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Frontier Home
With full-color photographs, the author of Amish Home presents a survival story of family life in the early American wilderness, a challenge often met only with few supplies and simple tools.
- GenresHistory
40 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 1993
9 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Bial
120 books25 followersAuthor and photographer Raymond Bial (1948-2021) has been creating acclaimed books for children and adults for more than thirty years. His books have been published by Houghton Mifflin, Scholastic, Walker & Company, Marshall Cavendish, Crickhollow Books, and other fine publishers and university presses. Raymond also makes images on assignment, and his stock photographs have been used by book publishers such as National Geographic, advertising agencies such as Leo Burnett, and media such as PBS.
Raymond’s most recent books are Ellis Island: Coming to the Land of Liberty, which is an excellent companion volume to Tenement: Immigrant Life on the Lower East Side; The Shaker Village, a lovely collection of color photographs depicting the simplicity and grace of this remarkable utopian community; a lovely paperback edition of Where Lincoln Walked published in honor of the bicentennial of the birth of this great president; Dripping Blood Cave and Other Ghostly Stories, the third volume in a popular series of ghost stories for young readers; and Rescuing Rover: Saving America’s Dogs, which has been selected for the Junior Literary Guild Book Club. Rescuing Rover is currently receiving high praise across the country.
Chigger, his most recent novel, is receiving fine reviews from readers, young and old alike. Anyone who likes to root for the underdog will love this sweet story of an unforgettable girl.
Raymond’s most recent books are Ellis Island: Coming to the Land of Liberty, which is an excellent companion volume to Tenement: Immigrant Life on the Lower East Side; The Shaker Village, a lovely collection of color photographs depicting the simplicity and grace of this remarkable utopian community; a lovely paperback edition of Where Lincoln Walked published in honor of the bicentennial of the birth of this great president; Dripping Blood Cave and Other Ghostly Stories, the third volume in a popular series of ghost stories for young readers; and Rescuing Rover: Saving America’s Dogs, which has been selected for the Junior Literary Guild Book Club. Rescuing Rover is currently receiving high praise across the country.
Chigger, his most recent novel, is receiving fine reviews from readers, young and old alike. Anyone who likes to root for the underdog will love this sweet story of an unforgettable girl.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 8, 2021
Families who enjoy visiting living history museums and historical home and farm sites will also enjoy this descriptive look into frontier living. Rather than being organized into chapters, the content flows gradually through the components of daily life from initial settlement to a growing homestead. Kids and adults alike will appreciate the interesting details that go just a bit beyond the general descriptions of pioneer life. Pioneers had very little, especially items of convenience or comfort, and the small details illuminate the primitive furnishings, clothing, and overall living conditions. Mattresses were stuffed with corn-husks, shoes were not designed for left and right feet, but rather were identical pairs, and the difficulty of starting a fire on a cold winter’s morning really stand in stark contrast to the comforts we take for granted today. An informative read with enough detail to give a good impression of the difficulties of frontier living while still demonstrating that hard work and determination could bring many rewards.
September 14, 2020
Great little book about how our early ancestors here in America survived and did many things-- how they built their cabins, what they ate wore, and lived. For instance, I had no idea that they used to scrub their pans with dried pieces of corn cobs, or after making jelly, would cover the jelly in a crock with lard and cover that with an animal bladder to try to keep sterile. I also did not know that the ashes from corn cobs was used as baking powder!
October 11, 2019
I love the summary! I love the topic! I love the cover! I just love this time period and everything about it. The summary was really impactful how it said it was a survival story about families making new homes and lives for themselves. They learned to survive in difficult situations. They were self-sufficient in hunting and growing their own food, and making their own clothing and household items. It was a life of freedom and independence and showed their spirit. I like the dedication to his kids and all kids who love to look into the past.
It was so slow traveling in wagons that they usually left in late winter in order to find a homesite, build a cabin, and harvest a crop before cold weather set in again.
The wagons jolted over every rock and root.
Life included threats from disease, wild animals, and Indians. They could bring very little with them. They were big enough to fit a single family and a few necessities. They brought the supplies they needed and left everything that could be made later, like wooden tool handles.
A girl wrote that her family brought little besides bedding and clothing and there was room for Mother and the youngest kids but everyone else had to walk.
When possible they settled in or near dense woods or along wooded rivers because they needed wood for shelter, fuel, and tools. The ax was very important. Its blade was kept sharp to cut trees down and chop firewood to stay warm. Most pioneers cleared fields for crops before building a house. They would sleep in their wagons, stayed with a neighbor if there was one, or made a rough shelter.
