The "Our Friends ........ The Indians" Story

Dave Huber showing me the artificial bark.

It was an ordinary day.  My new friend Dave just rose from his chair and headed through the door behind him into the Gift Shop of the Hans Herr House in southern Lancaster County.  He and I were discussing how the new American longhouse on the property of the Hans Herr House had been constructed and he had something he wanted to show me.  We continued through the gift show to the rear of the Huber House where he stopped and picked up this piece of flexible material that looked like bark.  "Wow," I said.  "Is this what is on the outside of the longhouse?"  Yesterday's story told about the construction of the first house in Lancaster County, PA in 1719 and the families who occupied the historic home through the ages.  Dave Huber never lived in the house, but he grew up in the house where we now are standing.  The Hans Herr House can be seen through the window behind us.  

Rendering illustrating the American Longhouse that
would have been found in Lancaster County in the 1700s.

My story today will tell about the neighbors of the family who occupied the Hans Herr House back in the early 1700s, Native Americans.  The American longhouse is the sort of structure that probably would have dotted the landscape prior to European settlement.  The Anabaptist communities that first settled in Lancaster County had good relationships with the local natives, which were predominately members of the Conestoga and Delaware tribes.  The longhouses that the Indians constructed probably only lasted about half-a-dozen years, since the nomadic tribes of the area found it necessary to move to where the food source might be.  The American longhouse that was just built is based on historical and archaeological research of construction techniques of the late seventeenth century.  

The Lancaster County longhouse.

The longhouse was made 62 feet long and is 20 feet high and 20 feet wide.  The shape is similar to a cathedral with the walls made of bark and saplings.  

Native American families slept along the sides of the longhouse on bunks made of wood.  A fireplace was in the center with a large stove that would have been heated for cooking.  Two smoke holes in the ceiling can be opened for ventilation.  Through research it was determined that the families in the longhouse were probably related.  They worked as a team doing chores and making tools, baskets, and jewelry.  In some places, such as Washington Boro in southern Lancaster County, thousands of people lived in towns filled with longhouses.  The longhouse on the Hans Herr site is meant to be a teaching tool to show how the Mennonite families of the area lived alongside the Native Americans.  

Painting showing the Native Americans and the
Mennonites at the Hans Herr House.

One funny story Dave shared with me told this legend: Christian Herr, builder and owner of the Hans Herr House, awoke one frosty morning in 1740 to find 30 Conestoga Indian hunters had taken refuge from the cold in his kitchen overnight.  His only complaint was that they "made the room smell of bear grease that they smear on their bodies."  Dave said the story might have become exaggerated over time, but it was told to show that the Mennonites and Native Indians of the time tended to stay on friendly terms, primarily because of the Mennonite's non-resistant practices.  

Construction of the longhouse.

The longhouse is also meant to tell the history of south-central Penn- sylvania from a time when only Native Americans lived here (circa 1570) to a time when the Native American population had been wiped out (circa 1770).  The longhouse was made to mirror another longhouse that was unearthed in nearby Washington Boro in 1969.  

Interior of the longhouse.

To make it last longer than the original longhouses, different materials were used.  The main framework still were logs that had been stripped of their bark, but instead of using natural roping to hold the logs together, wire and plastic were used.  On top of the logs was placed treated plywood which needless to say didn't exist in the 1700s, and then a plastic material that is extremely pliable and looks exactly tree bark on one side was applied.  And, that is exactly what Dave is holding in his hand, showing me.  I had an enjoyable time talking with Dave who is an extremely valuable tour guide for the Hans Herr House and the surrounding grounds.  The Mennonite Historical Society that owns and runs the Hans Herr House has given its visitors a true historic look at life in the early 1700s.  Quite a learning experience.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.