Dig a three-foot deep trench—the width of which will depend on the diameter of the log you intend to use—along the lines of this perimeter.

Cut a sufficient number of straight logs of a uniform diameter and length, remembering that, owing to the depth of the trench, a thirteen-foot log will result in a ten-foot high wall. Very often the logs are split, thus halving, roughly, the number of trees that need to be felled and dragged to the site.

Seat the logs upright in the trench and winch them one to the other as snuggly as possible, holding them together with long cross pieces or batons. Often whole sections of wall were laid out on the ground, braced together, and then muscled up and into the trench.

Back fill the trench with large stones and the excavated gravel, and you have the rudiments of a stockade fort.

LEAN-TO, TENTS, AND TEPEES

Lean-tos were in general use among the old veteran trappers of all countries, and there is a certain charm in a shelter so quickly constructed from the rude materials of the woods, which portable tents do not possess. Drive two sets of forked sticks into the ground. Lay cross-pieces into the two sets of forks. Roof it by lying smaller sticks across the cross-pieces, and also vertically to form a back wall.

Tents are of several kinds. Those most commonly used by the mountain man were the house-tent, fly-tent, shanty-tent, and half-tent (or shelter-tent).

The house-tent is made of two prop-poles and a ridge-pole. It is generally closed on one end and buttoned up at the other. The sides are perpendicular for two or three feet before the slope commences, and the stay-ropes are fastened to the eaves.

The fly-tent is generally a large, square piece of canvas, with ropes extending from opposite sides. This is thrown over a ridge-pole or over a rope extending between two trees. The sides are held to the proper slope by tightening and pegging the side ropes to the ground. Fly-tents are also made with ends, which can be lowered, and the whole tent may be pegged close to the ground.

The shanty-tent consists of two sets of prop-poles with cross-pieces, one set of prop-poles being roughly twice the height of the other, but conforming to the cut of the canvas.

The shelter-tent, when erected, generally resembles the shanty-tent. It consists of a strip of canvas, having each end cut off to a point. The tent is pitched over three slanting poles, and the ends are brought down and securely pegged.

Another common tent may be described as the simple, or tepeetent. It was much like the tepee of the Plains Indian, though usually much smaller and squatter. It usually consisted of four or five uprights lashed together at the top and covered with a wrapping of canvas or oiled cotton cloth.

Another simple shelter is the lean-to tent.

Should a storm arise all of a sudden—as so often happens in the mountains—a quick emergency shelter was often improvised by chopping a tree limb most of the way through, bending it to the ground, and hollowing out a refuge among the leaves.

CACHES

It often happened that trappers and traders were compelled, for want of transportation, to hide a portion of their pelts, stores, equipment, or other baggage. Such contingencies have given rise to a method of secreting articles called by the old French Canadian voyagers “caching.”

Underground Caches

The proper place for citing an underground cache is in loose sandy soils, where the earth is dry and easily excavated. Near the bank of a river is the most convenient for this purpose, as the earth taken out can be thrown into the water, leaving no trace behind. When the spot has been chosen, the turf is carefully cut and laid aside, after which a hole is dug in the shape of an egg, big enough to contain the articles to be secreted. The earth, as it is taken out, is thrown upon a cloth or blanket, and carried to a stream or ravine, where it can be disposed of, being careful not to scatter any upon the ground near the cache. The hole is then lined with bushes or dry grass, the articles placed within, covered with grass, the hole filled up with earth, and the sods carefully placed back in their original position.

Another plan for making a cache is to dig the hole inside a tent and occupy the tent for some days after the goods are deposited. This effaces the marks of excavation. The mountain traders were formerly in the habit of building fires over their caches. Another method of caching is to place the articles in the top of an evergreen tree, such as the pine, hemlock, or spruce. The thick boughs are so arranged around the packages that they cannot be seen from beneath. Lash them to a limb and this will prevent them from being blown out by the wind. This will only work for articles that will not become injured by the weather.

Caves or holes in the rocks that are protected from the rains are also secure deposits for caching goods, but in every case care should be taken to obliterate all tracks or other indications of men having been near them. These caches will be more secure when made at some distance from roads or trail and in places where others would not be likely to pass.

To find a cache, a compass bearing and the distance from the center of it to some prominent object, such as a mound, rock, or tree, should be carefully determined and recorded, so that any one, on returning to the spot, will have no difficulty in ascertaining its position. If you have no compass, get a bearing by aligning two prominent objects.

SPLITTING LOGS

Logs are usually split by the use of wedges, but it is possible to split them by the use of two axes. To split a log with an axe, strike it smartly into the wood at the small end so as to start a crack, then sink the axe in the crack, A. Next take the second axe and strike it in line with the first one at B. If this is done properly, it should open the crack wide enough to release the first axe without trouble, which may then be struck in the log at C. In this manner it is possible to split a straight-grained piece of timber without the use of wedges. The first axe should be struck in at the smaller or top end of the log.

To split a log with wedges, take your axe in your left hand and a hammer or mallet in your right hand and, by hammering the head of your axe with the mallet, drive the blade into the small end of the log far enough to make a crack deep enough to hold the thin edge of your wedges. Make this crack all the way across the end of the log. Put two wedges into the log and drive them until the wood begins to split and crack along the sides of the log; then follow up this crack with other wedges, as shown at D and E, until the log is split in half.

BUILDING A TRAPPER’S LOG CABIN

It may be constructed of any size, but one of about twelve by ten feet (for an inside measurement) is large enough for most purposes.

Select straight logs, about a foot in diameter with the bark off. You will need about thirty-six to forty logs. Of these one-half should be fifteen feet in length and the other thirteen. These should be built up in a rectangular form, on a level piece of land. Look for ground that is slightly higher than the ground around it, as this will facilitate drainage.