A journey to the past

Chicagoans, locals relive history during Cabin Fest

Philip Ip and his wife drove down from Chicago Saturday morning to hike at the Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area and take in the 25th annual Cabin Fest.

"We found it on the Internet," he said. "We just took interstate 55 and got off at this exit (Lorenzo Road)."

Ip said they had previously hiked in the prairie being developed at the old Joliet Arsenal and they wanted to see Goose Lake.

Saturday's events took place around the Cragg Cabin, which was rebuilt at Goose Lake in the early 1980s.

Historian Jo Fleming, who was stationed inside the cabin, recounted the history of the structure, as well the Cragg family.

John and Agnes Cragg came to this area from New Jersey in the early 1830s and built their cabin along the Mazon River. The original cabin was 20-by-20 feet and later a second floor was added, which resulted in it being called "the palace."

"She had seven children, but only three lived to adulthood," Fleming said. "I don't even know if she had a midwife."

Although the Cragg name is not in the area any longer, direct descendants of the family still live here.

The cabin was on the trail between Chicago and Bloomington, and as many as 30 people may have stayed there at one time.

Fleming said the cabin was still in tact when it was moved to grounds of the Mazon-Verona-Kinsman High School, along Grand Ridge Road, in the early 1970s.

Joe Nyhoff, who was superintendent of Goose Lake at the time, thought it should be in the park and arranged to have it moved there. However, while a site was being prepared, the cabin was placed in storage. During that time, it deteriorated to the point where it could not be saved.

In the early 1980s, workers from the Youth Conservation Corps built the duplicate cabin, which is now located at Goose Lake Prairie.

This cabin is only 16-by-16 feet, Fleming said, so it is four feet shorter and four feet narrower.

For those interested in going back even further, Lou Aiello of Minooka was available to talk about the eastern woodland tribes prior to contact with the Europeans.

"There was sporadic contact in the 1600s," he said, "with more continuous contact in the early 1700s."

Prior to contact with the Europeans, the tribes did not use metal, so everything was made of stone, wood, other plant materials and skins.

"They liked convenience as much as anyone," he said, adding that the copper pot was a major improvement for the Native Americans.

Prior to that, to get hot water, they would have heated rocks and placed them in a skin holding the water, he said.  

Aiello displayed weapons made from a variety of materials, include ash and cherry tree roots.

He also demonstrated how to weave a rope from cattails, which were very plentiful.

Aiello said the Native Americans liked to gamble and even had what we would call chips. However, they did not believe in luck, but in their spirits.

Beverly Mansfield of Lisbon explained techniques for skinning wild animals and preserving the hides. There was also a weaving demonstration.

Saturday's Cabin Fest was dedicated to Marion Borring, who recently died in an accident in Wisconsin at the age of 93.