Now the 1852 log cabin that housed the William and Eliza
Masterson family near the banks of the Willamette River has been
reborn a short distance away, thanks to the efforts of area
teachers. The newly built cabin opened to the public Saturday and
later this week will start its life as a living history lab for
local schoolchildren.
It's tiny and rustic, but it probably didn't seem that way to a
family of 13 that had just roughed it across the country.
"When they'd been crossing the Plains in a wagon, this was
paradise," said John Lovdokken, the Springfield High School
social studies teacher and history buff who spearheaded the
project and did much of the construction.
Among the visitors at the cabin's inauguration were the
present-day descendants of the deep-rooted Masterson family. In
fact, the event coincided with the 77th birthday of Florence
resident Ida Balfour, the great-great-granddaughter of one of the
Mastersons' 11 children.
"I've got a lot of history in me," said Balfour, who attended
with her two sons and a grandson. "There's been seven generations of
this family that lived in Oregon and six generations born here.
We're proud of that."
Their visit was an added treat for the group of teachers and
volunteers that worked for more than a year to create the hands-on
exhibit. Built at Dorris Ranch just up the hill from the likely site
of its predecessor, the cabin is as faithful a reproduction as the
volunteer builders could make it.
The original cabin was washed away in the great Willamette flood
of 1861, and no photos or records of it exist, Lovdokken said.
"It's a plausible reproduction," Lovdokken said. "It's fairly
typical of what most homesteaders built."
That includes authentic square-head nails and door hardware made
by a local blacksmith.
The builders went to great lengths to conceal the concrete
foundation, rebar reinforcement and other modern construction
methods required to meet city code.
The project is a result of a federal program that allows teachers
to apply for $2,000 grants for projects that enhance the teaching of
American history. Rather than buy classroom supplies or take on
individual projects, 24 teachers pooled their grants to create what
they hope will be a lasting outdoor classroom that brings history
alive for generations of youngsters.
The idea is to let children actually experience the challenges of
pioneer life. Youngsters who visit as part of classroom field trips
will have a chance to grind corn, pump water, wash clothes on a
washboard and do other chores.
"We thought this would be a way for kids to actually have
hands-on experience of what a log cabin was," said Helen Quade, a
fifth-grade teacher at Moffitt Elementary in Springfield. "It brings
experience to the idea of living history."
The project doesn't end with the cabin, though. Quade said
teachers also have assembled living history kits packed with
everyday items from pioneer life that can be circulated through area
classrooms, along with period costumes and even a play, to help
reinforce history lessons.
Other items of interest in Springfield
and Eugene