Investigating a Historic Farmhouse

Transcription

1 Project Archaeology: Investigating Shelter Series No. 6 Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Archaeology Notebook Name of Student Archaeologist In this investigation, you will use geography, history, and archaeology to learn about a historic Montana farmhouse and the people who lived there. You will look at historic photographs and read oral histories. You will reconstruct an archaeological site and classify artifacts. You will infer how the geographic area of Montana shaped the farmhouse. You will use what you learned to plan and draw a modern or futuristic shelter that uses ideas from a historic farmhouse. In a final composition, you will report what you learned.

2 Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Part One: Geography Archaeology Notebook You are an archaeologist. Your question is: What can we learn about the history and culture of Montana homesteaders by investigating a historic farmhouse? Investigation Activities 1. Read a biography of Mrs. Jackie Thompson, Meet Mrs. Jackie Thompson, a Descendant of the Tinsley Family (page ). 2. Estimate the size of the Tinsley House with the whole class. 3. Read Geographic Location of the Tinsley House (page ). 4. Complete Data Collection Sheet Geographic Location of the Tinsley House (page ). Data Sources A biography of Mrs. Jackie Thompson (page ). The article Geographic Location of the Tinsley House (page ). Word Bank ancestor: a person from whom one is descended; mother, father, grandmother, grandfather biography: history of a person s life as told by another person cultural: of or related to culture culture: the customs, beliefs, laws, ways of living, and all other results of human work and thought that belong to people of the same society descendant: a person descended from a particular ancestor; daughter, son, granddaughter, grandson living history: an activity that uses historical tools, activities, and dress to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time oral history: history that is passed by word of mouth

3 Meet Ms. Jackie Thompson A Descendant of a Montana Homestead Family While growing up, Jackie Thompson heard lots of stories about her great-great-grandparents, William and Lucy Tinsley. William and Lucy homesteaded in Willow Creek, Montana in 1867 and raised a family of eight children. Ree Hester, Jackie s grandmother, loved to tell stories about them because they were her grandparents and she was proud of them. Listening to Grandma Hester s stories, Jackie learned some of the history of her family. Lucy s family, the Naves, fled Missouri in 1863 because Union officers ordered them to leave. The farm was taken for the use of a Union officer and his wife. Most of their possessions were left behind for the officer. A friend of the family helped them to load an old cook stove that they were allowed to take. They also took bacon and ham, which they were supposed to leave behind. Their wagon had a false bottom where they managed to hide two chairs. The chairs were the only items of furniture they had when they arrived in Montana. Jackie Thompson Lucy Ann Nave sewed the blocks for this quilt as she walked from Missouri to Montana. While Lucy was crossing the plains, she sewed quilt squares as she walked, making an eight-sided log cabin pattern. The quilt was entered in a fair a few years later and it won a prize. Lucy liked to make picture frames and fancy little boxes decorated with small twigs arranged in decorative patterns. Like her ancestors, Jackie likes to quilt and do craft projects. She also entered a quilt in a fair once and won a ribbon. Jackie grew up doing many of the same activities as her ancestors. Like the Tinsleys, she planted gardens and raised vegetables to eat in the winter. In late summer, her family picked berries and made jam like the Tinsleys did. For entertainment, the Tinsleys gathered in the parlor, told stories, played music and sang, or made some popcorn or taffy. Jackie likes to listen to music and sing, just like her ancestors.

4 In 1989, the Tinsley house was moved from Willow Creek to The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman and became part of a living history exhibit. Ree Hester became a resource for museum workers who wanted to know about the Tinsley family. She had a trunk full of photographs, newspaper clippings, her mother s stories, and memoirs written by aunts, uncles, and cousins. Grandma Hester was happy to share whatever she could with anyone who was interested. When Jackie visited the house, she found it inspiring to walk through the rooms her ancestors had used. Grandma Hester described what the rooms were like when she visited her grandparents as a girl. The women spent a lot of time cooking and preserving food in the kitchen. The kitchen had a large work table in the center of the room and storage shelves on the wall by the stove. It didn t have cabinets like modern houses. Upstairs, there was a large room above the kitchen. This room was a bedroom for William and Lucy and a workroom for spinning, weaving, and sewing. Life for Jackie is much easier than it was for her great-great grandparents and their children. Instead of having to hunt for meat and grow all her own vegetables, she has a grocery store nearby with fresh food available at all times. It would have taken most of a day for Jackie s great-great grandparents to travel the 15 or 20 miles from their home in Willow Creek to Spring Creek, where Lucy s parents lived. This distance can be covered in less than half an hour by car. Jackie has much more leisure time than her ancestors had. Jackie s home in Deer Lodge. Jackie is interested in learning all she can about her ancestors. She especially likes the stories that make the people come alive for her. Lucy Mary Tinsley Hale was Jackie s great-grandmother and the youngest daughter of William and Lucy. She wrote many stories from her childhood and events that happened before she was born. Lucy Mary heard the stories many times when the family gathered in the parlor during long winter evenings. Jackie would like to publish these stories so others can find out what it was like to grow up on a homestead in Willow Creek, Montana. Jackie is now a school librarian in Deer Lodge, Montana. As a librarian, she helps children find books they will enjoy reading. She also helps them with research projects. Her favorite projects are those that require students to find out about the histories of people. Jackie has two sons and she would like to pass on the family stories to them. Because they are important to her, she has written down many stories her parents told. She records events from her own life, too. The stories and memories are waiting until her sons or their children ask about them. Lucy Tinsley Hale s Memoir, written between 1938 and 1943

