A Short Story Behind Trapper’s Cabin

It’s amazing to imagine Trapper’s Cabin and the world at the time it was built in 1792.  Bygone historians report it was the first home in the region to be built by settlers.  This conjures up a solitary image of a small cabin alone in a vast wilderness.  But was it alone?

Trapper’s Cabin was the home of Nathaniel Dodge, his wife and their five children.  Dodge was both a trader and a trapper which means he traded goods with the natives who also lived and travelled through the area.  It was predominately the territory of the Neutrals, and every year the confluence of the Speed and Grand rivers became the meeting place of other ‘like’ traders intent on bartering their goods, some of which were critical for survival, such as flint stone (for sparking fires) which could only be obtained this way.

Local archeologists believe this meeting place was actually teaming with people on a seasonal basis for centuries. The discovery of local arrow heads, stone tools, pottery fragments and burial grounds would support this view which suggests Nathaniel Dodge and his family were not alone in the wilderness. Rather they lived within a community that thrived.