A Trail Through History and Nature
Fort Knox II State Historic Site
Vincennes, Indiana
September 18 and 19, 2014
Most often when I am conducting youth programs these days, I
am bringing them to a connection and understanding with the natural world.
Sometimes that path crosses with human history.
I live in an area very rich in history and historical sites.
In fact, I used to work as an interpreter for the Vincennes State Historic
Sites, a complex of many things, including an old print shop, a replica of the
first Indiana college, the Indiana Territorial Capitol building, a prehistoric
mound, and an early 19th century fort site.
On a Thursday and Friday morning in mid-September, natural
and human history blended at an event called A Day in the Life of Fort Knox II.
Eighth grade students from three area schools came to the site to learn about life
at Fort Knox II and life on this early western frontier.
My part in this was Plants. I have been doing Plants in this
event for many years, and have tried various angles. This year, I simplified my
program and taught the medicinal and food uses of a small number of garden
herbs, wild plants and native trees. We would have each group for about 15
minutes.
Here is my little table at the beginning of the first day. By
the end of each morning, the herbs did not look this fresh at all. Students
were allowed to handle and smell the herbs as I spoke about them. There is
nothing like the olfactory sense to create experience and memory, added to
tactile and visual experience with the herbs.
On the left corner are Peppermint and Spearmint for flavor,
fresh breath and, especially, tummy ache. In the middle is Lemon Balm, good for
practically anything. Even the scent of mint or Lemon Balm helps people to feel
better. On the right corner is Sage, the herb of wisdom and strength. It is
also good for treating headache and sore throat, among other things. Behind the
Sage is Horehound, especially good for cough, sore throat and minor respiratory
problems. The students also learned about the importance of knowing the herbs
and how to use them on the frontier.
The gourd is on the table to teach about pioneers
transporting garden seeds from their previous home to a new place, while
traveling many miles through wilderness. A gourd is a good seed-keeper – seeds
are more likely to germinate in the new garden after traveling in a gourd. It
was very important for the pioneer to have food and medicinal plants that were
very familiar to him or her when settling so far away.
The 8th graders also learned the importance of
understanding wild plants. Behind the gourd, bedraggled at the end of summer,
is an especially important and versatile one called Stinging Nettle.
Nettle growing in wet woods
All of those little hairs along the stem and leaf veins
contain a compound of acids that include formic, the same acid injected by an
ant bite. When you brush against the plant, the sharp hairs inject this
compound into your skin, immediately leaving you with a prickly, itchy rash
that goes away awhile later. Some of the students said they had experienced
this before. Cooking or drying the plant neutralizes the acid, taking away the
sting. Stinging Nettle, when younger, is cooked as a very healthy vegetable or
steeped in water as a tonic. In the fall, twine can be made from the fibers in
the stem.
Another tonic the students learned about is in the first
native tree we approached – Sassafras. The red spot on my table is one of the
early-changing leaves from a nearby Sassafras tree.
Red Sassafras leaves
The 8th graders learned to recognize it by its
three leaf shapes (oval, mitten and three-fingered) and by its scent. They all
seemed to enjoy smelling the citrusy scent of scratched green Sassafrass twigs.
They also learned that a tonic, made from the roots, is the
“original root beer”.
Moving further along the edge of the woods, we found a
Paw-Paw tree.
This one was too young to bear fruit, but there were a few
students and teachers (more from the country schools than from the city school)
who could describe the flavor of the “Indiana Banana”.
Our next native tree encounter was with a Persimmon tree
loaded with fruit.
There were a few students who had tasted native (not
Oriental) persimmons – again, mostly from the country schools. None of the
fruit was fully ripe at that time. They learned that it is not fully ripe until
it is soft and falls to the ground. If eaten not fully ripe, there is an
experience in the mouth that one does not forget.
Sassafras tea, Paw-paw fruit and Persimmons: historically an
essential part of the Hoosier experience, particularly in autumn. Year after
year, I am disappointed by how few children have tasted these. Picking up a
Paw-paw (and putting it in your pocket), or Persimmons, then eating them fresh,
is unforgettable. Or, pick up many Paw-paws and Persimmons for someone to turn
into puddings, breads, pies and cookies. A decoction from Sassafras roots can
also be made into a uniquely tasty candy. I always hope that the 8th
graders I meet each year will eventually try these foods, after being brought
to awareness about them, and they will taste history.
Other presentations at the event were quite varied. Students
learned and tried many other things new to most of them. Another station where
history and nature obviously met was one about animals on our early frontier.
The 8th graders also learned about Native
Americans during this historical period. The lives of Native Americans were
closely linked with nature in many ways.
Other historical presentations during the two mornings
included:
The ancient skill of Archery
Surveying then and now
The life of an 1812 soldier at Fort Knox II
The life of a soldier's wife (Lydia Bacon) at Fort Knox II
Mustering the troops
A visit with William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana
Territory
When I was not with a group, I meandered along the woods'
edge.
Goldenrod and White Snakeroot were in bloom.
Goldenrod and White Snakeroot were in bloom.
Goldenrod has a number of medicinal uses that must have aided
the pioneers. But White Snakeroot is known as the plant that caused the death
of Abraham Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. She died after drinking milk
from cows that had eaten White Snakeroot.
Students at my station also learned the importance of
understanding if a plant is dangerous to our health.
Orb-weaver spiders sat in the middle of large, glistening
webs:
You can see the spinerettes on this one!
When disturbed, they tended to scuttle away and hide in
nearby leaves.
Other insects were camouflaged in the leaves, such as this
pale Leafhopper under a Sassafras leaf:
I have been to the site of Fort Knox II many times over many
years. I have been involved in A Day in the Life of Fort Knox II for so long. I
have also visited or been involved in, for many years, Muster on the Wabash on
the first weekend in November, when the event backdrop is a blaze of the
wonderful colors of an Indiana autumn. I have simply strolled the grounds,
finding what trees are all around, seeing what is blooming or in fruit, looking
for the little things, or spying the larger animals such as deer, foxes and
turkeys. I have just rested on a seat overlooking the hillside and river,
imagining voyageurs, Native Americans and others plying the water in various
kinds of boats.
So much history has happened here on this hill above the
Wabash River. In so many ways, people were affected by the natural environment
here, and also had their affect upon it.
It is now a peaceful place, devoid of the activity of
soldiers, the sounds of gunfire, the agony of injury and death, the terrible
excitement of heading north for battle. That human history is now interpreted
for visitors, while natural history continues, going about its business. It has
been a long time since this place has been affected by the battles waged by
human beings, but the struggle of everyday life in the natural world, predator
and prey, survival, competition, goes on, mostly unseen by human eyes.
