Visitor FAQs: What would the early pioneers have needed to make metal tools?

One thing I love about my profession as an interpretive naturalist is that I never stop learning new things.  And it's often the visitors of the nature center where I work that ask the most interesting questions.  Below is my answer to a question a recent visitor asked. 

 Question:  What would the early pioneers in Illinois have needed to make their own metal tools?
Figure 1:  Replica of a typical covered wagon used by early Illinois pioneers.
Photo credits:  Jacob Huffman/Forest Preserves of Cook County.  
The earliest European Pioneers to settle in Northern Illinois were most often Frenchman who were interested in the beaver pelt trade as well as immigrants from the eastern United States.   American Beavers (Castor canadensis) were popular game animals, whose fur and castor oil (from the beaver's scent glands) were in high demand for stylish hats and for waterproofing clothing, respectively.  Also, the idea of nearly unlimited land in the "Great West" inspired immigration from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the East Coast of the United States.  People living in cities out east packed their bags and headed out via covered wagons (figure 1), taking only what they absolutely needed. Some of these items included metal tools, such as saws for cutting wood, muskets (rifles) for hunting and self-defense, knives, and metal pots.  To make additional metal tools, pioneers would need the proper facilities to manufacturer metal products, which initially they lacked.  Due to space limitations on covered wagons, which required the use of oxen or horses to power, most pioneers could not make their own metal tools and therefore had to carefully choose what they needed prior to their journey westward.  

 As more pioneers moved into Northern Illinois, settlements and villages were formed and thus pioneers became more stationary and self sufficient (figure 2).  As such, blacksmiths, or metal craftsman, were able to find resources to collect iron and melt it down to make tools and other objects.  By the late 19th century, Northern Illinois became industrialized and products like metal tools were mass manufactured and sold at stores.  
Figure 2:  Reenactment of a typical Illinois pioneer village.
As more settler's arrived, metal tools could be manufactured on site by blacksmiths.
Photo credits:  Forest Preserves of Cook County  













































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