5 Geographic Location of the Tinsley House The Tinsley family lived in what is now southwestern Montana. When they settled in the region, it was called Montana Territory. The land where the Tinsley family homesteaded is in a big valley with mountains surrounding the valley. When the Tinsley family homesteaded their land 140 years ago, they found cottonwood trees, willows, and white yarrow. The animals living in the valley were white-tailed and mule deer, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, jackrabbits, and prairie dogs. The streams and rivers were full of rainbow and brown trout. Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition originally named the stream near the Tinsleys farmhouse Philosopher s River. It was later renamed Willow Creek to reflect the willow trees that grow along its bank. Today most of this land is used for farming and ranching. Temperatures in southwestern Montana can be very cold in the winter, sometimes dropping to 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. The summers can be very hot, sometimes exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Today, the descendents of the Tinsley family live all over the United States, but a few still live in Montana near Willow Creek. Willow Deer Yarrow

6 Name: Geographic Location of the Tinsley House: Analyzing the Data 1. Where did the Tinsley family live? Do they still live their today? 2. Draw a picture below that shows what the landscape of Southwestern Montana looks like. Label each part of the landscape. 3. In degrees Fahrenheit, how cold can it get in the winter in this area? In degrees Fahrenheit, how hot can it get in the summer in this area? How do these temperatures compare to where you live? 4. What kind of shelter would be needed for the hottest and coldest temperatures?

7 Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Part Two: History Archaeology Notebook You are an archaeologist. Your question is: What can we learn about the history and culture of the Montana Homesteaders by investigating a Historic Farmhouse? Investigation Activities 1. Examine Historic Photographs of the Tinsley House and Family (page ). 2. Complete data collection sheet for the Historic Photographs of the Tinsley House and Family (pages ). 3. Read History of the Tinsley Family (page ). 4. Read History of the Tinsley House (page ). 5. Complete the data collection sheet for History of the Tinsley Family and House (page ). Data Sources Historic Photographs of the Tinsley House and Family (page ). History of the Tinsley Family (page ). History of the Tinsley House (page ).

8 Historic Photos of the Tinsley House and Family Photo courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies. Bozeman, MT. Photo #1: William Tinsley inside the Tinsley House.

9 Photo courteous of Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman MT. Photo #2: Lucy (daughter of William and Lucy Tinsley) and Floyd (son of William and Lucy Tinsley) standing outside the Tinsley House.

10 Name Historic Photos of the Tinsley House: Analyzing the Data Examine the historic photographs of the Tinsley family and answer the following questions. Observing and Collecting Data 1. List the objects you see in photos #1 and #2. Photo #1 Photo #2 2. Describe the locations of the people in each picture. Photo #1 Photo #2 3. What are the people in Photo #1 and Photo #2 doing? Photo #1 Photo #2 4. When do you think each picture was taken (year, time of day)? Photo #1 Photo #2

11 Analyzing and Interpreting the Data 1. Why do you think the photos were taken? Photo #1 Photo #2 2. What does each picture tell you about the past? What is your evidence? Photo #1 Photo #2 3. What questions do you have about the photographs? Photo #1 Photo #2 4. How could you get more information to answer your questions? 5. How are the photographs different? How are they the same?

