Pioneer Natural History Farms Fieldtrip

We just went on a Natural History Tour which means that we walked and explored through (90 acres) five themed historic areas: an 1840s Tonkawa Encampment, an 1860s German Immigrant Farm, an 1870s Texian Farm, an 1880s Cotton Planters Farm and an 1890s Sprinkle Corner rural village. 

It took us 3 hours to cover the farm and we probably could have stayed longer if we had some food.
This was the map that we followed and participated in each of the themed areas.  There are alot of pictures posted (I took over 100!) but it was so cool that we got to experience history like this.  We will go back and definitely send the kids to their camp where they will work, dress and play in the 1800's era.

1890s Sprinkle Corner
Sprinkle Corner, a recreated rural village on the Blackland Prairie, featured a general store, exhibits, houses and other original town site buildings that either were restored or are in the process of restoration.


Forget about stairs, Alex has an idea!

 

Checking out an outhouse.

Horse stables, but not being used.
What a good big brother.

Learning about cowboys. 
Alex asked, "but where's the horse?  What happen to him?"  He didn't understand why the saddle wasn't on the horse.

I loved all the porches that each house had.  With so much to do on a farm, I could easily live on one.  The kids had so much to do and so much to explore on God's land.

1860s German Immigrant Farm
(the man in the house started speaking Dutch to us.)

Thirteen children were raised in this one-room log cabin, with the girls sleeping in the loft above everyone with a ladder from the outside leading up to it and the boys in the yard and barn. Meals were prepared in the outdoor kitchen, where we smelled vegetable stew bubbling in the large cast-iron pot. The stacked cedar-post fence that rings the yard contains a Devil’s Gate, a gate without hinges whose colorful name is only part of its history.
(look up for the girls room in the rafters, below was the parents room and the poor boys slept outside)
 
The kids got to wash clothes with a washboard and homemade soap which smelled like pinesol (very arromatic and fresh) in their backyard .

Their chicken coup.

This was called an open barn/stable; only one side contained a solid wall.  Just guessing, but I think this allowed the animals to come and go as they pleased but I'm no farmgirl.

Playing a game that they played in the 1800's..bean bag toss.  Crazy enough, they all loved it.  This I will be making for them in the backyard.  on a side note: we better get alot of land with the next house with how much we want to place back there.

Making the fire bigger for their vegetable soup.

Making dolls like they did back then. I didn't get a chance to have them try this, there were just too many people.

 

1840s Tonkawa Encampment
A real Tonkawa Indian campsite that dates back centuries. Experience what life in Central Texas was like in the days when Texas was still a Republic. The centerpiece of the site is a massive, centuries-old oak tree that once shaded the Native Texans who camped beneath it. Just down the hill, was a Walnut Creek at a spot where the Chisholm Trail crossed through the area in the late 1800s, long after the Tonkawa were gone.
 
Yup, you can guess it.  I want one!!  And I know where to buy one.
Watch out daddy, claustrophobia might set in.

Above: homemade wheelburrow
Below: griding tools exhibited by Aliana

Cooking site.

1870s Texian Farm
The family of Frederick and Harriet Jourdan. They homesteaded the property in the 1850s, after coming to Texas from Tennessee. Like many settlers from the Eastern States, the lifestyles reflected their origins and their architecture of log-and-board homes their middle-class status. They had a chicken house, corrals and barns.
 
Feeding the donkeys and chickens.

One huge momma pig.

Searching for the momma's pigglets, which are no where to be found.

1880s Cotton Planter’s Farm
This was the life for a wealthy family in the day when cotton was king. The sprawling house was built just before the Civil War began and during the Victorian era. They had a separate kitchen, a spinning room where loons and wheels were kept busy making thread and yarn for clothing and other essentials, living room where there was a fireplace and piano and then 2 bedrooms.

Tony was churning butter.
 
Alex was pumping water.

Here was their spacious kitchen.

Child's room.

Living quarters.

Spinning room.

Smoke House was outside next to their home.

The Blacksmith was down the road.

 

Trying out all the cropping tools and machines.

 

 

Traditional wagon that would be drawn by horses.

More cropping machines.

All were hard at work...

and had to try them all.

We found baby hens in this warming box. It brought back memories of raising baby chickens in elementary school.  They smelled like butter then and they still do now.

 

Alex screams, "Mom, look it's a longhorn."  Yep, he's a texan.

Playing games with the pioneer children. 
Families would eat at tables around a grassy area while the children played in the center.  So this is what they did.

(Alex wasn't playing ring around the rosies, just by the words I could hear the girl singing.)

Aliana got passed between 3 girls.

Playing "The blind man" game. 
They thought it was so fun and funny to get spun around with a blindfold on and then try to catch each other.  Guess what, we are doing this one too. ;-)

Alex & Tony both got to have turn's.

Texas History Interesting Fact
Did you know that the state of Texas was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845!