Historical Perspective: Log Cabins — one of history’s oldest architectural structures
An early Sauk County log cabin served this family well. An addition was added later to accommodate the growing members. (Submitted photo)
Log cabins constructed for human habitation originated in northern and eastern Europe during the Bronze Age (over 4,000 years ago). Swedish settlers brought the knowledge of their construction to America in the 1600s.
The typical log cabin of that era consisted of a single room built from stacked logs with a fireplace, which provided heat and served as a cook stove. On one side was a kitchen, and a sleeping area filled the rest of the house. These structures were built using only an ax and adz, and consisted of logs with overlapping notched corners. The gaps were sealed with mud or clay, which kept out the dust, cold winter winds and snow. The floors were made of packed clay and the roof was constructed by overlapping hewn boards. Windows were few as glass was scarce on the frontier.
One of the first log cabins in Sauk County was constructed on the bank of the Baraboo River, just west of the Ochsner house in Baraboo, by Abe Wood.
In a speech presented to the Sauk County Historical Society by H.E. Cole in 1909, Cole noted that, “Abe Wood was a Kentuckian, his wife was a Winnebago woman. He was an adventurer; she was a child of the wilderness.”
The cabin may have been as large as 12x12 feet, with a single window. Four persons made their home there in those early years.
Cole went on to describe the interior: “There was a stick chimney laid up with mud made from a bank of clay. There was a floor of dirt a board door and a few wooden pegs to hang things on.”
He noted that the cost of construction was almost nothing as trees in the wilderness were free for the taking.
Another log cabin of note is the Weidenkopf Cabin, which still exists and is located on the Ski-Hi orchard grounds near Baraboo. It was built by John Weidenkopf in 1863. He had received a land grant of 160 acres for his 1850 service in the Mexican-American War.
A small log cabin is also located in Lake Delton known as Parson’s Indian Trading Post Log Cabin and is purported to have been built around 1850. It has been moved and rebuilt over the years, and at one time it also served as a gas station.
Another location consisting of multiple log cabins is located at the Reedsburg Area Historical Society’s Pioneer Log Village, three miles east of Reedsburg on Highway 23/33. The attraction boasts eight log cabins, which were originally built between the Civil War and the late 1800s, and amassed from 30 miles around the local area. It is open to the public during summer weekends.
Early school houses were also constructed of logs.
Philip Grubb, a Sauk County pioneer, described the Maple Leaf log school in Freedom Township: “Around the walls on three sides, desks for writing were fastened with pins. These had no backs and when the boys stood up on them, they could reach the ceiling. On the south side was a blackboard and at various places wooden pegs were driven into the logs where scholars hung their hats and coats.”
Today, home builders have many choices when it comes to choosing a design for a new structure, a log cabin being one of them. After over 150 years, these pioneer type dwellings still hold sway in Sauk County and surrounding communities.
Bill Schuette is a Reedsburg resident, local historian, and Sauk County Historical Society member. He writes this monthly column for the Independent Star News.
