Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/179

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST iHSSOURI 119 Field, was owned in common by the inhabit- ants of the town. It was divided up for the purposes of cultivation at the beginning of the year. It provided an opportunity for the pursuit of farming without demanding the sacrifiee of social life. These differences in the spirit and attitude of the French and the Americans was the cause of a great dii¥erenee in development of tlic two sections of the countrv. It is evi- ordinarily a considerable enclosure, in which were to be found the family orchard, the gar- den in which was grown a variety of vege- tables, the cabins for servants or slaves, and other buildings for the use and convenience of the inhabitants. The amount of ground depended, of course, upon the wealth of the owner. The well-to-do among the French usually enclosed a considerable space for these purposes. The house and grounds were Old-Time Windlass dent, of course, that no new country can be thoroughly settled and reduced to the pur- poses of agriculture, except by people who are willing to settle upon the land itself. Here the American settlers possessed a very great advantage over the French. AVc have referred to the fact that the French settlers lived in towns. Most of them of the well-to-do class built for themselves comfortable houses. These houses usually stood near the street or road, the front yard being small, Init back of the house there was usually surrounded by a stout fence. This fence was in reality something of a stockade and was strongly built of pickets driven into the ground and sometimes reinforced with earth and stone. It reall.v served as a means of protection against the Indians, for all of the people were exposed more or less to the danger of Indian assault. The various tribes of Indians living in the vicinity of Ste. Gene- vieve were accustomed, at times, when they came into possession of whiske.y, to take the town. On these occasions the inhabitants usuallv retired within their houses, closed