new horn and pouch

[lew wetzel]

here are some pics of my new horn and pouch,the pouch is made of buffalo.



and also my new coon skin cap my buddy got for me at ft.niagara...pretty cool eh..

[longcruise]

Those are real nice.  I especially like the horn.  Would like to try some serious scrim on a horn project but can't find an white horn anywhere!

Looking at the scrimmed pic of the fort got me thinking.  Having worked in intelligence in a combat zone my first thought was that a soldier with such a horn when captured would provide the enemy with a blueprint of the fort.   Then, using double think, it would also be a great way to have spread misinformation.  That of course assuming that you are not being triple thought!

[FlintRock Rob]

Very, very nice Lew!

[Randy Hedden]

Looking at the scrimmed pic of the fort got me thinking.  Having worked in intelligence in a combat zone my first thought was that a soldier with such a horn when captured would provide the enemy with a blueprint of the fort.   Then, using double think, it would also be a great way to have spread misinformation.  That of course assuming that you are not being triple thought!

Longcruise,

It probably wouldn't matter much if an enemy saw a drawing of a fort on your powder horn as almost all 18th century forts were constructed from the designs of a French engineer named Vauban. They pretty much all looked alike except for maybe the number of bastions a fort had. During the 18th century most forts were taken by siege. The army laying siege would dig trenches on angles that wouldn't allow the army hold up in the fort to shoot the engineers that were digging the trenches. When the trenches were close enough to the fort the army laying siege would mount their mortars in the trenches and bombard the fort. The diamond shaped bastions on the corners of the fort were designed to attempt to allow those in the fort to shoot those digging the trenches. The army laying seige to the fort had the biggest advantage if their engineer figured the angles of the trenches correctly.

There was at one time a small French fort, based on Vauban's designs, a couple of miles from my house. The fort is long gone, but the foot print left by the fort is clearly visible.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[longcruise]

Randy, thanks for an interesting dissertation on forts of old.  Have not had much opportunity to visit any of the old forts in the east.  You always seem to have something of interest to throw out on any of these historical subjects.

[TENdriver]

Randy,

Was this fort located near Joliet?

[Randy Hedden]

Ken,

Yes, it is near Joliet. It is just off francis road in New Lenox, IL. There are also the remnants of an 1812 era trading post right across road from the fort site. Their is not much to see at either site, but they are interesting to someone who has an interest in local history.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[lew wetzel]

randy,have you ever thought of taken a metal detector over the site.who knows what kind of treasures you could unearth...

[Randy Hedden]

randy,have you ever thought of taken a metal detector over the site.who knows what kind of treasures you could unearth...
[/quote

The property with the fort site is within a county forest preserve. I doubt they would let me dig for anything that a detector might find. At least I wouldn't want to be caught digging for artifacts.

Several years ago the bridge near the fort and trading post site had to be widened. There was a large Indian burial mound laying right next to the road. Construction was stopped for the whole summer so the University of Illinois team could dig the mound. They dug the mound by layers and laid it all back down far enough off the road off the road that it wouldn't interfere with the construction. I happened to be on medical for 12 weeks at the same time they were digging. I was on medical because of the removal of a tumor in my ear which left me with severe balance problems. I could drive, but could barely walk without assistance. I drove over to the dig almost every day and sat in a lawn chair and observed the dig and most of the artifacts in the mound.

Almost everywhere around where I live construction on previously untouched land turns up burial mounds. When they started construction for a golf course in the next town over they found 12 or 15 Indian burial mounds. In another town next to me the other way construction was started on a strip mall and just hundreds of artifacts were unearthed. In this case it wasn't a burial mound but probably an Indian village site, and many people went in and picked up artifacts. Most of the artifacts picked up were stone items like corn grinders. A metal detector wouldn't have helped there.

One of the largest Indian sites ever found is an hours drive from me and very close to where Tim Albert lives.

Randy Hedden     

[FL-Flintlock]

Great looking work Lew!

Randy,

Thanks for the fort info from me too.