Storehouse and Fort

Because of the great number of trees to be found just outside the village, and also owing to the fact that the Indians were so eager to render assistance in whatsoever way they might, the building of the fort and of the storehouse was a short task. It seemed to me as if the work was no sooner begun, than it was finished.

The fortification was neither more nor less than a palisade or high fence of logs, one hundred and twenty yards square, within which were mounted one heavy and six small guns, at such points as were most convenient to command the surrounding country.

This palisade was made by digging a trench four feet deep in the ground, and planting therein heavy logs twelve or fifteen feet in height, after which the earth was pounded down solidly until they stood fairly secure. Then roughly hewn planks were nailed along the top of the timbers to hold them yet more firmly in place.

Around this fence on the inside, at such a height that a man standing thereon could look over the top, was a rude platform built of puncheon planks, where defenders of the fortification, if so be we came to battle with the Indians, might stand. Here also were placed the guns of which I have spoken.

The storehouse was simply a hut of logs laid lengthwise, as a child builds a house of faggots, and notched at the ends to hold them in place, with mats of reeds, woven by the Indians, laid over the roof to prevent the rain from entering between the timbers.