12 History of the Tinsley Family Lucy Ann Nave traveled with her family to Virginia City, Montana Territory on a wagon train in Lucy was twenty years old when she arrived in Montana Territory, and worked in a dressmaking shop with her sister. William Tinsley also traveled west to Virginia City in He came to Montana Territory with his sister and brother, and worked as a Wells Fargo and Company agent. William and Lucy met and married in They moved to Willow Creek, MT and built a small homestead cabin that was 16 feet by 18 feet. By 1881, they had eight children. The Tinsley Family. From left to right.. Back: Edwin, Floyd, Lillie, Ida, William.Front: Enoch, Teria (Quiteria) Lucy Ann, Lucy Mary, William. Photograph Courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT. Tinsley, William 44 Lucy A. 36 Wife Floyd H. 11 Son Quiteria 10 Daughter Lillie 8 Daughter Ida 7 Daughter William 5 Son Enoch 3 Son Edwin 1 Son Excerpt of 1880 Gallatin County Census

13 History of the Tinsley House As the Tinsley family grew larger, the small homestead cabin became too small for the large family. The Tinsley s decided to build a larger farmhouse. Two of the Tinsley boys hauled logs for the building of the house from the nearby Tobacco Root Mountains. It took the boys two years to accumulate enough logs to finish the house. The house was finally finished in The house is two stories tall with a kitchen, parlor, and living room downstairs and four bedrooms and a workroom upstairs. Tinsley House in Willow Creek, Montana. Photograph Courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies. Bozeman, MT. The Tinsley family lived in the house until In 1989, the Museum of the Rockies purchased the Tinsely house to use as a living history exhibit. The museum moved the house from Willow Creek to Bozeman. The house is now used a Living History Exhibit, showing how people used to lived in Tinsley house on its way to the Museum of the Rockies Photograph courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies Tinsley House at the Museum of the Rockies Photograph courtesy of Arian Adams

14 Name History of the Tinsley Family and House: Analyzing the Data 1. Why did Lucy s family and William s family move from Missouri to Montana in 1864? 2. How large was the Tinsley family s first cabin? Would this cabin fit within your classroom? 3. Why did the Tinsley family build a second house? 4. Why do you think the house was moved from Willow Creek to the Museum of the Rockies?

15 Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Part Three: Archaeology You are an archaeologist. Your question is: Archaeology Notebook What can we learn about the history and lives of Montana homesteaders by investigating a historic farmhouse? Investigation Activities 1. Teacher-led class discussion using Footprints of Shelter (page ). 2. Whole class review of the Footprint of the Tinsley House and the Map of the Tinsley House Site (page ). 3. Construct a Quadrant Map in each group (teacher will provide). 4. Complete Data Collection Sheet: Quadrant of the Tinsley House Site (page ). 5. Class discussion of data collection. Data Sources Footprints of Shelters (page ). Footprint of the Tinsley House (page ). Map of the Tinsley House Site (page ). Tinsley House Construction (page ). How an Archaeological Site is Formed (page ). Word Bank archaeological site: a place where people lived and left objects behind archaeology: the scientific study of past human cultures through artifacts and sites classification: systematic arrangement in groups or categories context: the relationship artifacts have to each other and to the situation in which they are found evidence: data which are used to answer questions excavate: to uncover by digging and expose to view inference: a conclusion derived from observation observation: recognizing or noting a fact or occurrence

16 Footprints of Shelters Archaeological footprint of a modern house Archaeological footprint of an earthlodge Archaeological footprint of a Tipi Archaeological footprint of the Tinsley House

17 Footprint of the Tinsley House Evidence from the archaeological site, historical documents and oral history tells us that the Tinsley family built their house in Because the house was moved to the Museum of the Rockies in 1989, archaeologists were able to excavate the area around the house before it was moved. In this part of the investigation you will study a map of the Tinsley House archaeological site. You will use the map of the site to help you make and record observations and make inferences based on the evidence. When archaeologists studied this site, they divided it into sections and assigned a different team to each section. You will copy the same procedure. The map of the site is divided into four parts or quadrants. Each team will receive one part of the site map to investigate. If there are more than four teams in the classroom, several teams will study the same quadrant. Footprint of the Tinsley House after the house has been moved off its foundation Photograph courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies. Bozeman, MT.

18 Map of the Tinsley House

19 Name Quadrant of the Tinsley House Site: Analyzing the Data 1. Write the quadrant location you are investigating. 2. Use the circles below to put your artifacts in groups. Give each group a name and then count the artifacts. You may need more circles. Category Number of Artifacts Category Number of Artifacts Category Number of Artifacts Category Number of Artifacts 2. Express the information above (number 2) as a bar graph or pie chart. Use separate graph paper if necessary. 3. Based on your observations and your artifact groups, write down two or more ideas about how the house was used. 4. Observe the complete archaeological map of the Tinsley house site. Do your conclusions change after seeing the entire farmhouse site? Do you have different ideas about how the Tinsley family lived? If so, write your new conclusions. (Use another page).

