Living History at Fort Nisqually

Living history has a nice ring, doesn’t it? What exactly is living history? According to Dictionary.com, it is “any of various activities involving the re-enactment of historical events or the recreation of living conditions of the past.”

At Fort Nisqually on Puget Sound, these activities, events, and recreations enable visitors to experience what it was like as a resident in 1855. How neat is that? This living history museum features Heritage Skills Workshops where individuals can learn butchering/curing, leather working, cup or mug making, creating candlesticks or wall sconces, and basketry. The methods and tools used are representative of that period. Fort Nisqually also hosts camps and holiday events. In the fall, take a Candlelight Walking Tour, by candle and firelight. At Christmas there is a Regale. Imagine Christmas festivities from the end of the 19th century - parlor games, making ornaments, harvesting the Yule log, creating pomanders (oranges decorated with cloves), and a visit from Father Christmas.

Where is Fort Nisqually located? For reference, Puget Sound is a 95-mile-long estuary, the second largest in the United States. In the state of Washington and connecting to the Pacific Ocean, it flows past notable cities such as Seattle and Tacoma. It has an average depth of 450 feet! This waterway was the attraction for the location. The fort is in present day DuPont, WA.

Originally owned by the Hudson Bay Company, a British enterprise, the fort was a site for the fur trade since 1833. It was the first settlement with global access. Once the fur trade declined, another income avenue was necessary – commerce. The Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) had 160,000 acres to grow crops and raise livestock from 1839 – 1869. The time that current visitors witness, 1855, was an era where American settlements surrounded the British of this site. The year 1869 is when Britain left the territory and the remaining manager, Edward Huggins took it over as his homestead.

How does it exist today? The Works Progress Administration (WPA) recreated the fort in the 1930s on this site. There are two original buildings, the Factor’s House (1855) and the Granary (1850). Visitors can view 20 locations allowing insight into daily life during those times. The kitchen, wash house, root cellar, smoke house, necessary, kitchen garden, poultry house, laborer’s dwelling, bastion (photo above), and store are a few of the sites. A self-guided tour is possible using a free downloadable or printed guide. However, history comes to life with demonstrations, tours by docents in costume, and events.

Granary featured above. Produce and grain stored here. It is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The first of the original buildings on site.

Factor House parlor featured above left and parents' bedroom above right. This is the second original building at the fort. Examples of furniture, linens, dishes, decorations, tools, games, clothing, and more allow us to peek into many aspects of their days. 

In case you haven't visited a similar site before, you might wonder at points in the fort that have different functions than those of today. You may know that kitchens were separate from the house to prevent fires and root cellars stored food. The kitchen garden supported the settlement, with vegetables and fruit they would eat to be self-sufficient. There were field crops and orchards outside the palisade walls. The poultry house held chickens, ducks, and geese. 

The Laborer's dwelling was interesting. There was a side for bachelors with bunks and quarters for families. The parents shared their beds with children, or the young used mats on the floor. At left is a representation of a room that a laboring family would share. Notice the basics covered in one room, sleep, dress, cook, eat, and more. The Large Store held imported supplies and storage of those that would be shipped for sale. There was also a Sale Shop with imported goods for purchase. See images below.

Ever wonder at the creation of men's felt top hats? The beaver pelt at left is the raw material. After a lengthy process, the felt hat emerges. As a site for the fur trade. This was once a huge commodity.

One of the reasons I enjoy historical fiction is reading stories that show everyday life in varying times. How did they dress, eat, or gather? What objects or tools existed to enable them to function? This living history site offers visual representations that help garner appreciation and understanding. Have you visited an historical site with a window into the past?

As a child, Rebecca loved to write. She nurtured this skill as an educator and later as an editor for an online magazine. Rebecca then joined the Cru Ministry - NBS2GO/Neighbor Bible Studies 2GO, at its inception. She serves as the YouVersion Content Creator, with over 125 Plans, in 44 languages on the Bible.com app.

Rebecca lives near the mountains with her husband and a rescued dog named Ranger. She is a proud mom of a soldier. If it were up to Rebecca, she would be traveling - right now. First up, trips to see their two grown sons. As a member of ACFW and FHLCW, she tackles the craft of fiction while learning from a host of generous writers. Connect with Rebecca: Facebook Goodreads Instagram Pinterest X/Twitter

THE OREGON TRAIL TRADING POST

Hi everyone. Jennifer Uhlarik here. I’ve been busy working on my debut novella, Sioux Summer, which will be included in Barbour’s Oregon Trail Romance Collection coming out on April 1, 2015. Since my story is set in and around a trading post along the Oregon Trail, I thought you all might like to learn a little about how these frontier trading posts came into existence.

Beavers

As early as the 1500’s, French and English fishermen were sailing to the coast of Newfoundland to fish for cod. It was here that they encountered some local Indian tribes who were anxious to trade for metal goods. In order to obtain the iron pots, pans, knives and tools they coveted, the Indians offered beaver pelts, which they could provide in great quantities. It took the fishermen little time to sell the pelts once they returned home, and people quickly realized that the soft underfur of a beaver pelt made a wonderful felt for hat-making. With a growing demand for beaver pelts, both France and England began to explore North America with the intent to colonize it. Not long after, France began setting up trading posts in Quebec.
Of course, England’s Hudson Bay Company moved into the area as well, sending traders and trappers across parts of Canada and the American frontier. Wherever they went, Hudson Bay Company set up trading posts to barter with the native population.

Coffee

As life on the frontier changed from a focus on the fur trade to a focus on Westward Expansion, many of the old trading posts lived on. The owners of the posts continued to trade with the Indian tribes, but they also became outposts where white travels and settlers could get supplies. These small outposts provided staples like coffee, tea, rice, tins of hardtack biscuits, dried fruit, or canned goods. They also offered tools and utensils, such as cast iron pots, kettles, knives, and axes, saddles, sunglasses, and flint and steel for starting fires. Customers could trade for textiles, such as beaver-felt hats, blankets, bandanas, ribbon, thread, needles, and fabric. Ornamental or decorative supplies were commonly found, anything from silver to beads and beyond. And of course, guns, ammunition, and other shooting supplies were a common item found in these trading posts.

Old Sewing needle and threads

I’m sure you can imagine, life on the frontier could be lonely and supplies might be hard to come by. You had to learn to live with what you had…and make do until you could restock. Often, these trading posts were lifesavers, keeping people from starving or doing without until they reached the next major stop on their journey west. Or they might have prevented settlers from having to make a long trek to the nearest town or city, which might be days or weeks away. They certainly weren’t as convenient as today’s convenience stores, but I’m betting they were lifesavers to more than a few of our ancestors.

Wool trade blanket

It’s your turn: If you had lived in times past, would you have liked to live on the frontier where a trading post might be your nearest source of supplies, or would you have preferred to live in a town or city?

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won five writing competitions and finaled in two other competitions. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and five fur children.