Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties: And How to Make Them

Here is the original 19th century manual that helped pioneering Americans homestead a continent—with detailed instructions on how to build birch bark or tar paper shacks, a sawed-lumber shanty, a sod house, log cabins and much more.

Whether you are a student of history, a screenwriter looking for authentic details or a modern homesteader looking for authentic advice on how to build the way our grandparents did, then D.C. Beard’s manual is just what you’re looking for. It includes information on:
How to use an axe How to split logs How to flatten a log How to build a Navajo Hogan How to cut and notch logs How to build a notched ladder How to make cabin doors and door-latches. The American log cabin A Fisherman’s cabin And much, much more.
Go back to basics with this classic of American ingenuity!