For many of us, when we think of homes in the frontier,
particularly in the wooded mountains, we think of cabins constructed of logs. A
portion of an early 1850’s lithograph of Columbia, California, the locality of
my Christmas novella, Too Old for Christmas, shows log
cabins with stone fireplaces for homes around the city.
Many are probably fairly similar to this preserved
cabin on Jackass Hill where Mark Twain and a few of his associates spent the winter of
1864-65. As a point on interest, this cabin in size and structure would have
been similar to what Sean Flood in Too Old for Christmas was in the
process of building, except he opted to buy a cast iron stove and save the
shale fireplace for a future brick addition to the house.
Whether on
the plains or in the mountains, often the first homes were constructed of
canvas over logs. Those pioneers who traveled by covered wagon, once they were
ready to move out of that wagon box to something that didn’t roll, they didn’t
let that big, heavy piece of thick canvas go to waste.
My Christmas novella, Too Old for Christmas, is
set in 1854. It is well documented in the histories of that community that the
first “structures” were constructed of canvas and board (or log). Even the
first recorded store owner, Charles Bassett, in 1850 set up a saloon and a supply
store, on Bassett Alley/Lane first constructed out of canvas. As often happened
in the mining camps and towns of California, fire destroyed the city twice:
once in 1854, just months before the time period of this novel, and again in
1857. Both times, canvas and log tents were erected until more permanent
structures could be built. The triangular design may have been lived
in by those miners actively working their claims.
However, for the town-dwellers, those canvas and
wood tents probably more resembled these:
And these (In the background of the miners working:
A decade later, canvas tents were used in the Civil War for winter
quarters situations, complete with fireplaces.
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| Brandy Station, Virginia - Winter Quarters |
By the 1850’s there were some cast iron stoves that
had been transported to California, probably by ship rather than overland. Even
with the stovepipes high in the air, I imagine sparks falling on a canvas roof
would have been a concern. I know even in this day and age, since we burn wood,
we felt much more secure about our chimney once we replaced our shake roof with
composition. In Too Old for Christmas, Ona McNair has a small box stove in her
canvas and pole home.
Here are some more examples of canvas and pole
structures. These are still used today. I live not far from Yosemite
National Park, and some of the campground areas feature tent houses complete
with wood foundations.
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| Yosemite National park - Curry Village |
Notice the rain fly. In Too Old for Christmas, I
made mention of a rain fly on Ona McNair’s home, not because I believe they
were considered standard when such structures were first assembled. She had
been living in the canvas and pole home for several years and struggled with
tears and splits from the canvas rubbing against the poles and spark holes from
her wood stove. If she was unable to afford all new canvas for her wooden
frame, to me it made sense she would at least buy a rain fly to go over the
roof in an attempt to keep the inside of her home as dry as possible. Since the
story starts during a November rain storm, the condition of her home was a
factor.
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| Yosemite National Park - Curry Village |
Some of the modern canvas and pole tents are pretty
nice and roomy. Give me a nearby flushy instead of the necessary of the type
used in Too Old for Christmas or almost everywhere in the 1800’s until
indoor plumbing was developed, and I would happily spend a few summer weeks in
one set up in the mountains.
About the Author:
The author currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers Association, and Modesto Writers Meet Up. She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.
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Home Sweet Tent-first buildings in Columbia CA http://bit.ly/1NeAlcS @ZinaAbbott #TooOldSeries #CowboyKisses
interesting. thank you
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