20 Stage 1 The homesteaders chose a plan. Log Building Construction Stage 2 Then they selected long and straight logs for the structure. They hauled the logs to the building site. In the West, homesteaders used pine, fir, and cottonwood trees to build the log buildings. Stage 3 The homesteaders then built a foundation. A foundation is the material that sits in or on the ground under the log building to support the building and give it strength. The foundation can be made of flat stacked stones or stones put together with mortar, bricks or concrete. Sometimes logs called sleepers were placed directly on the ground. Stage 4 The homesteaders then prepared the logs. They would prepare the logs by cutting them in several different ways (see diagram below): Figure 1: Cross-section of logs in preparation.

21 Stage 5 The homesteaders notched and stacked the logs. The logs are stacked one at a time until the walls reach the desired height. There are different ways of notching. The Tinsley house is square-notched. See a few examples of notching in the diagram below. Figure 2: Types of Notching Stage 6 A roof is framed to fit the structure and is attached to the top of the walls. The roof is covered with small logs or sawed lumber and covered with shingles or other materials such as sod (grass and dirt) or metal. A brick chimney was added last to vent smoke from a fireplace or wood stove. Stage 7 Homesteaders then constructed and installed windows and doors. They sealed the cracks between the logs by first chinking and then by daubing. Chinking was used to fill large gaps in the wood. Daubing was the final seal of the smaller cracks using a soft material that dried to a hard coating. The daubing used on many Montana cabins, including the Tinsley house, was made from sand, lime, and cement. Stage 8 The homesteaders constructed floors from wooden planks. Dirt floors were also common at this time. Source: wwwhfmgv.org/historie/cis/log.html

22 The Creation of an Archaeological Site In 1986, the Museum of the Rockies moved the Tinsley house into Bozeman, MT. Archaeologists excavated around the house before the move. This photograph shows archaeologists excavating around the outside of the Tinsley House. Notice the strings. Archaeologists use strings to mark the area they are excavating. The buckets are used to take dirt to the screens (not shown) where all the dirt is sifted for artifacts. Photograph Courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT.

23 Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Part Four: Today Archaeology Notebook You are an archaeologist. Your question is: What can we learn about the history and culture of the Montana homesteaders by investigating a historic farmhouse? Investigation Activities 1. Discussion about Mrs. Jackie Thompson. 2. Read The Historic Farmhouse Today by Dave Kinsey (page ). 3. Read Preserving the Tinsley House Mrs. Jackie Thompson (page ). Data Sources The Historic Farmhouse Today by Dave Kinsey (page ). Preserving the Tinsley House by Mrs. Jackie Thompson (page ). Word Bank architecture: the art and science of designing and erecting buildings or other structures barter: to trade one thing for another without using money curator: a person who takes care of a museum exhibit: something put on display, at a museum or a gallery interpret: to tell the meaning or importance preserve: to maintain intact, to protect from injury or harm replica: a copy of the original

24 The Tinsley House Today by Dave Kinsey Mr. Kinsey is curator of the Living History Museum at the Museum of the Rockies. The past cannot change. History, which is an interpretation of the past, is always changing. At the Museum of the Rockies Living History exhibit, The Tinsley House, we do Living History." Artifacts in a museum display, give museum visitors a very limited view of their history. By using replicas of historical artifacts, a costume, or even a historical dance, you gain a better understanding of how the item was used, how it was part of peoples' everyday life, and why it might influence what we do in our lives today. Volunteers at the Museum of the Rockies show visitors how to weave baskets. Photographs Courtesy of the Museum of the Rockies Bozeman, MT. Curators don t know how many museum objects were used. An example is a piece of farm equipment, such as a grain binder. Grain binders were used to cut and bundle grain in the field before it was threshed. There are very few people who know how to set, use and maintain a grain binder. Most curators can tell what the grain binder was used for but don t know how to do it. By using the grain binder we learn important information on what it took to harvest grain and what it took to get it to cut. This technology was a major aspect of homesteading in Montana. Another example is making butter. Homesteaders made butter to sell, trade and barter. For many homesteads making and selling butter was a large source of income. There are many different types of butter churns, and by trying out the different churns, we know what people did on daily basis. When you go to the Tinsley Living History farm today, you can learn about and use the artifacts similar to those the Tinsley family used on a daily basis. Tasting, smelling, listening, and experimenting with artifacts gives visitors a better understanding of how life was for homesteaders who lived in Montana many years ago. Volunteers grow, harvest, and cook food using the same methods as people living in the late 19 th century.

