon tracks I didn’t believe they belonged to an animal. I thought my youngest sister had left handprints in the snow! Source: Animal Tracks of Illinois by Tamara Eder, Lone Pine Publishing, 2001.

Section 9: More People

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Sometimes at night I look for smoke from the chimneys of other pioneer homes. These days I see more and more trails of smoke rising up into the sky across the land. More and more people are coming to Illinois these days. Some are families who packed up their belongings in a covered wagon and came from the east, like my family. Some come up from the South on packet boats or steamboats traveling up the Mississippi River. People who live in New England or the middle Atlantic coast can now come across on boats on the Erie Canal. The canal connects Lake Erie to the Great Lakes so that people can travel by boat to Illinois all the way from New York.

Map showing the location of these waterways to Illinois; examples of steam boats and packet boats with captions describing them

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And people are coming from the east by way of the National Road. The National Road starts in Maryland and ends at our state capital, Vandalia. I heard it only takes three weeks for passengers traveling by stagecoach to get from Baltimore, Maryland, to Vandalia. Can you believe it! It took my family twice that long! That’s really something when you can travel 900 miles in only 3 weeks!

Well, that’s the story of my first year living in Illinois. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings! Bye!

Map showing the location of the National Road

Journal Activity: Look at your questions from the beginning of the tour. What have you learned about pioneer life? Compare what you would need to start a new life in a new place back in 1837 and today.

Words to Know: A Pioneer Family

acre \ā-kr\: a measure of land area equal to 43,560 square feet (about 4047 square meters)Algonquin: The Algonquin were a North American Indian tribe located in the north in the United States and in Canada. They made an alliance with the French during the 17th century and were involved in fur trading. The Iroquois Indians later drove them out of their territory. barter \bärt-r\: (n) the exchange of goods without the use of money; (vb) to trade by exchanging one thing for another without the use of money Big Dipper: A group of seven stars in the northern sky arranged in a form like a dipper with the two stars that form the side opposite the handle pointing to the North Star.bushel \bush-l\: a unit of dry capacity equal to four pecks or thirty-two quarts (about thirty-five liters)can \kan\: (vb) to keep fit for later use by sealing (as in an airtight jar)chaff \chaf\: 1. the husks of grains and grasses separated from the seed in threshing 2. something worthlesschimney \chim-nē \: a passage for smoke especially in the form of a vertical structure of brick or stone that reaches above the roof of a buildingclimate \klī-mt\: the average weather conditions of a place over a period of years entrails \en-trlz, -trālz\: the internal parts of an animalErie Canal: A waterway of the United States that connects the Great Lakes with New York City by way of the Hudson River. Work began in 1817 to build the canal, which is 363 miles (584 km) long, 40 feet (12 metres) wide, and 4 feet (1.2 metres) deep. It was opened on October 25, 1825, by the canal boat Seneca Chief.fertile \frt-l\: 1. producing much vegetation or large crops 2. capable of developing or growing foundation \faun-dā-shn\: the support upon which something restsfurrow \fr-ō\: a trench made by or as if by a plowgraze \grāz\: 1. to eat grass 2. to supply with grass or pasturehominy \häm--nē\: hulled corn with the germ removedinedible \in-ed--bl\: not fit for foodinfect \in-fekt\: 1. to cause disease germs to be present in or on 2. to pass on a germ or disease to 3. to enter and cause disease inmanure \m-nur, -nyur\: material (as animal wastes) used to fertilize landMidwest: A region in the North and central parts of the United States, including area around the Great Lakes and in the upper Mississippi valley from Ohio or Kentucky on the East to North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas on the West.migrate \mī-grāt\: 1. to move from one country or region to another 2. to pass from one region to another on a regular scheduleMississippi River: The Mississippi River is the largest river in North America and one of the longest rivers in the world -- approximately 3,658 miles long (5,887 kilometers). It is third in size only to the Amazon and Congo. The area surrounding the river, called the Mississippi Valley, is extremely fertile land that is one of the most productive agricultural regions of the world.mush \msh\: cornmeal boiled in waterpioneer \pī--nir\: 1. a person who goes before and prepares the way for others to follow 2. an early settlerplow or plough \plau\: (n) a farm machine used to cut, lift, and turn over soil; (vb) to open, break up, or work with a plowPolaris \p-lar-s, -lär-\: the north starprairie \prer-ē\: a large area of level or rolling grassland

produce \präd-üs\: 1. something produced 2. fresh fruits and vegetablesRevolutionary War: The rebellion from 1775 to 1783 by which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. It is also called the American Revolution or the United States War of Independence. settler \set-lr\: a person who settles in a new region: colonistsickle \sik-l\: a tool with a sharp curved metal blade and a short handle used to cut grassslaughter \slόt-r\: the killing and dressing of animals for foodstalk \stόk\: a plant stem especially when not woodysteer \stir\: a castrated bull usually raised for beefthresh \thresh\: to separate (as grain from straw) by beatingwinnow \win- ō\: to remove (as waste from grain) by a current of air