They often girdled trees instead of cutting them down, a process where a ring was cut around the trunk so the trees would die. Or they cut down a few acres of trees, cleaned up the brush, and had a "log rollin" where the nearby men met up for a day to pile up the logs and burn them. Most pioneers waited until a few acres of corn and a vegetable garden were planted to build their cabin.
Cabins originated from Sweden and Germany and came to America when Swedish and German immigrants made the buildings they knew from home.
If it was necessary, a settler could build his cabin by himself with just an ax. If there were other settlers they would have a "raisin'" to stack the timbers and they often left the chinking (wood chips put between logs, then daubed with mud, clay, or lime mortar) to the settler and his family. They used broadaxes to square the logs and adz to smooth them.
Most floors were dirt at first and later they added puncheon, plank board, floors. Windows were made with animal skins or greased paper. The door could have been an old quilt or hide and then once the crops were in, it was replaced with a plank door.
I knew from Laura Ingalls that they had a string on the door that they pulled in at night as a lock. But I've never heard the expression "The latch string is always out" as hospitality.
Early chimneys were made of logs. Loaves of mud or clay with dried grass or pine needles were put inside the chimney and covered with more mud and clay but they were still dangerous and caused many fires. They built stone or brick fireplaces and chimneys as soon as they could.
They were furnished with tables and benches. Early cabins had beds of poles set into the walls and attached to cross poles to form a frame. Mattresses of dried grasses and corn husks were covered with quilts and blankets. Some didn't build here and slept on the floor with buffalo robes or blankets. For the ones who could afford them, four poster beds were placed in a corner with straw or corn husk mattresses.
Pegs on the walls held their clothes. Deer antlers were often above the door to hold the rifle, powder horn, and bullet pouch.
It was usually a single room, sometimes with a loft for the kids.
Fires were kept burning all day, for heat and cooking and light. Cabins always smelled of smoke. If the fire went out, they had to borrow a pan of glowing coals from a neighbor or strike a piece of steel against doing to make sparks to catch on linen or fine material.
It was so hard to start a new fire that they carefully banked the embers with ashes each night so they would have a few hot coals in the morning.
In the evenings they gathered around the fire for reading, sewing, or playing. The dad told stories and the mom mended clothes or made corn-husk dolls, and the kids played tops, marbles, and wooden toys.
In some places settlers were constantly afraid of Indians. Rifles were needed for defense and sometimes to fight off cougars and bears. They needed rifles to hunt rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, deer, and sometimes bear. Early frontiersmen preferred German immigrant-made guns which were more accurate at greater distances than muskets. But they were heavy and hard to handle in the woods, so men designed a longer, lighter rifle. It was made in Pennsylvania but I was called the Kentucky rifle probably because it was used so much there.
Wooden bowls, utensils, and other items were carved by hand, often by boys.
Their fun involved work, like guilting and husking bees. Once that was done they had a large meal and danced.
Adults played checkers with a homemade board and corncob slices.
By the late 1800s most of the West was settled and villages with gristmills, blacksmiths, coopers, and craftsmen sprang up around homesteads. Stores had items from places like Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New York.
It ended so suddenly and I felt like there was so much more to be included, and then I remembered that this is called Frontier Home and not Frontier Life. All of the information spoiled me for more but it was really nice of him to include so much extra info on their way of life outside of just the homes they lived in. I wish there had been more pictures to show the different style of homes. I wish the inside of a wagon had been shown, with belongings they would have had packed in it. Also I wish I had seen a picture of a rough shelter that stood as a home before the cabin because I have no idea what that would look like.
It ended with him saying that someday they might build a better home but they knew they had prevailed through courage, wits, and hard work. A quote from 1810 was included about a woman looking back on that time and saying they wouldn't have missed out on that for their lives. Even though they had few things and it was hard, they were still happy.
It was so slow traveling in wagons that they usually left in late winter in order to find a homesite, build a cabin, and harvest a crop before cold weather set in again.
The wagons jolted over every rock and root.
Life included threats from disease, wild animals, and Indians. They could bring very little with them. They were big enough to fit a single family and a few necessities. They brought the supplies they needed and left everything that could be made later, like wooden tool handles.
A girl wrote that her family brought little besides bedding and clothing and there was room for Mother and the youngest kids but everyone else had to walk.