25 Preserving the Tinsley House by Jackie Thompson Preserving historic homes is important so we may understand how people lived in the past. The homes are artifacts that can be studied and analyzed. We can look at the size and layout of the rooms to find out which were the most important, and what activities occurred in them. For instance, the two largest rooms in the Tinsley house are the kitchen and the workroom above it. These rooms were where the women and girls in the house spent much of their time. Food preparation and preservation took a lot of time. Spinning wool, making cloth, sewing and mending also took up a lot of time and were done mostly in the workroom. In contrast, bedrooms were quite small as they were used primarily for sleeping. We can also guess how many possessions people had by the amount of storage space in their homes. Many historic homes have very small closets or no closets at all. The people who lived in those homes did not have many clothes or personal possessions. Kitchens did not have storage for a lot of electric appliances. Outbuildings, such as root cellars, barns, and sheds can also give us information about the owner s activities. Garbage piles provide many artifacts such as medicine bottles, cans, worn out tools, animal bones, and plant remains. We can see what people bought and what they ate. The Tinsley House is important for me because it provides a setting for my own family. It is a link with my own history and puts my knowledge in context. I can imagine what my ancestors did in each room and how they spent their days. Knowing that there was a root cellar, chicken house, and a barn lets me know my ancestors were industrious and self-sufficient. I am very proud of them. I have a better sense of who I am because I know something about them. The Hester family (direct descendants of Lucy Tinsley). From left to right: Raven Thompson, Danielle Burrington, Norma Thompson (granddaughter of Lucy Mary), Derek Thompson, Jackie Thompson (me), Gannon Hester. Photograph Courtesy of Jackie Thompson.

26 Investigating a Historic Farmhouse Assessment Archaeology Notebook You are an archaeologist. Your question is: What can we learn about the history and culture of the Montana Homesteaders by investigating a Historic Farmhouse? Assessment Activities 1. Write a final composition. 2. Complete the Bringing the Past into the Future activity by drawing a shelter based on the Tinsley House (page ). Word Bank performance standards: basis for measuring your work

27 Final Composition After archaeologists investigate an archaeological site, they report their findings to other archaeologists or to the public. You will write an essay that answers the question: How can investigating a Historic Farmhouse help us understand the homesteaders of Montana and their culture? Introduction In the Introduction write one paragraph. State the question: How can investigating a historic farmhouse help us understand the homesteaders of Montana and their culture? In one or two complete sentences briefly list four things that can be learned about the homesteaders of Montana through the Tinsley house. If possible, choose one idea from each of the parts of the investigation (Geography, History, Archaeology, and the Tinsley House Today). Body In the Body, write one paragraph for each of the four ideas listed in your Introduction. Include specific evidence from the investigation to support each of the ideas. Example: Archaeologists found many artifacts at the Tinsley House Site. Artifacts tell what kinds of food the Tinsley family ate. Animal bones and teeth show that they hunted animals for food. Conclusion In the Conclusion, write one paragraph summarizing the four things that can be learned about the Tinsley family from studying the Historic Farmhouse. Answer the question: How does learning about the Tinsley House contribute to our understanding of the history of the Montana homesteaders? Performance Standards Introduction My introduction states the question and includes four things that can be learned about the history of the Tinsley family from studying the Historic Farmhouse. Body The body of my essay contains one idea per paragraph. The paragraph describes each idea and includes specific data or evidence. Conclusion My conclusion summarizes the four paragraphs in the body of the essay.

28 Bringing the Past into the Future One way to honor history is to use ideas from the past to create new things in the present. For example, modern builders sometimes use historic architectural ideas to create buildings today. Drawing 1. Imagine you are going to build a modern or futuristic shelter. You want to use ideas from the Tinsley House. 2. Think back to all that you learned about the Tinsley house. Think about shape, symbolism, and way of life. 3. Draw a modern or futuristic shelter that includes at least three ideas from the Tinsley house. 4. Label the ideas that you borrowed from the Tinsley house. Performance Standards Ideas from the Tinsley House History - My drawing includes three ideas from the Tinsley house. Design - My design looks like a modern shelter, or a shelter of the future. Lines and Labels - I labeled all three of the ideas from the Tinsley House.