Summer at the Bear Bend Hunting Cabin by Helen Belcher

Helen Belcher, Historical Interpreter

Summer has ended at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum as school has started back up at SHSU, public, and private schools in the area.  Staff has been preparing the buildings and grounds for the fall “Work and Play” program for school tours.  Benches have been cleaned, the Woodland Home has a new coat of paint, and the kitchen has been given a new clay floor. We are ready for the school year to begin as we close out our afternoons at the Bear Bend Hunting Cabin.

Staff members have presented a variety of programs on Wednesday’s during July and August at the cabin. Children of all ages, parents, and grandparents joined us on the porch for pioneer skills, flower pounding, tin punching, and cornhusk dolls. Our mission was to provide hands-on activities similar to those done by the Houston children when they lived here in Huntsville on the Woodland Home farm.

Our pioneer skills session included those chores usually reserved for women and girls such as churning butter and washing clothes. Girls could try on bonnets and dresses while discussing all the added garments worn during the period.  Boys, as well as the girls, enjoyed having a chance to throw a tomahawk, which is similar to a hatchet, and they learned how to load and fire a black powder rifle.  

Another session focused on log cabin construction with discussions on the use of such tools as the adze and broad axe.  The Bear Bend cabin is a great example of a classic double pen, planked log two-story dog trot cabin.  It displays two differing notching styles, one a square notch and the other a half-dovetail.

The noise level was up as hammers were busy when participants punched designs into cake pans for the tin punching session.  Tin art was a method of decorating tin by punching designs into the tin using punches or awls.  In colonial America, artisans who worked in tin were called either whitesmiths or tinners, which later they became known as tinsmiths.  Sometimes called "poor man's silver," tin was inexpensive, lightweight, easy to clean, and very durable.  During our demonstration we used a variety of nails and screwdrivers to punch designs, such as stars and starbursts.  Some of the designs we utilized were copied from a pie safe or cupboard door panels in Bear Bend and the Steamboat House.  The punched tin on the doors allowed air to circulate in the cupboard at the same time keeping animals and some insects off the food stored inside.   The art of tin punching is still alive and well as artisans continue to decorate dippers, cups, candle molds and holders, cookie cutters, plates, and lanterns. 

Dolls were the emphasis at another Wednesday session at Bear Bend.  Children coming to the Republic of Texas didn’t have the luxury of bringing toys as their families traveled by boats or wagons to their new homes.  Toys and dolls had to be made from materials found around the house and farm.  Both girls and boys could use corn husks to fashion dolls, dressing them in pieces of cloth, leather or fur, and  using corn silk or moss for the hair.   Cornhusk dolls have been made by Native Americans probably since the beginning of corn agriculture more than a thousand years ago. Girl dolls depicted chores such as sweeping, sewing, and weaving, while boys could be provided with bows and arrows with feather headdresses.  At the end of doll making session everyone went home with their own special doll.

Flower pounding was a fun craft for both children and adults.  The art of pounding flowers to dye fabric was said to be used by Cherokee women. Simply put, flower (leaf) pounding entails placing flowers on fabric, taping them down, and then pounding the flower (leaf) with a hammer to dye the fabric with the flower’s juices. Hammers were used again in this craft and the noise level was high.  Some decorated their fabric with a bouquet of flowers while others spelled their names in leaves and flowers.  Imagination ran wild during our flower pounding session.

The programs at the Bear Bend Hunting Cabin this summer were not only great fun for staff but we think for all the participants as well!  The response was so good we are planning a few Wednesday afternoon sessions this fall.  Next week’s article will highlight our busy fall schedule.  For more information regarding our programs check out the Museum website and Facebook page or contact the Museum at 936-294-1832.  Hope to have you join the fun on the porch at Bear Bend Cabin this fall!