When possible they settled in or near dense woods or along wooded rivers because they needed wood for shelter, fuel, and tools. The ax was very important. Its blade was kept sharp to cut trees down and chop firewood to stay warm. Most pioneers cleared fields for crops before building a house. They would sleep in their wagons, stayed with a neighbor if there was one, or made a rough shelter.
They often girdled trees instead of cutting them down, a process where a ring was cut around the trunk so the trees would die. Or they cut down a few acres of trees, cleaned up the brush, and had a "log rollin" where the nearby men met up for a day to pile up the logs and burn them. Most pioneers waited until a few acres of corn and a vegetable garden were planted to build their cabin.
Cabins originated from Sweden and Germany and came to America when Swedish and German immigrants made the buildings they knew from home.
If it was necessary, a settler could build his cabin by himself with just an ax. If there were other settlers they would have a "raisin'" to stack the timbers and they often left the chinking (wood chips put between logs, then daubed with mud, clay, or lime mortar) to the settler and his family. They used broadaxes to square the logs and adz to smooth them.
Most floors were dirt at first and later they added puncheon, plank board, floors. Windows were made with animal skins or greased paper. The door could have been an old quilt or hide and then once the crops were in, it was replaced with a plank door.
I knew from Laura Ingalls that they had a string on the door that they pulled in at night as a lock. But I've never heard the expression "The latch string is always out" as hospitality.
Early chimneys were made of logs. Loaves of mud or clay with dried grass or pine needles were put inside the chimney and covered with more mud and clay but they were still dangerous and caused many fires. They built stone or brick fireplaces and chimneys as soon as they could.
They were furnished with tables and benches. Early cabins had beds of poles set into the walls and attached to cross poles to form a frame. Mattresses of dried grasses and corn husks were covered with quilts and blankets. Some didn't build here and slept on the floor with buffalo robes or blankets. For the ones who could afford them, four poster beds were placed in a corner with straw or corn husk mattresses.
Pegs on the walls held their clothes. Deer antlers were often above the door to hold the rifle, powder horn, and bullet pouch.
It was usually a single room, sometimes with a loft for the kids.
Fires were kept burning all day, for heat and cooking and light. Cabins always smelled of smoke. If the fire went out, they had to borrow a pan of glowing coals from a neighbor or strike a piece of steel against doing to make sparks to catch on linen or fine material.
It was so hard to start a new fire that they carefully banked the embers with ashes each night so they would have a few hot coals in the morning.
In the evenings they gathered around the fire for reading, sewing, or playing. The dad told stories and the mom mended clothes or made corn-husk dolls, and the kids played tops, marbles, and wooden toys.
In some places settlers were constantly afraid of Indians. Rifles were needed for defense and sometimes to fight off cougars and bears. They needed rifles to hunt rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, deer, and sometimes bear. Early frontiersmen preferred German immigrant-made guns which were more accurate at greater distances than muskets. But they were heavy and hard to handle in the woods, so men designed a longer, lighter rifle. It was made in Pennsylvania but I was called the Kentucky rifle probably because it was used so much there.
Wooden bowls, utensils, and other items were carved by hand, often by boys.
Their fun involved work, like guilting and husking bees. Once that was done they had a large meal and danced.
Adults played checkers with a homemade board and corncob slices.
By the late 1800s most of the West was settled and villages with gristmills, blacksmiths, coopers, and craftsmen sprang up around homesteads. Stores had items from places like Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New York.
It ended so suddenly and I felt like there was so much more to be included, and then I remembered that this is called Frontier Home and not Frontier Life. All of the information spoiled me for more but it was really nice of him to include so much extra info on their way of life outside of just the homes they lived in. I wish there had been more pictures to show the different style of homes. I wish the inside of a wagon had been shown, with belongings they would have had packed in it. Also I wish I had seen a picture of a rough shelter that stood as a home before the cabin because I have no idea what that would look like.
It ended with him saying that someday they might build a better home but they knew they had prevailed through courage, wits, and hard work. A quote from 1810 was included about a woman looking back on that time and saying they wouldn't have missed out on that for their lives. Even though they had few things and it was hard, they were still happy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2017
very informative. stylistically very similar to the rear section of American girl books. pictures with small tidbits of history. a little dry, but good.
January 7, 2024
A starting point in understanding how early settlers lived. A nice balance of photos and text with some pioneer quotes added in.
April 4, 2025
This is a great summary of the lives of pioneers. It would be useful in explaining the period to grade school students.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews