The Adobe Home

The settlers of the 1700s in the Southwest had little resources to build so they made homes of adobe brick.  Pulverizing the soil, adding water to form a thick paste, the settlers then molded the mixture into  four inch thick bricks which weighed 40-50 pounds each.  On a foundation of uneven stones, the dried bricks were laid in rows and mortared with thick mud. When it dried, a coat of mud plaster was applied over the bricks to make a smooth surface.  On the roof, pine log beams supported crisscrossed poles which were covered with bricks and a thick coat of mud plaster and earth was applied.

The settlers clustered their dwellings in multi-family compounds where each one story building was attached and all windows faced the inside courtyard.  Pueblo Indians taught them how to raise both cattle and sheep inside the courtyard.  They also grew gardens and orchards.

The lower quarter of the walls inside were sometimes painted with ocher mixture of dirt and water applied with sheepskins.  (this photo is not a authentic original!) The clay floor was soaked in animal blood to harden the surface.  The family slept on the floor and also sat on the floor to eat at a low table.  The fireplace served for cooking and heating the home.  Corn and chili peppers were baked outdoors in a beehive shaped earthen oven.  Cooking utensils were mostly of copper.

In each home in a carved in niche was a statue of a revered saint which served as their worship center.  The inside of Spanish homes differed little from the inside of pioneer settlers in the west 100 years later - only the materials changed.

Next time...California Missions
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On this Day in Pioneer History:  On June  13, 1805, Meriwether Lewis and four men arrive at the Great Falls of the Missouri River, confirming that the explorers are headed in the right direction.