Fort Harrod, Mercer County, Kentucky

The settlers saved their wood ashes and places them in a wooden ash hopper for lye making. The hopper had an opening in the bottom that allowed water that was poured over the ashes to leach through into a bucket. Next, grease that had been rendered and saved was placed in a large iron pot over an open fire. The lye solution from the hopper was added to the grease, where it cooked to a consistency of syrup. It would then be poured into the cloth-lined wooden trays to cure for approximately 10 days.

A group of men would transport gunpowder in drum-shaped kegs that fit snugly against horses' flanks. The kegs hoops were made of saplings, rather than metal, to prevent sparks. The powder was stored in an earthen magazine camouflaged as a root cellar. James Harrod led a convoy bringing in gunpowder in 1777. The magazine in Fort Harrod was located near the Southwest corner.

The stockade of Fort Harrod was built around a large spring. The primary source of water for the fort's inhabitants. This spring was located at the bottom of a hill in the Northwest corner of the fort. Barney Stagner, keeper of the spring that served the fort, was beheaded outside of the stockade in June, 1777. The water at the spring was not clean, receiving the filthy run-off from the waste of human and animal inhabitants of the fort. Even so, this precious water saved the fort on many occasions.

Whose foresight, courage and fortitude gave to his country thevast territory lying between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. In Old Fort Harrod he conceived the plan and took the initial step.

The nutritious triad of corn, beans, and squash were called "The Three Sisters" by the Iroquois. According to the legend, the three sisters were a legacy from the sky woman whose fall from the heaven led to the formation of the earth and its creatures. After she descended, it was said she gave birth to a daughter, who in turn gave birth to the good twin and the Evil twin. The twin brothers were responsible for the perpetual struggle between light and darkness.

The daughter, who was known to the Iroquois as "Our Mother", was said to have died giving birth to the evil twin. From her buried body sprang four plants: tobacco from her head, corn from her heart, squash from her abdomen, and beans from her fingers. The good twin then taught humans how to tend the plants.

One of the first "appliances" for the settlements was a hominy block. This was a large chunk of wood that provided the base for the 3 foot long pestle used to grind up corn. When the corn became to hard to grind by this method, a hand grist mill, or quern, was used. This consisted of two round slabs of limestone about 2 feet in diameter called burr stones. The corn was ground into meal by manually rotating the top stone.

I do not know 100% that the spelling of this name is correct and I have to apologize, the camera was affected by the heat and I can not clearly read the rest of the picture.
To the memory of Mrs. William Coomes